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Buying A New Dillon From Brian Enos


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  • 1 year later...
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I also am new to reloading, and bought a 550 from Brian. I had read many of the messages here, and thought I had figured out what I needed. I sent an order through his online system, noting some of the Dillon parts I had purchased locally, and the calibers I wanted to reload. Brian called and suggested several ways to maximize my setup while reducing my costs.

He was very patient, and answered several questions, and the delivery from Dillon was quick. I felt like Christmas in March. After dragging out an old VHS machine to view the 550 video (I do wish they would get the DVD version out), I was reloading the next evening.

Buying from Brian was the smartest decision I've made since deciding to 'retire' to Montana!

Thanks Brian!

Edited by MT_Bear
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I also am new to reloading, and bought a 550 from Brian. I had read many of the messages here, and thought I had figured out what I needed. I sent an order through his online system, noting some of the Dillon parts I had purchased locally, and the calibers I wanted to reload. Brian called and suggested several ways to maximize my setup while reducing my costs.

He was very patient, and answered several questions, and the delivery from Dillon was quick. I felt like Christmas in March. After dragging out an old VHS machine to view the 550 video (I do wish they would get the DVD version out), I was reloading the next evening.

Buying from Brian was the smartest decision I've made since deciding to 'retire' to Montana!

Thanks Brian!

Congrats on the new machine. :cheers: The cool thing is the answers to just about any Dillon question is in these forums somewhere!

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This is just sort of a re-post singing the praises of the 550-B. My initial post was 4/13/04 so I thought I should let everyone know how things are going, and how I currently feel about the 550 VS 650 as well as my now 4 year experience with Dillon.

I am still in love with my 550 B and still can't say enough great things about this machine. I set up and change from 45 to 357 or 40 in just a couple of minutes. I still have had virtually no misfires or misfeeds with checked ammo. The machine is the best deal going and I have never, not once, wished I had purchassed a 650 instead of the 550-B.

I have broken the primer seater a couple of times but they arrive in something like three days (I'm still amazed by the Big Blue service).

The purchass of the 550 has enabled me to shoot untill I truly did not want to and still have boatloads of ammo on hand for bargin prices. I am still toying with the SL9000 shotgun loader but just don't think I shoot enough trap to make that purchass YET. I'm sure it is only a few months away as I have moved and need to rebuild the perfect loading room again.

I sure wish I could get a Dillon for my Duck Hunting Loads but Dillon just is not interested in filling that nitch. It's shocking to me that I can call Dillon and tell them "I broke this and it was my fault so bill me for it" and the guy on the phone says, I can't charge you for that, it broke, we will replace it. It doesn't matter why". And yet I call Mec when my NEW Steel master malfunctions and they charge me to ship it, charge me to fix it, charge me to return it, and this is a regular occurance". The Techs even admitt the machine has problems to the point one said, "The machine is not meant to resize steel base hulls". Hello you morone, all 3 1/2 inch shells are steel base. Anyone home?

Anyway, the result is, I pay Mec $75.00/per year to fix a machine that is marginal at best. Come on Dillon, make me a 3 1/2 inch 12 Ga Reloader.

Sorry a bit off track but the point is, with Dillon you will buy it once and receive the absolute best service in the industry. If blue makes it, buy Blue. If you can't get it in Dillon, you have to go with something else but I sure have hopes to one day say, if it is not blue, it is not on my bench. I figure that MEC would make a better anchor than it does a reloader anyway.

Thanks Again Brian, I still think of the tremendous amount of time you spent making sure my order was perfect and that I had the right tools to do what I wanted to do. Again, best money I have ever spent. Well, the 550B and my Limcatcustomes. Awesome team.

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Want to add my .02 here.

A few years back when I got into this sport and started reloading I placed a call to Brian. He spent a long time with me helping to place an order for what I really needed. So, I got my 550 and made a lot of rounds with it.

A year or so later the itch started again, called Brian, and bought a 650 from him!

A year or so later...................repeated the phone call and bought a 1050 from him.

In all transactions, and ensuing questions, he was terrific. What a great guy to deal with. Not sure that the itch will ever return but, if it does, I know the phone number. ;)

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  • 2 years later...

I have never reloaded in my life. After careful study and due diligence I bought the 650, because I shoot 2000-3000 rounds a month minimum.

Growing pains were horrible until a friend (with a 550) came over and checked my setup.

He taught me minor tips that had a major impact.

Now I reload 9mm and .45 ACP like a rocket.

Love my 650.

Glad I went the way I did.

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  • 1 month later...

I just got my new XL650 from Brian on Saturday and got it set up on Monday and Tuesday. I started loading Wednesday and about 70 rounds in it locked up and I also noticed that the last few bullets had upside down primers. I took the primer assembly apart and the bottom of the primer tube was broken. I called Dillon and they said they will send me a new one out. I went back last night to look at the machine again and noticed that I had been using the large tube instead of the small tube. I installed the small tube and the machine now runs perfectly.

I called Dillon back this morning and explained to them what happened and they said that they had already sent the small tube out and they will send a large tube out today.

I am really glad I bought through Brian and even happier Dillon has the no BS warranty that even covers errors like this made by new customers. I have been reloading 17 years but this is my first progressive press. Now that everything is installed properly I couldn't be happier with how easy it was to set up and how fast it is. I used to take 80 or 90 minutes to load 200 9mm rounds and now it is less than 15 minutes.

Thanks Brian for your help in ordering and even following up with my tracking number.

Thanks also to Dillon for the BEST CS I have ever gotten!

Chris

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just went back to get my case feeder for my 650 that i ordered in jan., picked up some slide guide and a burket video too. not only the best service but he provides the best site for the sport how could you go anywhere else?

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  • 7 months later...

I hear if you buy from Brian he comes to your house and loads the first hundred rounds for you. Comes down the chimney like Santa and everything! ;)

I ordered a 650 with case feeder from Brian late last week and the anticipation is killing me. I've got a ton of brass and bullets on the way too. My mail carrier is going to get a heck of workout.

Thanks in advance Brian!

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  • 9 months later...

No regrets buying from BE. He entertained my questions (most hes probably been asked a million times) took my experience and we made an order. Already made my second order to get some of the stuff I couldnt afford on the first shot. Shipping was quick and I have already put 3000 rounds through the press. Couldnt be happier.

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  • 7 months later...

I am in Canada, so I cannot buy from Brian unfortunately. Having said that...

I looked at this site and these forums a great deal before I made my decision to buy a press. After reading all of the info that Brian provides as well as this thread, I made the choice to buy a 550b approximately 1.5 years ago. I have a couple of tool-heads set up for the two calibres that I load right now (9mm and 38 special) with powder measures and such. Changing calibres is a breeze. I had never loaded before I bought this machine, nor did anyone teach me. I learned myself on the 550 (with some manuals), and it wasn't hard. Because of the manual indexing, I was able to go really slow with one case at a time to really learn how the machine and the reloading process worked.

I have never managed to get to the 600 rounds and hour output with this machine, but I usually can do 3-400/hour with no issues.

The only issues that I have ever had with respect to ammo was when I was brand new and working up a new load for the glock 17. Initially I loaded them a bit light and they did not cycle the action fully. Since then, I have had no problems. The ammo that I load functions perfectly and is as accurate as I could ask it to be. I may set up to load .223 in the near future as well.

The only issue that I have had with the press itself was my fault. I took the machine apart to clean it and lost the "little white nail" from the priming system. I called Dillon, told them that I lost it and that it was my fault. You guessed it - new part in the mail to me, all expenses paid.

I think that it will be awhile before I outgrow the output of this machine. That said, I just started shooting IPSC, so will see how it goes. My thinking is that I should still be good to go for a long time with just this one machine.

One more note: Many people seem to think that double charges and squibs are more likely with this machine due to it being manually indexing. I have not had a problem with either situation yet. I am set up so that I can see into the case in station 3, and I always look into the case before I set the bullet. Doing this, I am not sure how I could miss this problem.

This is a great first machine to get, and I think that most people would never outgrow it. If I ever shoot enough that this machine does not keep up, I will likely look towards a 1050. But like I said before, I don't see this happening for a long time....

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  • 1 month later...

Re: 650 vs 550. I priced the 550 with only the "as it should be" accessories and it came to be $675. The 650 with only the "as it should be" accessories was $775. With only a $100 difference, is it better to get the 650?

To me, comparing a 550 to a 650 w/o a Casefeeder is not a valid comparison - especially price-wise.

More on that here:

Dillon FAQ:

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillonfaqs.html

And I'd like to keep technical discussions out of this thread. So after looking over the FAQs, if you still have any questions, please email me: support@brianenos.com

Thank you,

Brian

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  • 1 month later...

I had two issues with the dies that came with my recent 650XL purchase from BE: The 9mm sizing die broke on the first case I cycled and the 45ACP die set came with two seating dies and was missing the crimp die.

Brian responded immediately and my replacement dies from Dillon arrived within a couple of days. I'm really impressed with the speed and quality of service from both BE and Dillon.

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  • 2 years later...
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