Parker420 Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I have NEVER reloaded, but now have the desire, and am looking at the Dillon 550B as my base. I called Dillon and the rep advised me options which he recommended, and totaled near 750.00. Some of the guys on AR15 advised some of the items were over kill. What actually is needed with the 550B?......or should I look at a different reloader all together?...... I will be reloading .223 and maybe some .40 ...................... thanks Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchwrench Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Go to the Dillon FAQs at the start of this site. It will answer almost all of your questions, and, buy from Brian, he's the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentlemanJim Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Show us the list of stuff...so we can see what all is included. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boz1911 Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Let us see the list, but certainlly the strong mount and roller handle are worthwhile options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maineshootah Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I have NEVER reloaded, but now have the desire, and am looking at the Dillon 550B as my base. I called Dillon and the rep advised me options which he recommended, and totaled near 750.00. Some of the guys on AR15 advised some of the items were over kill. What actually is needed with the 550B?......or should I look at a different reloader all together?...... I will be reloading .223 and maybe some .40 ......................thanks Steve I can see how the dies & shellplates for both .40 and .223, strong mount, and roller handle would add up to that amount. Especially if the psare parts kit and a few extras were thrown in. Now that you are posting on Enos, I would say that 99% of the reloaders here would agree that you want a quality press that delivers quality ammo. "If it doesn't go bang.. you ain't going do well". The 550 is a great press and will last forever. Buy the big blue Dillon, you will not be unhappy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Burtchell Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 (edited) I would suggest reading and studying the Dillon FAQ on this website. As said in an earlier posts it should answer most of your questions. I did the same and purchased the 550 package that Brian (our host) offers. Take a hard look at the package deals especially if you have not reloaded before because you are going to need everything that is in there eventually and it is much cheaper to buy it as a package deal. Call Brian with any questions AFTER studying the FAQ's. He is more than willing to help you with your choices. Oh, and buy from Brian Edited December 7, 2007 by baerburtchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halvey Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I'd just start with the basic 550B with nothing else and go from there. I never used a roller handle or strong mount and did fine. The add on's can be added later. I started on a 550B and never loaded before and it was easy. I did get the video, which for $6 was worth it IMO. If you save 1/2 and hour of time, you got your $6 back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Man Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I don't have the roller handle but I do have the Strong Mount and wouldn't be without it. FM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipscbob Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 (edited) I started with out the strong mount and ended up buying one. It really does spread the weight well and makes the press much more stable. This stability will make everything run much better. You will see less variation in charge weight and the primer system will be much happier Edited December 7, 2007 by ipscbob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwoods Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 I bought one used, but almost new. It came with the strong mount and bullet tray. If I were to buy new, a first ever reloader, it would be the 550b and the first option I would buy would be the stong mount. You can buy the rest of the stuff later. Buy an extra toolhead. That will save some time and it is about 13bucks. The toolhead holds your dies and you will not have to take them out and readjust every time you switch to a different caliber. You can always empty the powder measure and refill. Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry White Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Brian has a package deal to go with each of the presses. The package list for the 550 was in a thread not to long ago. The list was pretty much all inclusive, it had everything needed without a bunch of fluff. Call him for the good info and priceing. The only thing worse than being sold a lot of useless stuff is to start loading and finding out you dont have enough stuff. When it comes to buying Dillon the best advice I can give is "Call Brian".-----------Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnitedFan Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Brian has a package deal to go with each of the presses. The package list for the 550 was in a thread not to long ago. The list was pretty much all inclusive, it had everything needed without a bunch of fluff. Call him for the good info and priceing. The only thing worse than being sold a lot of useless stuff is to start loading and finding out you dont have enough stuff. When it comes to buying Dillon the best advice I can give is "Call Brian".-----------Larry I second this. I just bought one of Brian's "As It Should Be" kits and could not be happier. I am new to reloading and found the recommendations worked perfectly. I don't have a lot of room on my bench so the extra bins etc actually created a great work station keeping everything close at hand. I believe my kit came to $625 with .45 dies. Easy to set up and get going. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walter hornby Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 My recomendations for a 550 would be as follows: Strong mount if you have the head room. my 650 with a case feeder on it will not fit with strong mounts on it. Roller handle! get teh round one not the triangle one. easier on the elbow. Bullet tray the double bin mount. one to catch loaded rounds and one for you empty brass. Case feeder if you are going to exceed 1000 rounds a week. spare parts kit. 6 primers tub. the automatic primer filler is a great christmas gift. the franklin arms one is not bad either. big bras flip tray quick change kits for each calibre. this can be done as you go through. mounts for the quick change kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhglyn Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 My recommendation is do what I did................ call and talk to Brian (1-877-219-5598). Tell him what you want to accomplish with your reloading and he will give you the best advice as to what you need and don't need. And, his prices and customer service are the best around. I have bought 3 presses from him over the years and he has never steered me wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sinko Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 I have both a basic 550 and a 650 with the strong mount, roller handle, bullet tray and of course case feeder. The basic 550 is just fine as is. After many years and rounds loaded I have realized that I prefer to stand and if you don't want to sit or have back problems then the strong mount is the way to go. I would not want a case feeder for my 550. I load about six different cartridges on it and prefer this press be as simple and basic as can be. You do not need all the bells and whistles to be satisfied with this press. Spare parts? I have managed to break three "minor" parts on mine and it still goes strong even though they are broken. Last month I finally fractured the crank and Dillon sent me a new one free of charge. This press loads great ammo and is extremely easy to maintain and service. And there is nothing wrong with or undesireable about the manual indexing of the shellplate as long as you train yourself to look into each case as you put the bullet on top and verify there is powder in there and not a double charge. Dave Sinko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Parker420 wrote: What is needed with the Dillon 550? Brass Bullets Primers Powder And lot's of 'em!! Seriously, I have the strong mount and the plastic roller handle. I have the case, bullet and loaded round Akro bin doo-hickey's that attach to the strong mount too. I prefer to stand when I reload. For dies, I wouldn't buy or use any of the Dillon or RCBS dies, for straight walled (pistol) cartridges. Station 1: Evolution Gun Works (aka EGW) / Lee Undersize die (aka the U die) Station 2: well that HAS to be the proprietary Dillon through powder / flaring die Station 3: Redding Micrometer Adjustable Bullet Seating Die Station 4: Lee Factory Crimp Die (aka the FCD die) This setup has worked flawlessly for me for 9, 40 and 45 for thousands of rounds. No need to case gauge ALL your rounds with that set up. Also, you might want to get the extra springs if you want to do the Dillon powder measure retrograde trick: http://www.ericwesselman.com/DillonPowderMeasure/ It makes the press less clunkey feeling / sounding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 One of the things about getting started is there is so much more to buy beside the press and it all adds up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBeach Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I bought a used 550-B and collected brass, bullets, dies, scale and all the etcetra's for about 2 yrs. or so and just now I'm finally able to start relearning pistol/rifle reloading. So many more powders now. I've been in a rut shotgun loading with the same basic componets that things have kind of exploded (no pun intended) around me. This stuff is going to be a lot of fun. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
border Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 All above is good advice. Daunting ain't it?...All sounds expensive and I guess going from not loading at all to rollin' your own is...but only in the beginning and only for awhile. The more you load the more you'll wonder why you waited so long to do so. The case feed sounds good but it is expensive to start out with. I'd skip it for now. Once you get your loading routine down pat you can decide whether or not you really want it...that would be a fine Christmas present down the road!...Just one idea I might offer: do you have any friends that load on a Dillon 550? If so I'd suggest you spend some time observing what/how they load and just what equipment they find essential for loading a particular caliber. You don't need every add-on available to produce large amounts of good ammo. What you need is technique and components. I've been loading on my 550 for about 20 yrs for IPSC and PPC...I've added the strong mount, bullet tray and roller handle (this alone is a reat time-saver). And, conversion kits for three calibers. With the roller handle you'll be standing to reload...this is good. Loading about 400 rds per hour is easy for my 9mm/.38/.45's. That's enough for any match or practice I need once or twice a week...You can spend as much as you want but the venerable 550 will run forever...Dillon will see to that. That's why it's the best selling loader on the market...Good luck. You WILL have fun... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardiver Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 48 Hours ago, I was in your shoes. Not totally new to reloading, but close enough to say I am. I've been doing research on presses for the last 5 or 6 months...my eyes were crossed trying to figure it out. My Wife and I talked about it, my dad and I talked about it, one of my closest friends (who has a 650, has had another dillon as well as RCBS in the past) talked about it...I just got more confused. Finally I decided, ok, got the money for the 650, not decked out, but I'll add some more to it later, I mean come on, it's more expensive than the 550B, that means it's got to be better right? But just to be on the safe side...I called Brian. Let me tell you this, in that 15min phone call, Brian helped me to make a truly realistic decision on the choice between a 550B and a 650. Now, he told me, if the 650 was what I really wanted, he'd sell it to me, but I didn't need it, and could use the extra money on more things for a 550B and would almost assuredly be happier with the choice. Now, I'm no genius, but I had done enough research to know, that Brian is someone that is regarded in the firearms community and reloading community as knowing what he's talking about...I was sold on the 550. I went to Mom and Dad's house, spent an hour conveying to Dad what Brian had said...he was convinced as well. (My press, Dad's dies and lets face it...I'm almost 35 years old...I'm finally old enough to realize Dad has been there done that on a lot more things than I have and his input means worlds to me) I then went home, did the same thing with my Wife...she was convinced. I walked in today, left Brian a message (we're an hour ahead of him here time zone wise). He called me back shortly after he opened and we started the process. Got the 550, with the as it should be upgrades, plus Brian tweaked what I "thought" I should get with what was clearly a better way to go (something to be said for those years of experience) and blamo, the order was done and paid for. Now I just need for Friday or Monday to get here and it should be like Christmas all over again. Oh well, gives me time to start gathering the materials to build my stand out of. Long story short...it is worth every penny and minute spent to call Brian and let him help you get your start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Blastem Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 ...I walked in today, left Brian a message (we're an hour ahead of him here time zone wise). He called me back shortly after he opened and we started the process. Got the 550, with the as it should be upgrades, plus Brian tweaked what I "thought" I should get with what was clearly a better way to go (something to be said for those years of experience) and blamo, the order was done and paid for. Now I just need for Friday or Monday to get here and it should be like Christmas all over again. Oh well, gives me time to start gathering the materials to build my stand out of.Long story short...it is worth every penny and minute spent to call Brian and let him help you get your start. About 8 months ago I was confused as well. I had been loading on a single stage (about 4-5000 yer year) and needed a faster way. I already knew I was going "Blue" but thought the 650 was the one I needed. After reading Brian's comments on "Which Dillon..." I kept coming up with 550 instead of 650. I bought the 550 going through Brian and have never regreted the decision. Mine is now set up with 3 quick change kits for he different calibers I load. Every time I use the machine I get even more comfortable...I love my 550 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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