sal3coach

Getting into reloading is a lot like getting into shooting. A mentor is a great plus. If you have a buddy that's into reloading, get him to show you what its all about. I have two 650s but still use my single stage press a lot for working up loads and small batches of hunting and specialty ammo. I don't think you need to spend a lot of money on the single stage press as you will want to go with a progressive as you shoot more. Since budget is a concern, I would start with the Lee Challenger Breech Lock Single Stage Press Kit (about $105). This has almost everything you need to get started including a quick swap method for the dies. The scale sucks but you will need to buy a good one anyway ( BE has a package deal for digital scale and caliper in the store). This will also get you grounded on what goes on in the reloading business. You can buy the lee kit, the digital scale and calipers, a couple of loading manuals, loading blocks and dies for all your calibers for under $500. When you are shooting enough to justify that progressive, BE gives you a lot of info to help decide which press to buy. If you think you want a casefeeder and may want to load rifle, go straight to the 650.

I just installed Mr. B. on my 650. After a bit of tuning, the system works fantastically well. The reloading speed doubles at least for me, since I have to run the handle with my left hand then move up to set the bullet due my bad right shoulder. I got mine from Rick and paid a little extra for a second mount so I could move it between my two 650s. I love the idea that he used plumbing parts--means he didn't have to design and pay for a custom component, costs which would have been passed on to us users. Darn, now I have to save up for one of those primer fillers or buy another 20 or 30 primer tubes...

The Hornady one shot works great on pistol cases. I use it even with the carbide dies and the resizing is much easier and smoother. BUT the one-shot doesn't seem to work that well in the rifle cases, especially the 5.56 and 7.62 from the ARs. The Dillon spray lube works very well on the rifle cases, use the same method as stated above.

I have had or used every Dillon press , 450, 550, 650 and used a 1050. BE has a page her that suggests which Dillon to buy depending on what you shoot. If you are thinking about a 550 and don't shoot a wide range of rifle calibers, the 550 is a good press. The 650 offers a better growth path and still has the lifetime warranty. One of my friends has the Hornady and really likes it but after he tried my 650 he said he wished he had tried my 650 first. I have had excellent service from Hornady and GREAT service from Dillon...

We have gone through about 20,000 Zero Bullets and 10,000 Montana Gold in 9mm(about 70% in Glock), another 5,000+ of each in 45 and several thousand in other calibers. I don't think you can go wrong with either of these "low cost" manufacturers.

I had a similar problem with my 650 and noticed the chute("station one locator") had developed some rough edges and the black pusher assembly had cracked. I ended up smoothing the edges on the chute with a small fine file. Dillon sent me the black pusher so I replaced that This seems to have fixed the problem

You probably know this but here it goes. Brownells has all the items you need including a large assortment of springs. They also have a great bunch of knowledge that they are happy to share if you call and ask for tech support Technical Support: 800-741-0015

When I taught for the Remington shooting school, I saw this happen very seldom in the thousands of rounds fired. Some of the causes were(You probably checked all these--sorry if this is a repeat): Bad gas piston/seal and O-ring. Gas piston/seal reversed. Carbon in gas ports. Carbon or nicks on magazine tube. Soft shoulder by shooter--i.e. not pulling gun tight into shoulder.

These are excellent--thanks for making them available!

AlamoShooter gave this forum a great reportcard. After lurking and searching, I decided he was right...