I am looking for high end "mid-grade", or low end commercial brass processing equipment to de-prime, swagging, resize, trimming, etc.

A little back story. I've done personal, small batch, manual brass processing in the past. BUT I just purchased 2K pounds of military, once fired, 5.56 brass. I do not want to process this over the span of 5 years by hand with my inept equipment. I am also not wanting to spend 10K on some high end commercial machine. The most economical automated option I have come up with is the Dillon press, but I am concerned about processing over 100K rounds through it.

My question is, what other options are there between the Dillon and say 5K dollars....if any? Thanks in advance for the help!

Dillon 1050 with 1500 trimmer and auto drive. 

just process it during the one year warranty period 

The Dillon is all I could come up with as well. I am really digging the Camdex, but can't seem to find one under 10K, certainly not at my sub-5K price range. I wasn't sure if there was another company, other than camdex, that I haven't heard of that may be more economical?

I know several people that process and tens of thousands of pieces of brass weekly on a Dillon 1050 and ammobot auto drive. It's definitely a commercial grade machine. 

What's everyone's view on the different types of Dillon attachments (i.e. autodrive, ammobot, Mark 7, etc)? I'm really liking the Mark 7 and like the built in safety features(auto sensing/auto stopping) and counting that the Mark does.

There's a thread here 1050 up grades. You might want to read it.  One of my 1050s has over 500 k on it. It runs on a PW auto drive. Maintain it lube it real good. You'll have a big learning curve with the 1050 in combination with any auto drive.
 https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/468334_S1050-up-grades.html

If you have a large quantity and it is a one time deal. it might be worth considering contracting the work out.  There are many firms that process brass and do it well.

I just processed 800 rounds of 308 in one day using my Dillon RT-1200B to trim/size and my CH4D swagger.

The week before I processed about 2K LC 5.56 brass.

I'm using a Hornady LNL AP press.

Camdex or Ammoload rifle brass processor/loader will run you around $80k.

Dillon 1050 and Mark 7 autodrive is what you seek for that price range.. Or pay a little more and buy into the Mark 7 revolution.. only $2500 (down payment):
http://www.markvii-loading.com/The-Mark-7-Revolution_p_332.html

For 5k, you won't get much more than the Dillon 1050 and Mark 7 Autodrive combo. It really is a sweet combo though.

Thanks for all of the information, I definitely want to do it on my own. I love equipment and tools, so I'd rather pay more up-front and end up owning the equipment, but a Camdex sounds WAY out of my league and pocketbook range!

....also, I have a Hornady LnL AP press. Is there anything like the ammobot or Mark 7 for the Hornady?

And dear lord, the Mark 7 Revolution looks amazing!

Keep the LNL for low volume loading.. I wouldnt automate one. Never could get indexing and priming near 100% with mine.

DIY option

If you're good with autocad I'm pretty sure you could design your own SWAGE IT for the LNL AP based on how the priming system works on that press.

If you're having any issues with your press check out 76highboy reloading on YouTube.  He's got videos about sorting out some of the issues with that press, and he's the same guy many Dillon users go to as a "setup guide" instead of the DVD.  There's another guy on YouTube who has some tweaks/fixes for the LNL that make a lot of sense (I.E. chamfering the top of the primer cup so primers don't hang up, adding in helicoils to the case feeder guides, shimming the ram-to-handle linkage for smoother operation) and are fairly easy to do.  

My thoughts too.  I could never afford an auto drive, let alone actually need one, but Mark 7 seems to really have their shit together both with hardware and software.

A big step up for me might be a 650, with a SwageIt, and a trimmer, with my son pulling the handle for me

I have a LnL and I can confirm that.  Its only a 95% solution, meaning that 5% of the time the press decides to be stupid.  For me its the case feeder, I can get mine to prime 100%  But one thing I love about my LnL is the ability to do load buildups because it only primes when there is a case there, and its easy to pull a case out of order.  I want to buy a 650 for running 9mm and 223 which is 80% of what I shoot.

Dillon s1050 w/RT1500 and Mark 7 Pro.

Probably the best bang for the buck, and a closest to your price point as you will get without going beyond.

Dillon s1050 w/RT1500 and Mark 7 Pro.

Probably the best bang for the buck, and a closest to your price point as you will get without going beyond.

Dupe.... doh!

Finding someone that already has equipment and them and paying to process the brass might be a decent option.

Look into Forcht chain drive.  I had four 1050s setup with those for processing and never had an issue.  

"Had". Where did they go ?

My .223 Camdex processor was just a shade over $30,000. This does not include any ability to trim. Camdex trimmer will set you back an additional  $35,000. Unless you are running 40 to 60 hours per month at full speed a Camdex is an expensive toy. The quality of processing is far superior to 1050s although I could run 2,000 an hour on 1050s so it wasn't a big speed increase

I did it as a side business for a few years.  I started with MK-1Arm, then PW drive that I couldn't ever get to work properly for one reason or another, then tried the Forcht and it worked flawlessly once setup (which is the way it comes from Forcht).  I ended up with 4.  When I moved/stopped the business, I sold them.  

I looked at Forcht before i got Mark7. I didnt like the loss of 30-06 and the modifications needed. Understandable for a person with specific business needs but not for home use where you want to load a dozen calibers or more.

I own a Hornady Ammo Plant and I have a co-worker that I convinced to buy a Dillon S1050 with Mark 7 autodrive. We've prepped and loaded 15k .223 since Jan and are preparing to convert 15k of .223 to 300BO next week with the Dillon die and Rt1500 trimmer on the mark 7. I hardly use my LNL because it's faults are more frustrating after using the Dillon. I'm probably going to sell the LNL to fund caliber changeovers for the Dillon since the owner only reloads 223 and 300BO and I want to add 9mm, 45 and 308.

On the mark 7 sensors my advice is:
1) get the remote shutdown switch, it is nice to be able to be a step or two away and stop it.
2) the safety shield switch didn't work right and then broke, we haven't bothered to warranty. Wouldn't reorder. Sometimes you need to run shield open and it it a pain if you have the switch.
3) don't buy powder sensor (double or no charge) until you know if you can seat and crimp in one die. We could not get the Forester multi die we bought to work consistently and went to the 2 step Dillon dies. I have confidence in the Dillon Powder measure after pulling and weighing some cases I thought were heavy or light and everything was dead on. We had one problem with the reset rod on the powder measure coming off and loaded 25 without powder but we pulled them and keep a close eye on it.
4) we don't have the new bullet sensor but once properly setup with the mr bullet feeder and a m-die to slightly open the case mouth we have no problems anymore with bullets tipping before seating.
5) the low primer sensor did not work as shipped but with a bend and a socket on the follower for weight it works. You can set the machine on the tablet to load 100 and stop which is probably the way I would do it instead of buying the low primer sensor.

You won't regret getting the mark 7. I wouldn't spend the $350 to go to 2400 rounds per hour, we run 2100 on 223 processing because 2400 cause more stoppages which is slower overall. We load 223 at 900-1200 which allows us to case gauge and watch the machine. The owner said "I should of got the X instead of the Pro and spent the $350 on bullets, primers or powder".

Here is my review of Mark 7 with 1050. I love it. I posted some tips with adding homemade sensors for cheap you might find useful. I am now looking to convert as many calibers as I can to the Mark 7/1050. I ran 1k rounds of 357 mag tonight. I have another 1k to go tomorrow night. It's a breeze if you have your components ready.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/475089_Mark-7-Autodrive-on-Dillon-1050-review---Added-some-some-shut-off-switches-.html

Thank you for all the advice, I really appreciate everyone's input.

Any advise or recommendations as to where I can find <snip. Use the tacked thread> dryflash3 Thanks in advance!

Questions like this should get asked in the where to find thread. I normally don't comment when people ask in other threads but I will today only to let you know that it's rare to find "deals" on Dillon presses. Dillon controls the prices.

Funny thing... I have gotten great deals on my Dillon presses at Shooter's Pro Shop.. but they recently stopped allowing discounts. They now have this posted on all their presses: "Due to Map Pricing- No Discounts will apply to Dillon Presses"

I actually just bought a 2nd 1050 from them with a very nice discount code.

StrizzyChris: Top of the page, use the tacked "where to find" thread. Or this thread stands the danger of being locked. dryflash3

The thing is that most people do not realize that there is not much mark up in Dillon Equipment. It is in the neighborhood of 20 percent.
So lets take that $.20
CC Processing (3%) $.17
Shipping From Dillon (5% avg)  $0.12

Vendors pay the shipping from Dillon.  Then add in credit card processing costs. Then there is overhead....and jeez not much left.

Dillon has pulled accounts from people who discount other than Graf and Sons.