Dillon press..?

[Rsadams]

I have had enough of loading pistol on my single stage rcbs press..For you guys useing Dillon presses I have a few questions....

1. We're did you purchase yours.. Dillon themselves...?

2. Does the powder thrower hold zero , or do you have to constantly adjust it... I will be using it mainly for 9mm useing Win231 and 4.2-4.3 grains... Loading 100- 200 rounds at a time...

3. I am looking at the 550C , what options can you not live without...

Thanks in advance..
Shawn

 

[Chris Covell]

I love mine, I have 5. The powder measure is as accurate as a Harrell's Culver measure. I load .380, 9mm, .45, and 38 special. I also use one for shotgun.

 

[Cory porter]

I have had enough of loading pistol on my single stage rcbs press..For you guys useing Dillon presses I have a few questions....

1. We're did you purchase yours.. Dillon themselves...?

2. Does the powder thrower hold zero , or do you have to constantly adjust it... I will be using it mainly for 9mm useing Win231 and 4.2-4.3 grains... Loading 100- 200 rounds at a time...

3. I am looking at the 550C , what options can you not live without...

Thanks in advance..
Shawn

I have one and liked it for loading volume. Really nice for pistol once you get your toolhead setup correctly. The powder drop worked just fine usually spot on, I’d always run a few text loads when starting a new batch and then was good to go. I chose the 550 because I was able to manually index the shellholder to get the hang of it and also to easily fix a mistake.

Another good thing is being able to load single stage if you chose or to or to prime large batches of brass. If you have a use for a progressive press id highly recommend the 550. I think I got mine on Brian enos website.

 

[Bc'z]

I want to say Reds shooting supply in Twinfalls Idaho. They had a bunch listed on Ebay, complete with 1 caliber.
Extra tool heads n stands for various calibers. Extra powder thrower is nice also.
Most definitely need either the Dillon or
Inline Fabrication riser.

 

[Chris Covell]

Mine are all decked out, and would not have them any other way. I bought 4 of mine used.

 

[Kimber.204]

1. I bought mine (550) from a local distributor that stocks a lot of presses. I love mine.
2. I load .223, .308, and 6mm Comp Match on mine (all for NRA/CMP HighPower rifle matches). I use stick powders and ball powders. I have a bunch of different charging bars that I label for powder type and charge and I swap them out when I'm going to a different load. These will not throw charges consistent down to the granule of powder, but all my loads hold the X-Ring at all distances, and I can load about 250 rounds in less than an hour.
3. As far as options, I really like the frame to raise it off the bench, and the roller handle, then I added the bullet tray and the empty brass bin. Having the empty brass and they bullets so close to the press really saves time, and reduces operator fatigue.

My Dad wore out a Dillon 450 after well over 100,000 rounds of 38sp. and .45acp (he used to shoot Bullseye Pistol a lot and is a former PA state champ). He sent the press back to Dillon and they rebuilt it for him and sent it back free of charge.

 

[TIMO]

Great press. Bought mine from a local GS a long time ago (550B). Get your loading technique down and the press will do the rest.
Tim

 

[DirtySteve]

I have two. One set up for large primers one set up for small primers. I load 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, 233, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6x47 Lapua, 308. I have used them since 1986.

Oh, one I bought from Dillon and one from a vendor at a gun show.

 

[rwj]

Bought a 650 at my local gun range shop. Powder charge weight very consistent. Couldn’t live without auto indexing (which I don’t believe is a 550 feature) nor the case feeder.

 

[Zero333]

I have xl650

Titegroup holds zero like a dream. Superb in 9mm Luger.

Love my xl650

I even use it for 308 and 223 blasting ammo in semi autos.

 

[Nature Boy]

I have a 650 and load 9mm and 45 Auto in full progressive mode.

I also load precision rifle loads for F class in more of a single stage mode (although I size the brass in progressive mode using the case feeder). Those calibers include 6BRA, .223 and .308

I also load my hunting loads on it to include .30-06 and .358 win

It’s a very versitle machine

 

[Rsadams]

Ok great , thank you.... I will look over at Enos before ordering... I only know two other people that reload in this small town , do finding a used one would be impossible... I guess I might as well order a brand new one , I am waiting on some money to come in hopefully before the end of the year....

I can't take loading pistol on my single stage anymore , been doing it for years , it's time for something faster...

I really like the stand but my bench was built for sitting so it might be to high with it... I need to watch some videos to see how high it would be.. 8 inches I think... Maybe just get a stool to sit higher...

How bout things like the tools and holder..? I can see the bullet holder making things easier... I was told to go ahead and get the video they sell by a couple of people... After I get started and get comfortable with the 9mm I will order a few tool heads for sure.... With the options I looked at from Dillon themselves plus shipping it was about $600... My bench is a little small so I need to place it in just the right spot or make it quick attach and detach with wing nuts maybe...

 

[Nature Boy]

I’ll add that I use dedicated tool heads to make the change over process faster.

 

[1lnbrdg]

Go BLUE, you'll never regret it.

I prefer the 550 over the 650 but it's a personal thing. For me loading my midrange/longrange/XTC ammo semi-progressively, just seems easier than the 650 because of the auto-index feature of the 650.

The auto-index feature of the 650 runs way better for full progressive pistol ammo and short-line (300 yd) XTC .223 ammo over the 550.

Can't tell you how many things I've managed to booger up over the years on the Dillons but they are true with their "No BS" warranty.

 

[rwj]

Go BLUE, you'll never regret it.

I prefer the 550 over the 650 but it's a personal thing. For me loading my midrange/longrange/XTC ammo semi-progressively, just seems easier than the 650 because of the auto-index feature of the 650.

The auto-index feature of the 650 runs way better for full progressive pistol ammo and short-line (300 yd) XTC .223 ammo over the 550.

Can't tell you how many things I've managed to booger up over the years on the Dillons but they are true with their "No BS" warranty.

It’s easy to make a 650 not auto index, just remove the pawl that is located under the shell plate.

 

[Rsadams]

Could someone tell me how wide the strong mount is..? I am trying to figure out were to mount it.. I think it may have to be moveable or at least quick attach- detach , I will figure something out.. I hate to get rid of my old rock chucker... At least my wife understands she said maybe you need a bigger bench back there... Uhg the thought of building another heavy weight bench makes me cringe a little... Here in Texas you kinda have to load in the A/C or the heat and humidity will eat you up..

 

[powderbrake]

I have had enough of loading pistol on my single stage rcbs press..For you guys useing Dillon presses I have a few questions....

1. We're did you purchase yours.. Dillon themselves...?

2. Does the powder thrower hold zero , or do you have to constantly adjust it... I will be using it mainly for 9mm useing Win231 and 4.2-4.3 grains... Loading 100- 200 rounds at a time...

3. I am looking at the 550C , what options can you not live without...

Thanks in advance..
Shawn

I have two Dillon 550's, one for large and one for small primers. I have 14 toolheads with dies and powder measures for both rifle and pistol. The Dillon powder measures are OK, but for pistol a MUCH MUCH better set up is the Lee Pro disk measure in a Lee Powder through expanding die, with a Lee Carbide Factory Crimp die at Station #4.It is also cheaper than the $85 Dillon measure. The lee is $68 for the measure and powder die, the factory crimp is $23. The advantage of the measure is it is easy to change disks, has a powder shut off, is repeatable, and it is actuated by the case pushing up, so it will not drop powder if there is no case there.
https://leeprecision.com/pro-auto-disk.html
https://leeprecision.com/reloading-dies/hand-gun-dies/powder-thru-expanding-die-only/
https://leeprecision.com/reloading-dies/hand-gun-dies/lee-carbide-factory-crimp-die/

The real advantage of the crimp die at station 4 is that while crimping, it also resizes the case. No more cases that don't chamber. I started using this when shooting IDPA to insure my loads would feed.

One other comment regarding dies. I Usually use RCBS or Redding, but for pistol loads I like the Dillon Carbide dies, as they have a nice rounded corner on the carbide die area which makes them very easy for the case to feed into the dies.

The Dillons are wonderful machines. I have owned many Star, Berdon, and C&H progressives, and sold them all to buy the Dillons​

 

[PatMiles]

Give the folks at Dillon for the dimensions, (800)223-4570.
Most folks who load for long range rifle on a Dillon go with the 550. On the 550 the cartridge base sits on the platform. On the 650, the rim is captured in a slot in the shellplate which will rock from side to side even with all of the slots loaded. The rocking can be minimized but never eliminated unless you lock the shellplate down by tightening the shellplate center bolt down completely, but then nothing moves which kinda defeats the indexing of the machine.
I have loaded handgun calibers on Dillon Square Deals, 550's, 650's and 1050's over the last 3 decades and currently also have a Dillon SL900 for trap loads.
Needless to say, I bleed BLUE!

 

[powderbrake]

Here is the Lee Pro diskMeasure on my Dillon. Ignore the 4.97 g Bullseye, the measure cannot drop to that accuracy. It is set for 5 gr, and I dropped 100 loads and weighed the total, and it was 4.97 average, so I wrote that on the measure as a setpoint and as a joke to myself.

In this case I sanded out the hole in the disk until it dropped exactly the amount I wanted. That is another advantage of the prodisk.

 

[Lefty Trigger]

I went all out when I bought my 550C and ended up sending most of it back. I found out that I did not like doing rifle on it so I still use my single stage for rifle. I should not have bought the taller stand as now it's too high on the bench to see in the cases for powder. Don't use the bullet tray or the brass tray, put my brass in the loading block and pull them from there, bullets in the shipping box and pull them from there. I hated the Dillon slide bar powder drop and designed my own system to use my RCBS competition powder measure and yes its machine activated and works quite well.
Recently I have stopped resizing brass on the machine for 38spl, 357mag, and 44spl because of needing to check and trim lengths. I now resize all those on the single stage and trim as needed so I can just feed the Dillon pre-sized/pre-trimmed brass. If your doing 9mm, 40, 45 and such it truly is a dream to run, actually takes the fun out of it since it use to take me a couple of hours to make a 100 rounds and now I have done a 100 in less than 30 minuets and now I'm bored...

BTW I bought right from Dillon and they are awesome people to deal with, get the maintenance kit for the machine it's nice to have as well.