Dillon 450

Joined
Feb 8, 2010
Messages
5,776
Likes
3,064
Feedback: 1 / 0 / 0
I'll skip the background because it's boring and stick to the point:

I have a Lee Loadmonster that I use for .38 and .45ACP. At least I did use it for .38, but it just punched a primer sideways through the primer feeder, and I've had enough. I'm sick of it's shit. I have two die holders, maybe three, and shell plates for .38, .45ACP, and .223, large primer feed and what's left of a small primer feed.

A friend just picked up a used, but clearly not used for a long time, Dillon 450. Bare press. Lot of surface rust, no primer tube, clear it's sat for a while. Has a shell plate on it that I believe would work for .45ACP if memory serves, looked it up, forget what we found, but no buttons. Has the auto-eject wire finger thingy (apparently some early models did not) and some kind of primer slide apparatus, and an empty threaded hole where the primer tube should be. If it isn't apparent yet, I don't know ####-all about Dillon presses.

I am sick of the Loadmonster's shit. It finally broke me down and I do not feel like any more tinkering with it. I'm over it. Other half of this quandary is that the guy who picked up the Dillon 450 is having second thoughts now that he's seeing how much more stuff he needs to get up and running reloading. So if I could beg the opinion of those here that DO know something about Dillon presses, I guess my question breaks down to two questions:

1: What would it take to get an old 450 up and running? Worth doing? First glance to me seems like I'd be looking at $200 minimum to be holding brass, priming, and dropping powder.

2: I guess this would be answered by #1, now that I think about it. Something about trading the Loadmonster and all the ancillary bits and pieces so the discouraged guy with the used Dillon could be up and running almost immediately (he's a good friend, I have scales and such I don't need). So I lied, I really didn't have two questions.
 
Worth doing?

Probably not.

I bought an old 450 in better shape than yours from a member here, tinkered with it for a while, and ultimately unloaded it because it was going to cost too much to get it running. Keep in mind that when it's running perfectly, it's essentially a crippled 550.

You're better off putting the 450 up on ebay as is, and take the money somebody overpays for it, and get yourself a nice used 550 (there was one in the classifieds here last time I looked).
 
Call Dillon.

I traded for a used 550B on here years ago, and it was missing some parts. Dillon just sent me what I needed, didn't make me pay anything.

Not guaranteeing they'll do the same, but it's worth taking pictures of it, calling them and asking if they can help you out at all. They're pretty active on the Brian Enos forums as well.
 
I'm pretty sure that if you ship it to Dillon, they will refurbish it and send it back and it will only cost you shipping. I did this with an old SD-B that I purchased used. Can't beat that. 800-762-3845 Won't cost anything to ask.
 
I'll skip the background because it's boring and stick to the point:

I have a Lee Loadmonster that I use for .38 and .45ACP. At least I did use it for .38, but it just punched a primer sideways through the primer feeder, and I've had enough. I'm sick of it's shit. I have two die holders, maybe three, and shell plates for .38, .45ACP, and .223, large primer feed and what's left of a small primer feed.

A friend just picked up a used, but clearly not used for a long time, Dillon 450. Bare press. Lot of surface rust, no primer tube, clear it's sat for a while. Has a shell plate on it that I believe would work for .45ACP if memory serves, looked it up, forget what we found, but no buttons. Has the auto-eject wire finger thingy (apparently some early models did not) and some kind of primer slide apparatus, and an empty threaded hole where the primer tube should be. If it isn't apparent yet, I don't know ####-all about Dillon presses.

I am sick of the Loadmonster's shit. It finally broke me down and I do not feel like any more tinkering with it. I'm over it. Other half of this quandary is that the guy who picked up the Dillon 450 is having second thoughts now that he's seeing how much more stuff he needs to get up and running reloading. So if I could beg the opinion of those here that DO know something about Dillon presses, I guess my question breaks down to two questions:

1: What would it take to get an old 450 up and running? Worth doing? First glance to me seems like I'd be looking at $200 minimum to be holding brass, priming, and dropping powder.

2: I guess this would be answered by #1, now that I think about it. Something about trading the Loadmonster and all the ancillary bits and pieces so the discouraged guy with the used Dillon could be up and running almost immediately (he's a good friend, I have scales and such I don't need). So I lied, I really didn't have two questions.


FWIW - most repair parts are free on the LEE website, you pay shipping only.
 
I'm pretty sure that if you ship it to Dillon, they will refurbish it and send it back and it will only cost you shipping. I did this with an old SD-B that I purchased used. Can't beat that. 800-762-3845 Won't cost anything to ask.

I knew a guy who bought a broken 550 and returned it to Dillon for repairs. They sent him a letter stating that the machine was not repairable. The letter came in a box with a new 550! I would love to find out if this type of CS is still the norm with Dillon. I have heard rumors lately that it is NOT.
 
I broke one of those stupid little white plastic powder bar squares 3 weeks ago, and had 3 new free ones in my mailbox a few days later.

Granted, a stupid plastic square is not a 550B haha, but...
 
Do you have some pics? It might still be heads and shoulders above a Lee.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Call Dillon.

I traded for a used 550B on here years ago, and it was missing some parts. Dillon just sent me what I needed, didn't make me pay anything.

Not guaranteeing they'll do the same, but it's worth taking pictures of it, calling them and asking if they can help you out at all. They're pretty active on the Brian Enos forums as well.

I semi-agree with this post. Dillon will help you get the 450 running how it is supposed to run for little or no money.

The real question is WHY would you ever want a 450.

Trust me. you will end up gradually converting it to a 550 and will then have too much money into it.

Sell the press on ebay and go buy a 550 and just be happy. The 550 is pure genius. I own a 650 and eventually ended up buying a 550 also just for low volume loads as well as working up loads. Its the perfect all around press if you ask me.

- - - Updated - - -

I knew a guy who bought a broken 550 and returned it to Dillon for repairs. They sent him a letter stating that the machine was not repairable. The letter came in a box with a new 550! I would love to find out if this type of CS is still the norm with Dillon. I have heard rumors lately that it is NOT.


During the panic of 2012-2013 dillon was flooded with new buyers and new owners. Their customer service was overwhelmed and suffered a great deal. Things have calmed down since then and it seems to have returned to normal.
 
During the panic of 2012-2013 dillon was flooded with new buyers and new owners. Their customer service was overwhelmed and suffered a great deal. Things have calmed down since then and it seems to have returned to normal.
They are still not the "Dillon of old".

In the old days, they would treat home users of 1050s as if they had the lifetime warranty. Now, they enforce the 1 year limit.

In the old days, they honored the "lifetime" warranty on tumblers. They have cancelled that warranty (illegally, in my opinion) and allow a single claim which gets you a new tumbler with a 1 year warranty. It's like selling a car with a 100K warranty, replacing the transmission at 10K and telling the buyer "you have a 10K warranty on the new transmission, as we have modified the terms of your original warranty".
 
Back
Top Bottom