Hello guys, I have been toying with the idea of getting s dillion, mostly likely the 650. In doing so I have asked myself the question: Is a dillion right for me?

I shot usually around 300 rounds a weekend maybe 500 at the most. Mostly 9mm with 38 being the second most consumed caliber with 45 and 357 behind them.

As far as rifle loads go, anything for my bolt guns, I will continue to usu a single stage press for. But I wouldn't mind getting into loading for my AR type rifles.

So I'm asking do look into one of the other, less expensive, progressive leaders, or does my use justify the need for a dillion?

I must note that I do enjoy reloading and that the time spent at the loader is considered but isn't a big deal. I just want to be a little more efficient then with a single stage press.

Thanks

the answer to that question is always yes. The 650 is a great machine, might a bit overkill for you. The 550 will do everything you need and then some, just a little slower than a 650.

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Plastic has no soul

I would also consider a Hornady LNL Progressive. I have two and love them.

Buy what you want; "need" seldom has much to do with the gun or handloading endeavors.

Dillon is right for you IF
You like throwing money at a problem or issue
You like to buy gadgets like LED lights , roller handle , and steal mount
You don’t like to change primer sizes, just buy another press
You dislike filling primer tubes but like to spend $300 to do it for you

See the humor, don’t be a hater

I have a 550B which I like a lot. Now that I've had a few years experience with it, I think I should have gotten the 650. Not changing now though. Never had to get any service but I hear Dillon is really good about it.

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Foster Positivity.

I happen to have 2 or 3 650s and a 1050 or two...and a 550 I have never used. I load handgun on the 650s and 223 on one also. To be honest I do not load 9mm...Yes you can save a little reloading it but in the scheme of things it is the least necessary to load. I can buy it at times on sale at under 8 dollars a box. The 650 is a good machine and has few problems, inherent in the machine anyway. good savings on the 38 and also on 223. The only bad thing about reloading any ammo is that we usually just shoot more for the same amount of cash outlay.. BTW buying a Dillon you will not lose any appreciable amount of money if you ever decide to sell it..the same can not be said about other progressive presses..either in green or red

Buy the Dillon, enjoy it for 20 years, sell it for more than you paid for it. Win-Win-Win

As for which one to get, and for a treasure trove on all things Dillon, Google "Brian Enos" and take a look at the thread about "Which Dillon" in the "Reloading FAQ's" section of Reloading.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

I have only owned Dillon ( a sdb, and now a 550 B) so I don't know about any other. I'm sure they are OK. For me it's the 550 B. You can set up a 550 cheaper than a 650. The 650 caliber conversions are around $30 more. The 550 is a manual index where the 650 is a auto-index. Do a lot of research, talk to other people, and I'm sure you will find one you like.

I have loaded on a lot of presses starting in 1973. For my money it's the Dillon ones. I have 4 550B ones and 12 toolheads, each with their own powder measure. I load several calibers and variations of some of them. I had a Square Deal for a while, but didn't care too much for it. I would say you will probably do best with a 550 or 650. I like the 550s because they don't auto index. It's easier to fix a problem when something happens. The 650s are good though. I have several friends with those and they are happy with them.

Interesting comparison of progressive presses.

dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf

This must be a trick question.

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Still Running Against the Wind

I realize that I will no doubt face the wrath of every Dillon owner on here but here goes anyway. I shoot about the same amount as you. Also shooting 9mm, .357 magnum, .40S&W, and .45acp. I rely on a Lee 4 station turret press. Working at a semi-casual but steady pace I can crank out on average about 180 rounds an hour. My press is set up with the Lee primer feeder and autodisc powder dropper. Total cost for all those things comes to about $175. Of course like most things we want, need often doesn't even figure into it. If you really want the Dillon you probably won't be happy unless you buy it.

Very true, also the 550 is a simpler machine with fewer parts to get out of adjustment. With your round count get the 550 and spend the money you save on brass, primers, bullets etc.

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Can my S&W Mdl 10 shoot +P

Short answer is yes 650 might look like overkill but you also get 1 extra station compared to 550. I have both and use both. Caliber conversions are much cheaper for 550 ($48 vs $80).

I've only owned Dillon. Started with a 550, bought a used 1050, then sold the 550 and replaced it with a 650. All have been great.

Word of advice that I give everyone contemplating a progressive. Get one that you can use a powder check die with, you can't have one on a 550. There is going to come a time when you will get an over/under charge, the check die will catch it. It's not "IF" but "WHEN".

I've owned several different brands and still use a Lee Turret for small runs of assorted calibers. My main loader is a 650 and I could not be happier. Works great with very little problems over many thousands of rounds. Customer service is 2nd to none. They even replaced a lot of parts at no charge when I had a primer ignite inside the primer tube and messed up the entire primer assembly. I was certainly glad for the steel outer casing around the primer tube as well! Set up was a breeze and the few times I've had a concern, the Dillon reps took time to walk me through everything and seemed happy to do so.

I bought my Dillon RL 450 35 years ago. Upgraded parts over time. So its like a 550 w/o tool bar. Six pistol and 4 rifle calibers. I do not prime or powder drop rifle on the Dillon.
The parts kit is handy for springs and such.
Easy to take care of.
Way back I was shooting 600 or so a week. Mostly .45 ACP and .38 Spl.
I still shoot a lot and it has not failed me.

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"from my cold dead hands" C.H.

I have loaded on a Dillon 450 (1981) upgraded to 550 with auto eject, primer feed, and powder measure. I also have a Dillon 550 set-up for large primer with the same features. I will load between 300 and 5,000 rounds at a time for myself.

I also load center fire pistol ammo at an indoor range 1 or 2 days per week depending on their sales. They have 2 Dillon 650 machines. We will load 1,000 to 1,500 rounds up to 4 days per week. The Dillon 650 is a fantastic auto-index machine with a complicated primer mechanism and case feeder. When it is running smoothly with perfectly sorted brass, you can load 100 rounds in about 8 minutes. Then the primer tube needs to refilled. Your speed is limited to how fast you can place a bullet on the case mouth to seat the bullet.

The down side is a brass jam at the case feeder -- remember perfectly sorted brass? A flipped primer or other primer problem -- remember perfectly sorted brass? A broken decapping pin on your sizer die -- remember perfectly sorted brass (Berdan primed brass is a no - no!)? Crimped primer pockets don't work either ! ! ! ! The bottom line is I wouldn't buy a Dillon 650 at any price. If I was given to me, I would sell it immediately. But, I'm keeping my D450 and D550 forever.

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S&WHF 366

1.How much time do you have to reload?
2. Do you like to reload?

I have a 30 year old 450 that was not much used then but was kind of dirty. I deep cleaned it, lubed etc. Dillon send me all I needed to basically own a 550 now. It runs like a brand new machine and came together really nicely. Super powder drop. I have a light installed and visually inspect every case for powder charge before setting the bullet.

I disagree with the notion that the new 550 is expensive as the package on offer for less that 500 has everything you need with it. It is a super machine and customer case is the best.

I would not mess with any other machine and then ending up with a dillon eventually anyway...

love mine and loading about 300 rounds of 9mm every weekend. In addition I load a good amount of other revolver calibers..

Rifle is better on my old rock chucker.

If you have to ask, then the answer is generally "no". Not everyone shoots 1000 rounds per week and needs the reloading capability of a 650, and not everyone can justify buying blue.

I shoot between 300 and 500 rounds per week too, either .45 ACP or 9mm. Every month I also shoot 80 - 150 .38 Special and every few months I'll go through 100 - 150 44/40 and the same number of .357 Magnum lite rounds in a CAS shoot. I do all of my reloading on Lee Pro 1000's but seperate the sizing/decapping, repriming and reloading processes by using one turret set up for resizing and a second for reloading (with a factory crimp die in the spare turret position) while repriming by hand.

A Dillon would clearly be quicker for me but I would not have the quality control I like when repriming using a hand primer. A 550 would allow me to reload 500 rounds in about 90 minutes total. A 650 in about 45 minutes. But I would have to spend half an hour changing calibers each time where I now have 3 Pro 1000's set up (.45, 9mm and 38/357/38 S&W) plus extra turrets and shell plates for 44/40 and .32 auto) for the cost of a single Dillon 550. And a 650 would be overkill.

About once a month I think of upgrading to blue, but simply cannot justify the expense.

But this is just my position.

If expense is not a consideration then look at the 550 option with additional tool heads, but my experience is if you have to ask then you either already know it is not for you, or you are looking to justify the outlay.

Edit:

Since posting this 90 minutes ago I have gone out to my reloading room, reset my powder measure for my 9mm (I decided I needed another .2 gn powder in each case after my first tests with a new powder) and then reloaded 420 sized and primed .45 APC cases after first placing a spare powder drum in the powder measure on my .45 press and adjusting it for a new load (I now currently have four different .45 loads for different bullet weights, powders and disciplines).

Take 10 minutes for each powder measure adjustment which leaves 420 cases reloaded in less than 1 1/4 hours.

No, I do not need a Dillon. But that's just me.

I have plenty of time to reload but you at least want a progressive loading that much ammo. I know I would.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

My friend bought a Lee turret press. I went over with another friend who was setting it up for him. By the time they got it working, and saw how it worked and how it was made, I couldn't stay around and watch anymore!
It just looked poorly designed and the priming system was at best clumsy.

OK, I am biased. I had a Dillon 450 for several years, sold it to a friend and bought a 550B about 28 years ago. I have loaded a lot of .38 Special target loads, .45 ACP and .44 Special and Magnum on it and a few rifle calibers. I like the manual shell plate and it is easy to use, and easy to correct if a primer goes in sideways or a bullet does not seat properly. It is a very well built solid machine.
Also, there is no better service available. I recently chipped the leading edge on a shell plate because I did not put the pins in the tool head. They sent me a new shell plate, free, even though it was oversight in changing the toolhead.

I wouldn't buy anything but a Dillon and would prefer the 550, now the C model, as the caliber change parts are less expensive.

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

It depends on how much time you want to devote to loading those 300 rounds a week.

It depends on whether you really shoot 300 rounds every week, or if you don't bother if it's too cold, too rainy, too hot, etc.

It depends on if you actually want to be disciplined in your reloading schedule. I could comfortably produce that much on my Lee turret, spending an hour twice a week, but I don't want to be bothered having to stick to a schedule.

If I were in your boat, I'd probably go for a Dillon, but I'd look for somebody who'd let me try their 550 first before jumping to a 650. Or even a Hornady or RCBS progressive. If you're legit shooting 300 rounds a week, than the press is rather cheap compared to your annual shooting budget.

It actually works just fine, once you learn how to use it. I've broken 200 round/hr on a Lee turret, with that "clumsy" priming system...without letting a single primer hit the floor.

Most people buy it, haphazardly set it up, ham-fist the priming lever button, and then complain when they spill primers. Does it take a little technique? Sure. It also costs less than $30.

No wrath, just fact: I've seen a lot of Lee owners (including myself) switch from Lee to Dillon, but I've never seen anyone switch from Dillon to Lee. Lee makes some very good products, such as their hand primer, universal decapping die and their turret press. But there is no comparison when it comes to progressive presses.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

Because Dillons go for two to three times as much as a Lee? And nobody's going to buy a Dillon, decide they spent too much, and take even more of a hit by selling their now-used Dillon to buy a cheaper press?

That said, two things:

(1) If I was going to splash out on a progressive, I'd go with the Dillon. Anything else just wouldn't be enough of an upgrade over the turret's convenience.

(2) If you're just getting started in reloading, and have to buy everything, including a bench, upgrading from a Lee Classic Turret to a Dillon 650 with basic equipment is only a few hundred bucks out of a rather large budget.

For the record: I had a Dillon Square deal that was always giving me grief with primer and jamming issues. It was also limited on available dies and changing over calibers was a PITA. I went to the Lee Classic Turret Press a good decade ago and have been 100% happy. Not only more flexible but it gives me more control of the process and 3 minute caliber changes. That said, I don't shoot near 1/2 the 300 rounds/week mentioned on average so the 150 +/- rnds/hr the LCT produces is fine. If I did, I would likely (reluctantly) move back to a progressive ( but not a Lee Progressive.)

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Dave

If you are going to go progressive, reloading, not politically, get the Dillon. The Lock N Load is unreliable in my opinion. I am not familiar with the new RCBS system, but their Pro 2000 was actually a pretty good system. It was just way over priced. The Lee stuff is kinda for the get off my lawn crowd. But, you don't reload for spite.

To the original poster. Your original question was "Is a Dillon right for me". Do you always shoot 300 rounds per week. If you compete or something where you have no choice and it needs to be done then maybe the Lee isn't for you. Even though I will shoot usually about 300 to 350 rounds when I head out into the woods it is to enjoy myself and relax as much as anything else. I may not hit every weekend but will pretty consistently shoot about 10,000 rounds a year. Every year. If I have something else going on during the week and don't have the time to reload that many rounds it's no big deal for me. I suppose that if I HAD to load that many rounds each week regardless of anything else that was going on in my life then maybe I would consider a progressive press. With regards to the Lee quality. Almost every disparaging review you will read regarding them will be from somebody who "heard something" or who "knew a guy". Honestly, most people (who are capable of following simple instructions in english) who own Lee presses are happy with their performance. I'm not a rocket scientist but after a 15 minute setup time I had my press and all it's add on's working perfectly. Years and literally tens of thousands of rounds later I feel it's one of the best shooting investments I have made over the years. My personal feeling is that if you cannot set up a Lee Turret press to work correctly then you should probably avoid reloading all together. Of course nobodies going to be impressed by it so that's probably something to consider. If I were offered a Dillon I would gladly accept it because obviously they are a good machine. Just understand that I am simply trying to answer the OP's original question. And to be fair, not everyone needs a press that costs hundreds of dollars just to run it for 30 minutes a week. Especially if it can be done for about a fourth of the cost and still satisfies the op's needs.

Having two of the Lock N Loads and loading well over 1000 rounds a week with each of them, I have to disagree with this statement vehemently. Any press -- Hornady, Dillon, RCBS or Lee -- will function well if properly maintained.

And Midsouth is selling the Lock N Load for $350 right now....

I have a Lee turret press and yes it does work alright. I have had Lee progressives also and they just aren't worth the effort to use. And I do know how to run a progressive. I was a P-W dealer repair person for lots of years. Most progressive press problems are user errors for the most part...except with the Lee's. The main reason I have progressive machines is return for time invested. I reloaded more than a 1/4 million shotshells on Mec single stage machines. And I could surpass 225 an hour...but you can't keep that pace up indefinitely. I got a P-W progressive and could maintain more than 500 an hour for 3 or 4 hours at a time. 7-900 for short periods of time. A large time saving over any other machines. I have a couple of Dillon 1050s. I use one to load twice a year in 45 auto. Yeah..expensive presses but easily load 600 an hour for a good period of time without being in a big hurry. My 650s with no hurry an easy 500 an hour. The initial cost of the press is not even a consideration to me. With my Dillon, Star and Spolar equipment I will never lose any money on the investment. So the main reason I have the progressives is for the time savings and the quality of the ammo. Then I retire them until I get low on ammo again. After all these years of reloading I do not enjoy reloading to any great degree...except for the smaller quantities of rifle and seldom shot handgun ammo. I am just starting to load 222 Remington and 204 for the P dog shooting. Have a small(1000 or so) dog town sprung up here on the ranch I need to reduce the herd on. Daughter likes shooting them too. And that ammo is fun to roll. Loading them with a Redding T8 turret press. A really nice press.

Buy once cry once. Get the dillon and never look back

I used a RCBS Rock chicken for probably 30 years. I was given a used LEE pro 1000 progressive press setup for 45 acp. I found it out of time. I fixed that. I ran 1,000 of 45acp in no time. I was in heaven. I had the change to purchased all the die plates and shell holders for all my calibers. It’s my goal to have these pre set on the shelf so I can switch calibers in a heart beat. I purchased two more Lee pro 1000 so I can load 45acp, in one, 357:,38, 9mm in another, 41,44, 45lc in another. I purchased the Lee master progressive press for 308/30-06. I purchased the Lee turret press for 6,5 Swede, 7mm Mauser, 303 Britt, 444 marlin.

I plan on fabricating a eight sided indexing reloading table to mount all the presses. I’m old school, I decap my brass, pre polish my brass, then clean the primer pocket, resize the brass, length size the brass, then final polish it, then prime it, then run it through the progressive press.

If your going to progressive presses do it right. I hate being handcuffed to a press for days on end. I like to pump out the ammo and shoot it up again.

My dad worked for Remington arms in bpt,ct. as a repair, prototype machinest. He repaired the machines that made ammo. I worked for the Bullard co were I built machines like 36” to 144” vt lathes and Bullard multimatic chuckers. Chuckers can turn anything round and drill too. But scale it down to make a automatic bullet reloading machine. I was designing it with my dad when he passed away. I was working on a indexing table with all the die holders, a case length trimmer, primer decap per, primer pocket cleaner, bullet charger and assembler. It’s not hard to build. Fully automatic just feed the primers, cases, powders and bullets.

The last chuckers I built weight 65,000lb. For Kelsey Hayes gunite. They made trailer truck brake drums from a rough casting to a finish product drilled ready to install on the truck.

My thoughts were wouldn’t it be nice to have a fully automatic reloaded?

The answer to your question is a definite yes.I too shoot between 15K and 20K/year.
I'd go with either the 550 if like me you don't like the auto index or,if you don't mind it,go with the 650.
Why go with Dillon?Yes,they are more costly than Lee but they last and last.My RL 300 dates back from '82 and I've never ever had a single problem with it.I can't say so much about my Square Deal B.But Dillon has always been there to send the parts to cure my problems and always with a smile and at no charge.
They stand behind their product.

My suggestion about the Lee turret press was not to say it is better than, or even as good as, the much more expensive Dillon machines. Only to point out that the Lee turret is probably as much press as MOST people would ever need. I have no problems keeping up with 10k rounds per year. If I was shooting 20k then yeah, I would probably buy a progressive. I don't see myself ever going through 20,000 rounds a year though and I doubt there are really that many who do.

If you can afford the Dillon press go for it. The time we save with a progressive press is awesome.

I have a question. You do know that Hornady has the same rebuild policy that Dillon has, don't you? But has anyone ever heard of anyone sending their Hornady in for a rebuild? Now, do you cry for the second time when you have to send in your Dillon for a rebuild while us Hornady users keep cranking out the rounds?
Do you cry when you finally realize that Dillon requires another company to complete their press by building a bullet feeder for them? Or do you cry when you set up a stand-alone press side by side a Dillon and a Hornady the Hornady will easily make more ammo at the same time as a Dillon? And when you add a case feeder to the mix they will make the same amount of ammo? But when you add the bullet feeder the Dillon once more falls far behind.

I guess the Hornady is a decent machine... Better than a Dillon?? Probably not. My dealings with Hornady customer service is kind of spotty. Some of the people ae good...some not so. As far as their case feeder ..it seems to be a bit poorly made copy of the Dillon.. The bullet feeder is not even close to the quality of a Mr Bulletfeeder...so for about 100 dollars more I will have a good casefeeder and a great bullet feeder with my 650. Not trying to start a flame war. I have a couple of the Hornady machines and am still trying to decide if their 2 stage advance is better than the Dillon. Seems good but all my experience from the past since the 60s progressive machines I have had were of the "normal" mode. Both machines will make good ammo. one better than the other?? Nah not really. But when it comes to the end of the day...a used Dillon will usually fetch what you paid...or more. Not so with the Hornady. I have a couple of Hornady's machines right now...soon to be none. But I am reducing the herd of my reloading presses...Not even keeping my old Pacific Super Mags or even the RCBS A2s

I bought a Dillon 450 when I was shooting IPSC. Needed more so I got a Hornaday. Bought another Dillon and gave the hornaday away. Called Dillon about upgrading the 450's and Dillon sent the parts free including freight. Just can't beat Dillons customer service. No other company treats You like Dillon.

Amazing that no one ever mentions the RCBS Progressive presses?

Yes, they are expensive but so are Dillons.

Who actually makes the Bullet Feeder for Dillon?

The only reason these love fest threads do not continue on the actual Dillon forum is it would be preaching to the choir.

Contrary to some folks beliefs, ammo is loaded on other brands and types of presses. Hard to believe I know.

What happened to the OP is he still around?

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Still Running Against the Wind

Resistance is futile. Dillon will assimilate you !

In all serious, there is a reason most high volume uspsa competitors use dillon. They just work and work well with minimum fiddle factor.

And I am not disputing the above statement but there is another reason.. Dillon was out there before most of the other presses at a reasonable price. And Mike Dillon had a great idea on innovative customer service..yep Dillon gives a lot away for free...but they established a following that way. Even RCBS changed their customer service model. So Dillon had a leg up..If Hornady or RCBS had been firstest with the mostest...It would probably be the other way. Marketing is the name of the game..

Once again. reloading "machines" are not Dillons main business, It is a side business. They can afford to make top quality stuff and warranty everything due to the Government Contracts they have for those nifty Mini Guns.

That is where the money is! The presses are made out of scrap parts from those guns

https://dillonaero.com/our-products/

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Still Running Against the Wind

If you own a Dillon you are required to drop the Dillon name at every time possible
You can no longer say “I reloaded ammo last night”. You must say something like “ I reloaded 10000 rounds on my DILLON last night”
Every time you make a comment about reloading or ammo you MUST drop the name
A discussion on brand of brass. It lasts for 14 reloads on my DILLON!

Plus you must chant the "mantra"

"Buy Once, Cry Once"

I don't understand that at all?. If it is the greatest why cry? They are not that expensive and if fret about paying the price then you shouldn't have bought it

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Still Running Against the Wind

The Lee turret press and Pro 1000 has come up a few times in this thread. I have no experience with the turret, but don't doubt it is a good value for the money and will do just fine... I do have experience with the Pro 1000, worst *** I have ever had the misfortune of attempting to use. If yours works well enough to load some ammo that is great. Mine was from the early 90's and I GAVE it away with an apology to my buddy and advice to junk it and get a Dillon... Your results may vary, but that buddy never really talked to me much after that...

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Plastic has no soul

Yea, it's kind of opposite of "Fight Club"
I guess if you own a Dillon the 1st rule is "You DO talk about Dillon"

Because they work with a minimum of fiddle! I have owned others and that has proven true in my case but it is still a somewhat free country so whatever floats your boat