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Moving to a Dillon -- What Would I Need?

mtncwru

Gold $$ Contributor
I'm in the midst of examining my reloading setup & process, and looking for ways to work faster while keeping quality high enough. One obvious option is moving to a progressive press: I'm currently using an RCBS Rockchucker, and a Harrel's powder measure for charges plus a US Solids balance for checking load weights when I need to. I load .223 for Service Rifle and MR/LR prone (sling/Palma rifle, not F-Class).

One of the issues I'm having is figuring out what all I would need to get in addition to the press if I was to move to Dillon. I see all sorts of different things about caliber conversion kits, powder stuff, etc., but I'm not entirely clear on what I would need to load. Is that a guide that exists? Is that something on the Dillon site that I just haven't found?

Appreciate any guidance folks can share on that front, and happy to add more details/clarification as needed. I've loaded single stage for 6+ years, and did progressive shotshell before (but that was an "open the box and go" solution).
 
Do you know what press you will be ordering? At the least you’ll need a caliber conversion kit for what you plan to load. If you already have dies you will be able to use what you have just be mindful the 550 only has 4 stations whereas the 750 will have 5. If you’re going with the 750 and you want to do volumes you may want to add a case feeder and appropriate shell plates. Other options that are nice to haves are a roller handle as well as a mount that raises the press off the bench if you have the height room. There are allot of suppliers that offer their own versions of some of the options available so plan to do a bunch of research. If you do Facebook this is a great group to get more info. / support from..

 
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Do you know what press you will be ordering?
No idea! That's also what I'm hoping to learn more about. I see stuff about Square Deal, 550, 650, 750, etc., but don't necessarily know what the differences are that matter. I gather that Square Deal is typically devoted to one caliber more-or-less permanently, but beyond that I'm not sure. I'm assuming that, in general, bigger number means more features/automation?

I do already have dies (Forster FL sizer and micrometer seater). When you say "volumes" are you talking multi-thousand round runs? Or do you think the threshold for when a case feeder is worth it is lower than that?
 
A Dillon 550 will load faster than where you at at this time. Carbide dies, primer pick up tubes will help and a primer flipper tray. Everything once you are set up will so much faster and very accurate ammo. I like the mounting system set the reloader higher up.
 
No idea! That's also what I'm hoping to learn more about. I see stuff about Square Deal, 550, 650, 750, etc., but don't necessarily know what the differences are that matter. I gather that Square Deal is typically devoted to one caliber more-or-less permanently, but beyond that I'm not sure. I'm assuming that, in general, bigger number means more features/automation?

I do already have dies (Forster FL sizer and micrometer seater). When you say "volumes" are you talking multi-thousand round runs? Or do you think the threshold for when a case feeder is worth it is lower than that?
Square deal is meant for pistol and also uses Dillon dedicated dies only. The 550 requires you to manually rotate the shell plate so it has a lower cost and some like the fact it is not automated. It is popular as it can be used for many rifle calibers also. The 650 is no longer available except used as it was replaced by the 750. The primary difference between the two is in the primer system. The 650 uses a rotary primer feed vs, the 750’s is virtually the same as the 550’s. As far as a casefeeder and bullet feeder go it’s kind of personal preference on if you like doing it by hand. You can virtually double your thruput adding these but if you don’t need, then money saved. Haven't mentioned the 1050/1150 models as they are quite a bit different than what it sounds like your looking for..

I use a 650 with bullet feeder and casefeeder for pistol calibers and could pretty easily do 700-800 rnds an hour. There are some little quirks with each press but the aftermarket has a large number of tweaks available to tailor to your liking.
Not mentioned is their warranty, these are great people to work with and if anything breaks a quick phone call will have a part in the mail to you unless affected by recent supply issues which everyone deals with.. It is advisable when making the purchase to also get a small parts kit. They are price well and insure you’re not stuck down waiting for a replacement part from them…
 
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I have had a 550 for 35 years. I love it.
If I were starting from scratch, I would get a 750.
If you are loading rifle for competition, the idea of one toolhead for prepping, and a 2nd one for finishing has merit. Seating on the Rockchuker wouldn't be a bad way to go either.
The Dillon powder measure is certainly good enough for pistol ammo or blasting quality rifle ammo. I would want more consistent controls on competitive rifle ammo.
 
The 550 is probably the tank of Dillon loaders. The only problem with Dillon that I have encountered is the powder measure. It works great for ball powders, but is lousy for extruded powder. I bought the adapter for installing a different measure. It is a sleeve that enables you to use a different measure. I use a Redding 30BR for that. Other wise buy with caution. I have two 750s, and a 550. I used the 550 for rifle cartridges. There are a lot of neat little toys to make the Dillon more to your own personal needs. You just have to search. But they are great machines with a fantastic warranty.
 
I have a 550, and have used it for precision rifle in the past, and plan to again. Not having a case feeder isn't the end of the world... but the way it spits the primers out right over the primer feed slide is... less than great. In theory, all the crud should fall into the spent primer catch bin. Key word: "should".
 
If at all possible, I would recommend you sit with one of your club mates and get to know both the 550 and a 750, and then decide.

Either way, you will learn that to load XTC short line ammo is a snap. The long line ammo will take a little more focus and experience, but that too will work out soon enough.

With either machine, the prep process is broken into stages. You will likely end up with several tool heads that allow you to prep, then assemble the short line ammo with a regular Dillon Powder measure, but then a funnel and different seater for the long line ammo.

I can't over emphasize that learning in person from a well equipped and qualified mentor will save you time and money. If at all possible, spend some of your research time looking for that type of help.

You can certainly do this on your own, but it will take you much longer and you will make many more mistakes. If your XTC and Highpower club is worth it's salt, somebody there has this all worked out for you.
 
I have a 550, and have used it for precision rifle in the past, and plan to again. Not having a case feeder isn't the end of the world... but the way it spits the primers out right over the primer feed slide is... less than great. In theory, all the crud should fall into the spent primer catch bin. Key word: "should".
I used to have that problem also, I just changed the cotter pin on the dump shoot.
 
Thanks for that: very helpful overview of the differences. I like that he runs through the loading process for each, too.

If at all possible, I would recommend you sit with one of your club mates and get to know both the 550 and a 750, and then decide.
That makes sense. There's a few guys down here who I suspect would be willing to share. I have a decent notion of reloading overall but as evidenced by the many different responses here there's plenty of ways to go about the same task. The monthly club match is on Saturday, so I'll ask around while I'm there.
 
I recommend a 550. Good all around press for rifle, and I like the 650 for pistol.

My process for 223-
Brass prep- annealing, sizing, swaging if needed, and trimming is done before loading on the progressive.
Primer seating, powder charge, bullet seat and a crimp if needed, is done on the 550.

Ball and short grain extruded powder flows pretty well from a Dillon measure if you are okay with the occasional 0.2 grain variance.
 
I'm in the midst of examining my reloading setup & process, and looking for ways to work faster while keeping quality high enough. One obvious option is moving to a progressive press: I'm currently using an RCBS Rockchucker, and a Harrel's powder measure for charges plus a US Solids balance for checking load weights when I need to. I load .223 for Service Rifle and MR/LR prone (sling/Palma rifle, not F-Class).

One of the issues I'm having is figuring out what all I would need to get in addition to the press if I was to move to Dillon. I see all sorts of different things about caliber conversion kits, powder stuff, etc., but I'm not entirely clear on what I would need to load. Is that a guide that exists? Is that something on the Dillon site that I just haven't found?

Appreciate any guidance folks can share on that front, and happy to add more details/clarification as needed. I've loaded single stage for 6+ years, and did progressive shotshell before (but that was an "open the box and go" solution).
alot of good info here. i have a 550. i use it for some operations but dont throw powder progressivly anymore. i dont want to take the chance of an overcharge or no charge. if i was getting a dillon today i would get a 750 for the main reason there are five stations and i could put a powder check die in one of them. i may still do that. the Dillon no BS warranty applies to the 550 and 750 but not to the 1050 ect as they are more commercial machines. I have a square Deal to in 45 ACP and dont know if ill ever use it again since i dont have a way to monitor powder drops.
 
Whatever press you pick, do yourself a favor and get one of these. When going to a progressive from a single-stage, you have a lot to look at simultaneously. Go slow as you start and light up the workspace. These lights are a great addition.

 
Call and talk to the folks at Dillon. They will help you decide what you need. Nice folks to deal with.

If you're planning on shooting any form of 'precision' rifle, the folks at Dillon will be less than helpful. Everything they'll recommend revolve around using their dies, their powder measure - and ball powders - and loading everything in one pass on their tool heads. Which, if you look around, is *not* what most people actually loading precision rifle use.
 
I have both a 550 and a 650 with a case feeder. I do not know anything about either. I'm waiting on a friend to give me some OJT. I have not even looked to see what cartridge that either has at the moment and am waiting on a lot more 650 parts, whatever they may be. 223 and 45acp is my only interest right now.
 
So I do all of my precision loading on a 550c and most pistol on 2 of my XL650's except 9mm and 5.56. I have 2 dedicated 1050's, one setup for dedicated 5.56 with a dedicated brass processing toolhead and a dedicated loading toolhead. I then have my second 1050 setup for dedicated 9mm with an Ammobot. Its fully automated.

If your looking to run everything on 1 press, and precision bolt gun ammo is in the cards, then Id get a 550c. I run a 2 toolhead setup for every caliber. 1 toolhead for brass processing/decapping/sizing and a second dedicated loading toolhead which are Whidden Floating die toolheads for loading.

You can also go with a 650/750 but for someone that is doing everything on that 1 press and hasnt used one before, its a pain loading precision ammo with the auto indexing feature to stop and make changes, or if you want to keep working on seating depth, etc. because all the rounds keep moving...
 

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