gixxerjunky Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 (edited) I know there are a ton of questions about what press is better for this and that but I have a few other questions. I have not reloaded before but plan to start with 9mm and .223. I am thinking the 550 will be better for me base on price as a whole. I see that Brian has his EZ buy packages but I want to know is all of that absolutely necessary? Remember I do not reload so I will need everything from the get go. I don't want to spend a fortune but I will spend what I have to so that I can get quality stuff. This is a lot to ask of you guys but can y'all give me suggestions about what to pick up and what to pass on? I want to go ahead and get everything in one order that will get me reloading the above mentioned calibers. I will also be using range brass for my casing. I'm not stuck on the 550 if the extra cost is absolutely worth it. I won't be loading a ton of rounds a month. Prolly a few thousand at first and then several hundred per month to keep up with my shooting. I'm only reloading for 2 people in my household. I also tried to call Brian so he could just begin compiling stuff into an order and I know he will sell me only what I need but he's not accepting phone orders. Edited January 21, 2013 by gixxerjunky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atbarr Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Brian will not over sell you. I wanted a 650 and a brass feeder. He talked me into a 550. And that's all I've needed. Since '08, I've loaded almost 50K. Not sure about not taking phone calls. Email him, and ask if you can call him. Maybe he's out of town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixxerjunky Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 His phone said that due to the high amounts of orders he is not taking phone orders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atbarr Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Like I said, email him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnote Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 he will call you if you leave a # and a good time to reach you, remember he is AZ time fantastic customer relations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sroe3 Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 You can wash brass with soap and water and then use vinegar to get a nice shine. It's possible to skip the tumbler, sorter, media, and polish. You can get very cheap case lube. I use the cheapest silicone spray that's on sale. Spray a little in a ziplock or coffee can, add clean brass and mix. You can skip the case gauge and use your barrel. Primer flip tray, pick up tubes, calipers, and scale are necessary every time you load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixxerjunky Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) Edited January 23, 2013 by gixxerjunky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixxerjunky Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Is there anything in that order that I absolutely missed or that I dont need? This is a ton of money for me and I do not want to over buy at all. I also will not have any money for components for awhile either lol. You cant seem to find any now anyway so I will have this for the future when components come available. Also is the Benos High Performance scale needed or will the $75 one work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atbarr Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Also is the Benos High Performance scale needed or will the $75 one work? Absolutely, the $75.00 scale works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixxerjunky Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Also is the Benos High Performance scale needed or will the $75 one work? Absolutely, the $75.00 scale works. Thank you. The only reason I selected the higer one is thats what Brian used in his EZ buy packages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tohm Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I bought the carbide 223 resizer and get away without using case lube. I am sure i am not supposed to be doing that but it has worked for me on 223's. The decapping pins you should always have some extras (or I do anyway). If you hate loading primers get the RF 100 primer filler (I love mine). There is a hand held that some folks at the shot show were discussing you can search for the link, i think they called it a Vibraprime? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinj308 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I'd really recommend a 550b for a first press. Shoot Brian an email or a pm here on the board. Remember he's busy, like everyone in his business is right now, and he'll get back to you. I can't imagine anyone more suited to talk too about a first press purchase than him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill M Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 A good consistent scale is worth every penny, repeatability is everything. I had a bad scale once and tearing apart rounds because your uncertain is a PITA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixxerjunky Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 I'd really recommend a 550b for a first press. Shoot Brian an email or a pm here on the board. Remember he's busy, like everyone in his business is right now, and he'll get back to you. I can't imagine anyone more suited to talk too about a first press purchase than him. I emailed Brian and he seems to be to busy at the moment to talk about things. He replied with reading all of the FAQ. The only reason I am wanting a 650 is having to set up the .223 to be ran through to be deprimmed and trimmed on one tool head and then another tool head to actually load the rounds. It seems like it would be a major PITA to do 1000 rounds or so on a 550 with having to run it through muiltiple times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoothdraw Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Go to youtube and look for dillon .223 match ammo mass reloading. Case prep is PITA for .223. Since you are in budget dillon 650 is what i will recommend. If You want to make your life easy and load boatload of .223 then invest in 1050. You could do everything by 2 pass. Deprime/case length, swage, and trim with dillon RT1200B on the 1st pass. Then run the 2nd time this time expand case mouth, prime, powder drop, bullet seat, case mount crimp. 550 is okay too if you are not planning to load tons of .223 or if you have a lot of time for reloading. Plus you have to swage primer pocket, case trim, chamfer case mouth separately. Just a suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Athouse Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Lose the dvd and tumbler. The dvd info was available on youtube about two years ago. Probably still is, and the included instruction book is pretty good anyway. For half the money you can get a better or equivalent quality tumbler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixxerjunky Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Lose the dvd and tumbler. The dvd info was available on youtube about two years ago. Probably still is, and the included instruction book is pretty good anyway. For half the money you can get a better or equivalent quality tumbler. Ok will do and thanks. What tumbler would you guys recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 One thing you can do to ease the pain with .223 is to buy fully prepped cases. Number of people on site who do that. That way you can load them a couple of times - maybe even three - before they will need trimming again. Also, if they are Lake City - for example - the crimping for the primer only needs to be removed once (part of the full prepping operation). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixxerjunky Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 One thing you can do to ease the pain with .223 is to buy fully prepped cases. Number of people on site who do that. That way you can load them a couple of times - maybe even three - before they will need trimming again. Also, if they are Lake City - for example - the crimping for the primer only needs to be removed once (part of the full prepping operation). You have any good places to buy these prepped cases? That would only save me $100 for the super swag correct. I would still have to have the trimmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve RA Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Check in the classified for the brass. Necessity for trimmer could be postponed for quite awhile, depending on the amount of brass you acquire and the rapidity of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMRoy Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I love my 550. It gives me more control over the loads than a 650 with auto index. I can easily turn out 250 rounds per hr in 9mm, 40 or 223. I called Dillon and they set me up with everything I needed per my needs and budget. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixxerjunky Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Any other input on what I should pick up or pass on? What about a good tumbler for less than the dillon tumbler? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tohm Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I have a Dillon CV-2001 and really like it. The reason i bought it is a friend of mine had one and zero probIems and it gets through the brass. I also have a Thumlers tumbler for wet tumbling my 308's slow but great job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Athouse Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Its a decent tumbler, its just expensive. And expensive to fix if theres a problem. For 50 or 60 bucks get a frankford arsenal or cabelas brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtuck Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Just a few suggestions for the budget minded. 550B works great for what you are loading. I currently load 9mm, .38/.357, .32-20, and .223 on mine. Frankford Arsenal tumbler works just fine. You can pick up a Lyman Small Primer Pocket tool ($12) and save on the Super Swager 600 if you are doing limited number of .223. You only need to prep the primer pocket once. You can pick up an RCBS primer flip tray for under $10, extra primer pick up tubes are nice to have but if you are on a budget you can skip those on your initial order. Digital calipers from Harbor Freight are about $10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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