I know this has been done a few times on NES already. But I've also been wanting to write a follow-up on my upgrade from a Lee Loadmaster to a Dillon XL650 I bought few months back, so here it is. Short summary, the Dillon XL 650 is awesome. The more I use it, the more I regret the decision to save some money and buy the Lee Loadmaster progressive press. I should have just sucked it up and dropped the extra cash at the beginning. I would have prevented so many reloading headaches. If anyone is currently in the same boat and money is a concern, hold off buying a press, save some extra money, and start with a Dillon 550 and then upgrade to a 650 down the road. Or save and get the 650.
The true proof as to why the Dillon 650 rocks is in the pic below. This is from two of my initial reloading sessions (9mm & 223) soon after buying the new setup. Once I got the feel for the 650, I was cranking out consistent, quality reloads at very quick rates. My rough estimate, I'm averaging somewhere around 400~450 rounds per hour, where I'm filling a bunch of primer tubes prior to each reloading session.
Long Summary/thoughts from my 3 months of use with this machine.
Initial Setup: The setup was easy and straightforward. The core machine comes assembled and setup with all the caliber components for a specified caliber. Mine was setup for 9mm. All I had to do was bolt on the accessories (strongmount, bullet tray, casefeeder, etc.).
Casefeeder: The casefeeder is a necessity. You cannot get the most out of the 650 without it. If you're planning on buying a 650 without the casefeeder, just buy the 550 instead.
I've had a couple issues with a few cases getting stuck on the way down the drop tube funnel, but otherwise has the casefeeder has run very smooth. I only wish there was a warning, like for the primers, when the cases are running low. When I was cranking out ammo and focusing on primer/powder levels I ran out of cases a few times. Again no big deal, just pour some more cases in the hopper.
Toolhead: The toolheads are extremely easy to swap out. Remove 2 pins, slide out the head, and swap for another.
Dies: I did not buy Dillon dies when I bought the press. I have continued to use Lee dies from my old setup. When setting up the Resizing/Decapping or Factory Crimp dies, where you're setting the dies so they make contact with the shellplate, there is not enough threading on the die exposed on the top of the toolhead. You must install the lock rings underneath the shellplate. Again no big deal, just something to note. The Lee dies work perfectly fine in the Dillon press. I have no plans on upgrading my dies anytime soon.
Powder Measure: As a newbie to Dillon presses, it still takes me a while to setup the powder dies for the pistol cartridges. Getting the flare right takes sometime. However, I did buy toolheads and powder dies for all of the calibers I reload, so I only had to do this once.
As for the powder measure itself, I've found it easy to adjust and consistently accurate (within +/- 0.1 grains). Coming from the Lee Loadmaster, where you use powder discs and could not fine tune powder drops, I love the fact the you can adjust to within a tenth of a grain. I currently only have one powder measure, but plan on buying at least one more. So I'll have one setup with the small charge bar for pistol calibers and another setup with the large charge bar for rifle loads.
Priming: This is where I would have saved myself so many headaches while reloading on the Lee Loadmaster. The priming system is simply incredible. I've reloaded approx. 2,500 rounds so far on the Dillon and I haven't had one priming issue yet. If I had loaded the same amount on the Loadmaster, I would have had somewhere between 100~250 rounds that would have either not seated a primer or would have had to been pulled due to primers not seating correctly.
In fact, the priming system was very helpful when loading 223. I had 3 cases that were not reamed completely. When trying to seat the primers on the forward stroke, you feel resistance, indicating a bad primer pocket. You can easily remove the case and swage the primer pocket, re-insert, and load.
One more additional note, the priming on the Dillon is done on the forward stroke. This did take a little getting use to, since on the Loadmaster everything is done on a down stroke.
Accessories: All the Dillon accessories I've used so far have been of great quality. Nothing seems cheap or poorly made. My only complaint is cost. I knew going into this purchase that Dillon products are expensive, but man do they nickel and dime you on everything. Excluding cost, I have no complaints.
Warranty: I haven't had to use it yet and I hope I don't, but having the press backed by a no B.S. warranty is great. I hear their customer service is terrific and quick. It sounds like Dillon covers any kind of damage, accidental or other. I heard one story where a guy bought a press second hand and drop it when putting it in his car. He called Dillon and they sent him a new press. You can't beat that kind of service and guarantee.
So as you can tell I have officially drank the blue kool-aid. I'll try to post some pics of the press.
If anyone has any questions regarding Lee Loadmaster vs Dillon 650, feel free to PM me.
The true proof as to why the Dillon 650 rocks is in the pic below. This is from two of my initial reloading sessions (9mm & 223) soon after buying the new setup. Once I got the feel for the 650, I was cranking out consistent, quality reloads at very quick rates. My rough estimate, I'm averaging somewhere around 400~450 rounds per hour, where I'm filling a bunch of primer tubes prior to each reloading session.
Long Summary/thoughts from my 3 months of use with this machine.
Initial Setup: The setup was easy and straightforward. The core machine comes assembled and setup with all the caliber components for a specified caliber. Mine was setup for 9mm. All I had to do was bolt on the accessories (strongmount, bullet tray, casefeeder, etc.).
Casefeeder: The casefeeder is a necessity. You cannot get the most out of the 650 without it. If you're planning on buying a 650 without the casefeeder, just buy the 550 instead.
I've had a couple issues with a few cases getting stuck on the way down the drop tube funnel, but otherwise has the casefeeder has run very smooth. I only wish there was a warning, like for the primers, when the cases are running low. When I was cranking out ammo and focusing on primer/powder levels I ran out of cases a few times. Again no big deal, just pour some more cases in the hopper.
Toolhead: The toolheads are extremely easy to swap out. Remove 2 pins, slide out the head, and swap for another.
Dies: I did not buy Dillon dies when I bought the press. I have continued to use Lee dies from my old setup. When setting up the Resizing/Decapping or Factory Crimp dies, where you're setting the dies so they make contact with the shellplate, there is not enough threading on the die exposed on the top of the toolhead. You must install the lock rings underneath the shellplate. Again no big deal, just something to note. The Lee dies work perfectly fine in the Dillon press. I have no plans on upgrading my dies anytime soon.
Powder Measure: As a newbie to Dillon presses, it still takes me a while to setup the powder dies for the pistol cartridges. Getting the flare right takes sometime. However, I did buy toolheads and powder dies for all of the calibers I reload, so I only had to do this once.
As for the powder measure itself, I've found it easy to adjust and consistently accurate (within +/- 0.1 grains). Coming from the Lee Loadmaster, where you use powder discs and could not fine tune powder drops, I love the fact the you can adjust to within a tenth of a grain. I currently only have one powder measure, but plan on buying at least one more. So I'll have one setup with the small charge bar for pistol calibers and another setup with the large charge bar for rifle loads.
Priming: This is where I would have saved myself so many headaches while reloading on the Lee Loadmaster. The priming system is simply incredible. I've reloaded approx. 2,500 rounds so far on the Dillon and I haven't had one priming issue yet. If I had loaded the same amount on the Loadmaster, I would have had somewhere between 100~250 rounds that would have either not seated a primer or would have had to been pulled due to primers not seating correctly.
In fact, the priming system was very helpful when loading 223. I had 3 cases that were not reamed completely. When trying to seat the primers on the forward stroke, you feel resistance, indicating a bad primer pocket. You can easily remove the case and swage the primer pocket, re-insert, and load.
One more additional note, the priming on the Dillon is done on the forward stroke. This did take a little getting use to, since on the Loadmaster everything is done on a down stroke.
Accessories: All the Dillon accessories I've used so far have been of great quality. Nothing seems cheap or poorly made. My only complaint is cost. I knew going into this purchase that Dillon products are expensive, but man do they nickel and dime you on everything. Excluding cost, I have no complaints.
Warranty: I haven't had to use it yet and I hope I don't, but having the press backed by a no B.S. warranty is great. I hear their customer service is terrific and quick. It sounds like Dillon covers any kind of damage, accidental or other. I heard one story where a guy bought a press second hand and drop it when putting it in his car. He called Dillon and they sent him a new press. You can't beat that kind of service and guarantee.
So as you can tell I have officially drank the blue kool-aid. I'll try to post some pics of the press.
If anyone has any questions regarding Lee Loadmaster vs Dillon 650, feel free to PM me.
