ezra650 Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 I have been loading on a dillon 550 ever since I started shooting USPSA/SCSA 5-6 years ago when I was still in college. Now that life has settled down and I have more gun money I'm wanting to upgrade in the coming months. I'm planning on loading only 9mm and using a dillon casefeeder and a mr bullet feeder. I already have the bullet feeder purchased. I also have a 650 press that I picked up at a local estate auction 2 years ago for a good deal. It has been sitting in my gun room since and I was setting it aside so I could upgrade when ready/needed. Now with the 750 on the market I'm wondering if I should sell the 650 and go for the 750. Here is what it would take to make my 650 operational Small primer parts, it's setup for large. Looks like ~$65 in parts from dillon (primer disc, punch arm, and primer magazine) 9mm Conv kit $85 Casefeeder - $300 And likely a roller handle and skylights later on, but not absolutely necessary to get up and running. My 650 as it sits is on a strong mount with no conversion kit. It also has 2 toolheads with powder dies and one powder measure that I would sell with the press. It's an older generation, no idea of its actual age but it doesn't have the grease zerks on the linkage pivot pins. I have seen some nice deals on 650 packages so who knows what I could sell mine for... $450? im not sure. It's old but looks good cosmetically and I don't think its loaded a ton of rounds. He was loading 45 ACP and 44mag on the press. My main complaints with the 650 based on studying the design are the complexity of the priming system, tuning and breakage seems par for the course. I would say another con is constant primer feed, but there is a simple mod for that so it's a non issue. Pros, it seems the 650 is priming system is self cleaning which I like and all the bugs have been diagnosed and there are lots of great inexpensive mods for the machine to make for smoother cycles and loading. If my 650 has the grease zerks and the small primer parts installed I think it would be very hard to convince me into a 750. My #1 complaint with the 550 is it craps where it eats. Every ~500 rounds the primer bar and surrounding area has to wiped down. I like the simplicity of the system, but if the 750 dumps case residue/media just like the 550 does in the same spot I'm not real crazy about it. I've also seen that the powder bar prevents a user from using a powder check die and a MBF. I however do not intend to use a powder check die. From what I can tell the empty primer chute is offset to the primer seater bar on the 750. Assuming I can sell my 650 for $450 I would be looking at an additional $150 cost for the 750 out of the box, but I get the conversion kit included. Would need a strong mount as I will probably sell the 650 with the one it is mounted on. Casefeeder has to get bought no matter which press I pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m700 Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Keep the 650. Im not sure the bulletfeeder works with 750 yet. The 750 has few advantages over the 650. Pick up the snowshooze kit and you will have your primer stop, case feed stop, and roller bearings all around. The only difference after that will be the priming system. There is zero tuning in my experience. and swapping small /large is about = in time for both 650/750 If you were to sell it all and move to 750 you'd definitely be out more money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonestardiver Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Keep the 650.You can get an upgrade to add the zerks from Dillon for if I recall correctly about $65 plus shipping. Just taking it apart, cleaning it and reassembling after re-greasing makes a big difference. The upgrade kit with the zerks I believe comes with the alignment tool needed for reassembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_RAD Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Keep the 650. Save up and buy a 1050. Two presses is better than one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonestardiver Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Or buy a second 650...then you have parts/tool head interchangeability. I have two, one for small primers and one for large primers. Fewer things to change when switching to a different cartridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iflyskyhigh Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 Keep it. I have all the Snowshooz and Armanov upgrades. They are cost effective and work great. Makes a HUGE difference when changing calibers and trying to get the press set up (being able to turn off case and primer feed)I have the bullet feeder and once set up, which really doesn’t take long, you can crank out some serious ammo.One of the reasons I went with the 650 over 1050 was number of calibers I load. If I had the space I’d probably have a 1050 for .223/5.56 and 300 Black out, but everything else would be 650.I keep a 550 for precision rifle, SD pistol rounds, and load work ups in pistol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezra650 Posted March 19, 2020 Author Share Posted March 19, 2020 2 hours ago, lonestardiver said: Keep the 650. You can get an upgrade to add the zerks from Dillon for if I recall correctly about $65 plus shipping. Just taking it apart, cleaning it and reassembling after re-greasing makes a big difference. The upgrade kit with the zerks I believe comes with the alignment tool needed for reassembly. I didnt even think about that. Great to know. I might do that before I set it all up. 3 hours ago, m700 said: Keep the 650. Im not sure the bulletfeeder works with 750 yet. The 750 has few advantages over the 650. Pick up the snowshooze kit and you will have your primer stop, case feed stop, and roller bearings all around. The only difference after that will be the priming system. There is zero tuning in my experience. and swapping small /large is about = in time for both 650/750 If you were to sell it all and move to 750 you'd definitely be out more money I just found snowshooze, thanks for the lead on that. Also on swapping primers. I don load anything for large primer progressively anyway and dont plan on it. If I ever do I will just setup the 550 to do it. You are right, definitely more money out on the 750. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezra650 Posted March 19, 2020 Author Share Posted March 19, 2020 1 hour ago, B_RAD said: Keep the 650. Save up and buy a 1050. Two presses is better than one. Well I already have the 550 and dont plan on it going anywhere. In reality I think the "best" press setup is a 550, a 1050, and a single stage. but I am not about to save up and drop $2k+ on a 1050. I don't shoot enough bullets to justify that. So the amount of time I will sit in front of the 650 vs a 1050 is negligible. The 1050 swages so thats nice, but for 9mm its not a major problem buying quality brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezra650 Posted March 19, 2020 Author Share Posted March 19, 2020 (edited) 24 minutes ago, iflyskyhigh said: Keep it. I have all the Snowshooz and Armanov upgrades. They are cost effective and work great. Makes a HUGE difference when changing calibers and trying to get the press set up (being able to turn off case and primer feed) I have the bullet feeder and once set up, which really doesn’t take long, you can crank out some serious ammo. One of the reasons I went with the 650 over 1050 was number of calibers I load. If I had the space I’d probably have a 1050 for .223/5.56 and 300 Black out, but everything else would be 650. I keep a 550 for precision rifle, SD pistol rounds, and load work ups in pistol. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Sounds like an ideal setup. I need to get a list of 650 upgrades. I'm pretty sure I have seen a thread for that here on enos... I won't be setting the pres up until June/July most likely. Wedding in May so shooting wont pick back up for us until we have settled in from that. and this stupid virus is killing all our shooting right now... sucks. Thanks for all the responses guys. I was already leaning toward keeping the 650 and this confirms it. I will most definitely inquire with Dillon about getting the linkage pins with grease zerks and swapping them. Edited March 19, 2020 by ezra650 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_RAD Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 4 minutes ago, ezra650 said: Well I already have the 550 and dont plan on it going anywhere. In reality I think the "best" press setup is a 550, a 1050, and a single stage. but I am not about to save up and drop $2k+ on a 1050. I don't shoot enough bullets to justify that. So the amount of time I will sit in front of the 650 vs a 1050 is negligible. The 1050 swages so thats nice, but for 9mm its not a major problem buying quality brass. I have a love/hate relationship with my 650. Military brass and it doesn’t always keep the case in station one on the upstroke. I’d love to try a 750 but I have a mk7/1050 so I don’t need to buy another press. I shoot 30k+ and like to load different loads/calibers. sounds like you gotta a good setup. not sure I’d sell and buy a 750 if your 650 is working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezra650 Posted March 19, 2020 Author Share Posted March 19, 2020 3 minutes ago, B_RAD said: I have a love/hate relationship with my 650. Military brass and it doesn’t always keep the case in station one on the upstroke. I’d love to try a 750 but I have a mk7/1050 so I don’t need to buy another press. I shoot 30k+ and like to load different loads/calibers. sounds like you gotta a good setup. not sure I’d sell and buy a 750 if your 650 is working. Yep I could see that. Thats another issue... if I went 1050 I would just HAVE to automate and I don't need that much money in a press lol. If I can shoot 12k-18k a year in 9mm that will be plenty for me with practice a match or 2 every month. Shooting 22s in SCSA fills up some of my shooting time. I hope my 650 works. All I did was bring it home and put some oil on the ram piston and I have cycled it a few times. Everything seems to move smoothly like it should. I only got it at the auction because of the deal on it. IIRC I paid $465 for the press on a strong mount, 2 toolheads with powder dies, 1 powder measure, one mistmatch conversion kit, and 44MAG dillon dies. I sold off the dies/conversions and left it sitting since until I was ready to use it. Picked up the MBF for a deal from a buddy along the way who was upgrading his small ammo company to the mk7 evolution press. And its been boxed up since too lol. All said and done I will have a 650 with a bullet feeder for $1200 plus some extra upgrades I do for my preferences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sigarmsp226 Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 (edited) IMO since I have a 650 having graduated up from a 550, I like the primer system on the 650 better than the 550 and it is my understanding that the primer system on the 750 is similar to the 550, which is different than the 650 and you said you were not crazy about the priming system on the 550 so I would keep the 650. Put a case feeder on the 650 and a Mr Bulletfeeder on it and you can load 30k rounds over a long three to four day weekend.....Just my opinion..... Edited March 20, 2020 by Sigarmsp226 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cool Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 30k over 3 or 4 days beware of tendonitis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XL6504ME Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 sell me your 650 and go buy the 750 you need it :) I have a 1050 for my 5.56 and a 650 for my 9 mm I need your 650 for .45acp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezra650 Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 On 3/20/2020 at 7:19 PM, Sigarmsp226 said: IMO since I have a 650 having graduated up from a 550, I like the primer system on the 650 better than the 550 and it is my understanding that the primer system on the 750 is similar to the 550, which is different than the 650 and you said you were not crazy about the priming system on the 550 so I would keep the 650. Put a case feeder on the 650 and a Mr Bulletfeeder on it and you can load 30k rounds over a long three to four day weekend.....Just my opinion..... the 550 and 750 are exactly the same from what I can tell. the ONLY advantage is the parts on the 550/750 are simple and it only feeds primers on demand. But with the 650 primer stop switch and casefeeder stop mods you get a lot of control back over the shellplate. I loaded just over 300rds on the 550 yesterday and I was tired of standing there. About 1hr is the most I will/can spend in front of the press. I'm keeping the 650.... now just to budget for a new casefeeder and another $200 of parts to get up and running. I'd almost sell my 550, but its great for small runs and I'm sure as I acquire more low volume calibers it will be my go to for loading on. I'm even tempted to set it up for my 308 at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iflyskyhigh Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 the 550 and 750 are exactly the same from what I can tell. the ONLY advantage is the parts on the 550/750 are simple and it only feeds primers on demand. But with the 650 primer stop switch and casefeeder stop mods you get a lot of control back over the shellplate. I loaded just over 300rds on the 550 yesterday and I was tired of standing there. About 1hr is the most I will/can spend in front of the press. I'm keeping the 650.... now just to budget for a new casefeeder and another $200 of parts to get up and running. I'd almost sell my 550, but its great for small runs and I'm sure as I acquire more low volume calibers it will be my go to for loading on. I'm even tempted to set it up for my 308 at some point. Keep it. That’s where I was. I had pictures of my 550 and was ready to list it. Glad I didn’t. It’s much easier to use for pistol load development. And I load all my precision rifle and handgun SD stuff on it. It’s perfect for that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezra650 Posted March 23, 2020 Author Share Posted March 23, 2020 5 minutes ago, iflyskyhigh said: Keep it. That’s where I was. I had pictures of my 550 and was ready to list it. Glad I didn’t. It’s much easier to use for pistol load development. And I load all my precision rifle and handgun SD stuff on it. It’s perfect for that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Exactly. Might need to look at getting one of those fancy toolheads that locks down or something. I think uniquetek makes one. And its also good to have a backup press. If my 650 went down before a match it would suck to load 300-600rd of pistol ammo on a single stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHI Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 The 750 is not a upgrade from a 650. And that is from someone who does not like the 650. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezra650 Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 1 hour ago, AHI said: The 750 is not a upgrade from a 650. And that is from someone who does not like the 650. Gotcha. Are you a 1050 guy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHI Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 yes 550 for work up and odd calibers and a 1050 for production. also will add 80% of the brass I get has crimped primer pockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iflyskyhigh Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 yes 550 for work up and odd calibers and a 1050 for production. also will add 80% of the brass I get has crimped primer pockets.Man, I’m really wishing I had a 1050/1100 right now. I’m making my way through about 8000 .223/5.56 cases of mixed brass on the 650 using a case feeder, RCBS small base die in station 1 and a Dillon RT1500 along with the Armanov swagger in place of primer. Just the push to swage gets exhausting. I’m guessing it’s gotta be easier on a 1050/1100?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHI Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 2 toolheads for 223/5.56 first one has dillon trimmer etc and do a light swedge. second tool head loads and finishes the swedge. easiest way and less stress on press and you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabGuy Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Remember the 750 is a replacement for the 650 with a few improvements, kind of like buying a 2020 F150 to replace your 2010 F150. An upgrade will start with the number one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iflyskyhigh Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 2 toolheads for 223/5.56 first one has dillon trimmer etc and do a light swedge. second tool head loads and finishes the swedge. easiest way and less stress on press and you.Yea. That’s what as do as well. I run 2 tool heads for 223/5.56 and 3 for 300 BO. I run the RCBS black small base die in station one to decap and make sure new to me brass is squeezed all the way back down. It works really well for that.It’s the Armanov swagger (in place of primer on 650) that swagges on the upstroke that wears you out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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