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How many rounds a year before up gradeing


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So right now I'm loading on a 550B with case feeder and am mostly happy with it.  I load about 2k of 9 1k of 45 and 8 to 10k of 40 per year with a 2k run on 223 every few years.  I'm starting to think its time to move to a 650 with case feeder and add a bullet feeder in 40.  just looking to see what others have done as far as when round count justifies making the jump.  Like I said I'm happy with the 550 and with the case feeder I'm doing 750 and hour in 40. on the high end and 400 or so 223 on the low end.  At this point I have more time than money but the above round count is starting to take a lot of time.

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From a previous 550 owner (now a 650 owner), unless you are planning on increasing you bottleneck cartridges by 10x, I would not upgrade.   The reason I upgraded was 1 new gun.   A beltfed MG.   That is what broke the 550's back.   There was way to much work/time involved in reloading bottleneck cartridges.  With the increased volume I could not keep up.  I could go everyday to the range and shoot various pistols and would never of needed anything more than the 550. 

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If you can afford it sometimes it a quality of life decision. If you can spend half the time reloading what is the worth to you? It isn't always about round count. I'd say go for it. I bought a 1050 because I was tired of loading ammo the night before a match. I have enough 9 loaded for the next year and don't have to think about it

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I upgraded from a 550 to a 650 with a case feeder and then added a bullet feeder. I had started loading upwards of 4K of .40 S&W a month between TPC bootcamps, range time and competition.

My time went from 15 minutes a hundred on the 550 to 9 minutes with the case feeder and 650 and came down to 5 minutes with the addition of the bullet feeder. Other than time savings the wear and tear on my hands and shoulders was the most important factor. I was getting cramps from feeding bullets and cases.

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9 hours ago, tanks said:

I upgraded from a 550 to a 650 with a case feeder and then added a bullet feeder. I had started loading upwards of 4K of .40 S&W a month between TPC bootcamps, range time and competition.

My time went from 15 minutes a hundred on the 550 to 9 minutes with the case feeder and 650 and came down to 5 minutes with the addition of the bullet feeder. Other than time savings the wear and tear on my hands and shoulders was the most important factor. I was getting cramps from feeding bullets and cases.

Cramps in my left hand is what really started this line of thinking for me.  I can do about two 500 round sittings per day before my left hand says no more.

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12 hours ago, Kraj said:

If you can afford it sometimes it a quality of life decision. If you can spend half the time reloading what is the worth to you? It isn't always about round count. I'd say go for it. I bought a 1050 because I was tired of loading ammo the night before a match. I have enough 9 loaded for the next year and don't have to think about it

Exactly. Plusif you divide the cost by 20 years or 240 months or 7300 days it helps. What's that life commercial say for "just pennies a day"

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On Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at 10:24 AM, bwikel said:

If you are doing 750/hr  with a manual index press and no bullet feeder you won't gain anything with a 650.

Agreed and that's why I kept my 550 with case + Mini Mr bullet feeder and sold the 650.

To me, an upgrade would be moving to an auto driven 1050 with all of the bells and whistles.

 

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1 hour ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

 

Loading 1,000 rounds/month - really no reason to load 2 - 500 round sittings/day ???

Why not load 500 every two weeks?    :) 

I think this is why Brian recommends the 550.   It works well and has fewer things that will consume time from pulling the handle.  
You can make 36,000 rounds per year spending 15 minutes making 100 per day.
 

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I don't think that you should choose a reloading machine based on the amount of rounds you reload a year. I think that it is a decision you have to base on what features you want on a press, how much work you are willing to do and how much money you are willing to spend.

I enjoy reloading, I love machines, I shot 16k rounds last year, and I will try to shoot 30k this year. I have a 1050 with bulletfeeder now, and a Mark 7 PRO on the way.

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I think it also depends on how much you shoot and how much free time you have.  I started out with a Lee Target Loader for 300 H&H because no one stocked that ammo where I lived at the time.  Than a couple of Texan single stages, two Stars, then RL1000, 650 and now three Lee 1000s -   9mm - .45 and .223. All the prior covers from 1961 to present.  Don't shoot a tremendous amount any more, but, have a lot of free time being single and retired.  

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On Saturday, January 28, 2017 at 3:55 PM, rustychev said:

how do you use a bullet feeder on a 550?  Set and crimp at hole 4?

Exactly. I have the redding seat/crimp die in station 4. I also have the DAA/Lee die that I got when ordering the Mini too, just in case the other die didn't work well.

 Loaded thousands of rounds with the bullet feeder before adding the case feeder.

Sold the 650 to a friend after getting the case feeder working properly on the 550.

I've been loading with the 550 since the late 80's and if my family will follow my wishes, I'll probably be buried with it.

 

 

 

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