New 650 purchase, have a few questions

[mikeinctown]

In the next couple weeks I am going to order the 650 and a set of dies in the .40 caliber. As I am in no hurry to start using it, I am going to hold off on the strong mount, trays, extra handle, or case feeder. I'll pick those up in a couple months. I figure get the costliest part out of the way and add on as funds become available.

Anyway, I am going to be reloading the .40 to start and then want to load .45 for a 1911. (also plan on doing 9mm and 380 down the road)

My question is what do I need to go from the .40 to the .45?

Correct any wrong assumptions here

Caliber conversion kit.

Dies

Deluxe change kit for ease of setup and changeover. (extra powder measure, toolhead etc)

Primer quick change, again for ease of change.

I am also assuming that if I get the case feeder that I would want the large plate to start as it will work with both the .40 and .45.

When I want to start doing the 9mm and 380 will I need to buy two additional caliber change kits, or will the one for 9mm also work with the 380?

Thanks

[Cowboy1629]

Caliber conversion kit and dies, yes. If funds are tight I wouldn't buy the primer quick change or extra powder measure. On the 650 none of that is hard to change.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Cowboy1629

[rodell]

The contents of the caliber change kits are listed in the 650 manual. You can easily see exactly what parts are contained in the kit and whether or not you have the necessary components. If you want to select in a "mix and match" mode you can often reload many different calibers. There used to be a Windows program around that figured it out for you based on what you had.

In the long run I end up buying the conversion kit whole so when I swap calibers I swap everything I might need and keep it all together in the box. I have more than a few calibers, though. If I had the four you mentioned I probably would mix and match.

[morpheus]

http://thegunwiki.com/apps/calconversion/

[mikeinctown]

Thanks for the input so far. Being able to just keep everything intact and swap out the dies and powder measure all in one shot to me is very appealing. I will rethink the primer change kit depending on how everything looks when I get the unit. As far as the conversion kits, I guess for the $ it may not be worth getting parts confused and lost or misplaced in the wrong box.

Also, I saw on the site that after 11/1 the Dillon MSRP will be shown on the site. I assume this is the same price Dillon shows on their own website?

[pjames32]

I have 2 primer set ups, one small, one large. You don't need it, but it is quick and handy.

[benos]

Info on caliber conversions:

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillonfaqs.html#650calconv

[Henny]

Just a thought, you might want to consider reloading small primer 45 ACP brass. That way you won't have to switch over primer systems, you'll only have to stock up on one size primer and there's a lot of people out there that leave small primer 45 brass lay on the ground!

[mikeinctown]

Thanks for the link Brian, I had actually read that page through probably a half dozen times. I think each time I read it I got more confused as I was linking to additional pages. I was reading things for the 550 and 1050 and maybe getting them confused with the 650 stuff. Part of it also had to do with the suggestions that you could do this or that or even something else to come to the same end result. (an example would be conversion kits where you can buy a whole kit or use parts from another and mix and match parts) I'm also a learn by doing guy and reading doesn't sink in as much as actully just having my hands on something.

I also figured out why i was confused about the 11/01/14 dillon MSRP pricing. When I look at the Dillon page for the 650 I saw a price listed of $1100. I assumed that was the MSRP and was concerned the press would be almost doubling in cost. I neglected to see that the figure I saw was for the press plus all the add ons.

Appreciate the help so far.