dcmdon
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Posts posted by dcmdon
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Don't forget that the popularity of Federal primers with revolver shooters is precisely because they are soft. If you can use lighter springs, you can have a lighter trigger pull.
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dnmcoy - I guess its all about expectations then. 170/hr is plenty for me. Also, If you are getting 170/hr, I'd guess thats a lot faster than you can comfortably do with a single stage. It is for me.
If I need faster, I'll set up a caliber for my 650. The beautiful thing about this turret press is that a caliber change takes about 3 minutes and cost $15, if you use the same powder drop. If you buy a different powder drop for the new turret, it takes 30 seconds and cost $50.
Thats tough to beat. In my mind, this press has all the benefits of a single stage, with a lot more speed. I love the flexibility. I can batch for certain steps and then run in series for others. Just last week, I waiting for the Alox on my bullets to dry so I ran 100 cases through the deprime, resize, prime stage.
When the bullets were dry, I just picked up at the powder drop stage and then ran each round through to finish. I really love this thing. Total flexibility like a single stage with much better speed than a single stage.
I also like that I handle every casing going in, and every round going out. It provides a level of QC for certain rounds that is nice. With my 650, I never handle cases or ammo, only bullets. I'm not knocking it, but that is the price you pay for speed.
**98SR20VE - I have not done the washer trick yet. I don't know why. I'm sure it will help. As it is, I simply prime when the ram is not quite at the top of its stroke and it works great. I'll gain speed if I don't have to lower, stop, then lower again. But frankly, I'm happy with the speed I'm getting.
Don
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I did another 50 rounds this past week and shot about 100 rounds this weekend. Lots of fun. Its about a hot .44 Special load right now.
I've used this gun more in the last couple of weeks than I have in the previous 3 years.
dnmcoy - the primer works fine for me. Just not very fast. I'd say about 1 in 20 doesn't work and I have to take another stroke with the safety prime. I rarely end up with a primer on the ground. Not ideal, but not worth priming off the press in my humble opinion.
I have decided to leave the auto index off the press for now. Its plenty fast for what I'm reloading. The rounds I shoot a LOT of are done on my 650
Don
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I wouldn't use one without it. For me, the 650 was a safety upgrade, not a speed upgrade.
Now I know that thousands of people have reloaded probably hundreds of millions of rounds safely with the 550. But part of getting older is knowing your limitations and flaws. For me, its a general inability to tune out distractions and sometimes inattention to detail.
I've taken a number of steps to minimize the chance of a problem, including a "sterile" work area, no phones, no kids, no tv, no radio along with frequent breaks to optimize the human side.
On the mechanical side, the auto indexing along with the abiliity to use a dillon powder check die is a big help. Finally, the case feed allows me to keep my head on the left side of the press where I am constantly checking the powder level, bullet alignment and visual quality of the round just before it goes into the bin.
Don
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I can't see having a 650 without a casefeeder. A 650 without a casefeeder is called a 550. Jump on the deal and definately get a casefeeder. Good luck.
Not true at all. The 650 auto indexes, the 550 does not. The 650 has a 5 station tool head, the 550 has a 4 station.
These are HUGE differences with a number of ramifications that I'm not going to get into here.
I have a cheap friend who basically extended the 650 feeder tube up another couple of feet to hold more rounds. He likes it.
I believe he gets a bit over 50 rounds per filling. It works for him.
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i use one shot, and have never had a problem.
With that said, I'm only loading pistol ammo and use carbide dies so I don't use a whole lot of one shot. Just a very small amount slicks things up nicely.
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Well, I ended up getting a Lee Classic Turret for these low volume calibers. I've loaded all of my available pre-lubed lead bullets and just went to the unlubed ones this afternoon to apply the allox.
I'm surprised at how little there appears to be on the bullets. It sure doesn't seem like much. I'd guess I used a quarter teaspoon of Allox and a similar amount of mineral spirits for 50 bullets. When I dumped them, they were all wet. So I guess they're done.
It just doesn't look like much.
Does that sound about right?
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Been busy the last few weeks, and finally got around to making some .44 mag for the first time a couple of days ago. Its working pretty well. I haven't done the washer tweak to the safety prime, so for now I put the primer in the cup just before the lever reaches bottom.
The COAL is very consistent. The combination of Lymann and RCBS dies is working well. I've used 2 seat/crimp dies set up so that each is done separately. (Lyman with die body screwed way out of plate, with bullet seater set properly, then a RCBS die with the bullet seater pulled way up and the main body set fo ra nice roll crimp)
I loaded 50 without the auto index and liked the process. Then I loaded another 25 with the auto index when I got a few minutes this afternoon and liked that too. I felt like I was still able to do QC on each round, but production speed increased greatly.
I like the fact that I handle every case as it goes into the machine and every cartridge as it comes out of the machine. It gives an excellent opportunity to visually check things out.
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I have owned a Lee Classic Turret (LCT), Load Master, 550, LnL and 650 and LCT (to compliment the 650). Bought them in that order. Only ones I would buy again are the LCT, 550 and 650. In fact I have have bought two LCT's because I should never have sold my first one for my LoadMaster. The LoadMaster was a good press EXCEPT the priming system. That was a nightmare beyond description. IMHO get the Dillon. Buy once cry once.
I've gone the other way. I bought a 650, and then wanted something for lower volume stuff that didn't cost $175 for all the necessary stuff to change calibers.
I recently got the Lee Classic Turret and am VERY happy. At this point I'm reloading .44 mag with it. The total cost from www.factorysales.com was about $170 with the better powder drop, powder drop riser, safety primer, belling die, and a few other things.
Compared to my Dillon, a caliber change cost about $40 if I use a new powder drop and takes about 1 minutes. (Which isn't really necessary, because you can go back to a previous charge weight in about a minute) If you use the same powder drop, caliber changes take about 3 minutes and costs $12.
If you don't have the dough for a dillon or a lock and load AP, I'd strongly suggest the classic turret. Your speed will be less than with a full progressive, 120 rounds/hr is reasonable, but you will have a reliable machine that you will still own 20 years from now.
As much as I love my 650, I could some day see replacing it with a 1050.
I could not ever imagine getting rid of my Classic Turret.
Don
p.s. there's a reason you see loadmasters for sale for pennies on the dollar and Dillons on ebay selling for nearly the cost of new. By the way, Lee Turrets also bring good money used. Another indication that its a quality product.
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I just bought a lee turret press to complement my 650. It came with a Lee safety prime. It uses a flip tray with a rough surface much like Glocks RTF. It is MAGIC in its ability to rapidly flip primers. It will flip a box of primers in literally 2 or 3 shakes.
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I had forgotten about the strong mount. I 3rd that idea for getting the bench up.
As for stabilizing the bench, Id start by putting bullets and ammo on the botom shelf. Thats what I did and my bench does not require any fastening to any walls now that it weighs 400#
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I agree that you should raise it if possible. Also, I would not have a problem doing other things on a bench of that size. Just mount the press about a foot off the right side and consider the 2 ft to the left to be reloading space. I also put myself 7 to 8 oclock and don't really have much use for extra space to my right
My dillon press is still on the left side of my bench. Its an error I made because I had never reloaded before when I mounted it. I just mounted a Lee Turret and put it close to the right edge of a different bench and its perfect.
Don
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I've got the safety prime. I just haven't mounted it yet.
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Thanks for all the info guys. I'm going to buy one and give it a try.
Multiple powder bars have no appeal to me because I'll use each drop with a single powder and I don't want to have to dump it out
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Well, I got it mostly put together today. Everything except for the primer system.
I'm using a combination of RCBS and Lyman carbide dies for .44 mag. I've made up a dummy round and so far so good. The crimp mangled the bullet, but its late and I'll see what up tomorrow. I found that I could greatly shorten the handle from its longest length for use with pistol cartridges.
So without further adieu: Dillon, meet your little brother Lee.
Speaking of bullets. This is why my post man hates me. Its a medium flat rate box that weighs almost 70 lbs!!!
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I say ditch the radiator. Just put more water in the bucket. Or better yet, put a bunch of ice in the bucket. Simpler and more effective since 5?lbs of ice will keep the water below ambient for a while.
If you don't have an ice maker this would be impractical. But for me it would be a great way to keep fresh ice in the freezers.
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Hi all. I've currently got a 650 with complete quick change set ups in 9mm and 45. I've been varying my powder charge frequently for use in different guns. I know this product will help with that.
However, after doing some reading I'm thinking that for my next caliber conversion I'll skip the powder drop and try just readjusting an existing micrometer equipped drop.
I'm thinking that the caliper change over won't take much longer, and if I can knock $75 off the cost of each new caliber, it will be a good thing.
I'm interested in any insight anyone may have on this topic.
I'd particularly like to hear from anyone who uses this product to run one powder drop for multiple calipers. I use the same powder in both .45 and 9mm
Thanks,
Don
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Mine just came in the mail yesterday. I'll hopefully have some thoughts soon. I tumbled 500 pieces of 44 mag brass last night. I figure this first batch will pay for the press since I got the brass and bullets for nothing.
By the way, I just found what seems to be the most comprehensive review on the Internet.
http://www.realguns.com/archives/122.htm
Don
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I'd recommend the Dillon 550B - or whatever the least expensive one is called.
Steve ,
The square deal b won't load rifle. So it's of no use to me. Besides, in many ways
this is superior to the 550 as far as my needs go.
The 550 will cost $430, the lee turret will be about $150, it will allow me to make small batches at about 150 rounds per hour. Caliber changeovers are fast and ridiculously cheap and it's portable enough to bring to the range for load development.
I already have one 650 with plans for another so I can keep one set for each size primer.
This will be used for stuff where the speed advantage of the 650 isn't worth the setup time and expense.
If I could find a 550 cheap it might be different, but there are never any used ones around there never seem to be. There is one thing that continues to impress me about this lee. It's that there seem to be plenty of dillon shooters who use this press for load development. Many wouldnt take a loadmasters or pro 1000 if you gave it to them, but they have nothing but good things to say about this little press.
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Does anyone have any thoughts on the Pro autodisk vs the standard auto disk. The pro is $50, the standard is $30. I'm normally the kind of person who gets the better product, but I can't find anything on the interwebs that recomments the pro. Shoot, I can't even find anything that differentiates between the two.
Don
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Thank you. It sounds like I've found my next press. There are a number of calibers that I'd like to reload, but its just so expensive on the 650. There are probably 3 calibers for which commercial ammo is pretty expensive, where I would be happy loading 500 rounds per year. Off the top of my head:
.44 mag
.308
30-06
And a decent quantity of them would be load development. Ive played around with load development on the 650 and while in the end its probably no slower than a single stage, its annoying and full of opportunity for error. (dumping powder into primerless cases, putting primers on the floor, etc)
I like the idea of a turret. Much faster than a single stage, but still only working a single round at a time.
I'm pretty slow. I'm one of those guys who only gets 300 rounds per hour out of his 650. This includes filling primer tubes, inspecting brass before it goes into the hopper. (nothings worse than when you are whipping along and you get stopped by a .45 with a 9mm inside, or a piece of .45 Blazer brass with its small primer pocket)
Everything gets plunk checked in a Les Baer Commanche bbl that I keep out of the gun.
Thanks again for the help. This seems like a perfect complement for the 650.
Don
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I was going to get a single stage but this seems to have a little more speed.
Also caliber conversions are ridiculously cheap at about $10 and very fast.
On paper It looks like the perfect compliment to my 650.
One other thing is this looks like great press to use when working up loads. I'm not saying the 650 can't be used that way but it's a pain in the butt
So I'd like to hear from some people who have used one.
Reviews on the Internet seem to be universally positive. Which seems to be the case with most of Lees single stage stuff, while their progressive stuff is very mixed.
Thanks for all your advice.
Don
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Thank you. All great info. Based on all of this I'm going to order the parts from dillon for my 650.
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what should I be looking for when I measure the gun. The bullets measure a pretty consistent .4300 to .4305.
Nobody has answered if its correct for the bullet to drop in the rear part of the cylinder then stick in the forward part. Which is what happens. Should the cylinder's bore be tapered?
Worrying about the cost $ .03 primer could have cost me a gun or
in Dillon Precision Reloading Equipment
Posted
I do what you described. However, I always dump the powder back into the hopper. Typically, at the end of the night, after I've disabled the case feed, I'll run the primed cases through. (Because they've already been full length resized.)
I also agree with someone said above that 90% of all my screw ups occur at the beginning or end of a run.
If I'm done for the evening but plan to load the same thing the next time, I actually leave the machine with the handle down. If you leave it up, you can mess up as far as placing the bullet or seating the primer.
With the handle down, there is no confusion. This was one of the best pieces of advice I ever got re reloading.