Dillon 550 Or 650 ?

[Derek45]

Which do you think I should buy and why?

Edited April 22, 2006 by Derek45

[Duane Thomas]

And isn't it impressive, and says great things about the company, that the folks at Dillon would steer you AWAY from the expensive machine you don't need? I love that company.

If you want an inexpensive Dillon with auto-index, the Square Deal B is the logical choice. Especially if you'll only be loading for one cartridge, so the quickly removable tool head feature of the larger machines isn't needed. Though frankly I don't find removing and replacing the four bolts it requires to do the same thing on the SDB an overwhelming hardship.

[Flexmoney]

I am with Duane.

You can easily do 400 rounds in a session on the Square Dea B.

(I had 4 primer pick-up tubes. 400 rounds worked out just fine.)

[Larry White]

Hard to not listen to Dillon, but for me the casefeeder is the deal, anything without one seems a lot like a rockchucker. Are you sure its only 45acp forever. When I bought my 650 real men drank wiskey and shot 45's. Now I don't even own a 45,(never would have belived it) its all 40 and 38 super. Too much tool is hardly ever a problem, not enough is just tough. Spend the bucks now, it will cost more later. Larry

[BrianH]

I had been using a Square Deal for almost 14 years. Got my first 550 a couple weeks ago....amost soiled myself with the first pull. There is DEFINETLY a difference. I thought losing the auto index was going to kill me, but the rhythm to the 550 is easy to pick up....index the shell plate with the left hand while picking up a case, load the bullet while reaching for the handle....works great.

I thought the same thing....but it's more like I can't afford enough bullets to justify a 650. Maybe in a couple of years, but for now, I'm SOOOOOOOOOO happy with the 550. The strong mount, bullet tray and roller handle are all musts, and lube the cases with One Shot (BE told me about that one!) it doesn't even feel like you're sizing a case!!!!!!!!

Called Brian and he got me hooked up like REAAALLLLL schweet!!!!!

[EricW]

Buy the 650. Even if you never bolt a casefeeder on it, you have the option of putting in a powder check station - not possible on the 550. Who knows? Your needs may change down the road and a casefeeder may become a must-have item. Unless you absolutely can't spare the dough, I'd keep your options open.

E

[warpspeed]

Welcome Derek

Buy the most expensive Dillon you can afford. There is nothing wrong with any on them and the 1050 certainly gives you a better loading experience than any other press on the market. That said, the 550 loads some pretty nice ammo. I recall reading somewhere, I think it was in Front Sight, that some pretty high end rifle shooters use a 550 to load on. I use both. They are great. Read the info Brian put up on the very subject then rest assured that no matter which you decide on, you have not gone wrong.

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillon.html

[lynn jones]

tell ya what i'm gonna do. this little bady has low rounds through it and i can let it go for $200 including shipping a square deal b set up in 45 acp. i sell insurance not used cars.

but seriously, the square deal is for sale. but for future growth in the reload area i would suggest the 550.

lynn jones

email b_lynnjones@msn.com

[bullseyekp]

Derek, here is a post I put on the High Road regarding the 650. Just my thoughts.

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I recently went through the same decision process. I have a Rock Chucker and HAD a Lee Pro 1000 until I gleefully gave it away! I started shooting much more and working much more and those two don't mesh with spending time with my wife so I had to save some time somewhere. Being a newlywed, the wife time is important.

I looked at the Hornady L&L AP, Dillon 550, RCBS 2000 and Dillon 650. After using the Lee Crap 1000 for about 15,000 rounds (jamming every 25th round), I could not imagine having to manually feed cases into the press so I ruled out the 550 and the RCBS. The L&L priming system seems to be lackluster and if it was anything like the Crap 1000 priming problem, I didn't want to have anything to do with it.

So that left the 650. I am on a budget however and decided not to fork over the money for the casefeeder right away. This was contrary to many online recommendations from people who said that the 550 is faster than the 650 without a casefeeder. I figured that was bologna and I ended up being right, in my mind at least. I bought a 650 with the aluminum roller handle and the powdercheck system for about $500 shipped. I use my RCBS resizing/decapping and seating dies and a Lee Factory Crimp die in the fifth station. They work flawlessly. As far as feeding cases, the stock tube that comes with the 650 is only about 16 inches long. I went to my local plastic/plexiglass supplier and bought 10 pieces of 42 inch tubing that I fill with brass in my spare time (like when watching 24 or Scrubs). The 10 tubes give me enough brass for 600 rounds, which I can load in about 45 minutes at full speed. I also bought extra primer pickup tubes that I fill in my spare time instead of buying the Dillon primer tube filler. I can't see spending almost $200 for that but the Frankford Arsenal filler looks tempting for less than $40. So, if you don't include the spare time it takes to fill the brass tubes and primer tubes, I can load about 800 rounds an hour at full speed.

As far as buying a video, I thought the instruction book was fine as long as you know a little about reloading. Before using the press at all, I suggest setting it up and cycling it through about 20 strokes to get a look at all the parts and how it operates. Using a progressive in the past may have helped me out some, but not much. The key thing to remember is to advance the first primer to the priming station on the round turret before filling that case with powder. It makes a little mess with no primer. I've done that twice. Once on the first round I loaded (not quite) and once the second time I fired up the press. Hasn't happened since and won't unless I forget. Forgetting is unlikely now that I know how much of a pain it is to clean up. However, compressed air is a useful tool for cleanup.

Bottom line, the 650 is a gift from God and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Instead of taking 1.5 hours to load ammo for a match, it takes less than 15 minutes.

[Flexmoney]

A really nice thing about the Dillon products is that they hold their value real well.

It is easy enough to start with a used SDB, then move up later. Often, the used SDB will sell for near what you bought it for.

I love having the 650 now, but the SDB served me well.

[Loves2Shoot]

I went from a square deal to a 1050. The square deal was fine I prefered it to the 550 for pistol only rounds, but hell if you're gonna do it, keep your eye on E-bay and gunbroker, and you might pick up a good deal (I got my 1050 for $800) I load about 30K a year, that isn't too much, but the time I save reloading was worth the cost of the 1050 many times over (I save 50 hours a year reloading oin the 1050) No high primers, downstroke only, powder check ect. make it much better than anything else in my opinion.

[BigDave]

Get the 650. Get it from Brian while you are at it.

Its the only press I've owned and my only other loading experience is on a MEC shotshell press (progressive with manual index). It is easy to use, loads high quality ammo, is consitent and reliable. Besides all of that, and most important, its back by Dillon's no B.S. warranty for its life. The 1050 is covered for only one year (or is it 2?) b/c its meant as a commercial grade machine, but it (the 1050) is the be-all, end-all of metallic reloading presses and the standard by which all others are judged.

Again, my vote is for the 650. I love mine. Get it from Brian, by the way.

[shred]

I've had a SDB, 650 and 1050. Of them, the 650 is the most versatile, and with casefeeder can crank ammo at 80-90% of 1050 rates as well as slow down and pop out excellent rifle ammo. The SDB was slower mostly due to lack of casefeeder. From what I've heard, if you think you'll ever want a casefeeder, get the 650.

Dillon press price/performance tracks pretty well to $1 per round per hour. Figure out any two of: how many rounds you want, how much time you have, and how much $ you want to spend.

[Jeeper]

I called Dillon and the rep said if I shot less than 500 a week the 650 was overkill.

500 per week. I doubt that most 650 owners shoot 1/4 that much. I wouldnt really trust that as a test on whether you need a 650. The 650 is a great machine and the casefeeder is the best part. Get the 650.

[ryucasta]

I currently own two 650’s and one 1050. While I have been happy with the 650’s it’s my plan to use those two machines with certain calibers that I don’t tend to reload that much of anymore like 45acp and 357sig.

For my current reloading needs I have found the 1050 to be by far the best since among the many features it provides it has the capability of being able to swage the brass as part of the reloading process. This to me a huge time saver since I now tend to reload quite of bit of 9x19 military brass which just so happens to be crimped.

[old shooter]

I have a 650 and an at500 with partial upgraded to 550. I too was on a budget, and got the 650 without the casefeeder. (Igot the at500 in a trade) I made a casefeeder for it from some plastic that I had. It was based on a casefeeder made from a pie pan that I saw on leather maker G Wm Davis' reloader. I can fill the regular tube in about 15 seconds without removing it from the machine. That said, I would like to get a casefeeder some day, but time will tell.