ReyesR Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Started with a Square Deal, I switch over to the 1050 last year. I like the 1050 much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerwas Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 I have both a SDB and a 550. Both machines are excellent, but I prefer the simplicity of the 550 design. I'm never in a hurry to reload a bazillion rounds real quick, so the manual turning doesn't bother me at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtrooper Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 I voted 550 but I also have a 1050. The 550 has been around since1990 and it would be the best if you intend to switch calibers as much as you indicate. The 1050 takes a good bit more time to switch over from one to another. I have no experience with a 650 but all Dillons are great. I shoot mucho many 9mm in Shooting Action Pistol so the 1050 is set up for that caliber and I don't change calibers on it, it only comes apart about every 10K rounds for a good cleaning. I have 9 tool heads for the 550 with everything including powder measure set up and ready to go. Squibs and kabooms are caused by not watching what you are doing and no fault of the machine. I reload standing and have a good light just above eye level and look at the powder in the case after the powder drop. I would start with the 550 and go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 I started off reloading with a Lee Challenger kit and when I moved up to the progressive machine I picked the Dillon SDB. I tried it out for a week or so and decided I would rather have the Dillon 550 as I already had some sets of dies that otherwise are useless for the SDB. I returned the SDB and exchanged it towards the 550B. I soon ended up buying an additional used 550B and kept one setup for large primer and the other small primered. As time went on I got a good deal on a nice used 650 and sold off one of the 550B presses. Soon another nice used 650 came up and I kept one setup with the large and one with the small primer. Well my last deal was for a nice 1050 setup with an extra toolhead and powder measure and 3 caliber conversion kits (1 of which I didn't need). I sold off the 2 650 presses and bought an additional conversion kit and toolhead. Now it is totally set up for 9mm, 38 Spl., and 45 ACP. This 1050 has really made reloading fun for me again. I really like the prime on the downstroke (and it depth adjustability) and the built in primer pocket swager. All three of the calibers I reload on it have crimped primed cases out on the market and it used to drive me nuts when it got on the other Dillon presses and stopped my production with a jammed primer. Now I'm hunting for bullets to just enjoy the reloading sessions now. It is a little more involved to swap over calibers, but nothing major. The priming system is a lot like the 550B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scirocco38s Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 I stated out with a 550 after borrowing my brothers lee press After switching to the 550 I thought there was no better or faster way to load ammo. Fastforward 3 years later and I am shooting open almost exclusively and loading 4-500 rounds 4 nights a week, after 2 years and alot of arm wrenching I finally setup a 1050 in 38s and have never changed it. I have all the parts and an extra toolhead for chaning over to 40 but I just go back over to the 550 for 40 or 9mm. The 550 is a great machine, especially if you load rifle and multiple calibers as it changes ovr so quick, but if you load for 1 caliber alot, nothing beats a 1050. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkeeler Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 (edited) Edit Edited March 2, 2007 by bkeeler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkeeler Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 You only lose time on the 650 when you try to fix problems in-place. Clear the shellplate and you're back in business in 2 minutes. Fix the problem rounds at the end of the session when you don't have a stream of cases and primers confusing the steps.The 650 all the way, caliber conversions take 10 minutes if you have the spare toolheads. It only Takes 30 seconds on a 550. bk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihatepickles Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 You only lose time on the 650 when you try to fix problems in-place. Clear the shellplate and you're back in business in 2 minutes. Fix the problem rounds at the end of the session when you don't have a stream of cases and primers confusing the steps. The 650 all the way, caliber conversions take 10 minutes if you have the spare toolheads. It only Takes 30 seconds on a 550. bk Well I wasn't sure if you meant the 30 seconds to clear the jam or change the calibers, but... as you're getting back to cranking out rounds, know that I'll catch up to you in about 5 minutes and in 30 minutes I will have doubled your output... So back atcha! They're both good machines, no one loses with a Dillon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty whiteboy Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 I have bought 3 used SD for about the price of a new 550. I don't bother with cal conv. just move to another machine. 9mm, 10mm, 45. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShooterSteve Posted March 3, 2007 Share Posted March 3, 2007 I know I'm just repeating what a bunch of other people have said, but I love my 650. Yes it does take a few more minutes for a caliber change, but not enough to be a big deal. Are you as busy with life as the rest of us? With a 650, I dump a load of brass in the casefeed, squirt a little Hornady spray lube in and stir it up, get the press running and load a hundred. When the low primer alarm goes off, I simply turn off the alarm, and go about my way with the family business. Next time you get a spare 5 minutes, pick up primers and load a hundred. Family watching a movie? During a commercial you can load a hundred and not even be noticed as missing. Next thing you know, you have a couple thousand rounds, and you really took no time away from the family or kids. Of course there are those days when you have a couple hours to go in there and turn the radio on and get in "the zone" and pull that handle like a Vegas slot machine. For me the case feed and auto indexing are what it is all about. I think the 1050 is more expensive and limiting to be cost effective for me. If I only shot one caliber it is the way to go though. Just my 1.5cents worth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JET74 Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 (edited) IMHO if you are just getting into reloading, the 550 is the way to go. It is much more simple to follow the cartrige progression as well as to fix problems. As you learn, you should not be worried about peak production as much as safety and quality. If you are just going to load for pistols, thats a no brainer and you would do fine with either but a 650 would allow you to crank out the volume more. Dump in your brass, dump in your bullets and go. However, loading for rifle is a little more complex, at least for me it is. I primarily reload rifle and find the 550B adequate for my needs. If you are an accuracy,distance shooter like myself or very compulsive like myself, you will find yourself using it as a single stage/ turret as much as a progressive anyway and this is far, far easier on a 550 than the others. I do all of my brass prep seperately and rotate through my stock. I keep only ready to go brass around. I Tumble, deprime on rockchucker ( dont want primer trash on my main press), size, clean primer pockets, trim as needed, tumble, inspect and guage each piece, and sort to appropriate containers for number of times reloaded. Then to reload, I take from newest brass stock, prime and load. Of the many thousands of pieces of brass I have, I keep it sorted by number of reloads. The 550 facilitates this for me. Now this is just my technique. Everyone has their own technique and reason for reloading. Mine is not for making large quantities of blasting ammo (I have plenty of mil surp set aside for the zombie attack), mine is for quality of product. You would do best by deciding what your primary goal is and then make the decision what is best for that goal. Edited March 4, 2007 by JET74 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisMcCracken Posted March 4, 2007 Author Share Posted March 4, 2007 (edited) Well, I'd vote under the 650 heading if I hadn't already squandered my vote as null when making the thread. I've got her setup and can't wait to test out the loads. Thanks for all the advice and feedback. I'm very glad I went with the 650. That might change after a few caliber changes, but thats not for a while yet. Now that I mentioned it, I need to look up what it will cost to switch over to a couple other calibers. Chris Edited March 4, 2007 by Erucolindon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkeeler Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 You only lose time on the 650 when you try to fix problems in-place. Clear the shellplate and you're back in business in 2 minutes. Fix the problem rounds at the end of the session when you don't have a stream of cases and primers confusing the steps. The 650 all the way, caliber conversions take 10 minutes if you have the spare toolheads. It only Takes 30 seconds on a 550. bk They're both good machines, no one loses with a Dillon. +1 BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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