Amerflyer48 Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 back of "Big Bore Auto" magazine circa 1983 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 That's awesome - thanks for posting that! That brought back a fun memory. Back in the day, Mike Dillon advertised that he would pay $1000 to anyone that could load more rounds in an hour on their press (any kind of manually operated press) than his guy could load on his 450. I was his guy. The challenger was running an RCBS Green Machine. Their was just one stipulation though - Mike would choose the caliber and provide the brass. That was his ace in the hole. Say there just happened to be a few pieces of military brass, with crimped primer pockets, mixed in with the 38 speical brass, which would jam up any press. On the Dillon 450, I could clear that jam and resume loading in just a few seconds. Whereas on the Green Machine, that same jam would result in at least a 5 minute teardown to get it back up and running again. Guess who won? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blind bat Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 "The reloading machine for shooter who HATE to reload." Thanks for posting this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobb Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Very cool man, thanks for posting. benos, that's funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modoc Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Boy, I remember that my dad had one for a while. For some reason, he traded it off. Of course, we have come full circle and now own 4 550b's between the two of us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21 shooter Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I own one. Bought it when that was the hot ticket to loading ammo. And I still have it. But I like my 550 and 650 even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Gaines Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Hey Brian, Do they still make parts for the 450, Claudio has one just lying around their in the shop, that he won at the Nationals one year. It needs a new priming system for starters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillon Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Brian, I remember watching you race Rich Mackey on his Green Machine. You put in your earphones, cranked up the alternative FM station of the time, I think it was "The Wall", and rocked that handle! @ Sean, Pretty much all 550 parts fit the older RL450. If you are referring to Claudio Salassa, I loaded ammo for him here one year for the Nationals, I think 1985. Some competitor donated some 45 brass, Dillon supplied the powder, primers and bullets, and I loaded the ammo in our small demonstration area. Please give him my regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unregistered Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 This is pretty awesome! Not just the ad, but just how small this community really is down there in the States! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerflyer48 Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 my 450 looks almost like this one except the priming system has the lock nut for the drop tube and was black ( like a 550 without the armature) and no serial number tag ( or it was lost before it was given to me) so I estimate mine is probably somewhere mid-late 80's production...still running strong I have also upgraded the powder system, priming system is next I call it my RL450M I reload many calibers but never felt the need to upgrade to a 550 toolhead part. I have fun answering the local "You can't load precision ammo on a progressive" challenges with it.. Only problem I have with it,... sometimes,....is keeping it fed easy to run short on components if you don't track inventory John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalaur Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Is that a bullet feeder I see on the RL1000? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerflyer48 Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 Looking at the magazine,.. it looks like a case feeder...as there are bullets in the tray maybe BE or Dillon can verify.. old magazine ad old eyes John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalaur Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 (edited) Looking at the magazine,.. it looks like a case feeder...as there are bullets in the tray maybe BE or Dillon can verify.. old magazine ad old eyes John Actually, I think you're correct. I saw the black mounting bar in the back and thought that's where it was feeding bullets. Thought the white case feed tube in the front was just not attached to anything, but it looks to be attached to the feeder at the top. Either way, that's an old school case feeder! I wonder if anyone still has RL1000s around and in use? And check out those homemade cardboard 'akro' bins! Edited November 30, 2011 by kalaur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankfan79 Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Least Expensive doesn't apply anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vossman Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 $365 almost 30 years ago makes the price of a 550B now an even better value. Very cool post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 What was dept BB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Brian, I remember watching you race Rich Mackey on his Green Machine. You put in your earphones, cranked up the alternative FM station of the time, I think it was "The Wall", and rocked that handle! I forgot to mention the earphones part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Brian.. how did they compare with 'nice' brass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.Hayden Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 What was dept BB? I'd venture that was to identify what magazine you were looking at, so they can track ad replies.. really common on web stuff these days too But.. I could be completely wrong here too.. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Gaines Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Brian, I remember watching you race Rich Mackey on his Green Machine. You put in your earphones, cranked up the alternative FM station of the time, I think it was "The Wall", and rocked that handle! @ Sean, Pretty much all 550 parts fit the older RL450. If you are referring to Claudio Salassa, I loaded ammo for him here one year for the Nationals, I think 1985. Some competitor donated some 45 brass, Dillon supplied the powder, primers and bullets, and I loaded the ammo in our small demonstration area. Please give him my regards. Yes, Claudio Salassa. I swear he knows everybody!!lol, yeah I believe he won that loader that year also. I will have to bring up you reloading ammo for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgary Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 <random aside> I had a need to go digging through an old (1984) Sierra manual last week, and along the way I happened to skim through the section on reloading. I was amused (?) to see that Sierra's guidance at that time was to *not* use a progressive press. The logic they used as that "a handloader with 100 rounds of good ammunition is much better off than a progressive loader with 1000 rounds of bad ammunition" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Brian.. how did they compare with 'nice' brass? That didn't happen. When it wasn't jamming up, the Green Machine was a bit faster. But I could rock on that 450 like I was shooting Double Trouble. But in many areas it wasn't nearly as reilable as the Dillon press. So at the end of a typical evening's reloading session, you'd be ahead with the Dillon. be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Too_Slow Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I remember loading on one of those, and then Dillon came up with the upgrade where you sent it back and for a nominal fee you got a 550 frame back with one toolhead. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iowa Fox Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Wow, what a great piece of history. Thanks for posting. In that photo the bottome of the powder measure is painted. I got mine about the time they changed to the silver/gray natural metal on the measure. They were/are great presses, simple, easy to operate, and bullet proof. My s/n 11360 has been used a lot over the years and still looks like new. It would be interesting to know the progression of changes. I remeber seeing some with clear flexible plastic tubing for primer pickup tubes and brass priming blocks. What year did the 450 first hit the market? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Pledger Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 The 450, was my first Dillon Machine when I was still living in New Zealand in the early 80's. Never had any problems or breakages, loaded mainly .38special / .45 for PPC, Service Match and Bianchi Cup Matches. At this time in New Zealand most reloaders were using Dillon or the RCBS Green Machine or a combination of both if they were loading multiple calibers. Good Memories. Cheers .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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