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Dillon 650 vs 750
- Thread starter milktree
- Start date
Anyone who has used a 650 and them moved to a 750 have any comments? I am debating selling my 650 since I cannot get it to work anymore, and replacing it with a 750 or a LNL AP. most, but not all of my issues are primer station related.
Have you tried sending the 650 back to Dillon to have them fix it?
yanquidog
NES Member
I just did this last month. (550) Primers not dropping correctly, stacking up in the cup , etc.
3weeks and $80 later, they sent me back a like new machine. Even replaced a broken plastic powder tube.
For the 650, it costs $ 120.
Rick O'Shea
NES Member
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This is like Blonds or Brunettes,..both get the job done. I prefer the 650 and have two,..
SJan
NES Member
I do prefer the 750 primer system. Its not completely without its own unique problems though. There is no performance or reliability increase when going from a 650 to 750, arguably there is an extra safety measure though (650 has exposed primers in the carousel) Like already said, I would send the 650 to Dillon for an overhaul.
allen-1
NES Member
I have 2 650s and do not have primer feeding issues. There is an alignment tool for the primer setup; perhaps that would help. I wouldn't give up on your 650, I've loaded tens of thousands of rounds, if not more, with no serious issues. I've had minor ones, and as I've used it, I've learned more, learned how to diagnose and correct them.
SJan
NES Member
The index arm spring (11) wears quickly or even breaks - about 10k rounds is probably the most I got out of one, under 1k for the least.
The relationship of the Disc (15) and the index arm (6) wear and produce occasional and difficult to diagnose disc advancement. You can flip the disc every maintenance cycle to extend its life. Somewhere around 100-150k expect wear on the disk pin (4) and the housing (12) to make it impossible to get consistent primer alignment. Wear of the press platform can also cause shelplate index alignment and primer system alignment problems. If you describe your problems and what you have tried to Dillon they will may send an entire new primer system, they may suggest a rebuild, or they will send nickle and dime parts. It depends on who you get on the phone and their mood that day. If you are in the 100k+ rounds loaded club, send the whole press in.
The relationship of the Disc (15) and the index arm (6) wear and produce occasional and difficult to diagnose disc advancement. You can flip the disc every maintenance cycle to extend its life. Somewhere around 100-150k expect wear on the disk pin (4) and the housing (12) to make it impossible to get consistent primer alignment. Wear of the press platform can also cause shelplate index alignment and primer system alignment problems. If you describe your problems and what you have tried to Dillon they will may send an entire new primer system, they may suggest a rebuild, or they will send nickle and dime parts. It depends on who you get on the phone and their mood that day. If you are in the 100k+ rounds loaded club, send the whole press in.
i would put it this way - there are several things that 750 has got improved/resolved, so if buying from scratch - 750 is the better way to go, for sure.
as you already have a 650 - i think it would be worth it to try to get them repair it properly, if it is only $120 indeed. the incremental level of improvements in 750 compared to 650 is probably not worth the full 750 price.
i presume dillon does not offer the upgrade/buy back path? yeah, probably a silly thing to even mention.
dcmdon
NES Member
The 650 and 750 have a lot of things that can get out of synch. One thing that I did to help with primer feeding was tape a 9mm bullet to the top of the primer feed follower rod. That slight bit of weight helps to keep primer feeding reliable if the feed tube gets a little scuzzy. Otherwise it takes 1 minute to remove the tube and spritz it with brake cleaner before reinstalling.
I actually bought my 550 about 10 years after I bought my first 650. The 550 is dream. I now understand why DP says its the most versatile reloader you can buy. I use it with one case at a time on the shell holder to load precision rifle cartridges and it makes rounds with no more runout or standard deviation in MV than a single stage press. While being much faster. Even if I measure every charge.
I also reload my moderate volume stuff on it. .45 acp, .357 mag, .44 mag. Etc.
I actually bought my 550 about 10 years after I bought my first 650. The 550 is dream. I now understand why DP says its the most versatile reloader you can buy. I use it with one case at a time on the shell holder to load precision rifle cartridges and it makes rounds with no more runout or standard deviation in MV than a single stage press. While being much faster. Even if I measure every charge.
I also reload my moderate volume stuff on it. .45 acp, .357 mag, .44 mag. Etc.
A fellow action pistol shooter offered to fix it, and found that the shellplate setscrew (the one on the main shaft) was off, the primer disc had some galling, and the RCBS powder lock out die was acting funny. So he sorted those out and lubricated the thing. Hopefully that resolves things, if not, I'll send it in.
I just picked up an XL650 fully set up for 45 acp, with all the accessories such as 45 acp conversion kit, the case feeding and primer feeding options, low powder warning, Dillon machine cover, etc.
$640 a decent deal for all of this? Appears to be in good shape.
I'm sure I'll be picking NES brains regarding how to set up and run. I'll mostly use this for .223.
$640 a decent deal for all of this? Appears to be in good shape.
I'm sure I'll be picking NES brains regarding how to set up and run. I'll mostly use this for .223.
Rick O'Shea
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Yes that's a great deal.
Super sweet deal.
Have you used a Dillon at all before? The first thing you should do once you get the correct caliber-specific parts, is to ream out the powder die with a 1/2" taper. It basically takes a sharp shoulder angle inside the die, and makes it more shallow. That eliminates all "bridging" issues that Dillon powder dies have with our typical stick powders.
I load all my ammo on a 650. Even the 600yd stuff.
Edit to add: I also remove the "fail safe" bar thingy (I think that's what they call it) on the powder drop. It jinks up the motion and spills powder out of the cases as the rotate around. I just use a couple of long thin springs like the old units had.
Have you used a Dillon at all before? The first thing you should do once you get the correct caliber-specific parts, is to ream out the powder die with a 1/2" taper. It basically takes a sharp shoulder angle inside the die, and makes it more shallow. That eliminates all "bridging" issues that Dillon powder dies have with our typical stick powders.
I load all my ammo on a 650. Even the 600yd stuff.
Edit to add: I also remove the "fail safe" bar thingy (I think that's what they call it) on the powder drop. It jinks up the motion and spills powder out of the cases as the rotate around. I just use a couple of long thin springs like the old units had.
Thanks and nope, never used one. I'll take a look at the powder dies. I don't shoot a ton of 45 but have collected some decent 1X fired brass with the intention of loading it, so that can be my test runs with the 650. Good to know you can even load your 600 yd stuff with the 650. Powder drop is + - a very reasonable variance? What powder?
I always use Varget for .30-06 match ammo loads for my vintage stuff. I went to Benchmark for .223 because it meters so much better in my Harrell powder measure. That's the initial reason I went to 2520 for .308 but I have been getting very low SD/ES and great results on paper, so I stuck with that. If Varget works well w/ the 650 I might load .30-06 via the 650 too.
gerrycaruso
NES Member
I mostly load 45acp on the 650. I have revolvers, many pistols and 2 submachineguns in that caliber. It's also what I practice with and carry daily so I go through many thousands of rounds annually. The only problem with 45acp is that it comes in both large and small primer. I'd like to know who came up with that stupid idea.
The devil himself.
Which is better?
![[devil]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/015.gif "Devil [devil]")
The 650 I picked up is currently set up for large primers, but it has the parts to change to small primers.
It's set up for 45 and has a hopper full of powder. I can ask my friend what was the weight of the projectiles and try it? LOL, no- mystery powder fertilizes the garden.
I'll need to order a conversion kit for .223 and maybe later the .308. edit- Nice that the .308 is the same kit as the .30-06.
TZCHRIS
NES Member
You're right, I have one of each!This is like Blonds or Brunettes,..both get the job done. I prefer the 650 and have two,..
gerrycaruso
NES Member
I haven't seen a difference in performance between large and small primer 45acp. The reason I prefer large is that I have so much of it. It doesn't matter which you pick because if you load 223 and 308, you'll be using both primer systems anyway.
dcmdon
NES Member
This is interesting. I have been using a 650 for about 20 years and did not know this.
To the OP. One note here. The failsafe is pretty unnecessary when loading most rifle calibers because the case is usually nearly full when charged properly, so if you double charge, it will overflow.
Pistol calibers are different. I believe my normal 9mm load of AA5 is something like 28% full according to QuickLoad. So you cold throw a double charge and not notice it.
I use a 550 and weigh each charge for long range stuff. My last batch of .308 had a MV SD of 3 fps. Good enough.
Wow!
dcmdon
NES Member
Yup. I used this batch when I did Sig's "Advanced Precision Rifle" class. Our instructor, a Marine Corps scout sniper insturctor said to me.
"Don, you're a decent shot. But you are a very good reloader. If I go back to Afghanistan, I may want you to send me a care package". ha.
