I have loaded revolver ammo on a Rockchucker for years. Mainly 38/357 and 44 spl/44mag. At the time I just did not care for autos. I am now loading for 9mm. I had been thinking of getting a turret press, either Lyman or Redding, but, I wondered into the YouTubes about progressives. There is one I am interested in and it isn't that much more than a turret and has a spot for a die for checking powder level, That in itself makes me more at ease trying a progressive. I have known 2 people that have loaded for years that have used Dillon Square Deal B's and have ruined a revolver barrel and a 40 SW barrel due to overcharging and that is what has kept me skeptical and sticking to my old Rockchucker. LOL (sorta). If there is one thing I have to know for certain, it's how much powder is in that dang case. I'm an eyeballer, I have to be able to see it somehow, someway.
My budget is limited and I was wondering if any of you use a Hornady Lock N Load AP. It would be nice to have the case collator and the bullet feed, but, for right now those 2 options are a no-go.
Pros and cons, especially the cons.
Thanks in advance for any and all info

Dillon 550 would be my suggestion. After you throw the powder you are looking right into the case. Just pick a powder that fills the case at least half full and impossible to get double charge.

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I bought one of the new Lyman 8 station presses it sped things up some on my 10 mm reloading size move over and bell I hand prime and then set 50 in a tray then add powder then set a bullet on each case then back to the press to seat then crimp separately idk use AA9 powder so it fills case good did watch a video one it of making a semi progressive out of it works well for my uses.

I've owned and loaded on the Hornady L&L AP, and Dillon SDB, 550 and 650. They all are pretty safe from a double charge until something happens to the cycle and things get out of sync. That is when problems start. At that point you should stop, sort it out and start over.

All of the above are good systems. I load a fairly high volume so I am currently using 2 650s. There is a powder alarm that is available for these that alerts you to an over or under charge. With the others you can see into the case with varying degrees of difficulty.

In the end it is all about having a routine, stopping and making sure, if anything interrupts the cycle and most importantly, paying attention.

Yep. I load a whole lot of rifle and pistol ammo on a 550. It’s pretty easy to tell when something goes wrong. If I leave the press, I make sure I have indexed it and placed a bullet on the charged case for a visual.

In all honesty, I trust the powder measure more than the priming system.

If you are double charging cases on a progressive, then you are doing it really wrong. IMO, I'm not concerned about that. If someone double charges a case, they are not paying attention, or do not know what they are doing. If you learn to reload on a single stage, this knowledge will carry over to the progressive. If you are starting to learn on a progressive, you got thrown into the deep end without knowing how to swim.

I have the LNL. Never an issue. I do not like the primer station and hand prime but all else goes well. I use the powder cop die and it will tell you if you have a double. I have never had that happen. Loaded tons of 9MM on it.

I have a single stage, Lee 3 hole Turret, T-MAG, and Dillon 650 with case feed. I develop loads on the other presses and move to the Dillon for "production". Why the 650 you ask, because it has powder check and a separate seat and crimp station in addition to throughput. To add to Chads point, you do have to be doing something wrong to double charge a case but after twice having a powder bridge in my Lyman powder thrower it gives me peace of mind to check every round as it makes its way to the completed bucket.

Amusing side, we had a discussion as to the merits of loading 9mm on a press. You can buy 9mm as cheap as you can make it. But you can make it better yourself.... and right now when everyone is struggling to find ammo my biggest concern is how long the last 5K purchase of small pistol primers is going to last.

I have never double charged a case and yes, I realize the ones I spoke of did something wrong or could there have been a malfunction such as the full charge of powder didn't fall completely and the next charge got 1 full charge plus the remainder of the previous charge? That is why I was asking about, in particular the Hornady and the extra spot for a die that will show a load plus and/or minus. I have loaded on a single stage since about 1984 or so, no, I aint jumping in the deep end without knowing how to swim.

Thanks for the recommendation to consider the Dillon 550 and 650's by other posters and I will.

The only reason I will load 9mm is because of its scarcity and the outrageous price when it is found. 3 months ago I was buying the Federal 200 round packs for $34. The only ones I could find online wanted $69. BS to that. I am either going to make a brass catcher or buy one for the 9mm and load those suckers myself. So far, what I have loaded, experimenting with different powder charges, I am really pleased with. Seems more consistent and more accurate and being able to load to a certain level will help for speed events. Amen to the primer thing. I am down to 2000 and I even bought a brick of Remington the other day because that was all that was there. Just got back from shooting some of those, They went bang just fine, LOL. I just hope they aren't like their dang 22 Golden bullets, LOL.

So true. I started loading on a Dillon 550 about 12 years ago that the gun club loaned out. It was a disaster, from non-functional to not-safe issues. Gave up loading til about 4-5 years ago when several on this forum helped me and I know a fair bit now after loading lots of rounds on my Rock Chucker. I could go to a progressive with no issues IMHO now that I know what the process is and how to control it.

I've had a 550B since about 1990 or so. I still don't know what happened or went wrong, but I had a primer "pop" one afternoon. It sounded like a 22. I wear glasses anyway which should protect my eyes, but never thought hearing protection could be needed.

I know 2 or 3 people that have had primers blow on the 650. I've personally not had that problem. Eye protection is a must, in my opinion, any time I an reloading anything.