Dillon Press

[Fiskare]

Considering a dillon press. Anyone have input?

 

[cowboy]

I have a 550 and have nothing but positive to say about it. Use it for 90% pistol - on rifle ammo I only use it for .222 and .223 where I'll load a 1000 rounds or so at a time.

Been around the Hornady and RCBS progressives and much prefer the Dillon.

If you have any specific questions - I'd be more than happy to give you my .02 cent opinion.

 

[Hairtrigger]

dillon SDB only pistol calibers
550B not auto indexing... more of a chance of a double charge! Could greatly benifit from another die station
650 costly ,,,,,
All Dillon machines come with a powder measure that has a slide bar, flake powders and small ball powders will cause fits
Consider the Hornady LNL AP. Much cheeper to change calibers if you are loading more than one . The powder measure is much better than what dillon offers.

 

[cowboy]

dillon SDB only pistol calibers
550B not auto indexing... more of a chance of a double charge! Could greatly benifit from another die station
650 costly ,,,,,
All Dillon machines come with a powder measure that has a slide bar, flake powders and small ball powders will cause fits
Consider the Hornady LNL AP. Much cheeper to change calibers if you are loading more than one . The powder measure is much better than what dillon offers.

The 550 is auto indexing and I have no idea what I'd do with another station.
Have never had one incident with a flake powder or small ball powder and it has never caused any "fits ". Have checked powder charge 100's of times on beam scale and no problems.

Dillon's customer service and parts availability are second to none.

Have worked on 2 different new Hornady LNL AP machines in helping get them set up and running. Not going to knock them but if someone stole my Dillon - I'd buy another.

 

[Hairtrigger]

The 550 is auto indexing and I have no idea what I'd do with another station

I am pretty sure (POSITIVE) the 550b is manual indexing. I have owned several
anyway double charging rifle cases usually overfills the case and it becomes obvious. this means you get to pull out one of those little brass pins to get the case out, (dont lose it) the Hornady has a spring, just slide the case out until it clears the shell plate , the case it retained by a spring, I have yet to need to replace the spring or lose it. the spring works for all calibers!
A powder check die can be a handy item when loading cases that the powder does not come up the case far enough to see down the neck... this fits nicely in the 5th station, occasionally I will use a RCBS lube die on high volume like 223.
Another thing, to me the dillon feels left handed, on the Hornady I keep my right hand on the handle and feed bullets on the up stroke and empty cases on the down stroke. the dillon you take your right hand off the handle to insert the empty cases.... makes the Hornady a tad bit faster. This may be which press you start out on, I started on a RCBS Rockchucker which I kept my right hand on the handle and inserted cases and bullets with my left as well.

 

[MTBULLET]

+1 on dillon

Have had one (550) for over 10 yrs., only one problem, wore out tip on primer tube and powder slide bushing. called Dillon, had new "spare parts" kit the NEXT DAY, no charge ! If you have a problem/question, call 'em and you get someone who actually uses the machine to walk you thru it.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I have a 550B and if I could do it again I would do the 650, auto indexing and and extra station for a brass trimmer wow!

 

[fetch]

i have the lnl press because it was a good deal. I have used a xl650. my next one will be a 650. IMO its like comparing a yugo to a caddy.

I may be wrong but I have noticed the lnl is cheaper to get into but more expensive on the back end (primer pickup tubes, parts etc) and the opposite for the dillon.

 

[Speedygoss]

Once you drink the blue coolaid you'll never be the same.
+1 for the Dillon 550 or 650

Speedy.

 

[Fiskare]

Thanks. it seems the Dillon is the only choice and I will wait and purchase it one part at a time.

 

[Broz]

I have an XL 650. I researched them pretty good before I purchased. Here were my thoughts and why I bought what I did.

*Dillon warranty is awesome. Lifetime and even if you buy used. No BS no questions asked and they even say that.

*Highly recommended by all users I ever talked to that own a Dillon.

*The 550 is a ton easier to set up and get going, but once the 650 is set and running it has a lot of time saving steps. I figured the time and extra money for the 650 was well spent for a few calibers I will likely load forever.

*With the warranty Dillon offers, I looked for a used complete unit with some spare parts and upgrades. If every part has a lifetime warranty, why not?


Jeff

 

[ColoYooper]

Over twenty years ago I built some furniture for my brother-in-law in exchange for a pair of Dillon 550 and Square Deal presses. These were heavily used by him before the exchange, and I've since loaded 10's of thousands of rounds on each. I contacted Dillon when I first received the presses and upgraded and replaced several parts...all for free even though I was NOT the original owner. Then again this Spring I replaced a couple of worn parts on the Square Deal. Again all free...I wasn't even charged for shipping. If I could have only one press it would be the 550 (now 550B) The auto indexing is a nice feature when loading up several hundred pistol rounds on the Square Deal, but frankly, on the rare occasion when I've messed up loading a round (like setting the bullet on the case REALLY crooked) the time to backup the auto indexed cases and re-do everything is more trouble than the auto-indexing saves. I also use the 550 to load my 1000 yard benchrest ammo. It does a fine job of that if you take a couple extra steps.
1) I only work with one station at a time
2) I resize and decap the primer, then remove and manually clean the flash hole.
3) The prepped case is re-inserted into station 1 and the new primer is pushed in. Because of the lever-arm created by the rotating baseplate, I rotate the case and reseat the primer several times to insure that it is truly flat in the flash hole.
3) I dump a load of powder from station 2 into a dummy case and trickle the charge to the desired amount on a digital scale. When correct, it is dumped into the competition case.
NOTE: The Dillon powder funnel does a great job with all powders. With flake or ball I've never had a problem and it ALWAYS dumps within +/- 0.1 grains. With my 1000 benchrest gun dumping RL22 or H1000, it typically is within +/- 0.4 grains. I'm many times faster using this method than my friends using the automated Hornady powder tricklers.
ColoYooper

 

[JASTECH]

Been needing a press too, reading imputs from many. I ordered a Forster, it's said to be more accurate. I have a few different calibers but want the ammo accurate. With my disability the dual plunger pull is easier to pull I read. I will order their dies when money gets better. I have only partial Redding dies so should sell them I guess or trade for Forster dies?