PULLED THE TRIGGER ON A NEW DILLON PRESS YESTERDAY

chief38

chief38

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I posted a thread a few weeks ago when I used one of my friends Dillon XL650's to reload some .45 Colt and on Monday I went back to his house and loaded up another 600 rounds. Well, I was so enamored by this machine I decided to order one for myself! I got it with the Auto Case Feeder and all the other accouterments and will have it here in about a week.

I had been using the Dillon Square Deal for many years and was always very happy with it, but over the years I have come to hate reloading as it is boring, tedious and and chore-like to me. The reason I liked the XL650 press so much is that is is about 3 times faster, much easier to use, takes a whole lot less effort, and basically gets me out of my reloading room a whole lot faster. I sold my SD-B within minutes after posting a notice at our local Shooting Club and am now exited about getting and assembling the new press.

IMHO there is NO BETTER customer service department than the fellas at Dillon Precision and they have always come through 100% of the time. I have an RCBS Rock Chucker, 10-10 scale, Powder Measure etc. also and their Customer Service Dept. is also very fine, but the folks at Dillon "wrote the book"!
 
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Kinda like I road my buddys Harley or shot a friends S&W once you have you will never be happy with less than the best!! GO BLUE!!!
 
If you wanted speed why didn't you go all the way to the 1050? Keep the bins topped up and crank 'em out! 'Course it ain't blue.
 
Only one thing to say:

images-3.jpg


:cool:
 
Very happy with my Dillon 550B!!!
Many years of service,minor problems,operator mostly.Nothing serious.


bobo1699
 
I've loaded 600 rounds of .38 Super on my new XL650 and the only two screw-ups were of my own doing. I didn't get the case feeder (I'm in no hurry; I just wanted to subject my arthritic shoulder to fewer rotations) but I am buying four extra toolheads with powder measures and powder level sensors. Changing calibers is a little involved and having those will make the changeover a good bit easier.

All I can say is "What's not to like?"

Ed
 
Pecos Bill said:
If you wanted speed why didn't you go all the way to the 1050? Keep the bins topped up and crank 'em out! 'Course it ain't blue.
Click to expand...

Funny you should mention that. Another one of my friends bought a 1050 just last week and I went over to look at it. Yes, it is a very impressive and well built machine, however the ONLY real advantage I see of the 1050 over the 650 is the fact that it has a special swaging station for Military brass. Since I have no interest in using the Dillon for loading rifle cartridges the 1050 offers me no real advantage. In fact.......... the caliber conversions are RIDICULOUSLY expensive for the 1050 - close to $500 each caliber if I am not mistaken, and the press itself is also quite pricy. AFAIK when used for pistol cartridges as long as you have the case feeder attached, the 1050 is no faster than the 650.
 
I have used and owned several Dillon presses. The one part of them I didn't like was the case feeder. It's very much like the old Star I had with a case feeder and does occasionally allow a case to feed upside down and will occasionally get jammed. Since it is so high it can be a pain to clear in mid cycle. Other than that I have always liked Dillon's stuff.
 
I'm starting to wish there was a station in my LNL AP for swagging the primer pocket before priming. I'm seeing a LOT of crimped primer pockets these days. .357, 9mm, .40, and more. I've read it has something to do with the new "green" lead free primers backing out easier than the regular primers. I don't know how that would be different with them sticking in the pocket but either way there is way more brass out there than when I started that has crimped pockets. It wouldn't be such a big deal but some of it isn't as obvious as the usual military brass with massive crimp marks. This is really the biggest reason I see to ever getting the 1050 over anything else. But despite being a member of team red stuff I do agree the 650 is a heck of a machine. I never did get to use one with the case feeder though so I'm curious of the difference in that one and the one Hornady option.
 
flintsghost said:
I have used and owned several Dillon presses. The one part of them I didn't like was the case feeder. It's very much like the old Star I had with a case feeder and does occasionally allow a case to feed upside down and will occasionally get jammed. Since it is so high it can be a pain to clear in mid cycle. Other than that I have always liked Dillon's stuff.
Click to expand...

Can't comment on what was, but I have loaded over 1,000 rounds on two occasions within the last month (on friends 650's) with NO ISSUES at all regarding the case feeders. They worked flawlessly.

Mine should be here tomorrow according to Fedex Tracking. - - - OH BOY! Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow........ :)
 
If you bought the setup DVD, watching it before you start assembling the press will save you a lot of confusion. Then watch it while setting the loader up, pausing it as needed. It's a lot better than the printed manual and seeing what the guy assembling and adjusting it does helps a lot, too.

Take your time. My son and I spent about three hours mounting it on my bench, assembling it, adjusting the powder measure's powder drop and case mouth expansion and the bullet seating and crimping dies. A time-saver is making some dummy rounds on your old loader - it makes setting the last two dies really quick.

I changed mine over from one cartridge to another for the first time yesterday. I had to change everything as I was going from a smaller case (.38 Super) to a larger one (.45ACP) and from small primers to large, so everything had to be changed. I also bought quick-change kits (toolheads with a powder measure to which I added a low-powder alarm) for each of my calibers and had to assemble and adjust them. Total time required was about three hours but form now on the top end will be a five-second operation.

On the plus side, I loaded 500 rounds of .45ACP without a case feeder in three and a half hours and that was taking my time. If I had done that with my RCBS RockChucker Supreme, I would still be loading shells and would have ice packs on my arthritic shoulder, wrist and finger joints!

First and foremost - UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKS! That makes everything easier and the DVD really helps with that.

Tip: When adjusting the powder measure, be sure to push the handle forward after lowering and raising it as though you were seating a primer. I learned the hard way that the powder measure needs that forward movement to fully cycle the charge bar. Don't do that and you'll never get the measure adjusted to your desired drop weight. I wanted 6.7 grains and was getting between 1.8 and 9.6 until I called Dillon. Once I started doing it right, I got it adjusted quickly and it drops 6.7 every time I check it.

Y'all have fun now, hear?

Ed
 
Chief38,

Now's the TIME,
Dust ofF your bench,
PUT YOUR TONGUE BACK IN YOUR MOUTH,:p

IT'LL be here TODAY my man.:)

MOONMAN
 
OK, the new Dillon 650 landed yesterday, I spent last night setting it up, adjusting all the dies, powder measures, and moving the other loading equipment on my loading bench to make room for this puppy. Today I set up a nice goose neck LED light that works fantastic at lighting up the press and after dinner I cranked out 200 rounds in under 15 minutes. Not only is this press fast, but it makes REALLY NICE ammo! I wish I had done this 5 years ago - but as they say, better late than never.
 
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