Pythonman Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Hi everybody. My name is Rick and I'm glad I found Brian Enos's site and this great forum. I have reloaded single stage on RCBS presses for nearly 20yrs and I'm finally fed up with the slowness of it. What usually happens is I'll get an itch to go to the range, setup my bench for reloading and I'll run through maybe no more than 1500 rounds spread out over a couple of months and then I cant stand it no more. So I pack everything away till I get the itch again the next year! Anyhow I have for YEARS gotten the Blue Press and drooled over which Dillon machine it was going to be that would end my frustrations and in the end I came pretty close to deciding the 650XL would be the most likely candidate. Earlier this year I tried loading a box of .357 mag on my brothers 550B machine and wasn't as impressed with it as I thought I'd be so that more or less was what made my mind up to go up a notch and get the 650XL instead. The things I liked about the 650 were the extra station in the toolhead for a powder check system, the auto indexing and the ease of adapting the casefeeder. I also like watching the many youtube demonstrations of the 650XL. However, now that I have the 650XL on order from Dillon and have read Brians recommendations Im worried I may have gotten the wrong setup. Maybe the 550B was the press I should have went with. Well, it's too late now but tell me, is the XL650 more trouble prone or less reliable than the 550B? I do reload for multiple calibers but I do the most reloading by far for 45acp which is the caliber conversion I ordered my new Dillon set up with. If it's really that much more of a pain to change calibers on the 650 vs the 550B, and that's the main reason for recommending the 550B over the 650 then I'm good to go because I already decided I just want to get the new Dillon setup and running smooth as silk for the caliber I ordered it with and pretty much do my other reloading on my old single stage press for now. If the XL650 is just more quirky or problematic to use, how often do they snag or breakdown? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 I reloaded on the 550 for years and was pleased with it. This summer I switched to a 650. When it run it is great. There is a lot going on there to keep up with. Once I got it running and the hang of it I was happier. I think in the long run it is going to be a good move. I hate the priming system and that is where most of my problems are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Don't second guess yourself, Rick.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEH Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 the only thing I can think of is if you spent your last month's rent on it,,other wise you are good to GO,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extractor Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 I've spent decades using a Lyman turret press for loading pistol cartridges. I'm only new to owning a Dillon 650 and the only regret I have is why the hell didn't I buy it a long time ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pythonman Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 (edited) Thanks guys, I appreciate the replies. Money isn't the issue, in fact I could (more like should) have ordered a Dillon progressive years ago. What got me to thinking I might have overdone it on my purhcase of the 650XL was reading Brian Enos Dillon page where he tells about recommending guys getting a 550B over the 650xl for whatever reasons and that the 550B is a better fit for lots of reloaders or at least the reloaders who think they need the capacity of the 650 but would be better served by the excellent 550B. I know my brother is nuts about his 550B and will be a great help getting my new Dillon up and running. But I seriously doubt I'm ever going to come close to loading any other caliber as much as .45acp so I honestly think my 650XL is going to be a dedicated .45 machine. But I know one thing, if it gets to where I just cant handle messing with my Rock Chucker anymore for my other loadings I will get the 550B as a secondary machine and order the caliber conversions I'll need for it and just leave the 650 set up for my main loading. Edited September 11, 2012 by Pythonman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 The 550 is a Great machine and very versatile and easy to work with. If the need for another press comes up the 550 is a wonderful choice.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHARLES D Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Or just buy another 650 and dedicate it to small pistol primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pythonman Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 Or just buy another 650 and dedicate it to small pistol primers. That's actually a fantastic tip, and I can keep my familiarity with the two presses up to date as well. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natgas Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 I agree; I started with one 550 and quickly decided to sell it and get 2 650's each dedicated to a caliber. Now I've decided to load another caliber but this time I just purchased the items to switch from 9mm to 40. You will NOT regret your purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GR8GIFT Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Or just buy another 650 and dedicate it to small pistol primers. Or just buy another 650 and dedicate it to small pistol primers. That's actually a fantastic tip, and I can keep my familiarity with the two presses up to date as well. Thanks! I have 2 650's one for large primers and one for small primers. I load mainly 45 ACP, .38 Special and 9mm on them. I do share a case feeder between the 2 650's. they are mounted close enough to just transfer to the one I using at the time. I also have a 550 I got from my brother who never liked reloading. I use the 550 for .223, .243 and .338 Win Mag. I also can use it for small runs of pistol ammo not set up on my 650's. And an old Rock Chucker for reloading test loads for the rifles. When I think of all the .45 and .38 ammo I have loaded on the old Rock Chucker I wonder what I was thinking not getting the 650's sooner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osageid Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 You WILL not regret it! You have been loading for years and will be more than able to set up and load on the 650. I never loaded before owning my 650 and I have had great success . Brian's suggestion I think is related to some people may overestimate their needs. I have mine in large primer and was loved it so much bought my son his own 650 for his birthday! He is reloading .223 so his is set up for small primer:) Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckaroo45 Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 The only sorry you're gonna be is that you didn't do it sooner. Welcome to "the club". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 650 first purchase supportive info: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=148410 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Taliani Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 I've spent decades using a Lyman turret press for loading pistol cartridges. I'm only new to owning a Dillon 650 and the only regret I have is why the hell didn't I buy it a long time ago. My sentiments exactly. I had this same experience with every Dillon I have purchased. (SDB, XL650, and finally Super 1050) I really don't think you can go wrong with the XL650. It is an extremely capable and great all-around press. Bear with some potential growing pains as you become familiar with the change and it will pay dividends. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pythonman Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Well I got it yesterday and set it up today. So far I had the priming wheel hang up, dismantled that, blew powder off of everything. Then my large pistol primer pickup tube kept jamming up as I was picking up the primers I dumped after the first disaster. Ran a clean patch or two through the tube and installed new green pickup nozzle. Problem fixed. Then I guess I didn't have the shellplate back installed to the same height original because now my bullets weren't seating the correct height anymore. Fixed that and now the pusher that puts a case from the casefeeder into station one on the shellplate isnt quite going forward all the way and my primer wheel just jammed up again. Boy, wish I would have switched to progressive years ago, this is so much fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Hang in there, you'll make it. It's like sex, first time usually isn't a championship performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeyedme Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Hang in there, you'll make it. It's like sex, first time usually isn't a championship performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PC Geek Shooter Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 So far I am liking my new 650. A total of 2 live rounds, for some reason I decided to wait until I get my 9mm handgun before I do more, crazy I know. I've seated like 30 with primers and bullets to get the hang of it though (no powder). I had the bullets not drop down anymore, but was an easy fix with the allen wrench. Then I had the station 1 locator come flying out somehow, that freaked me out a little bit, thought I broke something, tons of red grease on those. Overall this is much better than the Hornady LNL AP, well since the two that I got were defective from the factory in station 1 to begin with. Wasted so much time on those. The first night I got the 650, it worked right away, no problems. One thing is that with the small powder bar I can get mine to go to 2.4 grains, not the 3.0 grains. Planning on researching this tonight to see if it's a problem, don't know why it would be, but who knows. I'd rather have it go down below that so I don't have to get the extra small powder bar, but 2.4 is nice though. I somehow also broke the large powder bar bolt right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pythonman Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Firstly let me thank Brian E. for wading in with his link to XL650 support info, it's very much appreciated. Also everyone else who's responded with help or support I thank you. Ok today I'm not reloading, what I did instead was read the manual thoroughly, watch the Dillon XL650 video and then I went back to my press and correctly readjusted everything, the shellplate, the slide cam pin, etc. to factory recommendations. Then I took the non Dillon lockrings off of my Redding Decap/Resize and Seating dies as well as the lockring from my Lee FCD and replaced all with the 1" Dillon lock rings and readjusted all of the dies correctly and locked them all down. I made sure everything was good and clean everywhere on the press as well. Next, I learned yesterday how the primer pickup tube worked perfectly AFTER I ran a couple of clean patches through it, so I also dismantled the primer magazine and ran a couple patches through it. I then put a drop or two of Wilson's Ultima Lube on the main pin underneath the priming advance wheel and cycled that by hand using the lever 20 times or so and now it's running noticably smoother. I'm going to add a bit of wheel bearing grease to the parts that are supposed to have that lubricant and that's it for today. Why? Because I only have the press bolted down using the two rear bolt holes as a temporary measure until my Dillon XL650 specific strong mount comes in today or tomorrow and I think that for this unit to work to it's best potential it really neads a good anchoring so, I'm not going to go any further with loading till then. Also, I dismantled 6 bullets that weren't seated correctly after my first teardown of the machine. I'll just start the primered cases at station two and finish them up before I load the primer magazine. I also dismantled 5 more that were dummy loads I used when setting up my dies and the powder funnel/expander. I'm getting very familiar with the press as I go along and I think before long I'm going to be whizzing through the brass and bullets without much trouble at all. The 54 rounds I ran initially yesterday were completed in probably a 15 minute uninterrupted string of reloading while I was taking my time really. So, before tomorrow I'll surely know more about running one of these correctly and hopefully not have repeats of the issues I've dealt with so far. I can totally see that it's been operator error all along causing the minor problems I've had so far. This is the fun part though, I do like a good challenge. Didn't really see one coming but I sure as heck do now and it is a good one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Taliani Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Firstly let me thank Brian E. for wading in with his link to XL650 support info, it's very much appreciated. Also everyone else who's responded with help or support I thank you. Ok today I'm not reloading, what I did instead was read the manual thoroughly, watch the Dillon XL650 video and then I went back to my press and correctly readjusted everything, the shellplate, the slide cam pin, etc. to factory recommendations. Then I took the non Dillon lockrings off of my Redding Decap/Resize and Seating dies as well as the lockring from my Lee FCD and replaced all with the 1" Dillon lock rings and readjusted all of the dies correctly and locked them all down. I made sure everything was good and clean everywhere on the press as well. Next, I learned yesterday how the primer pickup tube worked perfectly AFTER I ran a couple of clean patches through it, so I also dismantled the primer magazine and ran a couple patches through it. I then put a drop or two of Wilson's Ultima Lube on the main pin underneath the priming advance wheel and cycled that by hand using the lever 20 times or so and now it's running noticably smoother. I'm going to add a bit of wheel bearing grease to the parts that are supposed to have that lubricant and that's it for today. Why? Because I only have the press bolted down using the two rear bolt holes as a temporary measure until my Dillon XL650 specific strong mount comes in today or tomorrow and I think that for this unit to work to it's best potential it really neads a good anchoring so, I'm not going to go any further with loading till then. Also, I dismantled 6 bullets that weren't seated correctly after my first teardown of the machine. I'll just start the primered cases at station two and finish them up before I load the primer magazine. I also dismantled 5 more that were dummy loads I used when setting up my dies and the powder funnel/expander. I'm getting very familiar with the press as I go along and I think before long I'm going to be whizzing through the brass and bullets without much trouble at all. The 54 rounds I ran initially yesterday were completed in probably a 15 minute uninterrupted string of reloading while I was taking my time really. So, before tomorrow I'll surely know more about running one of these correctly and hopefully not have repeats of the issues I've dealt with so far. I can totally see that it's been operator error all along causing the minor problems I've had so far. This is the fun part though, I do like a good challenge. Didn't really see one coming but I sure as heck do now and it is a good one! Reading and fully understanding the manual/video is an often overlooked but very helpful first step. Many things don't require actually reviewing product manuals, but IMO it relieves a TON of headache with new presses. That is an excellent decision to wait until you have your press firmly mounted. If you review threads detailing issues, it is frequently due to an unstable press or bench. This can cause everything from casefeeder problems, smashing brass at Station 1, priming issues, etc. Dillon presses in general, and the XL650 in particular, really need a rock solid platform to function at their best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PC Geek Shooter Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 I agree on the manual. The Dillon XL 650 manual is great, I'm referring to it a lot. The Hornady LNL AP manual is very bad compared to the 650's. Didn't get the video though. I have downloaded a number of YouTube videos on the 650 and other things like the RCBS Lock-Out Die... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pythonman Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 The video has razor sharp clear visuals, plenty of light and you could even accuse it of being HD. The videos on YouTube from this DVD seem very poorly recorded in comparison. The video is also done very thoroughly and shows a complete setup and run through with .308 rifle rounds and then a complete caliber change to pistol ammo and more loading. It also covers most of the adjustments to the press and the dies you will have encountered in the manual. I'm glad to have it although I needed neither really to setup the machine initially, getting it dialed in required BOTH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfilbey Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I realize this thread is about 650s but I bought a 1050 that had been a store demo for a few years. It was brand new for all intents an purposes and it worked as soon as I bolted it down to the new bench I built for it. I then spent two weeks between 30 minutes to two hours a day learning just how it works and fine tuning the machine. Tghe adjustmanft as it came from the factory were all fine. I am talking about adjusting thousandths of and inch and the machine breaking in. It is very smooth now as opposed to fresh out of the box. One tip I will offer is to keep it clean especially around the primer feed and shell plate. Also check your ammo with a chamber checker and load it in some magazines to theck for fit. Then perform the function test in your firearm. I can only confirm that the other advice in this thread is all solid and you will get the machine sorted out and running better than you ever imagined it could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natgas Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 I was fortunate to have a commercial reloader show me how to setup and operate the 650 before I purchased mine. He helped me greatly in learning the curve with this machine. I still have minor issues from time to time but nothing that I haven't figured out how to fix with some reading here and/or a phone call to Dillon. This site is a tremendous help. Stay with it and you'll be running smoothly for a long time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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