Ben Cartwright SASS Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I have been reloading for about a year with a Dillon 550. I have done nothing but small primer rounds, doing my 44-40 and 30.06 on a rock chucker and .45s on a friends 1050. I have never set it for large primers as it works and I don’t want to mess it up, and I am weighing each charge for the 30.06. recently my youngest son (of 3) and I got into Cowboy shooting, his alias is Joe Cartwright. I had been shooting .38's and up till now the 550 has handled it. I go through about 300 round a month (38s) now I will be doing 600-800 a month (38) and 100-200 (44-40) I had been thinking of getting another 550 and set it up for large primers for 44-40 .45acp etc while leaving the other set up for 38s with the occasional 9mm .223 .30 carbine. a friend who has a 1050 suggested a 650 with a case feeder. my output is about 250 38s an hour but I don't rush. I am not sure what to do. Does the 650 seat the primer on the upstroke like t he 550? with the 1050 i couldn’t get used to the motion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Welcome. I also went to a second 550. I put a casefeeder on the first 550 for my higher used calibers. Alot of people will suggest a 650. I've come to the conclusion, after seeing this question asked many times, that you really can't make a bad decision. A 550 with a casefeeder will spit out your whole month of 38 in 1-1/2 hrs easily. Any down time would be loading primer tubes. If you set them up first you're good to go. Good luck. General George Armstrong Custer SASS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotys Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I have 650 with case feeder and think it is great. I wanted a 1050, but Brian suggested going with a 650. He was right. It works great for what I do. I'm not a speed loader either, I have done 800 an hour of 40 and 45. That's with my primer tubes all loaded and ready to go and a helper putting finished rounds in boxes, loading powder, keep brass ready. 500 an hour is easy on 40 & 45s. I haven't load very many 44-40 on it, I loaded a couple hundred years ago and still have some. I would think the 44-40 would be about the same as the 40 and 45. One difference is the brass is thinner, so they can crush occasionally. To answer your question - YES, the 650 seats the primer at the end of the upstroke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 650 casefeeder kicks sand in the eye of the 550 casefeeder. It's that much better of a design. Besides that. I would get the 650 if you want to load a lot faster on a smaller amount of calibers on that machine. I would get the 550 if you plan to load smaller batch's and plan to load more calibers on that machine. Basically, the 650 is a great production machine. I don't find either machine hard to convert. I find the 650 is a little better of a machine IMHO. And I really liked my 550. So that is saying a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 "650 casefeeder kicks sand in the eye of the 550 casefeeder." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyreb Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I have been running a brace of 550s for several years. One each for large and small primers. It has worked very well for me sticking to the same set up and same tool heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike l m Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Have 2 old 450s that are converted to the 550's one for small primer and one for large.Works great. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 just sold my 550 to upgrade to a brand new 650. I think that the 650 (w/casefeeder) would be awesome for cranking out a large volume of ammo quickly for a few calibers. the 550 would be good for loading smaller quantities of other ammo. The 650 is a helluva alot more complicated than a 550 for sure but can crank out large quantities of ammo faster with less work. I would get a 650 in addition to the 550. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Cartwright SASS Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 I had been leaning towards kyreb's solution, a brace of 550's one for large one for small, but now I am certainly torn between that and a 650 for my small primer needs, mostly .38's but also 9mm .223 and 30 carbine. The only other small primer round I load is .38 S&W for my "British" Victory's and few Boston Police Colts (BPD marked), I have brass for .380 but have never reloaded it yet. My large primer rounds are 30.06 44-40 45-70 .303 .45 acp 7.62x54R and 8mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Cartwright SASS Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 I was reading the description of the 550 650 and 1050, it says that if you load 2000+ rounds a month get the 650. In a single caliber, .38 Special, I will normally load 400-500 a month, while also wanting to load the ones listed above. How tough is it to change from small to large primers? That is one of the reasons I was think of a second machine I could leave it set for Small or large primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Cartwright SASS Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) This morning I was thinking about possibly selling the 550 and the 10 tool heads I have and buying a 650 in it's place. One of the big things to me is that it is hard to double charge a round and hard to get a squib if I also get the powder checker die although talking to Brian today he said don't count on the powder checker visually look into each case. So until I decide what to do I am going to stand to reload and rig a light so I can look into each case before seating the bullet, that should avoid squibs and double charges. Has anyone rigged a mirror so you could sit and still see into the tool head? Edited February 9, 2012 by Ben Cartwright SASS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) Get a stool to sit or lean on. Set the 550 so the handle is shoulder height. You can see in the case easily if you have it the right height. Edited February 9, 2012 by 98sr20ve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Cartwright SASS Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 Tried the stool with handle at shoulder height, still couldn't see the poweder, to far down in a thin .38 case. I switched back to Trail Boss 3.9 grains behind a 158 grain bullet, plenty of omph for Cowboy shooting as I am not a gamer. Also I stood up all 6' 1" of me. When the handle is at the top of the stroke my forearm is parrell to the ground, the bottom of the stroke is a hair low but I am already on a Strong mount and close to the low ceiling However I can see the power really well since the case is 2/3 full. I need to get a couple mats for the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARKAVELI Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 get both! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98sr20ve Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 38/357 is very hard to see inside of. Dillon's powder alarm is finicky. Hornady's is dead simple. It would work well to allow you to visually see what is going on in the case. It simply transfers the powder height to a little rod that rises as it hits the powder. A little ring on the rod gives you a reference. It works fine. It won't alert you to anything unless you actually pay attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevyoneton Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I am considering a second 550B set up just for .40S&W as I am shooting a lot of it in USPSA these days. I am not considering a 650 because: I REALLY LIKE the 550B and have the routine of running it down pretty well and don't want to switch back and forth with another machine (unless it is a single stage for small batches and load development). I am already set up with a ton of 550 toolheads. I don't want or need a case feeder. Spare part because if, however unlikely, I had a problem I would always have ONE machine I could run with all my toolheads, as is. I know the last reason is weak but having machines that could run the same toolheads is a definite plus to me. As is not buying more toolheads since even though I say it would be a dedicated machine, I would want to switch it over to something else (small primer, like 9MM)at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Cartwright SASS Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Chevyoneton I too had thought about a second 550B for my .38 Specials, I have 12 different conversion kits and 8 toolheads setup. The biggest thing I see about the 550B is that it seems such a pain to change primers and also no powder checker and it is hard to see inside the 38 cases. I had thought about a large primer machine and a small one. The main reason I am wavering on the 650 or the second 550 is that I have a friend who has a 1050 and he don't mind my running it for my .45s, he even offered to change it over to .38 specials so I could do a couple thousand and get ahead of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidnal Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I have a 550, 650 and 1050. I use the 550 for large primer, 650 for .223 and the 1050 for compeition pistol (9, 9Open and .40). I'd buy a 650 if you want more volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioteacher Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I just bought a second 550 from an acquaintance. After receiving it I tore it down and cleaned and lubed the whole unit. It works great but.... When I take a toolhead from my old press (purchased in 1999) and put them in the older press (just purchased that looks much older then my press) some things are different. The casting on this press looks older and rougher, the toolheads do not slide in flush to the frame and when I cycle the handle it hits the size die slightly before the bottom of the stoke. Looking closely I notice that the frame of the press is a different shade of blue then the rest of the parts of the press. Like it was rebuilt with new parts...except the frame. Also, the top of my 1999 frame has some machining on it near the toolhead and this older press does not. Should I get a new frame? Would that be like my 1999 frame? Shoot safe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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