Talk me out of Dillon

[TCKev]

I bought the SDB and love it my first progressive machine, just couldn't justify spending the money on a 550 or the 650. I could load enough ammo in 1 weekend for my 9 and the next weekend the 40 for the rest of the year and not even work hard at it. I loaded about 2000 rounds of 9mm the first week I bought it.

[sigsauerfan]

upgrading from my lee turret to my new XL 650 put in perspective how valuable my free time realy is. the 650 make evrything faster,then saving time.

[at_liberty]

Now, don't hold me to this, but I think you can pretty much assume that a full 75% of the IDPA'ers at Nat's use a Dillon reloader

Are these the same guys and gals that use $2500 pistols?

[Armsagettin]

Is this the non-Dillon section or not? If we spent as much time with quality practice as it applies to our sport as we did in the cheering section of our favorite reloader we all be better competitors. I personally witnessed all of the major brands work and they all WORK. It's just like finicky functioning guns no matter what the cost you still have to learn the quirks. You can figure these out yourself or spend the money for someone to figure them out for you. If you don't have the ability to work these things out it will cost you plenty.

[Rob Tompkins]

Many years ago when I first started reloading (early 1990's) I lusted after Dillon equipment because there were no real competitors and then I went away from shooting for a while. When I got back into it was set to go with Dillon. Then I started reading about difficulties with the case retention design, difficulty of caliber changes (unless you had extra tool heads and powder measures) and thought I should see what else was in the market before I dropped cash.

I asked the same question you did, why one over the other and got the same kinds of answers including a lot of "If you don't go Blue you're _________". In fact, I got so much condescending negativity, the Dillon fans tended to put me off Dillon to some extent. If I bought a Dillon I knew I'd get a lot of "I told you so" and "why did you bother looking at anything else".

Looking past the emotional reactions, honestly, no one could point to a feature of a Dillon machine (650 vs LNL AP with case feeder) that I thought was better than the LNL AP. No one, not even Dillon marketing material could point to a design aspect of a Dillon machine that seemed better to me. I read a lot on both machines, studied the designs and features, then made my choice. Bottom Line: Both will serve you well but I personally liked the LNL AP features (ram / index design, ease of caliber changes, powder measure, case retaining spring, and primer feed being the biggest) better so that is what I bought.

Some of the things I considered:

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Both machines make good ammo at virtually the same rate. Can anyone honestly say one machine can't really make just as good ammo as the other?

Initial cost difference is a red herring. Over the life of either machine, (100,000's if not 1,000,000's of rounds) every $100 difference is < $0.0001/rnd, does it really matter? Depending on what you shoot and components you use, you'll save back your investment in either one in < 10,000 rnds.

Reliability? Well, I've not heard of either one wearing out or breaking due to use (vs abuse). Everything I've read about either one (bent/crushed springs or pins and such) seems to have been operator error or neglected maintenance.

Ease of use / convenience? That is what you are choosing between, convenience features. Overall they seem about the same with some things better on one or the other. Pick the one that has what YOU like and fits with your approach.

Customer service? Both sound good but I personally have not had to call either one. Dillon may or may not be more generous with replacement parts.

Community support? Dillon all the way. They have been producing high quality machines for a VERY LONG time and have a huge installed user base. For many years they were the only high quality progressive press and combined with great marketing to the right customer base experienced great success. Is that a major factor? Only you can tell.

Peer Pressure? I never got an insult from a LNL AP user for considering a Dillon machine. Got more than a few from Dillon users for just considering a LNL. Just because that is what 90% of the IDPA shooters at the NA’s used Dillon is not a compelling reason to buy. It’s a good reason to look at the product but not sufficient to buy.

Supporting a company that supports the sport? If that is very important to you, its Dillon. But remember, if that support didn't benefit the company, they wouldn't do it.

[Corey]

Welp, Thought I would update this thread after a decision has finally been made......

Just gotta wait for a couple of small caliber conversion parts to arrive in order to finalize the set up of my new-to-me gently used Dillon 550 w/ casefeeder

[benos]

Nice! Thanks for the follow up. You have a great setup.

be

[Corey]

Nice! Thanks for the follow up. You have a great setup.

be

Just waiting on the goods from your store to get'er ready to rock and roll

[benos]

It went in with Dillon yesterday, so it's shipping today. My guess is it will arrive Wednesday.

be