Which Dillion reloader to buy

[CocoBolo]

Coco, have you ever run a 550? Double charging a case is damn near impossible with it. In order to double charge, you'd have to double stroke the handle without loading a new piece of brass, and then you'd be trying to seat a primer in the piece of brass that you had already sized and primed. Not to mention that it's kind of hard to seat two bullets on top of each other in the seat stage. Needless to say, but you generally know if you screwed up when loading using the 550.

A squib can happen with any press, I have heard of plenty with the LNL, and with the Dillon's. Saying that the LNL won't give you a squib is completely false and is a downright dangerous statement to make to someone just getting involved in reloading.

Your logic is sound. But damn near every squib I've ever witnessed has been loaded by a 550 user.

I would bet too, that every squib you've heard of with a 550 was probably loaded by a newbie, trying to go faster than they should, watching TV, or listening to the radio, and not paying attention to the powder hopper. Tell me this won't happen with a LNL? Besides, does the LNL have a no BS lifetime warranty? Drop that LNL outta the truck when you are moving and break something 20 years after you bought it..... I know what my 550 is gonna cost to get fixed, do you know how much the LNL is gonna cost?

Gurmpy - I loaded my only two Squibs on an XL650, after I went to happy hour and got loaded myself. So it can be done on any loader with enough effort of the wrong kind.

The LNL has a lifetime warranty and I have called them and told them that I was stupid and broke it and they sent the parts right out. Same goes for my Dillon, I just call them more often.

The LNL is a touch tone, and the 550 is a rotary dial, the LNL is very good for small batches without the case feeder and the Powder Measure is superior to the Dillon so much so I use it on the 650 most of the time. It is also a lot less expensive for caliber changes. Other wise it is equivalent to the XL650, just simplier to operate and set up. It is about the same price as the 550 I see it on sale for $399 plus you get the 1000 Hornady bullets, now that makes it a little less. More for less sounds good to me.

[Bob DuBois]

Last two squibs I known of. Local shooter 38 special on a 650 with a powder check, another shooter 45acp 650 with out powder check. Folks it happens on any machine. Know matter what you load on, you have to pay attention to what your doing. These presses are just a machine and people operating machines make mistakes. They are all good machines and will give you years of service, bottom line is how much do you want to spend.

[GrumpyOne]

Coco, have you ever run a 550? Double charging a case is damn near impossible with it. In order to double charge, you'd have to double stroke the handle without loading a new piece of brass, and then you'd be trying to seat a primer in the piece of brass that you had already sized and primed. Not to mention that it's kind of hard to seat two bullets on top of each other in the seat stage. Needless to say, but you generally know if you screwed up when loading using the 550.

A squib can happen with any press, I have heard of plenty with the LNL, and with the Dillon's. Saying that the LNL won't give you a squib is completely false and is a downright dangerous statement to make to someone just getting involved in reloading.

Your logic is sound. But damn near every squib I've ever witnessed has been loaded by a 550 user.

I would bet too, that every squib you've heard of with a 550 was probably loaded by a newbie, trying to go faster than they should, watching TV, or listening to the radio, and not paying attention to the powder hopper. Tell me this won't happen with a LNL? Besides, does the LNL have a no BS lifetime warranty? Drop that LNL outta the truck when you are moving and break something 20 years after you bought it..... I know what my 550 is gonna cost to get fixed, do you know how much the LNL is gonna cost?

Gurmpy - I loaded my only two Squibs on an XL650, after I went to happy hour and got loaded myself. So it can be done on any loader with enough effort of the wrong kind.

The LNL has a lifetime warranty and I have called them and told them that I was stupid and broke it and they sent the parts right out. Same goes for my Dillon, I just call them more often.

The LNL is a touch tone, and the 550 is a rotary dial, the LNL is very good for small batches without the case feeder and the Powder Measure is superior to the Dillon so much so I use it on the 650 most of the time. It is also a lot less expensive for caliber changes. Other wise it is equivalent to the XL650, just simplier to operate and set up. It is about the same price as the 550 I see it on sale for $399 plus you get the 1000 Hornady bullets, now that makes it a little less. More for less sounds good to me.

I see your point Coco, but you didn't say anything about the double charges... How is the powder measure superior? I've poured 100 cases into a pan and weighed them and came up with 558 grains when it should have been 560 grains. I guess that depends on the powder....As far as loading on the 550, even without a case feeder, I can still crank out 300-400 an hour, and pretty much have no doubts that all are gonna be right. But, you do have me thinking about getting a dedicated LNL....

[BradGannaway]

I was really stuck between the LNL and the 550 when I went from turret to progressive. I went 550, mainly due to the no BS warranty. I knew that Hornady had a

good warranty, but I just knew too many people who swore by their Dillon.

Maybe next year I will get a LNL, or maybe I will run across a

used one for a decent price.

[Zzapp]

I don't know why people keep comparing the 550 to the LnL. They are just price comparing. Should be comparing the 650 to the LnL. So what that the 650 cost is more. That is just the way it is. Sometimes I pay more for a product because I like it. Sometimes I don't. But when I look at any product I'm looking at features I want not just price.

[BradGannaway]

I don't know why people keep comparing the 550 to the LnL. They are just price comparing. Should be comparing the 650 to the LnL. So what that the 650 cost is more. That is just the way it is. Sometimes I pay more for a product because I like it. Sometimes I don't. But when I look at any product I'm looking at features I want not just price.

Sorry, I'll clear that up;

Here are the points I was trying to compare and contrast-

Take into consideration I was either going to buy the 550 with 3 deluxe caliber conversions, or the LNL with the case feeder and 10 quick change bushings.......which puts them at about the same price.

Also, I probably would load no more than 1000 rounds a month.

Dillon RL550b

- No case feeder

- Not auto indexing

- More expensive caliber changing

- No BS warranty that is proven

- 90%-95% resale value; quick sale

- I had used the 550 and already knew the operation and set-up

- It's a Dillon

LNL AP

- Case feeder

- Auto indexing

- Lifetime warranty, but not convinced it is as good as Dillons

- 60%-75% resale; may take a little while to sell (based on my own observations of used LNL presses for sale)

- I've never used, nor known anyone personally that owned one, so I was not familiar with the operation and set-up.

- It's not a Dillon.

That's what I meant when I said I was comparing the two. I think I really just wanted a Dillon, but didn't want to spend $1400 on a 650 so I could do 4 calibers.

In the next year or two, when I start looking for a dedicated auto indexing press, I will likely buy the LNL due to the price. Then, if I need to do even more, even faster, I will start looking at the 1050.

Edited March 22, 2010 by Brad_G

[Walküre]

No case feeder, no 650, Hornady LNL way better than 550. Wins on every point, cheaper, faster, better, and auto index. Paint it blue if you have to. One double charge or squib from a manual index and you will want a fully progressive and you will already be out the money. You can screw up on a single stage but an auto index makes it harder to do.

I prefer the 550's manual index for exactly this reason.

Squibs and double-charges arise more from complancency than anything else. Auto-indexing breeds complancency more than manual-indexing, since it removes yet another step. This can be made worse by case and bullet feeders.

A manual step which I use to visually verify the approximate powder level in the newly-charged case. Obviously I can't tell if I'm off by a bit, but it is easy to visually rule out double-charges and no-charges (or very low charges). One can do the same with an auto-indexing press, but I find that manual indexing helps reinforce this habit, if you perform the visual check when you advance the shellplate.

This isn't to say that auto-indexing, case feeders, and bullet feeders are bad things. As long as one remains aware in their reloading, all of those can be effectively used to increase efficiency. The problem is that all of those introduce greater temptation to become complacent due to their automation.

I also don't feel that any of those features are really necessary to keep up with shooting demands until one surpasses 600+ rounds a week.

[benos]

Coco, have you ever run a 550? Double charging a case is damn near impossible with it. In order to double charge, you'd have to double stroke the handle without loading a new piece of brass, and then you'd be trying to seat a primer in the piece of brass that you had already sized and primed. Not to mention that it's kind of hard to seat two bullets on top of each other in the seat stage. Needless to say, but you generally know if you screwed up when loading using the 550.

A squib can happen with any press, I have heard of plenty with the LNL, and with the Dillon's. Saying that the LNL won't give you a squib is completely false and is a downright dangerous statement to make to someone just getting involved in reloading.

I would bet too, that every squib you've heard of with a 550 was probably loaded by a newbie, trying to go faster than they should, watching TV, or listening to the radio, and not paying attention to the powder hopper. Tell me this won't happen with a LNL? Besides, does the LNL have a no BS lifetime warranty? Drop that LNL outta the truck when you are moving and break something 20 years after you bought it..... I know what my 550 is gonna cost to get fixed, do you know how much the LNL is gonna cost?

If you haven't seen these:

Dillon FAQ:

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

“Which Dillon”:

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillon.html#which

... check them out and then call me.

And I tell customers on the phone this all the time - forums, including mine, are usually the worst place to look for "550 or 650" questions, because sedlom do the "answers" reflect what would be best to for your reloading environment. Or in other words, most advice is purely subjective.

From what you said in your opening post ("500 rds/month") a 550 would be more than adequate. The 550 is a trememdously under rated press. From customers who own 2 or even 3 (550/650/1050) different Dillon presses, I hear all the time statements like "I'll never get rid of my 550."

be

[Mitch Harrington]

I have the 650 with a case feeder and wouldn't trade it for anything. The ONLY advantage I see the 550 has over the 650 is the cost of the caliber kits.

[benos]

A common scenario... A guy calls me up ready to buy a 650 because he's seen on forums or his buddies told the 650 is "better" press.

But his buddies and forum members are all competition shooters, loading lots of rounds/month in one, two, or three calibers. But the customer is a recreational shooter, that shoots maybe 1000 to up to 1500 rounds max a month in 4 calibers - in 2 pistol calibers and 2 rifle calibers. IMO, in that case, the 650 would not be the "best" press for that person. Because he would spend as much time changing calbiers/fiddling with it as he would loading ammo.

When trying to make the "550 or 650 decision," a common belief is that by spending more money you will get a better press. (I would be in that same boat myself.) But with this decision it isn't true. As with all Dillon's presses, the are both "good" pressses. The difference comes down to which press will serve your needs better.

With multiple calibers, 500 - 1500 rounds/month, the 550 is the perfect press for that scenario.

2000+ rounds/month in one or two calibers, that's wher the 650 comes in to play.

be

[Delray]

I had a nice lnl setup with a 3 sets of dies, extra bushings, Franklin arsenal tumbler, etc. etc. I had about 800 invested in the whole package and sold it locally on craigslist for $650 in a week but had to kick in some primers and bullets. I had two $500 ish offers.

I ended up buying a 650 package off of eBay for about 15% less than msrp. Why did I switch? It was not the customer service since hornady was always good to me and it was not the price even though hornady is typically much cheaper. The bottom line for me is the community support. So many people in the shooting sports use Dillon it is very easy to get the help you need.

I would go for the 650.

[skorittnig]

I have been using a 550 for years and it has fed my habit quite well. I know that the 650 is faster, but I actually prefer the manual indexing on the 550. I think that it helps with quality control and I can deal with problem cases more readily. They even make a case feeder for the 550 now.

My thoughts exactly

[BradGannaway]

A common scenario... A guy calls me up ready to buy a 650 because he's seen on forums or his buddies told the 650 is "better" press.

But his buddies and forum members are all competition shooters, loading lots of rounds/month in one, two, or three calibers. But the customer is a recreational shooter, that shoots maybe 1000 to up to 1500 rounds max a month in 4 calibers - in 2 pistol calibers and 2 rifle calibers. IMO, in that case, the 650 would not be the "best" press for that person. Because he would spend as much time changing calbiers/fiddling with it as he would loading ammo.

When trying to make the "550 or 650 decision," a common belief is that by spending more money you will get a better press. (I would be in that same boat myself.) But with this decision it isn't true. As with all Dillon's presses, the are both "good" pressses. The difference comes down to which press will serve your needs better.

With multiple calibers, 500 - 1500 rounds/month, the 550 is the perfect press for that scenario.

2000+ rounds/month in one or two calibers, that's wher the 650 comes in to play.

be

I can use myself as a prime example for Brian's point here.

I load 9mm, .45, .38/.357, and .223.

I loaded 200 .223 the other night in about 45 minutes.

Then, three days ago, I needed to start loading 9mm for the USSA class I am attending this week. It took me all of 5 minutes to change calibers (deluxe conversion kit), set powder throw, set bullet seat, and set crimp.

I needed 1500 rounds for the course. Over the last two nights, I've spent about 5 hours reloading on the 550, and I past the 1500 mark just before 5 hours. If that seems fast, it is; my wife was sitting there with me feeding the cases (who needs a case feeder when you have an AWESOME wife).