I need a a Dillon

Amputee Marksman

Amputee Marksman

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I need a Dillon.

The old Rockchucker has been a reliable cool piece of gear that has pumped out thousands of rounds but time is money.

As soon as my income tax over payment is reimbursed to me I will be getting a Dillon and lots of reloading supplies. $2500 will cover the Dillon and everything I need plus a bunch of supplies (bullets, primer and powder). Hoping the money comes in the next week.
 
i'm kind of in the same boat. Love the Rockchucker and have had 100% success with it for thousands of rounds but that's a lot of pullin'. I usually reload more in the winter so i'm probably gonna ask for a nice progressive for christmas...then buy it.
 
I could kind of hold my own when it was just me shooting but now it is too much. Now that the season has started I will be shooting 3 or 4 matches a month plus practice and I got my wife hooked so she is also shooting IDPA. Collectively we be shooting a min of 700 to 800 rounds a month and I am getting sick of bi-weekly reloading sessions.
 
I have a 650. Love it! Working on the single stage sucked now that I have it. I got every accessory and it was like 1250. Give yourself about 2-3 hours for set up and fine tuning. Also make sure you grab the extra primer tubes.
Once you reload once you will be glad you grabbed one
 
The 1050 is a good choice if you don't plan on changing calibers too often. I use one in conjunction with a 550 for calibers I don't shoot as often and rifle ammo.

PS Whatever you do, don't get a 550 (great press, I love mine) and try to install a case feeder. I have had a case feeder for my 550 for about ten years and could not get it to work reliably on the 550. Eventually I bought a Case Pro case roller and installed the case feeder; works just fine in its new home.
 
Dillon is a wise choice. I reload on an old hornady pro-jector and rock chucked jr. I mentioned in another thread, when mike dillon started it was all mail order and the Internet wasn't really up and at em then so you saw an ad in a shooting publication, mailed a check, and waited for your stuff. It was easier for me to head to a shop and buy something off the shelf. If I were starting over I'd be running dillon equipment, real solid stuff, easy to use. I'm jealous of you, op.
 
I got the 550 and don't have any regrets. The 650 would be nice at certain times, but for the most part I'm content with the 550 for now. In another year or two, who knows.
 
They look to be about the best way to go. I have my eyes on a 650 but won't have the cash until next January. Lots of time to do research. For now I will stick to step 1: Make my factory loads into empty casings. I love step 1.
 
ddraper said:
I could kind of hold my own when it was just me shooting but now it is too much. Now that the season has started I will be shooting 3 or 4 matches a month plus practice and I got my wife hooked so she is also shooting IDPA. Collectively we be shooting a min of 700 to 800 rounds a month and I am getting sick of bi-weekly reloading sessions.
Click to expand...

I just did 950 rounds of mystery 9mm brass on my 650. Took my time because there was some 380 and 9mm makarov mixed in.

Took an hour and a half.

You'll love the blue press!
 
Hoon said:
I just did 950 rounds of mystery 9mm brass on my 650. Took my time because there was some 380 and 9mm makarov mixed in.

Took an hour and a half.

You'll love the blue press!
Click to expand...

Sounds like you 650 production rate is equal to the 1050 considering the extra care you had to take with your brass. I'm impressed.
 
Gammon said:
Sounds like you 650 production rate is equal to the 1050 considering the extra care you had to take with your brass. I'm impressed.
Click to expand...

The only thing that slows you down is loading primer tubes. If you have them loaded you can fly through it.

Seating a bullet by hand can be done almost as quickly as you're cranking the press with the exception of the occasional bobble.

With a 1050 and a bullet seater I think the gain in speed would be very minimal.
 
Can't go wrong with the Dillon. When I was choosing, I decided on a RL550B. I load hundreds at a time of many calibers as opposed to thousands at a time of one or two calibers so the quicker changeover and flexibility was what did it for me. and I like the manual indexing and don't feel it slows me down at all. The 650 is a fine machine of course, but the 550 better suited my needs. If I loaded 1-2K of one caliber at a time the 650 would make sense for me in the way I reload.

Or, say if I only loaded 9mm and 45, I'd just get two square deals for the price of a set up 650 and leave them set for my load and just crank out ammo when I needed it. So many Dillon options and all of them are great, just depends on what you want to do.

I ended up getting a second 550, I leave one set up for small primer and one set up for large primer and for me, that's the Cadillac way to go.

Its funny looking back when I started running the Dillon, my wife would say, "Why don't you reload much anymore?" When in fact I was making more rounds than ever. I used to load an hour or so almost every night to get ready for the weekend, and now I can do a weeks worth of work in about 2hrs, or just 20-30 minutes every other night.
 
Thanks to everyone who responded and offered advice. I appreciate all the comments.

I have been thinking about this for a long time and have looked at every aspect. I made spreadsheets with prices/options and thought about returns on investment, mostly savings in time.

I am 55 years old and bought my Rockchucker and most of current equipment when I was 21 and 22. It has served me well. I figure this is most likely going to be my last major purchase in reloading equipment and after tons of going back and forth I am going for the 650. I will hold off on the case feeder for now but figure once I get the basic setup I call sell off my current gear and get the extras.
 
I ordered my 650 without the case feeder. I ordered the case feeder almost immediately after I got the press. When you realize how easily you can load you'll want that case feeder.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
Check came yesterday. As soon as it clear I am golden. (Don't ask me about why a check. I don't like giving my back account info out to anyone, especially the IRS)

After more thinking and based on the advice here my initial purchase list is as follows:

Dillon 650 with 9mm caliber conversion kit

Spare Parts Package

Case Feeder

Powder check System

Strong Arm Mount

Bullet Tray

Extra Small Primer Tubes

Primer Flip Tray


Keep in mind that I have all kinds of reloading equipment already and initially I will primarily be reloading 9mm.
 
ddraper said:
Check came yesterday. As soon as it clear I am golden. (Don't ask me about why a check. I don't like giving my back account info out to anyone, especially the IRS)

After more thinking and based on the advice here my initial purchase list is as follows:

Dillon 650 with 9mm caliber conversion kit

Spare Parts Package

Case Feeder

Powder check System

Strong Arm Mount

Bullet Tray

Extra Small Primer Tubes

Primer Flip Tray


Keep in mind that I have all kinds of reloading equipment already and initially I will primarily be reloading 9mm.
Click to expand...


Nice!
 
Last edited:
Stape said:
Can't go wrong with the Dillon. When I was choosing, I decided on a RL550B. I load hundreds at a time of many calibers as opposed to thousands at a time of one or two calibers so the quicker changeover and flexibility was what did it for me. and I like the manual indexing and don't feel it slows me down at all. The 650 is a fine machine of course, but the 550 better suited my needs. If I loaded 1-2K of one caliber at a time the 650 would make sense for me in the way I reload.

Or, say if I only loaded 9mm and 45, I'd just get two square deals for the price of a set up 650 and leave them set for my load and just crank out ammo when I needed it. So many Dillon options and all of them are great, just depends on what you want to do.

I ended up getting a second 550, I leave one set up for small primer and one set up for large primer and for me, that's the Cadillac way to go.

Its funny looking back when I started running the Dillon, my wife would say, "Why don't you reload much anymore?" When in fact I was making more rounds than ever. I used to load an hour or so almost every night to get ready for the weekend, and now I can do a weeks worth of work in about 2hrs, or just 20-30 minutes every other night.
Click to expand...

My 550 is one of my favorite machines. Just don't try to put a case feeder on it.
 
Gammon said:
Don't I know it! Started with an RL 300 and somehow I ended up with a 450, 550 and 1050.

PS Nice Rotty. My male Axel just turned 10 and at 120lb is in excellent health.
Click to expand...
Thats almost a carbon copy of my story , started out with a Star because the rl300s were hard to get long wait list got a 450 then 550s 1000 and 650s i still use my original 450 great machine.
 
Skip the powder check.... Its not necessary, and a nuisance to setup and adjust

Brian Enos on the powder check (you should consider buying from him http://www.brianenos.com/store/dillon.650.html ) :
My thoughts on the Powder Check System: When I was sponsored by Dillon and they gave me Powder Check Systems, I never even took them out of the bag. To me they are just one more thing to fiddle with, not only every time you change calibers, but also every time you adjust the powder charge within a caliber. You have to look at the (charged) case to set the bullet on it - and a double charge or no charge (with most pistol charges) is very obvious. Also I prefer to visually confirm the powder charge, rather than rely on an electrical buzzer.
Click to expand...
 
I'm in the 550 party.

I prefer the less expensive quicker change overs. I also have 2 of them. One for small primer and one for large.
Before i had two machines it was still super easy to switch from small to large primer. Only take about 2 minutes.

I prefer quick change overs just encase feel in the mood to try out something different like a new bullet or new powder for a different cartridge. It won't kill me to switch a shell plate, tool head and possible primer slide. Nice easy change over.

If I shot USPSA or something and wanted to crank out as many of one single load as possible the 650 would probably be the way to go.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Good party to be in ,the 550 is dillons top selling press.[QQUOTE=Michael J. Spangler;4989671]I'm in the 550 party.

I prefer the less expensive quicker change overs. I also have 2 of them. One for small primer and one for large.
Before i had two machines it was still super easy to switch from small to large primer. Only take about 2 minutes.

I prefer quick change overs just encase feel in the mood to try out something different like a new bullet or new powder for a different cartridge. It won't kill me to switch a shell plate, tool head and possible primer slide. Nice easy change over.

If I shot USPSA or something and wanted to crank out as many of one single load as possible the 650 would probably be the way to go.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]
 

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