brian45acp

Well another awesome customer service experience by Dillon and the Dillon Rep here from the forum. They received my 1050 today and already diagnosed and fixed it. Apparently I was the idiot whom over adjusted the push rod for the priming system which is that rod located in the tool head. I had adjusted it much too deep and it was over stressing all the parts. They fixed the slight damage to the primer pin punch and inspected all the other associated parts to be sure no other damage was present and are sending it back this week. I offered to pay them but it was on the house and I learned another lesson. I cant believe it was something stupid and no matter how much I looked at the press and adjusted stuff it never occurred to me that was the issue. The engineer at Dillon had seen this once before so I guess we all learned from it and know next time someone has the same issue. I have to give Dillon and the rep here major praise for what they have done for me. To this date I have had a 550, 650, and now a 1050. I dont know why anyone else uses any other brand of progressive press.

I tried Gem Pro because of the reviews and the warranty vs the Dillon but in the end went back to Dillon. They both read accurate but it seemed to me the Gem Pro had issues and I had 2 samples that wouldnt stay working but that was on battery power. I could have run it on electric but once I figured out it was defective and couldnt run on battery even though its supposed to I didnt want it. Other then that its accurate and has a better warranty then Dillon. My Dillon has been perfect and I dont see myself buying anything else unless this thing dies prematurely but I have had it 7 months and no issues. For some reason people concern them selves with reading 2 places after the decimal yet we you progressive presses which vary the powder drop +/- 1 full grain, lol. On top of that I am not loading ammo for 1000 yrd bolt action rifle ammo. Prior to Brian selling this Gem Pro he had a pocket Jennings scale which I still have and it has worked great for months on battery. This gem Pro made me loose confidence in it after the experience I had.

I have yet to venture past that screw which holds the mag release and lifter spring. Any links on how to remove it and install properly? I read where CGW said not to use loctite and other posts saying that there is a fine line between not tight enough and too tight. Saw another post saying to replace lifter spring with new one if you take it out since after being removed it doesnt behave and stay in its place. I havent messed with mine yet and I also want to be sure I buy a proper driver for the job. My Magna tip set from brownells will likely have a good fitting slot head but I am not sure that wrench is strong enough to remove this staked screw.

It's not really possible to measure chamber depth on a cz barrel. The hood rides below the brass. It would take a special tool like a go gauge to chamber the round into the slide and measure the OAL of the entire round. The issue was limited down to out of spec brass. One option is to ream to accept it but to alter all my chambers for crap out spec brass isn't an option I want to take. I just hand cycle all my ammo through the gun before the match and know for certain its good to go.

Brian sent me 2 new ones and then ran the tests on both I sent back. He had witnessed the same issue and it seems you dont use batteries at all for the scale. My Dillon I use plug in as well but the scale should work in the way it was intended so I gave up. The battery life wasnt horrible it was impossible. It wouldnt stay on more then 1-2 minutes. Looking at how the Dillon scale is put together with that 4 pin plastic plate which is fit into the main unit and rests on the senors one would think it cant be accurate. The darn thing has no issue reading .5 grain check weights accurately. It seems not to wonder and isnt very sensitive to air movement.

I am going for it. I like my GSI, sort of, but want to keep as much to staying Dillon as possible. Rick made me an offer that cant be beat in terms of promising his product will have me satisfied. Buying direct from him is the best choice. Thanks guys for pushing me through on this decision. I listed my GSI for sale and hope I made the right choice. I like it but really want to try the MBF and keep my 1050 Dillon tool head stock.

Well Rick emailed me back. You guys are right he is super cool. I just have to decide and cant seem which I want to do.

The one thing I can't do is crank the handle like mad man. Other then that the gsi works. Basically if u watch the auto 1050s if I mimic that speed it runs fine. I will wait to get my 1050 back from Dillon and decide. It's easier at this point to stay with the gsi but I wish I had started with the MBF. I think both have a learning curve but the gsi was exhausting

Sent me gem pro back twice and gave up. It won't run on batteries and would shut off in a minute or less. Brian couldn't figure it out either. Got the Dillon digital and it's awesome. No need to read 2 digits past the decimal. My Dillon reads perfect and is always spot on

I think I'm going to keep my gsi for now. It also was a science project and I have it down perfect. I really don't want to do that over again. The motor is strong and my collator works great. Every now and then it need to be reversed but not often. The annoying part is the tool head which seems to be what everyone wants. It has to be in a good rhythm and if handle is pulled abruptly it messes with the bullet index and skips 1.5 stations and won't align with the brass. I spent months figuring it out but in the end it's quite nice and well made. I'm honestly scared to go down this road again and spend more money. If I ever do switch it's going to be the MBF for sure.

Right but is this thing hit or miss out of the box? I appreciate awesome customer service but not if its a must. Dillion's customer service is awesome also but almost never it's not needed. Having said that guess where my 1050 is right now? Back to Dillon, lol. It just seems these bullet feeders seem to be finicky. The gsi runs but I don't want to trade it for something else that has its own quirks. I would assume keep it if that's the case

Good to know. I did email Rick and will wait for his reply then. Perhaps it's not worth the $15 savings but instead best to buy from him. I have the gsi and don't love it. I have it running fine but would like to try the MBF instead and I am selling my gsi. It's important to me to get after support. I really hope the MBF is 100% otherwise I will just place bullets by hand and stay all Dillon. All the guys at the match love the MBF and I don't read much of anything bad about it. My only concern is Dillon hasn't adopted either design and doesn't plan to since they say none work well enough for all bullet types.

It looks like a cool idea. Basically same as buying 10 primer pick up tubes and having them ready to go vs the RF100 auto filler.

But he will back it up even if I buy it at midway? Hard to beat $15 off or free shipping. $15 comes out to more savings shipping is $11 I heard motors were bad for a while I just want to be sure I get an up to date one.

thanks guys. I will go with midway usa just because I dont know why, lol. Shipping is half as much as CED would be one reason. Second is I got $15 off my order

I was reading on here in my searches and someone mentioned buying direct from Rick va ordering at CED. Anyone have any input on this? I sent Rick an email and I agree buying from the inventor seems like the right move. Is there any advantage either way based on where I buy from?

The powder drop station is for bell. Apparently other then the 650 the powder station expands and bells all in one but the 1050 is a 2 step. If you dont need any bell thats fine but it certainly is for applying bell to the case. That station would bell the case and likely split it if over adjusted but its not. I was trying to set nearly no bell as well but was confused since half the case had too much bell and the other half almost none. This is when I noticed something else was way off to be causing this. Its impossible to create a situation on the press which would cause half a belled case if it were not for the tool head titling to one side. All the positive reviews on the 1050 dont reflect what I am seeing here at all. This machine has so much movement compared to my 650 or 550 that for $1700 and being commercial grade it only leaves me thinking there is something just not right. I really doubt this is typical and just not noticed by others. With no stations full there is no tilt at all but there is also no forces or pressure acting on it so that doesnt really prove much. Its titling to the back left corner meaning its lifting on the front right. There is only the resize die and expander die to adjust in the front right and those adjustments didnt help me. It was like the resize station was all the pressure needed to create the tilt and I am certain the die wasnt hitting the shell plate. As a matter of fact it was adjust to just touch the plate when stations empty but once full it moved about 1/16 away from the plate because of the titling upward. My 650 and 550 never did this. I adjusted to touch the plate and it did even if stations were full. I sent it out today. Sucks $25 shipping and $32 insurance. I didnt want to risk no insurance because should it lost or damaged I am screwed for the total cost. I sure hope they figure it out. Dillon Rep has been awesome and their customer service is amazing so I am hopeful it all turns out well. Riggerjj: Just a tip I found on the collet system the U die uses. My decap pin was moving after just a few rounds so I tried to tighten it up and still it moved a little. I scoured it in the opposite direction of travel from it sliding up as to create score lines across it then I applied loctite 620 which is a retaining compound for dove tail sights that Dawson precision suggests. It really holds it in there and even though I didnt get to use it much now that my press is gone it seemed to do the trick. I know my buddy tried that U die and couldnt get it to stop slipping up.

It can't bottom out. There is a hole through the shell plate that the primer falls through. That and I was using the LEE U die ft omega which has a collet recap pin which old slip. The dillon recap pin would just snap if it bottomed out. This one really has me confused. It really isn't something that can be adjusted. There is quite a bit of movement in the main shaft and linkages. I'm pretty sure it needs to be sent in. I am no commercial loader and dont have any auto drive either. I'm worried about the 1 year warranty on this machine. I only had it 6 months but what if in the future I have an issue? I'm sort of missing my 650 right now

Well its going to be all CZs then because I have 5 samples all wont chamber this longer out of spec brass so for that reason I dont want to modify the chamber. I accept the CZ has a shorter chamber and isnt max tolerance like a glock so I will just have to chamber check all my match ammo which honestly gives me more confidence I wont have a failure.

My brass even has an uneven bell to it. I changed the tool heads and same result with the tilting and it seems now I noticed the brass since I have to hand place the bullet. OK, I got some really good video this time. The one with the GSI tool head you can really see because its a square tool head and larger so its a bit easier for your eye to pick this up. The second is the Dillon head all Dillon dies dialed in and you can still see it. There are 2 things here that really show the tilt. First the resize die adjusted to touch the shell plate is no longer touching when the stations are full meaning that the tool head is rocking down toward the back let corner and lifting on the front right corner. The really odd part of this is the bell and powder drop station is belling the brass on one side and not the other. I have a pic that I included and I also tried to show this in the video but the pic really shows this. I havent noticed this before but with the Dillon tool head its really obvious now that I have to hand place the bullet on the brass. If the bell is only on half the mouth of the brass the only way that could happen is from the machine tilting to one side right at the bottom of the down stroke. If you watch the powder drop the tilting really exaggerates its movement and you see the hopper lean to the left.

I have looked at that and even backed out the swager/expander die and still it does this. For certain there is an issue here that is beyond something I can adjust. The Dillon crew is taking care of me I am going to see what they figure out.

Its hard to get a good vid but I think you can see what I am talking about. I dont think its normal and the tool head cant really be part of the issue. Its the main shaft moving and you can hear it clicking as it hits the inside of the frame.

I called a friend with a 1050 and his does the same thing. If you cycle the handle a few clicks down then stop and grab the tool head it can shake back and forth a bit. That movement can be seen again at the very end of the down stroke as the entire tool head and main shaft tip to one side. I still am not sure its normal but I will do a video today and see what you guys think. I took apart the tool head and dies and started fresh. My ammo is coming out very accurate with in 3 thousandths OAL for each round so everything must be fine.

I assume the compact would be used for ccw so I dont know why one wouldnt want a firing pin block etc. Seems like a cool pistol but I dont see the purpose vs a 75 compact or p-01 etc.