Have a Dillon 550B ordered soon, but I'm thinking about getting a single stage press to reload 50BMG and 338Lapua. It's a little mind boggling how much cheaper the Lee is than everything else, so I'm wondering if it's still great quality and durability. I normally don't mind paying extra for quality, but in this case it'd be.more than double the cost for a Hornady and close to quadruple for a Dillon.

I have a single stage lee I find it to be adequate, rather nice for the money, and it's been durable for years.  I like their dies too.

How much 338 and 50 are you going to realistically load?  I think that should help determine what press to go with.  Everything I've heard about the Lee Classic Cast line has been positive, if this isn't going to get used much I say the extra money will be far better spent on components or caliber conversions for the 550.

Probably will be fine.  

One slight advantage to going with Hornady is the Lock-n-Load system.  It is cross platform compatible between their SS and their progressive.  That was my route, and I do quite like the LnL system, and the ability to pop does in and out of the different presses easily.  

I can't say on 50 BMG or the 338 though, are those still standard dies?

I have the lee classic cast. It rather large and sturdy. It also has a tube for the primers which work well. The on press priming works well.  

I used the RCBS rock chucker at a friends house and I like the lee much better. The lee is bigger with more hand room, makes it easier for you to put cases and bullets in if you have big hands.



I just looked at the hornady, Its only a few bucks more then the Lee and it looks like it have some nicer features.


ETA:
I just read you want to load 50bmg. In that case I have no idea. There was recently a thread on loading 50 bmg and presses where discussed.

I really like My Lee classic cast O press, very nice. I think it would do 338 and 50 bmg. I don't load those, call Lee.

Excellent press for the money.

I'll probably be loading close to 100 rounds of 338 Lapua a month if not more along with maybe 50-100 rounds of 50BMG a month.


It's been weeks since I've researched reloading, but I'm still struggling hard to figure out which presses to buy.
Needing a progressive press for reloading 9mm, .45ACP, .223, and .308. Also going to need a separate single stage press for 50BMG and .338 Lapua.

Would you recommend sticking with one brand for both presses? Or no problem buying presses from different brands?

I'm leaning towards either a Dillon 550B and the Lee .50BMG press or going all Hornady or all RCBS. (Doing my best to figure out the differences between each)

If I'm going autoloading setup, the Hornady Ammo Plant seems to be the best for the price.

I use the Hornady LnL quick change in my Lee CC and IIRC you can reload the 50 BMG on it

+1, the classic cast iron line are cast in the US and have a removable die bushing to take the standard and oversize dies.

Hornady BMG Press is made by RCBS.

Quality of your reloads are a result of your reloading skill set.

I could give a fool the best of everything, and they would turn out GIGO
I could give someone who pays attention and has their poop in a group some entry level equipment and they would make good ammo.

The best truism of Reloading....BUY ONCE AND CRY ONCE!

Most of the 50 BMG presses have bushings to allow for use of smaller dies like the standard 7/8 14 dies.

Hmm, I know I made this thread asking about a single stage press... but what are your thoughts on the Hornady Progressive press? Both their regular one and their Ammo Plant?

Do you think the Dillon 550B is about the same in performance? Seems Dillons are never on sale, but there's a Hornady rebate promotion going around right now.

Lee's Classic Cast single stage press is the best deal on the market. I use very few Lee tools because they strike me as cheap when compared to other manufacturers. The Classic Cast single stage is built like a tank and I highly recommend it.

Lee single stage presses helped me produce the most accurate ammo I've fired.

You can't load 50 on either of those.

Not sure if the powder drop on the lnl will accommodate 338 sized charges anyway (it might). The dillon will need a special powdee bar to do so.

Press performance is more about featureset than actual increases in ammo quality. David Tubb loads match ammo on a progressive, for instance, where many won't touch anything other than a Co ax. There are so many more important things to ammo quality than press. Mount it solidly, get good dies, make good notes, and buy good components. Also get a good scale and measure.

Yep, excellent buy. I also use a Dillon 650, and I still use the Lee press a lot. Fantastic value. The priming system works quite well, too.

Gosh.. It seemed like a lot of replies before someone clarified to OP that the BMG needs a special MUCH larger press. Don't skimp on them. The reviews on the cheaper ones are not great. blah blah.. buy once.. blah blah...

As for 338, I ran the Hornady LNL Single Stage for a little while with 338 Lapua (which was chosen over 50BMG for many reasons including requirement of special press).  Worked ok. No, you won't be able to use the Hornady powder drop very effectively. I suppose you could do a two drop (1/2 of charge in each) then trickle the rest to get to charge. I use chargemaster.

I switched to the CO-AX... Not in love with it with 338. I really wish I had MORE head room. I hate placing bullets inside die before you seat them. Have to do it on other calibers too I guess but I just hate it SOOOO much. I was going to see if the Redding Turret had more clearance. Not enough for BMG.. but enough to make the seating easier. I suppose the more distance requires more motion on press.. A trade-off.

Anyway, OP... you want two different presses for two different purposes (unfortunately). Sure, you can probably use the BMG press with the correct inserts to use with Lapua, but you won't be happy taking them in/out if they are at all difficult and you certainly don't want them loose.

Good luck!