XL650 up and running!

[Pythonman]

Ok as some of you know I recently got my first Dillon press, the XL650 and as I was waiting for it to ship I read up on some good Dillon forums (especially this one) that I may have been better off with the 550B or whatever as my first progressive. I asked on this forum if I was going to be sorry for going with the big blue monster. Anyhow I got the thing and right away had some minor hiccups, mostly my fault and I did my best to correct them and re-read and re-watch the Dillon instruction manual and DVD. I also waited for the powder check die to arrive before I continued reloading. I've been patient. And today it's all paid off. I first reset my powder measure to drop 5.5 gr. of HP38 then I set my RCBS Lockout die to function correctly when it came into contact with a case properly charged with said powder. Then I locked the new die down on the press with a charged shell fully inserted. Next I filled the primer pickup tube with large pistol primers, dumped them into the magazine and set the rod through the low primer warning doodad on top of the primers and cycled the primer advance wheel until I saw a primer in station two. From there on I just cycled the arm on the press and let the machine do its thing and all I had to do was insert bullets at station four and keep an eye on the case feeder tube so it wouldn't run empty. Each and every time I would push the ram arm forward there was a satisfying sensation of a primer being seated. Just before the low primer sensor beeped I dumped in an addtional 50 primers because I only had 150 of the bullets I was loading left when I started this morning. Anyhow I kept seating bullets until I heard the final beep on the low primer sensor and then I just kept cycling the handle until I felt the last primer being seated and then I shut down the case feeder and finished the last of the rounds. Total time? About 40 minutes, which is not bad for my second ever reload session on this great press. What slowed me down is firstly I'm still getting the hang of things, secondly, as I scooped up hadfulls of brass from my bucket of tumbled cases I had to sort out the ones with small primer holes so I wouldn't have a kaboom at station two. Now I can fully see that if I had an extra two or three large primer pickup tubes and the automatic casefeeder I'd be whipping out 400-500 rounds per hour even at this early stage!

Soo, what I'd like to pass along to other new owners of the XL650 that helped me the most is this: Read the manual thoroughly, the more the better. Get the accompanying DVD because it's extremely helpful and watch it a couple of times at least. Next, carefully clean the insides of the primer pickup tubes and the primer magazine tubes with clean patches cut to size if necessary and 90% or higher non lanolin based rubbing alcohol which will clean out any manufacturing residues and oils. I found both items in my primer tubes/magazine and I was getting numerous hangups and primers flipping on their side because of this! Once cleaned with two or three patches through each followed by a couple of drying patches the hangups were OVER. Also, I dismantled the primering wheel assembly and wiped it down good with the alcohol as well as the areas on the press under the priming wheel. Then I put a drop of the required lube on the primer wheel center pin so it would rotate smoothly. This cleaning of the above cured 95% of the problems I had during my first reloading session. One important thing to remember and I was told this numerous times and still forgot to do it until the last is when adjusting your dies in the press, only lock them down with a case inserted fully into that die. I cant stress this enough, because that is what is going to help your shellplate line up perfectly with your dies and your dies will be set perfectly if you lock them down with a case inserted. Another handy item to have is a can of compressed air to blow the powder spills and dust off of the shell plate. To keep from getting powder everywhere I carefully clipped 1 coil of of the spring under the detent ball beneath the shell plate. Before you do that I would advise getting a spare parts kit from Dillon which will have an extra detent ball spring in case you wreck it when doing this mod. After clipping that one coil I was good to go with zero powder flip afterwards.

So to everyone who's helped me get setup and running including Brian E. a big Thank you!

PS. to my own original question of "Am I Going To Be Sorry getting the XL650?" that answer is a resounding NO! This is exactly what I'd hoped for.

[natgas]

I think those of us who own a 650 knew you wouldn't be sorry! Congrats on your first loading session

[GR8GIFT]

Next you'll want a 2nd 650 to keep from switching from large to small primers. I have 2 650's one for small and one for large primers I share a single case feeder. And a 550 for calibers I don't load a lot rounds for.

[osageid]

Next you'll want a 2nd 650 to keep from switching from large to small primers. I have 2 650's one for small and one for large primers I share a single case feeder. And a 550 for calibers I don't load a lot rounds for.

^^^^^^^^this we have two in our basement!

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[PJones1911]

I have 2 650's as well. One for small primer and one for large. Great versatility, quick changes and fast reloading. Thats a lot of reloading power.

Paul