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Should I move up to 1050 from 550


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I have a 550 WITH a casefeeder. I love it. I have dies and heads for several rifle and pistol calibers.

But, I have been getting into USPSA quite heavy, and, now it seems like all I load is lots and lots of 45acp.

The only thing I have less of than money is time. I find myself getting home from work late at night, and loading for the match tomorrow. I just can't get enough rounds loaded to have a comfortable cushion. I'm always behind. So, I thought I'd keep the 550 for all the versatility, but, get something bigger for the real volume stuff (45).

Looking at the Dillon specs, though, they claim production rates of 500/hr with a 550 and 800/hour with a 650 and 1000/hr for a 1050. But, since I have a case feeder on my 550, I'd guess the difference is much closer than that.

What I really want is the most rounds loaded in the limited time I have to load. But I have to balance that against cost and bench space.

Would a 1050 really blow away a 550 w/ casefeeder for production, or, is the increase only marginal?

Thanks

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FWIW - I have three 1050s and three 550's. The 1050 will do circles around the 550 and it's like a broken in sewing machine! I use the 1050s for dedicated calibers and 550's for rifle and experimentation...c

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IF you want to up your speed you need to get a Mr. Bullet Feeder also with the 1050. My buddy was timing me the other night and I loaded 100 rounds in 2:50 which equates to around 2k rounds an hour. I think if I tried to do that for an hour my arm would fall off. 1200-1400 an hour is easy though once you get in a rhythm. It takes 2 of us to run the machine fast though. One guy keeping components stocked and the other running the machine. Usually swap out every 300 or so. I also have 10 primer tubes so you can get ahead of the machine. 10 is plenty for me since after about an hour I need to walk away from the machine.

The biggest time saver IMO with the 1050 over the 550 is the primer seating. There is no "wasted" movement since you seat on the stroke. Seating on the 1050 like that always made me not be able to keep a decent rhythm.

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+1 on 1050/MBF - I love mine. Banging out 500 rounds soup to nuts is an hour TV show. I've loaded 1000 in 30 minutes just to prove it and 100 in 2:30 is quite doable once you get it tuned up.

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I too have a bullet fed 1050.

If you're only going to load 45 acp, I think you'd be fine with a bullet fed 650.

With a case feeder, volume wouldn't be that far behind.

Edited by RayBar
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The biggest time saver IMO with the 1050 over the 550 is the primer seating. There is no "wasted" movement since you seat on the stroke. Seating on the 1050 like that always made me not be able to keep a decent rhythm.

One problem with the casefeeder on the 550 is the primer seating. Without the case feeder, there is a little spring (looks like a bent paper clip) that holds the case firmly all the way into the primer station. The bullet feeder requires removal of that spring. Result is that the case frequently bounces away from the correct position and then you can't get the primer in. You have to stop, and move the case in with your finger, which is difficult because the case feeder obstructs the priming station.

Anyway, how is the 1050 different?

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+1 on 1050/MBF - I love mine. Banging out 500 rounds soup to nuts is an hour TV show. I've loaded 1000 in 30 minutes just to prove it and 100 in 2:30 is quite doable once you get it tuned up.

Yeah, I just found that mr bullet feeder while searching these posts yesterday. Looks like something I need to research. My plan is to set this whole thing up for my uspsa 45 load exactly the way I want it, and then weld all the set screws in place and see if I can be ankle deep in loaded rounds. Waist deep even better.

So Mr Bullet Feeder works on a 1050 just like in their ad demos?

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The biggest time saver IMO with the 1050 over the 550 is the primer seating. There is no "wasted" movement since you seat on the stroke. Seating on the 1050 like that always made me not be able to keep a decent rhythm.

One problem with the casefeeder on the 550 is the primer seating. Without the case feeder, there is a little spring (looks like a bent paper clip) that holds the case firmly all the way into the primer station. The bullet feeder requires removal of that spring. Result is that the case frequently bounces away from the correct position and then you can't get the primer in. You have to stop, and move the case in with your finger, which is difficult because the case feeder obstructs the priming station.

Anyway, how is the 1050 different?

You need to see a 1050 in action. 8 stations, there is no sharing. Search some video's on youtube.

Station 1 is case feed

station 2 is de-prime/size

station 3 is swage/expand

station 4 is prime

station 5 is powder

station 6 is empty OR powder check OR bullet feeder

station 7 is seating

station 8 is crimp

Primers are seated on the stroke, no push after the stroke involved. There is a pin on the tool head that is adjustable so you can get your seating depth set perfect. This pin, when the tool head is brought down, pushes on a tappet(basically) that pushes on a rocker arm which transmits over to the primer seating punch. The primer seating punch has a spring on it that returns the whole thing so the primer slide can move out of the way and get a new primer. Its VERY similar to how a valve train on single cam engines work with push rods, tappets, rocker arms, valves and valve springs.

A 1050 will be faster, marginally, than a 650, all else being equal simply due to the priming aspect.

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+1 on 1050/MBF - I love mine. Banging out 500 rounds soup to nuts is an hour TV show. I've loaded 1000 in 30 minutes just to prove it and 100 in 2:30 is quite doable once you get it tuned up.

Yeah, I just found that mr bullet feeder while searching these posts yesterday. Looks like something I need to research. My plan is to set this whole thing up for my uspsa 45 load exactly the way I want it, and then weld all the set screws in place and see if I can be ankle deep in loaded rounds. Waist deep even better.

So Mr Bullet Feeder works on a 1050 just like in their ad demos?

It works well for me. Be aware that the adjustable bullet flipper part of the MBF collator utilizes the rounded part of the bullet nose. While I have loaded 9mm 147 flat points's successfully, and 9mm 135 round nose easily, a wadcutter type design may be be a no-go.

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I don't shoot 45. Unlike 9mm, swaging may be a non-issue for this caliber.

Still need the swage setup in a 1050 to expand the cases. The powder station does NOT flare the cases, that is done at the swage station with the backup portion of the die.

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I could afford the 1050 but cant afford to feed it I would go broke. I will stick with my 2 550's. I go through about 8000 to 10000 rounds a year with my 550's between 8 different calibers. I get time to reload but not much time to shoot since I work swing shift and work weekends :angry2: . I say if you have long arms and deep pockets buy the 1050.

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I have both and love the 1050. I bought it for speed. But now appreciate it for being truly quality equipment that is a blast to run. The primer swage alone is worth the purchase to me...they run like a sewing machine!

Marine Corp

Colonial Shooting Academy

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Several comments on the primer seating advantage. On my 550, it seems the primer seating is the slowest part. I can hand set a bullet as I index (I have a case feeder) which is pretty quick. But, that darn primer seems to take a little screwing around about every 5th case.

I'm keeping my eye on the classifieds for a 1050

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I'm keeping my eye on the classifieds for a 1050

Good luck. Just buy new. IF I was going to sell one of my 1050's I would probably ask like 1600 as it sits for loading 9mm. 1050's(and all Dillon machines for that matter) really hold their value unless you find somebody that doesnt really know what they have like an estate sale or something. That and shipping a press is quite a bit of cash, like 80 bucks or so from what I remember. If you bought from Brian he includes shipping so something to think about.

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