What should I do???

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I'm looking to make a purchase and am unsure what route to take. I'm debating between buying a new safe, a Dillon 1050, or just a ton of bullet components.

I have a safe currently but it isn't the best. I've always wanted a large fire safe that I could store all my guns in. This will cost quite a bit of money but will last a lifetime...

OR...

buy a Dillon 1050 reloading press. I currently have a Dillon 650 and I would keep the 650 but add the 1050 to the mix. I shoot a lot esp. now after buying my race gun. I was thinking of the 1050 because it would be a bit quicker than the 650 and I could leave the 650 set up for .40 and the 1050 for .38 super

OR...

Just buy a boat load of bullet components to stock up on. I'm constantly buying bullets, primers, powder, and brass. Should I just stock pile a bunch of these components or just continue buying the way I have been all along which has worked fine for me.

DECISIONS... DECISIONS... DECISIONS...

Thanks,
Pete
 

to which one???

I know I will most likely do all of the above but in which order is the question??? I'm leaning heavily towards the safe route. That will last a lifetime and will look great in my gunroom in the basement. I just placed a bullet order for 8000 bullets so that should last me 2-3 months. I recently made a powder order and have several pounds left which should also last me 2-3 months. My Dillon 650 has been working great so maybe I'll wait until the winter time to purchase a 1050 which will give me something to do in the cold months???
 
Buy Both [grin] [smile] [grin]

Than sell your old safe!!!

One thing to look into is you may get a break on Homeowers ins. with a safe ????? Not sure though, anyone out there know that?????

David
 
That is a hard decision, I say you buy 10 or 20 rounds of ammunition for every single NES member, since sharing is better than just buying things for yourself[smile] (I'll take 8x57 BTW)
 
Get the components. The prices of raw materials are going up, and bullet components haven't quite caught up. They'll go higher. Midway USA has a sale going on right now for Rainier bullets and they're very cheap.

Since you don't need them right away, you can wait on the safe and the 1050. Heavy gun safes are white elephants, and they are dirt cheap on the used market. Both myself and my brother got our large fireproof safes for free. That's right, FREE! On separate occasions, we both found people that were trying to sell old safes with no takers. It got to the point where they said, "Come and get it out of here and it's yours."

Look in your local paper, on Craig's list, and on eBay. My brother found his in the local paper, I got mine on eBay for $1.

I'd also go used on the 1050. Keep your eyes open (ebay, classifieds on gun forums, etc) and find a deal on a used one. You have time. Dillon has an awesome deal where they'll totally rebuild your press for a ridiculously small amout of money (I think $35).
 
My advice:

1. New safe, keep the old one -- If your guns get stolen, what will you have to shoot? Also, any good gunny can put extra safe capacity to good use. If you sell your old safe today, you may regret it tomorrow.

2. Extra bulk components -- You'll often save money if you buy in bulk.

3. Extra Dillon press. -- Sure, a fancy, top-of-the-line Dillon 1050 would be very nice to have, but you may be kidding yourself if you talk yourself into believing that it's more important than the other two items above.

Cheers!
 
I think you should buy the press. You shouldn't keep the 650, it doesn't make sense, when the change over for different calibers is as fast as it is. Then you can sell me your 650 (for a nice price) and put that money either toward getting components, or into a "new safe" fund.

Adam
 
I vote for a new safe. As Cross-X pointed out, you'll find good use for the old safe...Hell, you could have one be a gun safe and the other an ammo safe...Think of the stockpile!!! [smile]
 
I don't know about the 1050 Pete. I'm in the ball park on how much you shoot (nearly everyday) and have the same assortment of guns. I almost bought a 1050 but took a gamble and picked up the RF100 primer feeder. Together with the 650, I have incredible speed and quick changeovers (I have separate small and large priming systems that help too). The RF100 is finicky but completely takes out the time to load primer tubes. The 1050 might be down the road but more so just to get one rather than any real need.

A safe is super important. Must have but you can find deals on them for less than the price of a 1050.

Component prices are going up so it is good to stock up. BTW, dryfire and 9mm brass are nearly free [wink]
 
I think I'm going to go the gun safe route. I have my guns locked up now in a safe but I want something fancy. I've been working on my gunroom in the basement and want to buy a safe so it all looks nice together. Plus, I've always wanted a nice high end safe with a mirror finish. I think that is the way I'm going to go. I'm always buying bullet components and have been trying to stock up as best I can. I'm sure I won't be shooting quite as much over the winter and was planning on trying to find someone that will do a bulk order of 40-50,000 bullet heads. That would keep me busy for a while.

The 1050 would be nice but I don't think it is a necessity. The 650 has been great to me and I can load quite a bit of ammo rather quickly on it. I do have a primer feed but not the Dillon one. It cuts loading primer tubes ten fold. It takes about 1 minute to load a primer tube. Def. a must have item. I think I want to try a 1050 before I buy one to see if it is even that much better. I would never sell my 650 either way!!!
 
I would go with the safe. The old safe could be used for ammo storage (untill you fill the new safe and need more space).
A good safe is key! As well as my firearms I have other important paperwork in there. I have the same safe as C-fer and think it was one of my better investments yet.
 
What type of safe do you have??? I'm looking at the Browning safes, Cannon, and Liberty safes. I want something that is 60" high and 30" or so wide. I'm looking between a few different models but want something that is not only high on the security scale but something that is also visually appealing.

Pete
 
If you get a gun safe look at the thickness of the side door. Safe manufacturers will try to impress you with some fancy name for their hardplate, the number of locking bolts, etc. - but of more importance is "how thick is the steel the miscreant needs to cut through?" The most common thickness is 10 guage, but there is also some 12 guage lower end stuff out there, as well as 3/16" which is something like 6 gauge. Of course, if you move up to a TL30 like the 3,000 lb Amsec (not the Amsecs you commonly see, but the high end one with the TL30 rating) you're in a different league in price, security and weight.

Check out the showroom at Eastern Security Safe in Mendon, MA. They have Cannon, Liberty and Champion (similar to Liberty) in stock.

I'm a fan of traditional mechanical combination locks - unless you can get the manufacturer to give you a lifetime on-site lockout service guarantee. Just be sure to get the combination change key and make sure you know what you're doing if you change it yourself.

"Real Safes" rarely if ever come in the high-gloss auto finish, however, there are many very nice gun safes which fit this description. They'll protect you from all but a miniscule fraction of home breakin artists, but you couldn't haul it to your jewelery store and expect the insurance company to be satisfied. If you want to see what "real safes" look like and want a deal, visit the two Jeweler's buildings on Washington St. in Boston and look for the "going out of business, safe for sale" signs that are frequently up on shops.
 
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I'm thinking something like this:

95_1.JPG
 
Sell all your safes, get a good alarm system for your house, buy sheet metal rifle/pistol cabinets, bolt em to the wall and floor and reinforce them with hasps and padlocks. Then sell almost all of your reloading gear, take all the money, get a bunch of old milsurps, some surplus ammo, a whole bunch of water based cleaner, patches, and brushes.
Thats what I'd do.[laugh]
 
Sell all your safes, get a good alarm system for your house, buy sheet metal rifle/pistol cabinets, bolt em to the wall and floor and reinforce them with hasps and padlocks. Then sell almost all of your reloading gear, take all the money, get a bunch of old milsurps, some surplus ammo, a whole bunch of water based cleaner, patches, and brushes.
Thats what I'd do.[laugh]

Old guns give me the willies.... HEHE I like the newer stuff... Actually I have a Mil Surp M1 Garand with a shortened barrel and it's in great condition. I haven't shot this badboy yet though.

Pete
 
What type of safe do you have??? I'm looking at the Browning safes, Cannon, and Liberty safes. I want something that is 60" high and 30" or so wide. I'm looking between a few different models but want something that is not only high on the security scale but something that is also visually appealing.

Pete

Check out the Kittery Scratch sale. Don't know exactly when the have it but the savings are good on the Browning safes.

I like my Browning Medallion safe. I think is was about $1000 dealer cost when I bought it.

Regards,
 
I made a trip to Eastern Security today and I think I found the safe that is going to come home with me. I'll sleep on it but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get it. What a cool place to visit if you haven't been yet. You leave there wanting to buy a safe you can put your house in. LOL

Pete
 
Canon is the ONLY safe company I know of which offers in-home service (pickup and delivery) if you unit is breeched by a miscreant - which of course, brings up the question "Why would you want the same model if it was broken into?"

I checked http://www.cannonsafe.com and they have 12ga and 10ga safes - I'd suggest the 12 - heavier and thicker.
 
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