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I think everything Dillon makes is a quality product. You won't go wrong buying DIllon. However, I think it is fair to say that some find other dies better for some things. Taking it one die at a time: Sizing: The Dillon sizing dies have a generous radius which makes it easy to get the case in the die. However, for 9mm and a number of other cartridges, the Dillon dies do not size as close to the shell plate as might be ideal. I modified my 9mm die by removing most of the steel below the carbide ring. Others just buy a Lee die or a U-due (also made by Lee) which sizes closer to the shell plate. Seating: If you are loading traditional cast and lubed bullets the removable parts of the seating die are fantastic. They allow you to remove the insides of the die, clean the gunk off them and replace them without loosing any of your settings. The downside to the die is that adjusting the seating depth is kind of a pain IMO. Now that I am not loading cast bullets I find I dislike the die when I want to try a different bullet or seating depth. I plan to replace this die in the near future. (If Santa doesn't do it I will in January). Crimping: The crimp die is seperate from seating rather than being in a combination die which is good. The insides of this die are also removable without loosing the adjustments which is great. I have no complaints about this one and can't really think if a way to improve it.

I think glocks, M&P's and XD's belong in the same division. We'll see what tiger teams have to say about it. Hopefully soon.

I was driven by my frugal side for a while and worried about removing the crimps from 9mm brass. I've since re-thought that position based on the fact that the brass itself, even when I buy it, costs me 25%-35% of what I pay for a bullet. I figure if I average only 3 reloadings per case (which is low) bullets are 10x more expensive than the brass. So why I am going to a lot of extra trouble especially since the majority of the brass is fine and only a small percentage is crimped or has other problems. If this "problem" brass amounts to say 10% of the total brass that's 10% of 10% or 1% of the cost of bullets. What I do now is put my dirty brass in a bucket in the garage. When the bucket gets full I sort it by caliber and clean the 9mm. I then pitch anything I don't want to deal with. This includes anyhing crimped, S&B (tight primer pockets), anything not actually brass, or anything that just doesn't look right. I kept track of the percentages for a while and found it generally ran from 4% to 10% trash. I am rewarded with a smoother and more stress free re-loading process and no srewing around removing crimps. I put any brass I buy through the same process. Let's say I buy 3500 pieces at $105, that's $0.03 per piece. If I start by throwing 10% away that gives me 3150 at $105 or $0.033 per piece. That's an extra $3 per each 1000 rounds loaded if I don't pick the brass up or $1 per 1000 rounds if I go back my average of 3 reloads per piece. I'll just keep throwing it away.

Even though the XD barrels are forged they use conventional rifling unlike the polygonal rifling that glock and some others use. You can shoot whatever type of bullets you prefer. I have personally shot roughly 2,000 tranditional cast and lubed bullets, 10,000 bayous, and 8000 MG jacketed all through the same XDM barrel. For me the bayous are the right balance of price and performance but any are fine depending on your preference.

I shoot the bayous and recommend them. I don't think leading will be an issue. I don't really find cleaning the barrel necessary when shooting these bullets. I occasionally dry brush the chamber but I don't think that is even really necessary. If the reason for the 500 round break in is simply to break in the reciprocating parts of the gun I can't imagine it would matter what type of bullet you would use. If you are specifically trying to accomplish something inside the bore I am not sure.

I just received 3000 147gr bullets. Donnie quoted a 2 week lead time and beat it. I would suggest emailing him directly at bayoubullets@yahoo.com. I have always found him to be very responsive to both inquiries and orders.

The three bullets pictured above appear to be what I was referring to as generation 1, generation 2, and generation 3 of the coating from left to right.

Yeah I've been eying one of those for a while. I definitely foresee one of those or something very similar in my future.

What is being shipped now is the third generation of coating. When going from Gen 1 to Gen 2 my velocities were basically the same. I did have to increase the bell on the case mouth slightly to avoid cutting the coating (which caused the bullets to key hole). I just received some Gen 3 bullets today. I have plenty of gen 2 left and plan to chrono the same load with each bullet in the same chrono session. I will report the results for those that are interested.

I've been using one of these for about year and like it a lot. The response is very linear and there is simply no fiddling back and forth required. Makes me want to do something similar for my seating die.

I would get the quick change for sure. I don't think changing the primer size on the 550B is that big of a deal either. While I'm changing cartridges I generally use the opportunity to clean the priming system to help ensure things get going smoothly. Once you've got the hood off, so to speak, the part with the cup on it is already out so you just swap it when you put it back together. About the only extra thing you have to do is change the tube out. I'm not saying I would mind having a second press and never changing it but for me personally there are other things I would probably spend money on first.

Are you mainly concerned about maintaining the same point of impact or are you trying to replicate the sight picture of the other gun (not just the fiber but the amount of light on each side of the sight)?

As far as I can figure out the plate has to be used as an extra step. I sort everything else first which gives me a batch of 9mm with some 380 mixed in. You use the plate with one of the larger sorters (45 for example). That way the 380 falls through and the 9 stays on top. As others have mentioned you need to line up the slots. I find that it does work but you have to be patient and work in small batches if you really want to get every last 380 out. It's pretty easy to rush or try to do too many pieces at a time which results in some of the 380 being left mixed in.

Short answer: maybe but probably not in the direction you are thinking. You can slug both the bore and the chamber throats on the revolver. Ideally you want the throats as large or (preferably) slightly larger than the bore and lead bullets as large or slightly larger than the throats. If you have a really tight bore and throats or over sized lead bullets this might work out ok. However if the lead bullets are undersized they will most likely cause leading and inaccuracy. The plated bullets will be more forgiving in this regard but will still probably not be especially accurate (may key hole) if they are undersized. I've had pretty good luck going the other way, which is to say shooting 38 bullets in a a 9mm. Some 9mm's have over sized bores. In my experience even when they don't the bullet will size down the extra 0.0001 or 0.0002 safely as long at the loaded round chambers freely. Jamming a bullet like this into the rifling or forcing it into the chamber so that the case can't expand enough to release the bullet is probably not a good idea. If you want to try it I recommend removing the barrel from the pistol and making sure the rounds chamber easily. Of course, you should also work up to your desired load carefully.

Had the same problem with the 4.5. Mine was locking back prematurely like yours. I eventually trained myself to keep my strong hand thumb off of it. I hear the springer replacement helps but like others don't know if it's production legal.

I agree you should call Dillon. If you can refer them to that picture that might be worthwhile. FWIW, I just looked at my 550B with the small primer parts installed and the bottom of the primer is just about even with the plastic tip on the end of the primer tube. The cup moves underneath the primer and pushes the white plastic pin back which allows the primer to drop into the cup. It looks to me like your primer is lower than this, although I am not sure what would cause this. BTW, Are you sure you have the correct tube installed for the size primer you are using?

I have loaded on a 550B (pistol) for many years and it is a great press. However, I would eventually like to own a 650 and load 223. One of the things I have thought about is the fact that you will have to trim 223 cases. If you choose to do that with the Dillon trimmer I would think having the case feeder and the auto index of the 650 would make that part of the process a lot faster and easier. Perhaps some others that have gone down that road will comment.

full scores are here - http://www.idpa.com//matchresults/2012_nationals/2012-09-19.pdf

Good point on the warranty. I had forgotten about that. FWIW, even though it was out of warranty Dillon offered to allow me to trade my scale in for a new at 1/2 price. I thought that was a reasonable offer and I'm not complaining considering the age of the unit. However, 1/2 of the cost of a new D-Terminator basically purchased the scale Brian was offering and the warranty was, as Sarge pointed out, better.

The digital scale I was referring to (and purchased) is available at http://www.brianenos.com/store/be.scale_be.html The price is $74.95. As I mentioned in the earlier post I've had it for a couple of months and have been pleased so far. It replaced the D-Terminator and seems so far to be a better scale for less money. To be fair though my version of the D-Terminator was 10 years old and perhaps they have improved it since I bought it. I don't anything about the HP.

You did not specify a model for the Dillon but I am guessing if there is only $5 difference in price you are comparing their balance beam scale to the Digital scale that Brian offers. I am not knocking the Dillon as I have no experience with it. I do however, prefer a digital. When my 10 year old Dillon digital went down a couple of months ago I replaced it with the digital Brian offers and have been very pleased with both the service and the product. The item shipped very quickly and was delivered to me on the east coast a couple of days after ordering. The scale itself is nice and small. It is ready to go almost immediately after turning it on unlike my old scale which drifted for a few minutes as it warmed up. It also has held its calibration very well in the two or so months that I have owned it. I was originally worried about the fact that it was battery operated (did not have a way to plug it in), but the batteries show no signs of needing replacement after two months.

I've had this problem before and for me it was a shell plate that was too loose. I would suggest: 1) Check underneath the shell plate and on top of the ram to make sure there isn't debris or some sort of bur that prevents you from tightening it down enough without binding. Fix whatever problems you find. 2) Add a very small amount of grease to the indexing ball and the area on the shell plate where it touches. This allows it to turn while tighter. 3) Make sure when you are done tightening the shell plate that you are tightening the set screw in the side of the ram so that the shell plate isn't loosening up over time.

Thank you, that good to know! I actually ordered one this morning.

In looking at the specs again I see that the scale sold by Brian is battery operated and the Dillon can be plugged in so no battery is required. Can anyone who uses one of the scales sold by Brian comment on the battery life?