Looking at getting my own press for loading the 45/70, and was looking at a Dillon progressive. Any opinions???

Whenever I reload for rifle, I do it on my Rockchucker single stage. Every step gets its fair share of time and attention so I know it's done right. Handgun is a little different, that gets reloaded on the Star as production is the name of the game here. YMMV:)

unless your shooting a hundred or more shots an outing a single stage like the rockchucker from rcbs is a better bet. will the dillon evensize the .45/70?

I thought the Dillon did size and resize .....

I doubt if the Dillon 550 would have any problem with the .45-70 when he sells caliber conversions for the .460 Weatherby Magnum. Whether it's overkill or not depends on your time and money.

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/23598/catid/2/RL_550B_Caliber_Conversion_Kit

Bye
Jack

I do 338 WIN MAG and 7mm Remington Mag on mine, I have the dies for my 458 WIN MAG and my 45-70 so I certainly intend to! and don't know why it wouldn't???

Do you think you will be shooting the 45-70 that much that you need a progressive? I use my Redding Ultramag, two actually, and batch load. I can knock out 50 in pretty short order.

Im sure that the Dillon press can handle the 45/70 cartridge.I'm not sure that you need a progressive press for it.
A single stage press should do just as well.You just don't shoot those big caliber lever guns and single shots as much as the smaller stuff.
Frank

I have owned a Dillon 550 for quite a while. It has loaded .444s quite well. If 45-70 is all you are going to load, then a single stage would be better (saving a lot of money) but if you plan on loading handgun shells then the Dillon will work for both. I load several rifle calibers on mine with no problems, but I bought it mainly for handgun loading (a lot more rounds at a time). I like settling on a load and being able to leave the dies in a toolhead already set for later loadings. Whatever you get, learn the processes for reloading from a reloading book and take your time till you become proficient. A Dillon will load faster once set up, but you can screw up royal if you try to load for speed and don`t pay attention to each step carefully. Have fun with whatever you get!

"What press for a 45/70 "

Anything on the market. The .45/70 isn't hard to load for. I think it would be hard to shoot enough of that to justify an expensive progressive but it's your money, it sure would work.

Anything on the market. The .45/70 isn't hard to load for. I think it would be hard to shoot enough of that to justify an expensive progressive but it's your money, it sure would work.


That pretty much says it all.

However.....if you are gonna get big into reloading and plan to load lots of ammo in other calibers, there's certainly nothing wrong with a Dillon progressive. They make an excellent loader. From my own perspective, I have a bad habbit of always wanting to get the best thing out there and tend to automatically pick the most expensive of anything without ever looking at the price tags. I guess quality is something I just gravitate towards.

But do you know what I mostly load my 45-70 on?

I use one of the old "Lee Loaders". The kind you use a mallet to operate. And ya know what else? The dang thing works REALLY well. Sure it's slower than a progressive but honestly if you have your stuff laid out in a work friendly way and trust your powder dipper, you can load a complete round in about 45 seconds. That's close to 70 an hour! Do a search for Lee Loader on youtube and there are several videos but there's one with an older man who loads a round in about 47 seconds without ever getting in a hurry. He has his stuff laid out well.

I don't even try to go that fast most of the time. I weigh every charge just because I want to not because I have to. I sit at the kitchen table with a good thick cutting board as a work surface (a nice pece of board works too.) and just load away while I'm watching TV. I even let the kids help. They love to punch primers and reprime. My 4 year old son runs the hammer and I hold the die and decapper while he gives it a couple whacks to nock the primer out. He has a blast. I picked up an old Lee hand primer tool and my 8 year old can prime the cases. I do all the powder charges.

You can get accuracy equal to or better than the factory ammo.

Oh, and the cost? about $21.00 at Cabellas.

I also have an RCBS rockchucker supreme kit and dies for it but I don't have a true workbench setup to mount it to and end up doing that in the kitchen too. It's real pain hauling all that stuff up from the basement and setting it up for a single loading session. That's why I like the Lee Loader. If I had a good bench, I'd go either way on which one to use.

I agree with ranger and Dave, unless your loading the 45-70 for your Gatling gun. I started reloading one caliber with the Lee Loader. Progressive loaders are for those who shoot a lot. I shoot quite a bit but abandoned mt Lee Progressive in favor of my old Lyman turret press. In it's 6 stations I set up 3 different rifle calibers without ever having to make adjustments. I use a single stage press for pistol calibers.

I load my 45/70 with my Dillon 550 never had a problem

Looking at getting my own press for loading the 45/70, and was looking at a Dillon progressive. Any opinions???

I load my 45/70 with my Dillon 550 never had a problem

I don't think ANYBODY would expect a PROBLEM loading on a Dillon press. They are a fine piece of equipment and I'd love to have one myself. It's just that depending on how much loading he plans to do, there are more economical (but slower) options that are lots of fun and load good ammo.

My guess is that IF he wants to buy a Dillon for just the 45-70 then he must be rolling in money. Forget the cost of purchasing a Dillon, look at what it will cost to feed it!
If you shoot enough 45-70 to need a progressive the primer, powder and "boolit" costs will bankrupt all but the most wealthy of Wall St. brokers.
Maybe he got a "Gobermint" Bail-out and is looking to stimulate the economy.LOL

I reload for the 45-70 and a bunch more. Have a couple of progressives,4 single stage presses and ALL my rifle ammo, sans .223, gets the one at a time method.
I can churn out plenty of great ammunition on the old RockChucker or Co-Ax.
As was previously noted, if you load for other calibers and if you are a high volume shooter--go Dillon or Hornady.
If not and your pockets are not as deep as the ocean, stay with a simpler outfit.
Just my 2 cents.

Gary

I would get a Lee Classic Turret Press. I read that Dillion makes a great progressive but I only use single stage and turret presses. As the others said how many rounds are you going to shoot - the progressive seems to be overkill for the 45/70 unless you plan on sooting hundreds and thousands of rounds a year or month.

Good responses. I have a Dillon 550B, though I don't use it for 45-70 loading. For that I use either a Rockchucker or a Lee hand press.
Also.....if you load BP in your 45-70, as I do most of the time, you don't really need a press at all. Powder can be dropped, fiber wads inserted, bullet pressed in - all by hand. You do need a decapping tool (from a Lee Loader) and a priming tool. These loads are fine for target work at the range. If a crimp is desired, then a crimp die and a hand press (or a Lee Loader) are needed of course.
Pete

The Dillon presses are great presses and will reload VERY accurate ammo for any rifle or handgun you have! However, if you are shooting 25 rounds a week they are a bit pricey for that. As mentioned earlyer by another member I also have a LEE Classic Cast Turret press that works just fine for anything I dont reload in large quantities.
Ive won NRA High Power matches with ammo loaded on my Dillon 550B. So they are very good machines.

Totally concur with Ranger....I use my Rock Chucker and an old Lyman Spartan press...both work very well....just make sure that whatever you use is set up to put a good roll or taper crimp on the finished round...it is very important on this caliber.

The Dillon really shines for reloading lots of handgun ammunition , but it saves me time on my BP 45-70 reloading . When using my Dillion for reloading 45 -70 I neck sze & prime already deprimed & cleaned brass , then the brass is belled or flared & removed from the press .After all of my brass is ready to be loaded with powder I then load each one individualy after weighing & dropping through a droptube.I Then insert wads in all Then in the 3rd station/ position I have my compression die set ,I run each round through the compression die then put in a different loading block / tray at this point I lube & size all of my bulletts & insert into the brass,after this step is compleated I then insert into # 3 & turn to 4 & seat .Is this process fast? NO.Does it save me time ? Yes.Basicly I am eliminating the 2nd step while doing it along with the 1st & all of my dies are all set & ready to go. Reloading smokeless for my 45-70 Marlin if the bullets are presized& lubed is almost like flying through a batch of handgun ammo. I keep another set of dies setup for the Marlin but don't load for it near as often.If you are going to be loading a lot of something , anything FAST I would highly sugest using a type of powder that if you somehow goof & end up with a double charge it would be a type of powder that the seconds charge would spill allover the place & make a mess,This would keep you from putting a double charge together, I have had to clean up a mess a few times after 20 + years loading various rounds with a Dillion . What if I was using a faster , lower density powder ,THEN WHAT ? Ignore everything I have stated earlier it is nothing DON"T try loading FAST
with a fast burning low density powder

I started loading 45-70 with a Dillon RL450 but upgraded it to a RL550B no problems loading anything:38spec,357mag,45colt,41mag,454casull,sw46 0mag,30-06,300wm & 45acp.