I can only find one thread talking about it. Is the cost the factor for no talk? All I see are a LOT of mentions of the 550 and some for the 650. I like the options for all the stations on the 1050 that you can even set it up to take the crimp out of primer pockets. It costs, but it should make some great ammo I would think with minimal brass prep. Are they just too much mechanical or just too much cost to get more people into them?

I bought one when I was working for a gun shop and doing most of the reloading. I got is specifically for .223's, but ended up getting other caliber kits also, and it really worked great for me. When I left the shop, I took the loader with me as it was mine, and I have it set up in my basement, although I don't use it very much any more.

Maxbob, I have a 550 but my buddy has a 1050. It will flat crank them out. The only problem he has had was loading 45-70 for his Gatlin gun,(yes he has one) and a .38 spec was down inside the 45-70 case. It was a wreck when the sizer, decaping station came down on that one. He absolutely loves it, and is it fast. I just don't think too many are willing to justify that expenditure for the amount they shoot. I shoot Cowboy Action a lot and the 550 is adequate for my needs. 1000 rds / month or better. I know this ain't much, but he loves his.

regards
Bill

I think you nailed it with the consideration of cost. I'd love to see one in action. I'd hate to be the one who was in charge of assembly "from scratch".

I was the armourer for the local police force and did all the reloading for practice , .38 spl., .40 and 9mm. The 1050 functioned perfectly for years, the ammo was excellent. After I retired the force saw fit to have untrained personnel load for them, it turned out to be terrible, the press eventually just sat there and the force went to factory loads for practise. I lucked out when I approached them and mentioned that the press was just taking up space and I would like to buyit.. They agreed and I wound up getting the 1050 and all dies, parts, toos etc. for $500.00. It is now working againand cranking out excellent bullets.
My friend who has a business has this press and loves it. I load for myself now and use a Dillon square deal B, great little press. The 1050 is worth the money if you load thousands.

Any of the presses can put out great reloads. As the model number gets larger, the need for more volume of ammo is likely to be greater. I have a 650 with nine caliber conversions and I like it very much.

The service the company provides is second to none.

Bob, if you get a 1050, sir, you will be my HERO! Seriously, they are the coups de graw (or however you say that French stuff!)

MAN, I can only dream about one of them!

I've got 2 550s and a 1050. Unless you load a ton of ammo you don't need a 1050. The learning curve on a 1050 is much steeper than a 550 or 650. Go with a simpler machine until you think you need to transition to something larger.

1050 is a hell of a press . It especially shines if you load milsurp brass with crimped primers . I would not get one for your first progressive press as there's many adjustments when setting up . Also unlike the other Dillon's you can forget free parts as they consider it a commercial machine . The old Star presses are as good or better , but parts can be a hassle . I still shoot Bullseye & have 2 . One for 45acp & one for 38special . Rifle ammo gets loaded on an old Rockchucker & odd ball handgun stuff on a Redding turret press . I can load 10K rounds on a 1050 in a couple of days taking my sweet time . If you're a high volume shooter , load for a group / club then the costs are worth it .

If that is true that's a kill shot right there.

A 1050 costs $1640 in the latest in Blue Press. If you can can afford press and components, why not pay for repair parts?

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S&WHF 366

Bob, it is the truth. Commercial rated machine, no free parts.

Of course, you can load 1200 rounds an hour and should you start to sell your premium ammo, you can pay for another complete 1050 in a little time!

I have actually thought about doing that but the BATFE is just too uptight. I don't like the boundry zone of selling off personal stock to doing it as a side business. But I like loading almost as much as I like shooting. So I will be making a LOT of ammo as soon as I go progressive. I make quite a bit on my turret press now. The same amount of time making 4x or more... wow... That would be some ammo... (lost in dreams of swimming through the brass....)

Bob,
Believe me, I understand completely!

IMO, cost & complexity. If you only load for one caliber, then getting one & leaving it setup for that makes sense. They are a smooth & fast running machine. Something else to consider, Dillon does NOT give you the lifetime no BS warranty on the 1050. A 650 w/ bullet feeder is faster than a 1050 w/o & for less money & lifetime warranty.

I currently have two SDB's one set up for .38 special the other for 9mm. I will own a 1050 in the near future for the ability to adjust primer depth on the .38 loads.

Tom

The 1050 is most probably a truly great machine but you really need to keep your wits about you with the machine loading that much ammo per hour. The 1050 is fast and takes serious faith for a noobie to be dabbling with.

There are competition shooters shooting and practicing with 30,000 to 50,000 rounds a year, some maybe even more. They need to really make ammo if a factory team is not supplying them with new loaded ammo.

__________________
NRA Pistol/Rifle Inst. RSO

I've currently got a pair of 550's that have been near flawless for a dozen yrs now.

Also loaded many thousands of .223 on a RL1000 25+ yrs back for a commercial loader buddy of mine. Had the machine in my basement, and tried to do 1K per day, or 10K per week. while I was a underpaid cop trying to make ends meet.

I did that for two years...so know the RL1000 pretty well.

The ONLY issues I can recall with that machine was one had to be mindful of the primer mechanism...and keep it clean. If you kept the entire machine CLEAN...and the primer station stuck you quickly noticed flakes of H335 on the press...and knew a primer was missing, etc.

The newer 1050 took care of a few of the deficiencies of the early 1000's.

THE biggest feature of the commercial Dillons; PRIMER POCKET SWAGING. If a guy doesn't really need that feature. I'd say a 650 with a case feeder would probably be your best bet.

FN in MT

All very good info but I just cast the dice on a new Hornady LnL AP from Graf. I just can't see spending all that money and have no coverage. I just didn't care for the 550's manual indexing or the cost and complexity of the 650's caliber conversions. If the 1050 had the same coverage as the rest I think I would have bit.

Maximumbob54,

I'm sure the Hornady LNL Progressive will serve you well.
Depending upon what you purchased, you may have to order extra Quick Change Bushings, as I believe only 3 come with the press.

The RCBS LOCK OUT DIE is probably a better choice for safety over the Hornady Powder Cop Die. The Powder Cop is only a visual, and you must be watching it EVERY round. The RCBS will LOCK the press up if the powder charge is out of range.

You can choose to mount to the bench edge directly, use a 550B Dillon Strong Mount (it must be spaced up 2" for the LNL to clear the bench) or build your own mount depending upon the height you prefer to work at.

Rust-eolum "Regal Red" paint is the closest matching to Hornady Red if you would need any.

Ultimatereloader.com makes Roller Handles, Cartridge Boxes, and a floor mount stand (he also posted the drawing on his site for you to self build it).

Powderfunnels.com makes a 1 size for all expander to replace the different Hornady expanders. (it was $25)

The used primers are ejected into plastic tubing that you can place into a coffee can, empty peanut butter jar, water bottle, or a waste basket.

Get Shell Holder #45 that's 45 ACP specific if you load that caliber.

__________________
NRA Pistol/Rifle Inst. RSO

I had a reloading business for 22 years. I bought one of the first Dillon Loaders that Mike Dillon produced. The serial number on it was 121. It was made completely out of STAINLESS STEEL. I bought it in 1979 and gave $2300.00 for it. I think that must have been about 6 months wages back then.

Now on the Dillon 1050. When I closed my reloading business back in 1999, I had 4 Dillon 1050's and 1 Dillon 550. YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT BUY A BETTER MACHINE THAN A DILLON. Some guys don't know this, YES, Dillon does have a LIFETIME GURARANTEE, "EXCEPT" on the Dillon 1050, NO GUARANTEE BECAUSE HE CONSIDERS THAT A COMMERCIAL RELOADER. I used to be able to load 1000 rds. of 9mm in
40 minutes. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at this email address: [email protected]..

I have a friend who will only use 1050s. He has a 1050 set up for every load he and his two shooter sons use. He never changes anything on the press once it's setup and ready to load. He does it this way because he CAN and it eliminates variability when any one of them sits down to load.

However, the ultimate reason is the reduction in wear and tear on your arm/elbow is critically important over the years. I once loaded a thousand rounds of .45ACP in a very short time. A day or two later my right arm literally went dead so I could barely use it. 1050s tend to minimize that kind of problem.

__________________
Bob.
SWCA 1821

i have 2 1050s, 2 650s and 1 550. i load alot of ammo and i shoot alot. i will tell you from my experience that the 550 and 650 are great machines but the 1050 is the cats meow. i have broken alot of parts on my one of my 650s but it had a huge amount of ammo loaded through it and i bought that one used. the other 650 i bought new in the begining of this year and have about 40,000 rounds of 38spl through it, its broken about 6 parts so far. my 1050s have never let me down so far but i havent loaded as much ammo through them yet. i bought both of these machines used from a guy that loaded commercially. i have one set up in large pistol and the other in small. if you get a 650 set up with everything then 1050 really isnt much more money. but on the other hand the 1050 cost more for conversion kits and tool heads so it might not be the best for someone who loads mulitple calibers. to me the 1050 is more machine than i need for what i do but i would rather have it that way than use something that just suits what i need and break it often. i still wouldnt trade my 1050s for anything, my other dillons maybe be hitting the road here shortly. thats just my experience though

I have lusted after a 1050 for several years, set up to run .223 and 9mm, It was the primer pocket swager that perked my interest.
I have the Dillon primer pocket swager but always thought it would be nice to have one as part of the machine.

I am currently running two 650's and a 550b.

What makes me shy away from the 1050 is the problems I have had with the 650 w/CF. Several broken parts, replaced free, thank you Dillon.
My 550b has had probably 350,000 ++ rds through it without any problems, or broken parts.

I was always concerned that if the 650 was having these problems the 1050 would be a "bear" to keep running.

__________________
Semper FI

I have three. Dillon has replaced any broken parts free. They know I am not commercial and I don't have a power-drive on mine. If I lose a part, I pay. I would never let the guarantee make my decision.
As far as I can see, Hornady and RCBS are just as good as Dillon about fixing/replacing parts for free. They all seem to have a "no BS" warranty.
The problem with all Dillon's is the cost and time to switch calibers is higher than the Hornady.
Personally, for my way of loading, the only two presses that I have been happy with are the Hornady L-N-L and the Dillon 1050 (RL or Super).

+1
I am reasonably mechanical, but when I got my 550 B, the set up took me a while. There is a lot happening when you pull the handle and getting the adjustments right takes a bit of time.
It is nothing like everything that is happening on a 1050.

If you like screwing and unscrewing bolts and can actually follow a manual or watch and learn using the DVD, the press is not that much more complicated.
You have 8 stations and two are absolutely fixed. If you work with each station by itself, you will very quickly figure it out.
If not, you call Dillon and they walk you through it.
Heck, call them up and arrange to buy one at the store and get a tour of the plant. For $1650, you might as well go there and have them go through using your very own press.
If you get one, you sure won't look back and say; "If only..."

I was in the reloading business for 22 years. My first progressive was a DILLON RL1000. This machine was made from STAINLESS STEEL. My serial number was 121. It was bought in 1979. At one time Mike Dillon wanted to buy it back from me. But, I kept it. In the 1980's when Mike came out with the 1050's, I sold my RL1000, LIKE A FOOL. I then used 4 DILLON 1050's for my reloading business. ALMOST ABSOLUTELY NO TROUBLE WITH ANY OF THE MACHINES. That was when Mike still had a lifetime guarantee on the 1050. If anything would happen to break I could have the part in about 3 days. IN MY OPINION THERE IS NO LOADER OUT THERE THAT EVEN GETS CLOSE TO A DILLON 1050. I COULD PUMP OUT 1000 ROUNDS OF 9MM IN 40 MINUTES WITH NO TROUBLE AT ALL. I SOLD EVERYTHING I HAD AND WHEN "O-BOMB-MA" TOOK OVER I STARTED BUYING UP ALL THE DILLON STUFF I SOLD. EVERYTHING I OWN IS DILLON. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM THEY CAN FIX IT OVER THE PHONE IN JUST A FEW MINUTES. If you would like to know more give DILLON a call at 1-800-223-4570 and ask for ERIC HARVEY and tell him JOHN FROSS sent you and he will really take care of you....
THANKS.................CookE

I might suggest that you have a LIABILITY POLICY just in case something goes wrong. I think the NRA sells reloading insurance policies now, but I'm not sure about that....CookE

I had no intention of starting a thread just to abandon it, but I have even less intentions of ever selling ammo. I don’t even feel like bothering to research how much profit I would need just to cover the permits, fees, and lawyer flavored paperwork. I just was looking for some info about the 1050 since it gets little to no mention. The 550 gets the most talk, followed by the 650, but it’s a rare post to find chat about the big 1050. I’m going to punk out and admit that I just don’t get the idea of the setup, the massive cost without coverage, and the fact that there are a couple of options that allow you to load about as fast. All that speed still gets held back with the loading of powder, primers, bullets, and cases. I think when the 1050 was the only game in town it must have wore the big boy pants proud. But days I think it may be showing some age in design and cost. I have no doubt that like any Dillon product that it does its job very well, but the cost of setup and no coverage is a pretty big deal killer for me. Once I save up for the case feeder for my LNL AP, I think I’m going to be even more pleased with my red press. I would have bought the 650 before even thinking about that 1050 once I learned about the no coverage.

The range of progressive presses that I would consider buying are:
Hornady L-N-L
Dillon RL1050/Super 1050.
SDB is a dead end.
550 is a 4-station manual-index, where I would only consider a 5-station auto-index. Plus, when I used one, I concluded that I really wanted a case feeder.
650 absolutely requires a case feeder. Since I never felt the need for one with my Hornady, I consider this press to be too expensive for consideration.
Pro 1000: 3-stations? Get serious.
LoadMaster: I don't have the patience and don't have the mechanical-inclination to try it.
RCBS--I have never seen one or touched one. It might be fantastic, but I have no idea what it could do that the Hornady couldn't do at least as well.
Dillon 1050 is the only press I would have. They replaced my Hornady.
Sorry, but I am not a control freak/OCD. I want auto-indexing and I want a station for an RCBS Lock-Out die or a special expander die. Always prefer to have a minimum of 5-stations.
Originally, when I bought my first Hornady (Pro-Gressive, Pro-7, Pro-something), the standard die sets pretty much meant you had to set up as follows:
1) size/deprime
2) expander (powder-through expanders did not exist)
3) charge case manually (no case-activated measures existed)
4) bullet seater
5) crimp.
In fact, the RCBS die set at the time consisted of a sizing die, an expander/deprime die, and a seating/crimp die. Needless to say, that die set was not useful when you had a progressive press (which may have been about 0.001% of all reloaders at the time).
At the time, I believe Dillon had a 4-station and Hornady came out with a 5-station.
My needs may not be your needs and we can all load great ammunition.

If someone dropped a 1050 on my doorstep, I wouldn't turn it away but my 650 works well for me. I do crave a case feeder though I use range brass and hand feeding does give me one last shot at inspection. I may take the leap anyway.
I didn't know about the 1050 being considered commercial = no lifetime warranty thing. Interesting ...