I was looking for advice on a dillon 650. I just got my wife A new s&w airweight 38spl, and I wanted to get her something that was easy enough, I have no experience with these presses I myself have the forster co-ax and redding t-7 turret.
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I have a 650 and load about 5 calibers on it. It was my first press and first experience with reloading. I highly recommend it with the casefeeder and took running to it quickly. There may be a couple minutes more in the changeover compared to the 550 yet the greater speed and smooth operation of the machine makes up for that in no time.
The 650 is a GREAT place to start. I started with a Lee Pro 1000 and loaded a couple hundred rounds on it and what a POS it was for me. Anyways, I bought a 650 almost immediately and never looked back. You can learn on a 650 with no problem... Don't listen to people that say you need a single stage press. IT'S NOT WORTH IT!!!
I have a 650 and load about 5 calibers on it. It was my first press and first experience with reloading. I highly recommend it with the casefeeder and took running to it quickly. There may be a couple minutes more in the changeover compared to the 550 yet the greater speed and smooth operation of the machine makes up for that in no time.
Changes on the 650 arent that bad. For one, having a quick change set up is worth its weight in gold. Secondly you wont always have to change the primer feed depending on what calibers you're using. Case feed plate literally drops in place.The 650 is a great place to start. Its how I started and I have never regretted it.
However, it may not be ideal for you. I mention this because you said you want to load multiple calibers.
The 650 is a pain in the butt to change calibers. Its also relatively expensive. Some people say they can switch calibers out in 10 minutes. I don't believe them. No freaking way.
Here are all the things you may have to change out.
1) Tool head.
2) powder drop if you don't have one for each tool head.
3) shell plate and then readjust indexing.
4) primer system
5) shell feed plate in shell feeder.
6) bushings in shell feeder
Bottom line is that a caliber change take you the better part of an hour and will cost you $180 plus dies.
If you want to reload lots of different cartridges and don't want to make buckets full of any one load, then the 550 sounds best to me. Its much quicker to change over calibers but is still capable of churning out 250 rounds per hour.
I have 4 presses.
2 - Dillon 650
1 - Dillon 550
1 - Lee classic cast turret press.
I've found that they each have their use.
The 650s are set up for 9mm and .45 ACP. I make buckets of these.
The 550 is primarily used for .223 that i make to be reasonably accurate. I also use it to make .380. Since .380 uses the same shell plate and primer size as .223, all I need to do is change out the tool head.
I also use the .550 for load development of any magnum or rifle cartridge. I don't bother with it for 9mm or .45 load development because I've already got all my recipes and usually its just a small tweak to adjust for a new bullet.
My Lee Classic cast is used to
1) make loads of items I only shoot a couple of hundred rounds per year. The cost of a caliber change over is about $10 for a tool head. Everything else stays the same. With the auto indexer installed, I can make about 100 rounds per hour on the press. I use this for .38 spcl, .357mag, .44 mag. .454 Cassul.
2) with the auto indexer removed I use it along with some very highly precise Redding dies to make highly accurate match ammo for my .308 and .223. Batches are made with matched headstamps. The cases are weighed and grouped together. The charges are weighed individually. The last time I chrono'd my .308, the muzzle velocity standard deviation (SD) was 3 fps. Which is pretty fantastic.
I hope this long winded explanation is helpful. Whew.
Only reason I started with a single stage is cost.I agree.
I started with a Lee Anniversary Kit and loaded about 50 rounds on it, realized that I wasted my money, bought a progressive, and never looked back.
If you can't learn pistol reloading on a good progressive press, you're not going to have much luck with a single stage either.