Think its time for a Dillon 1050

[breyton490]

I have been reloading for 25+ years and have always used Hornady presses. Great presses for the money, but like all things they need consistent attention to run well. I could live with that, but the recent switch to ammo mfg.'s crimping their pistol brass has put me over the edge. It seems any 9mm brass I get, more than half have a crimped primer. My current setup is to clean the brass, de-prime the brass, then run each thru the Dillon Super Swage, clean again, then reload... The process works, but takes foooooorever.....

I can't quite swallow the $1,700+ cost of a 1050, but its the only machine with a built in de-crimper. The aftermarket de-crimpers for the Dillon 650 I have seen all seem to have their issues and really don't solve the problem of not having to handle the brass multiple times.

Dillion prices seem to be fixed no matter where you buy them. I know quite a few people on this forum use 1050's.. Any advice or recommendations on where to pick one up would be appreciated. Is a group buy on these even a possibility?.... Just not sure how to get this expense past the wife.....

 

[M1911]

I have dreams about a Mark 7.

I don't think you'll find a deal on a 1050. I would either buy direct or through Brian Enos.

 

[eisenhow]

I have dreams about a Mark 7.

I don't think you'll find a deal on a 1050. I would either buy direct or through Brian Enos.

Enos is semi-retired and out of the Dillon business.

 

[M1911]

Enos is semi-retired and out of the Dillon business.

Thanks for the correction.

Then I would order direct.

 

[HiCap]

I ordered my 1050 direct from Dillon. Couldn't find a good enough deal to go through another seller. Buy with confidence and have no regrets!

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Dillon dealers are few and far between, because the markup is only about 15%. It also means that unless you have a dealer buddy who wants to sell to you at cost, there is no real room for movement on the price. Even used, these things command about 80% of the new price.

Buy once, cry once. I bought my 1050 back when it was $1050. Seemed like a lot of money at the time. Glad I spent it.

As to Mark 7 - their chief designer is a certifiable genius, though I do have a $1 bet with him regarding the durability of single mode fiber buried in sprinkler conduit.

 

[dropride]

Depending on how close you are to NH check with Rileys and Shooters Outpost. Both sell Dillon, not sure if they have the 1050s.

 

[houdini]

You have no regret when you buy a Dillon.

 

[Fixxah]

Get a drill press and a Weldon countersink bit. You will need it for 5.56mm anyway. The bit doesn't bite if you miss. I had the dillen swager and used it for 100 pie es of brass and sold it the next day. Hated it.

 

[breyton490]

Depending on how close you are to NH check with Rileys and Shooters Outpost. Both sell Dillon, not sure if they have the 1050s.

Was up at both this past weekend. Had lots of 650's, but both places would have to order the 1050. Same price as Dillion website and s/h would be wash with mileage and tolls to go back up to Hooksett.

For those that have 1050's, is there anything else (besides a bullet feeder) I would need?? (use primer tube, tweaks, etc.)

 

[MGnoob]

Cant go wong with a 1050 i must have 200k strokes on one of mine with an autodrive..just now im starting to replace parts just too keep her running smooth and trouble free.after processing 4 5gallon buckets of 223 and loading alittle over 4k rounds. I was experiencing every malfunction in the book....if you keep your press clean and clean every 2500+ rounds and change the plastic feed orifice on the primer tubed youll avoid having to stop loading to mess with things.

IM not trying to down the coolness factor of a mark 7 autodrive, but for the price you could equip 2 warren&pouness autodrives... imagine processing rifle brass with 2 autodrives... i could personally never see needing to process that much brass but just thinking about it taking half the time make me almost ready to buy a third. Although when i buy a third 1050, ill probibly just use my current rifle press for processing and use the new one for loading... letting my 1050 run semi unattended isn't doing her any favors but i haven't broken anything yet..other than orfices and decapping pins.

OP. Buy direct from dillion, order spare decapping pins and orifices, and maybe a couple of the decapping pin holders.... dillions shipping policy/pricing are the only negative thing about them... if you put in a second or third order for forgotten things your shipping price will match your order price.

 

[breyton490]

Get a drill press and a Weldon countersink bit. You will need it for 5.56mm anyway. The bit doesn't bite if you miss. I had the dillen swager and used it for 100 pie es of brass and sold it the next day. Hated it.

I have both already.. They work well for small batches, but not for cranking out lots of 9mm quickly. For rifle brass, I dont mind having to process the brass, since I can more easily keep track of spent casings at the range. So its a one time hit for rifle. I pick up range brass for pistol and that is where things go down hill with the mix of crimped and non-crimped cases.

Just need to decide what my time is worth... Problem is I don't like paying myself...

 

[Dean Crawford]

Is there anyone else taking his place.

Dean

 

[jar]

If you watch the classifieds on the brianenos.com forum, you might be able to snag a deal. I got an RL1050 for a good price a few years ago. The older RL1050 has a shorter stroke than the current super 1050, so you can't load larger rifle calibers on it. I forget where the line is, but the RL1050 can still do 223.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

IM not trying to down the coolness factor of a mark 7 autodrive, but for the price you could equip 2 warren&pouness autodrives..

The Mark 7 is in an entire different league, and the drive actually senses what is happening so it will not only shut down but often tell you exactly what is wrong. I've also seen the prototypes of two new accessories that sense additional "problem conditions" so the system can stop with an intelligent diagnostic. The P&W is a much simpler mechanism.

Although Mark 7 is based in Florida, the genius behind the operation is local and I can beat on him for any NES members having problems.

 

[timbo]

Between Riley's and SO, SO's Dillon prices are a few % better (for the most part). I bought my 550b from SO as their prices were about $20 less than Riley's. Their accessories were a few percent less as well. I had to special order a caliber conversion kit for 9x18 and I ordered it through SO...the guy said it would take about a week...three days later, I got the call that it was in. Not everything they sell is cheaper than Riley's but I have found their Dillon stuff is.

That being said, it's not a long trip for me to check out prices there as I only live about a 1/2 hour away from them.

 

[dustoff22]

Ah that's sad news. Bought a lot of Dillon stuff from Brian Enos. He's a class act and someone of his character and knowledge will be hard to find as a replacement. Dillon direct is fine but I much preferred dealing with Brian.

 

[breyton490]

1050 ordered with a spare parts kit.... No turning back now.... Yee haaa...

 

[Gammon]

!050s are occasionally available used, just keep your eyes open and be ready to jump as they don't last long.

 

[IPSC_DRL]

I recently got one used and it is an amazing machine.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Don't get hung up about a bullet feeder or autodrive. You can do a LOT of reloading with a 1050 the old fashioned way, hand positioning bullets and pulling the handle.

My suggestion would be to get the 1050, use it manually for a while to really learn how it operates, how to clear jams, etc. and then consider a bullet feeder second and an auto drive third. I have had a 1050 for 20+ years, and still run it without either.

The Super 1050 also does .308; the older "Regular 1050" only goes up to .223 - something to consider if buying used. If you get a non-super 1050, the nicest units are the really old ones with the 4" captive cam rather than the "hook shaped thing" at the bottom. Both work, but the later appears to have been a deign change to lower manufacturing cost. No less an authority than Brian Enos have told me the old ones with the large cam are the best of the bunch.

The 1050 comes with a BS warranty (if the other presses have a no-BS warranty, but implication the 1050 has a BS warranty), but my parts expenses have been minimal over the years. The only thing that "broke" was the lever that moves the primer slider - that developed a bend (against the long dimension, not the flat dimension) over many years and needed replacement.

Be careful about die adjustment, as an incorrect adjustment can crush and break the shell plate.

I recently got one used and it is an amazing machine.

Quite a jump up from your old Square Deal.

 

[Gammon]

Don't get hung up about a bullet feeder or autodrive. You can do a LOT of reloading with a 1050 the old fashioned way, hand positioning bullets and pulling the handle.

My suggestion would be to get the 1050, use it manually for a while to really learn how it operates, how to clear jams, etc. and then consider a bullet feeder second and an auto drive third. I have had a 1050 for 20+ years, and still run it without either.

The Super 1050 also does .308; the older "Regular 1050" only goes up to .223 - something to consider if buying used. If you get a non-super 1050, the nicest units are the really old ones with the 4" captive cam rather than the "hook shaped thing" at the bottom. Both work, but the later appears to have been a deign change to lower manufacturing cost. No less an authority than Brian Enos have told me the old ones with the large cam are the best of the bunch.

The 1050 comes with a BS warranty (if the other presses have a no-BS warranty, but implication the 1050 has a BS warranty), but my parts expenses have been minimal over the years. The only thing that "broke" was the lever that moves the primer slider - that developed a bend (against the long dimension, not the flat dimension) over many years and needed replacement.

Be careful about die adjustment, as an incorrect adjustment can crush and break the shell plate.

Quite a jump up from your old Square Deal.

+1. I have had a 1050 for over 20 years and never felt the need for more production. I was extremely disappointed to find that my 1050 came with a BS warranty, but my replacement parts cost has been minimal over the years.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

I was extremely disappointed to find that my 1050 came with a BS warranty, but my replacement parts cost has been minimal over the years.

In the old days, Dillon treated the 1050 as if it had the full warranty. Mike Dillon had his staff tighten up on that a number of years ago.

 

[Gammon]

In the old days, Dillon treated the 1050 as if it had the full warranty. Mike Dillon had his staff tighten up on that a number of years ago.

That has always been a mystery to me. I was getting replacement parts free, including a new motor for the case feeder, for quite a while and then the party was over. They simply announced that my No BS warranty was actually BS.

 

[M1911]

That has always been a mystery to me. I was getting replacement parts free, including a new motor for the case feeder, for quite a while and then the party was over. They simply announced that my No BS warranty was actually BS.

I believe that small-time commercial reloaders started using the 1050, and using it at a much higher utilization rate, thus going through far more replacement parts.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

I believe that small-time commercial reloaders started using the 1050, and using it at a much higher utilization rate, thus going through far more replacement parts.

I think this is a smokescreen for "competitive pressures do not warranee a lifetime warrantee on that machine".

REAL commercial reloaders use Ammoload, Camdex or similar. Sure, there may be some small scale guys running an ammo business on 1050s, but I suspect the vast majority of users are individuals loading their own ammo.

Dillon terminated the lifetime warranty on their tumblers. If you make a claim on an old one, they will honor the warranty once, then void the "lifetime" warranty replacing with "one year". It's similar to taking a 100,000 mile warrrantied car in at 10,000 miles with a bad transmission, getting a new one, and being told "you're covered until 20,000" - a direct violation of the original warranty terms.

Dillon is a great company, but they are getting tighter with customer support.

 

[M1911]

Yes, big time commercial reloaded use something like a Camdex. But some small shops use 1050s with auto drives.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Yes, big time commercial reloaded use something like a Camdex. But some small shops use 1050s with auto drives.

I've spoken to one of those shops at length. I was told "ammoload looks like it was made in a machine shop; Camdex looks like it was made in a blacksmith shop".

 

[Gammon]

I think this is a smokescreen for "competitive pressures do not warranee a lifetime warrantee on that machine".

REAL commercial reloaders use Ammoload, Camdex or similar. Sure, there may be some small scale guys running an ammo business on 1050s, but I suspect the vast majority of users are individuals loading their own ammo.

Dillon terminated the lifetime warranty on their tumblers. If you make a claim on an old one, they will honor the warranty once, then void the "lifetime" warranty replacing with "one year". It's similar to taking a 100,000 mile warrrantied car in at 10,000 miles with a bad transmission, getting a new one, and being told "you're covered until 20,000" - a direct violation of the original warranty terms.

Dillon is a great company, but they are getting tighter with customer support.

I bought a Dillon tumbler (small one) a long time ago. When the motor failed Dillon offered to install a new one for almost $90, not much of a warranty. I bought higher capacity Lyman Pro Magnum model for $100 and it has been doing well for over 15 years. MY decision to buy the Lyman was based on the performance of my Turbo 1200 which is still running after 20 years of use. **** Dillon. I will only buy the products that they stand behind 100%.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

**** Dillon. I will only buy the products that they stand behind 100%.

Then do not by anything electronic from them. They did away with lifetime warrantees on those years ago.

There are VERY few vendors that will offer a lifetime on electronics. Dillon is like most scope companies "lifetime, electronics excepted". Vortex is the only exception I know of.