Tell me that I got a good deal.... Actually, I already know that I did

[pigman08]

Greetings all,

I've been lurking around for a little over two years and have been flirting w/ the idea of reloading for quite some time. I'm almost embarassed to say, but a little less than two tears ago friend of mine married into a virtual ammunition factory by the standards of which he shoots, and he offered me his like new Dillon 550 w/ a few accessories for $400. The reason for my embarassment is that I just recently set it up and realized what I got out of the deal: A Dillon 550 w/ .45 ACP dies, bullet tray, and strong mount, a primer flip tray, .45 case gauge, primer pick-up tubes, bench wrench, allen wrenches, cartridge case bin and bracket, maintenance and spare parts kit, ss dial calipers, Cabela's model 400 tumbler, Cabela's media separator, Cabela's XT 1500 digital scales, 500 Speer 200 gr lswc, about 750 pieces of once fired Federal Military Match brass, Dillon polish and case lube, and.... I think that's about it. This stuff has been sitting in the basement for 2 yrs and I'm pretty ashamed of myself for not setting it up a lot sooner. I've built my bench, purchased a bullet puller and Super Swage 600 f/ the military brass (I've got a few thousand pieces of my own), and am just about ready to have @ it.... Got 5000 primers, 2000 new brass and bullets.... I still have a little tweaking to do on the dies, but can't wait to get started. I've also been going over the Speer #14 reloading manual as well as Hodgedon's online database. This will be my first reloading experience in 25 yrs when I would load shotgun shells w/ my brother, and I'm wondering if I should go ahead and get the case feeder to start out w/, or do it the hard way in order to learn the machine, and then graduate up to the case feeder. Any ideas, input, and words of encouragement will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Pigman

[boz1911]

That is a great deal Welcome to the forum, a wealth of info!!

[Chris Keen]

A 550 WITHOUT a casefeeder is almost a sin. It's the best money you will ever spend, and will love it without question. If you want to go slow, and "learn the machine" you can always turn the casefeeder OFF, or take the drop tube out altogether, and go much slower.

[Singlestack]

Don't worry about a case feeder. I have been loading on a 550 for 10 years and I still don't miss it.

[Dukerdog]

Welcome to the forum. That is some deal you got good luck. You may want to start reloading and then add the case feeder when you get more familiar with the process. I recently bought the case feeder for my 550B after a year of originally getting my machine and it's great.

Marc

[Sarge]

About that casefeeder. You can still easily load 300+ an hour without it.

[pigman08]

Thanks for the replies. The casefeeder is tempting, and price is not an issue, but I feel that old addage of learning to crawl before you walk is probably sage advice in this instance. Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to be able to double my production later on down the line. But when I've got the time to reload, I have a lot of spare time on my hands and reloading @ the slower rate will help kill some of that time as well as instill a little patience. Having said that, there's still a little part of me that says that 1. The case feeders are not going to get any cheaper, and 2. Just because I have it doesn't mean that I have to use it, as Chris has already pointed out. Hell, from my original post, you can see that I'm well accustomed to having something useful and not using it.

Pigman

[benos]

Good feedback on the 550 Casefeeder in this thread.

be`

[XD Niner]

If you hear the sound of a siren, it will be the cops coming to arrest you for stealing.

That is a great deal and your friend is a good friend indeed.

[pigman08]

If you hear the sound of a siren, it will be the cops coming to arrest you for stealing.

That is a great deal and your friend is a good friend indeed.

XD,

I've done the math on everything that I got out of the deal, and new prices for the lot total @ just over $800. Like i said, I'm pretty happy w/ the set-up that I've got, and just really looking forward to getting started. I've deprimed a lot of the .mil brass and am in the process of swaging the primer pockets. I've got new brass that I could go ahead and start loading, but i'm enjoying the tinkering aspect that comes w/ most new toys.... I also went ahead and bought the case feeder from Brian over the weekend, and got a feel for the customer service that everyone raves about in the process.... When I placed my order on Saturday, I didn't receive a confirmation e-mail. At the time I didn't think too much of it, but eventually remembered that I had rec'd an order confirmation for something that I had bought previously. I e-mailed him last night requesting confirmation f/ my order @ around 1830 PST and did not expect to hear back from him until today. Well, w/ in 10 minutes or so of sending my e-mail, he replied and confirmed that he had processed my order and apologized for the unexplained missing confirmation. Not much left to say except that he's got another happy customer.

Pigman