1050 that works fine ?

[Hammer1]

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Realize that this is where people with problems come for help.

And it is great that this place exist to help people.

But the number of inquiries for help does lead to an obvious simple question.

What fraction of new 1050 presses operate without issue as delivered ?

What fraction of other Dillon presses operate without issue as delivered ?

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[Bill H]

I have 3 that are flawless.

[jmorris]

I didnt have any problems with any new in the box 1050 except for die adjustments and one time the collator got banged up in shipping and they sent me a new one instantly.

Sooner or later a primer problem will happen and you will have to change the oraface tip on the primer mag. It is the same tip the 550 and SD use, so I have plenty of spares.

I have no idea on numbers your asking about but imagine that there are more problems from people that just got into reloading after the last scare and may be in over their head. A 1050 has a lot going on for a new guy.

Another problem is the hot rod syndrome, where someone buys a press that may work perfect then, instead of loading rounds with it, reads about every gee whizz doo dad and installs them all at the same time.

Then a "Dillion sucks" thread is born. A few weeks later we find (or not) the problem was one the user caused and not Dillon anyway.

[rjacobs]

I have 2 1050's. One is auto drive. I wont talk about that one.

My other 1050 is hand operated and I load on it. 9mm and 300BLK for right now.

Its got 20k+ some odd rounds through it. Any issue I have had with it was caused directly by cheap, shitty, bulk purchase range brass, not the machine. Ive had berdan primed 9mm, .380, ceramic cleaning balls stuck in the brass, stuck primers, etc... If I would prep my 9mm brass separate from the loading operation I would guess I would NEVER have an issue while loading on the 1050. Every issue I have had was in station 2(de-priming), 3(swaging) or 4(priming) due to an issue with the brass.

When I load 300BLK on it, the brass comes off of my auto drive 1050 and is awesome quality, ready to load brass. I have NEVER had an issue with this 1050 when loading 300BLK when starting with my good brass. If I ever get my loading 1050 setup for .223, that brass will also come off of my auto drive 1050 pre-prepped and I bet it loads smooth as butter as well.

With the 1050 if you start with good brass, you eliminate a lot of the issues IMO.

[jmorris]

With the 1050 if you start with good brass, you eliminate a lot of the issues IMO.

That is true for all presses.

[rjacobs]

That is true for all presses.

I agree, but with the 1050, with so many things happening at one time, bad brass REALLY rears its ugly head and most of the time on OTHER pieces of brass. Its easy to remove the offending piece of brass, what gets more complicated with the 1050 is making sure to check the rest of the pieces in the machine to make sure the process was completed. On say a 550 or 650, bad brass never makes it past the first station and is MUCH easier to remedy and not muck up the rest of the process's.

These are probably the two biggest issues I have run into:

If a primer head gets punched, but the body is still stuck in the case, the swage will swage properly(you wont feel any extra resistance), but when you go to seat a primer, you will at best crush the primer and at worst pop the primer. Crushed primer will then stick in the primer slide and lock the press up.

A primer getting sucked back into the pocket and then the swage smashing it(which you can feel) causes a new primer, in a different piece of brass, to not be seated 100%. If you are aware of this you can fix it, if not, it will eventually lock your gun up. I have also had this cause bullets to not be seated 100% due to basically "short stroking" the press that final 1/8" or whatever the throw thats left when the swage rod smashes a spent primer and locks the press up from a 100% cycle.

Berdan primed brass is also an issue, but you generally catch those in the de-capping process so it doesnt mess up any of the other stations. Same with .380 brass.

Once the brass in the press makes it cleanly past getting a new primer, I have NEVER had an issue with powder throwing, bullet seating, or crimp.

Edited December 6, 2014 by rjacobs

[DBateman]

I have two 1050 both worked as expected right out of the box.

[mcracco]

When my 1050 was purchased in 9mm 2 years ago it worked perfectly.

I'm guessing the 1050's that come out of Dillon are very consistent in terms of dimensions and setup but operator mechanical aptitude varies greatly.

[mikeinctown]

I don't have a 1050 but have the 650. The press itself does operate without issue as delivered. In fact Dillon sets up each machine for the caliber to be loaded before shipping it. because of this, I haven't had to adjust anything but my dies. Now, just because it operates as it should out of the box doesn't mean I didn't have questions as to how, why, or what something works the way it does.

Basically, you aren't going to figure out what percentage of presses have issues based on threads because many threads aren't dealing with issues, they are just answering questions about the press or a process on the press.

[ams30gts]

I started with a 650 and now I have a Super 1050 and 550. All have worked perfectly fine out of the box. I only started having trouble when I added a autodrive to the 1050.

[willfully armed]

My Super 1050 is the bane of my existence. I've honestly had so many problems with it that I just quit calling and quit using it, because the tech support advice was very poor. I've honestly forgotten some of the problems because its been so long since I ran it...but here's what I remember.

The primer feed system would stick and jam incessantly. I stoned and polished the Sharp edges, which helped a little, didn't cure the problems.

I had repetitive issues with the powder drop. And was told to put an aquarium air pump on it to vibrate the powder. (I laughed maniacally as I hung up.

There were timing issues in the beginning. I adjusted and reset until I turned blue in the face. Removing the safety ratchet cured most of this issue.

The stud that cams the primer arm broke off. Not even listed in the parts diagrams. I out a piece of 1/4x20 shoulder bolt in and locknutted it in place.

I HATE my 1050.

I am still a huge proponent of Dillon equipment though. My 650 is the greatest press in the world. Tonight I finally discovered two parts that need to be replaced. The helicoil in the casefeed slide came out during disassembly. And the casefeed arm has rounded off on the contact surface so it doesn't move enough to drop the case.

[RayBar]

I HATE my 1050.

Dibs

[jmorris]

Yeah, I was going to post that I would swap him the greatest press in the world for it but we all know where that would go.

[pmclaine]

S1050 was first and only press I have ever used. It's a machine, it will require some minor adjustment to suit your needs. It will need to be cleaned and maintained. I have done this and mine runs fine. Think I got it 3 years ago and I have some 15,000 rounds loaded across 5 calibers.

I think the fact I load a lot of calibers is a plus. Every caliber change is an opportunity to clean the press and mine runs sweet.

Edited December 23, 2014 by pmclaine

[angus6]

Mines been great, it replaced the other the650 and 550 that were on the bench next to it because it was so much nicer to run,,,,, but this afternoon it bit me , sna ped the Link Arm guess it was a fail safe part as it's made out of aluminum ,seems like there was someone on here that was getting replacements out of steel, wonder how that worked out and anyone remember who it was

Edited January 1, 2015 by angus6

[Tom Freeman]

I have three that are awesome. Like any machine, you have to take care of them.

[Reinz]

My two work great! And my third 1050 that I sold to my brother was sweet!

[KPIC24]

Got one a week ago and have run 5k through it, needs a cleaning though

[revomodel10]

I have three, oldest 1999, the newest one (2009) needed a a quick call to Dillon at set up, I was quickly talked through adjustment needed.

All run great!

[Flash66]

My 1050:

The primer system has always worked fine. Whenever I do have a problem is because of the brass and not the machine.

The case feeder has always worked fine.

The powder system has always worked fine and even better with the upgrades.

I always have a problem getting the swager right when I use it, probably because I am a dumbass and not because of the machine. I'll figure it out one of these days, maybe.

There is a magical tightness point for the case plate. Too tight and you have problems. Too lose and you have problems. The trick is to find the right tightness.

All in all a great machine.

[Kaskillo]

Primers are the biggest issue on the 1050. If you go pass decaping and primer seating you are good to GO!!!!

I ALWAYS start with pre sized brass (Push-thru or roll sized).

[silverbk]

I own the old RL1050, a 650 and a 550. The 1050 works great and is a great design, like others have posted the priming system is the weakest link, but with that said, having swaging and a priming on the downstroke make it all worth it. I load 223 on it. There is a learning curve to getting the machine to run smooth.

The 650 is also a great press in my opinion. I will be selling my 550 so I can finance another 650 so I can have a dedicated machine for large primers.

[dirtdarte]

I've had my 1050 for about a week. In that week, I've processed 4000 5.56 cases... and then loaded 4000 rounds. Hanging spent primers were the only problem I had in the brass prep phase... and I had 4 or 5 little hang-ups during the loading phase... and every problem was brass related... damaged brass that I missed. I've been loading ammunition for 40+ years and have used all kinds of handloading equipment. The 1050 is the king of the hill as far as I'm concerned. I suspect that most people who always seem to have problems with their press are having problems they create or don't adjust the machine correctly. Time spent in the setup of the machine and maintenance are pretty important... this isn't a rockchucker after all.