Dillon 550 for .30/30

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Chipperman

New member
Hi,
Don't reload yet, but was thinking of starting in the next year or so.

I would reload primarily .45 acp, with some .30/30 and possibly some .22 Hornet and .38 S&W.

I had thought that the 550 would be a good reloader for my purposes. However, when I got my Marlin .30/30 last month, the gun shop dude said that, "You should not use a progressive reloader for rifle rounds". He said there was more of a chance for double-charges, and it would be dangerous.

I just nodded and left. Now, I have never reloaded, and just know what I've read here and on the Dillon site. It sounds like hogwash to me, though. So, does he have a point? If the Dillon 550 is not a good press to use for both pistol and rifle rounds, then which press would be better?
 
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Gewehr98

New member
Boy, those dealers will tell you just about anything, now won't they? Yes, he's full of you-know-what. Maybe if you're running light cast-bullet loads on top of a small charge of fast-burning pistol powder, but if it's a plain-vanilla jacketed load behind the typical 150 or 170 grain bullets, the .30-30 just won't have the case capacity to accept a second charge, and will spill powder all over the place when you attempt it in your 550. Then you got another problem to clean up. The 550 does need a good amount of SA (Situational Awareness) because it's not auto-indexing like the XL-650 and RL-1050, but if you aren't paying attention when reloading with a progressive press to begin with, you need not be reloading at all. My RL-550 loads batches of very accurate .30-30 rounds, for both my wife's Savage 340 bolt-action, and my top-eject Winchester Model 94. Piece of cake, don't let the man scare you away from a top-notch piece of equipment like the Dillon...
 
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beemerb

Moderator
Agree totaly.The guy that told you that is a blooming idiot.The 550B is the best choice for a loader.Love mine.
 
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Chipperman

New member
Thanks for the replies.

I thought he was full of crap, but did not want to call him on it as I do not yet know enough about reloading to be sure of myself in that arena.

I have lots more basic questions but will try the "newbie" search to answer some of them first ;)
 
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Steve Smith

New member
Thanks, Gewehr98, you beat me to that. Yes, Chipperman, that guy is totally wrong. I'd bet that he doesn;t sell Dillon, either, does he? You'll be fine with the Dillon 550B. I have one and I love it. I actually prefer the manual indexing.
 
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