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I've had it....

jrbtzx12r

jrbtzx12r

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OK, I picked up a Loadmaster last year to get into reloading. The bench I was using became fairly unstable due to its design, and I started having problems with flipped primers, and stuff just getting loose.

Needless to say I've been doing my reloading in .45, .357, .38, 9mm, and .223 on a Lee Reloader ever since. It works great with the Lyman DPS1200, but is slowwwwww....

/Rant on!
Last weekend I built a bench that would outlast Hiroshima. Setup the loadmaster on it, and I'm not impressed. In the last two days I've had the shell plate become misaligned with the auto indexer at least 30 times. Had a primer go off in the primer once (after it blew up, and melted I removed the primer). Had the dies decide to move all around on me after they've been tightened up twice. The powder measure seems to do whatever it wants including loosening up, and where the heck did they come up with that POS chain to to keep it in check?!?!?

All of this has been experienced thru 300 rounds of 9mm reloading. After about 30 rounds I removed the deprime/resize die and the primer so I could use my previously primed cases as it would be a bit more reliable.

All the videos on the webshow a very smooth operating press. That's not what I have, but yet I've tried to make it as smooth as possible.
/Rant off

With all that said. I'm looking at the Dillon's now. I'd like to try the 550 with several conversion kits so I can reload everything I have including rifle. But.... I'm not totally satisfied the Dillon is as smooth as I see it in the videos. The kit I'm looking at is from brianenos dot com and is called the CR - Top Notch. Any one had experience with it? Is it as smooth as it looks? How are the conversion kits?

Thanks
 
I reload .38 super, .45 ACP, and .223 on my Dillon. Not as fast as the others, I wish I could get a 650, but it has been very reliable. I broke the powder measure once, called Dillon, they sent me the part I needed free of charge in 2 days! Great machine, you won't regret it.
 
I know its just preference because it is what I learned and continue to work on but the Dillon 550 is a great machine.. the only errors I have had with it are my own mistakes. I have to say its a pretty rock solid investment. I have only be reloading for about 2 years and I have never had any of the malfunctions you speak of.
 
People who load VOLUME load on Dillons. No brag; just fact as Will Sonnet used to say.

Every year the USPSA conducts a poll of competitors at its nationals; what powder, brass, bullets, holsters, reloading equipment and guns. EVERY year, more people load on Dillon equipment than all the other makes combined.

Does that mean the others are junk? Hardly. I was quite impressed with the Hornady LNL and almost bought one. And the Dillon will cost you more to buy.

However, you get a superb guarantee with excellent customer service and Dillon will REBUILD your machine for the cost of shipping it to Dillon and back. IF you ever have to sell your machine, you will find a ready market for it and get back much of what you spent for it.

So - look at the LNL, RCBS, etc. - then read what Enos recommends and make your decision.
 
i under stand you problems on the loadmaster.

I've recently decided to setup mine for 223. bought the shellplate had turrets.
at first everything was fine.then my shellplate was not aligned. and i could not index correctly.so i took the shell plate off and tried to fix it. again same problem but now my arm would not go all the way up(ram down). so i took off the shell plate and found my problem. my priming pin was stuck in the up position. when i took the priming unit apart i found that the priming pin was coming up to soon. Ive broke 3 of the same piece in the priming unit.

my fix ive decided to prime my cases by hand moved the decapping pin up enough that it wont touch the new primer and i removed the priming pin from the press. not the best way but saves me money.I have to much money invested in this right now and not enough funds to buy a dillon.
 
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I had the same problem with Primers in my Lee press, they wouldn't feed or I'd end up inserting them flipped over. I traded my Lee for a set of dies and called Dillon for my 550. That was 15 years ago and I've never looked back
 
If you want to get rid of your Lee, I'll take it.

Every high volume loader that I know uses a Dillon, the only one that I have tried was the 1050 with a case and bullet feeder, very boring machine to load on. Pull the handle, it loads a round, over and over again. where is the excitement in that?
 
I've had my Dillon 650 for several years now. After loading many thousands of rounds in different calibers, I have yet to have a substantial problem.

Any issues I have experienced have been because of my own errors. If I could buy another I would in a second.

Look in to the 650 you can upgrade it with nice accessories over time like a shell feeder and bullet feeder. It can also do pistol and rifle cartridges. You will not be disappointed.
 
650

I would suggest the 650, it moves the shellplate, with a casefeeder
all you need to do is pull the handle and put on a bullet...

just go slow for the first 5-10 rounds after a caliber change or if
you go from RN's to SW's. make sure the dies are tight,
and then go for it.

For sure get the Dillon dies..

JimB
 
OK guys. I'm gonna order a Dillon, but I'm not sure about the whether I need a 550 or 650 right now. I can pick up the 550 with everything I want (except caliber conversions) right now, but I'm trying to justify the expense of the 650. So I'm sending out some questions.

With the 650, you want to have a case feeder. Is there just one case feeder, and you order additional shell plates for that feeder for small pistol, large pistol, etc, or do you need a whole new case feeder assembly for each size?

If there is only one "case feeder assembly" does the shell plate come with the caliber conversion kit (I know highly doubtful)?

Thanks
 
Supermoto said:
If you want to get rid of your Lee, I'll take it.

Every high volume loader that I know uses a Dillon, the only one that I have tried was the 1050 with a case and bullet feeder, very boring machine to load on. Pull the handle, it loads a round, over and over again. where is the excitement in that?
Click to expand...

It'll be up for sale after I get my Dillon. I'm going to try to make it a pretty good deal when it goes up though. Have to look at the going prices, and what I have for it (seems like a ton of stuff). Also want to keep some of the stuff for the two Lee Reloaders I have. Gonna have to make some hard decisions shortly.
 
GO READ ENOS' CHECKLIST AND RECOMMENDATIONS!

NOW!

His insights will enable you to decide whether you need a 550 or a 650. I'm betting you are 550 material; most of us are.

Note that you can now put a casefeeder on the 550. However, you still cannot match the volume of a 650, as you have to cycle the shell plate by hand.

If you're near N. Attleboro, go to NET - Ted has a row of 650's up and running and you can see them in action. He can order you a Dillon or you can get it from Enos.
 
Scrivener said:
GO READ ENOS' CHECKLIST AND RECOMMENDATIONS!

NOW!

His insights will enable you to decide whether you need a 550 or a 650. I'm betting you are 550 material; most of us are.

Note that you can now put a casefeeder on the 550. However, you still cannot match the volume of a 650, as you have to cycle the shell plate by hand.

If you're near N. Attleboro, go to NET - Ted has a row of 650's up and running and you can see them in action. He can order you a Dillon or you can get it from Enos.
Click to expand...

Sciv, as always you bring brutal logic to the table (not a dig). When I'm shooting 500+ rounds a day I'll need the 650. I'm lucky to shoot 200 rounds a week. Plus I have six calibers to reload (now). There's lots of things that would be great with the 650, but thinking about it; I really don't need them.

My new question.... If I wanted to order two 550's. Would it be smart to order one in .45 ACP, and one in .223? Is there a difference in the primer system for the two?

Thanks
 
jrbtzx12r said:
My new question.... If I wanted to order two 550's. Would it be smart to order one in .45 ACP, and one in .223? Is there a difference in the primer system for the two?
Click to expand...

Yes.

Any Dillon will come with primer tubes and cups for both sizes and will be capable of loading anything from .25 ACP to .30-'06 or better. However, swapping out the primer cups is a bit of a nuisance (but NOT as bad as in a 650!)

I bought a second 550 and set it up for .45 ACP. That's all it does. The other 550 does all my small primer calibers, primarily .40 and .38 Super.

Of course, for what another 550 costs, you could get one 550 with a case feeder and bullet drop. [wink]
 
The 550 is all most of us need. I make a point of watching the primer slide on almost every cycle to preclude seating one inverted or sideways. It is quality, not quantity that counts. You wouldn't believe how many rounds I pick up at the club with that problem.
Changing the primer bar from small to large is a ten min. job at most.
I do use two powder measures, one each set up for the small & large powder bars.
 
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jrbtzx12r said:
Sciv, as always you bring brutal logic to the table (not a dig). When I'm shooting 500+ rounds a day I'll need the 650. I'm lucky to shoot 200 rounds a week. Plus I have six calibers to reload (now). There's lots of things that would be great with the 650, but thinking about it; I really don't need them.

My new question.... If I wanted to order two 550's. Would it be smart to order one in .45 ACP, and one in .223? Is there a difference in the primer system for the two?

Thanks
Click to expand...

One is the large primer and the other the small primer. It takes me all of about five minutes
on a slow day to swap primer systems. Two screws and when you take the other one out
you CLEAN the primer slide area. To me that is the very least of any difficulties with
the press.

The powder system is a bit trickier depending on whether you need to use the two different
powder bars. I purchased two additional powder setups because I use a wide variety of
loads and I didn't want to bother changing the powder bars. I have an extra small (up to
three grains), small (three to twenty) and large (twenty to fifty - I think). There is an
extra large for guys like Eddie Coyle that pour a half cup of powder into his loads but
nothing I shoot requires it. [smile]
 
I second what the Boston Patriot said, it takes less than 20 minutes to do a complete caliber swap out, even from large to small primer. Buy a toolhead and stand for each caliber as it takes time to set it up.
 
Well I ordered a 550 tonight. I couldn't justify the 650 right now. Hopefully I'll have it by the end of the week.

Thanks for all the input everyone! You guys were a ton of help.
 
You will now place large orders for primers, propellants and projectiles.

You don't save money reloading - you simply spend it differently.
 

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