Buying a Dillon 550b

[cali shot doc]

I'm going to be purchasing my first reloader and I have decided on the 550b. To start out with i'm going to primarily reloading 9mm and possibly 45auto.

Besides the 3 carbide die set, as it should BE upgrade and a primer flip tray, what else do i need to pick up?

I already have a scale and calipers at home along with a tumbler.

Thanks

[Classic_jon]

Get the 4 pack of pickup tubes that has 2 small and 2 large primer tubes, a package of de-priming pins, a tub of "red" normal slide glide and some flux brushes to apply it, and the 550 spare parts kit.

If you call Brian and ask him he will probably suggest the spare parts kit and the extra primer tubes at the least. I use the slide glide on the ram and other large moving parts to lube it. I also use it on *all* of my firearms because it just works well and makes cleaning much easier :-D

The spare parts kit alone will save you a ton of downtime if a part breaks because you will have most of the normal parts and can replace it with the one from the kit and keep reloading while you wait for Dillon to ship you a new one. It does not happen often but after a while and some use, it does happen. I have only bent one depriming pin but having a spare handy was uber nice. 10 minutes later I was back in business.

[cyburg]

if you can spare another 100.00 go with the 650. Both are great machines

[Torogi]

^what he said. Spare parts kit, pick up tubes, slide glide. (I use motor oil).

Also;

not from Brian but Hornady's One shot.

a case gauge would help, OR if you are in the cheap (like me) drop test with your barrel.

Ammo boxes and bins. Take advantage of your purchase because you need to have at least $25 of dillon products to order those.

[benos]

^what he said. Spare parts kit, pick up tubes, slide glide. (I use motor oil).

Also;

not from Brian but Hornady's One shot.

a case gauge would help, OR if you are in the cheap (like me) drop test with your barrel.

Ammo boxes and bins. Take advantage of your purchase because you need to have at least $25 of dillon products to order those.

Thanks for the reminder, I've been planning to remove that minimum $ requirement for some time now. I just removed it / uploaded it for 130 Dillon SKUs.

The deal on the $25 minimum for boxes and bins is - since they are "non-Dillon" items, they don't discount them to me, and I have to pay to ship them. So I lose money on an order that only contains ammo boxes/bins, because I have to process the order, don't make any profit on the items, and pay to ship them.

So I originally had the $25 min order requirement to discourage shoppers googling to buy just ammo boxes. We'll see how it goes. If I start getting hammered with "ammo box only" orders, I'll probably add the minimum requirement back to those items.

be

[BBBB]

So I lose money on an order that only contains ammo boxes/bins, because I have to process the order, don't make any profit on the items, and pay to ship them.

So, as a fellow small business owner I am trying to understand your reasoning for doing this. I'm all about customer service but if someone really just wants some small items that they get for the same price direct what benefit is there for you or the customer for you to do it at a loss? I'm not trying to be argumentative I'm simply trying to understand. Maybe I need to look at this kind of thing differently in my business.

Edited May 25, 2011 by BBBB

[benos]

So I lose money on an order that only contains ammo boxes/bins, because I have to process the order, don't make any profit on the items, and pay to ship them.

So, as a fellow small business owner I am trying to understand your reasoning for doing this. I'm all about customer service but if someone really just wants some small items that they get for the same price direct what benefit is there for you or the customer for you to do it at a loss? I'm not trying to be argumentative I'm simply trying to understand. Maybe I need to look at this kind of thing differently in my business.

My store doesn't have the capability to restrct ammo boxes from being sold individually... I want the ammo boxes to be abailable in my store for customers who are buying actual Dillon items, like presses and such. Otherwise, if there were ordering Dillon equipment in my store, and also wanted to add some ammo boxes to their order, they have to call Dillon for the boxes, and pay an additional shipping charge to Dillon for the boxes. So to me the occasional loss on an "ammo box only" sale is worth it, big-picture wise.

be

[BBBB]

That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

[A63111]

Don't forget caliber conversions for each caliber you intend to load.This includes a powder funnel, brass pins and shellplate. Some parts do cross over from 1 to another. Brian has a chart to help with that.

[Punkin Chunker]

A good chrono, if you don't have access to one. You'll want to know how the loads out of your setup are performing.

[TJ1911]

Don't forget a reloading manual (or 2). Also, I just picked up an EGW chamber checker from Dillon-great little accessory for around 20 bucks.

[PKT1106]

I would also go to Dillon's website to pick up a few extra spares parts as single pieces. The bell crank cube as well as a couple extra of the springs.

[cali shot doc]

Don't forget a reloading manual (or 2). Also, I just picked up an EGW chamber checker from Dillon-great little accessory for around 20 bucks.

I have 2 books which i have read over several times.

[cali shot doc]

A good chrono, if you don't have access to one. You'll want to know how the loads out of your setup are performing.

Don't have one, guess i'm going to either make friends with someone who does lol or bite the bullet, no pun intended