Dillon Precision or...

[tylerevans42]

I've been using my friend's reloading equipment and I'm looking to get my own set up going. I'm wondering if I should buy a turret press, charge dispenser, hand priming tool etc. or if I should invest in a Dillon precision machine.

So my question is does anybody have experience with a Dillon set up and if so is it worth the investment?

 

[shootin the breeze]

Boy are you in for it, lol. I'm too lazy but search is your friend. Lots of threads on this, several are stickies.

 

[730dc]

You need more info. What are you loading for. What are your goals for loading. How many rd you plan on loading for? If pistol I'd strongly recommend at least a 650 with case feeder and if you do range brass and mainly load 9mm a 1050 isnt much more for the mixed in crimped mill brass . Also do you have a budge if your not afraid to 8 vest some money into the the tooling start up cost the dillon is great . I bough the Lee single stage kit and for me that was a waste of money a month later I got the 650 do to having to handle eeach peace of brass 4 times to make one rd. 650 100 rd in 6 mins going slow

 

[DaemonAssassin]

OP, where are you located?

If you want to see a Dillon in operation, I'd be willing to set aside some time for that.

You have to tell the peanut gallery what kind of ammo you are reloading right now. That will help us, help you find the right press for you. Personally, I swear by the Dillon 550. It can do progressive operations, and also it can be converted to a single stage press with the removal of 3 pins. Total caliber changes take less than 5 minutes.

 

[BigDaddy]

Stickies are the very top posts in most of the forum, in this case the reloading forum.

There is reloading and then there is reloading. I went several years loading hunting loads for one caliber. I added a couple handgun calibers, but I didn't shoot that much, so a single stage press did everything I need.

The base price of a Dillon is like the base price of a car in the old days, without AC or a radio.

So even in these few replies, we have a spectrum of reloaders. 730dc needs his setup and the money is an investment for him. I am on the other end of the spectrum even though I loading more than ever now, but an Orange Crush and a Lee Turret still gets the job done. I would guess I am at 1000-1500 rounds a year. I have a handful of cartridges I reload very episodically: 30 carbine, 9 makarov, 32 acp, 333 WM. My deer calibers are 280 and 6.5x55, but I am done experimenting and have settled on a couple loads, so I don't need to load those very often. 223, 9mm, 22-250 and 45 acp are the ones I reload the most these days.

 

[MDlineman]

Yes.

 

[Cochise]

i like my 550 a lot, but I'm not you.....I load 405 Win, 45 acp, 45 auto rim, 9mm, and used to load 454 casull, 45 colt, 38 spl, 357 mag, and 30 carbine on it.....Its easy and versatile. Its not cheap, conversions aren't cheap either. You do get what you pay for.
Hornady stuff is good too.

 

[guthook]

If you shoot a lot, then it's one of best investments you'll ever make. I started on a single stage and learned a LOT about the process. When I finally felt I was overworking myself to the point of exhaustion and shoulder pain, I got the Dillon XL650.

I load 12 different calibers, so when I get the press set up, I'll run off a batch of 500-2,000 rounds before I change calibers. This is done in 1/100th of the time it takes to do it with a single stage.

My main calibers are rapidly switched out with dedicated, quick change tool heads. These come in handy once you figure out a go-to load, set it and forget it. When you run low on ammo, put on your favorite caliber conversion pre-set tool head, check the charge weight and start pumping out rounds.

Another thing, it's completely modular. Add attachments/caliber conversions on to it as you can afford to or when the need arises. You'll never feel bad about buying a Dillon, unless you never use it.

 

[tylerevans42]

You need more info. What are you loading for. What are your goals for loading. How many rd you plan on loading for? If pistol I'd strongly recommend at least a 650 with case feeder and if you do range brass and mainly load 9mm a 1050 isnt much more for the mixed in crimped mill brass . Also do you have a budge if your not afraid to 8 vest some money into the the tooling start up cost the dillon is great . I bough the Lee single stage kit and for me that was a waste of money a month later I got the 650 do to having to handle eeach peace of brass 4 times to make one rd. 650 100 rd in 6 mins going slow

Right now I'm reloading 30.06 and .308 and once I buy my 1911 I'll be reloading .45.

 

[tylerevans42]

OP, where are you located?

If you want to see a Dillon in operation, I'd be willing to set aside some time for that.

You have to tell the peanut gallery what kind of ammo you are reloading right now. That will help us, help you find the right press for you. Personally, I swear by the Dillon 550. It can do progressive operations, and also it can be converted to a single stage press with the removal of 3 pins. Total caliber changes take less than 5 minutes.

I'm in Catonsville. My girlfriend's father has a Dillon precision but for handguns only. I really like it, but I would need to get the model which does rifle and handgun.

 

[DaemonAssassin]

I'm in Catonsville. My girlfriend's father has a Dillon precision but for handguns only. I really like it, but I would need to get the model which does rifle and handgun.

A 550 does rifle and handgun. All you do is swap the till heads and the caliber plate and that is it.

 

[tylerevans42]

A 550 does rifle and handgun. All you do is swap the till heads and the caliber plate and that is it.

How much does that run?

 

[DaemonAssassin]

440 for the press plus the cost of your dies to start with one caliber.

 

[vinjet700]

Been asking around about this model too. Check BrianEnos.com
He has base models and complete packages....prices depend on what you're looking for.

 

[Pinecone]

All the Dillon machines (except maybe the Square D, which you want to stay away from for other reasons), will do rifle and pistol.

One calculation you have to do is how much is your time worth, and how much spare time do you have, as well as the previously mentioned how much do you shoot.

If you shoot 1000 rounds of .45 a year, that is about 1 hour per year reloading on a 650. A lot of money to sit 364 days, and then get used for an hour.

And a single stage, IMO, is never a waste. While I use my 650 a good bit, I load precision long range rifle rounds on my single stage (Lyman Orange Crush). IMO, a good bench should have a single stage, in additional to whatever else you end up with.

And as has been mentioned, caliber conversions are not cheap. A single stage takes on shell holder and a set of dies. A Dillon takes a conversion kit and a set of dies. And if you want to make the swap quickly, a tool head, and a powder die, and preferably another powder measure (not required, but nice to have). So you can, with carbide dies, be up around $300 to convert a Dillon to a new caliber. And if you are going to shoot that new caliber, say maybe 100 rounds per year, those are expensive rounds.

But to just answer your question, is the Dillon worth the money, yes. They are well built machines, with superb warranties.

 

[tylerevans42]

Been asking around about this model too. Check BrianEnos.com
He has base models and complete packages....prices depend on what you're looking for.

Thank you sir

 

[DocAitch]

I use a 650 for pistol.
It is excellent for pistol and can be used for rifle.
I would add the caveat that bottle neck brass prep and trimming has to be done off the press and that the cases have to be lubed. With straight wall pistol cases, you just clean them and throw them into the machine with the carbide sizer.
Additionally, the Dillon powder dispensers are volume devices and stick powders sometimes don't meter as well. The volume dispensers work well with ball powders such as BLC2 and H335 for 223.
I like a single stage for rifle but may shoot 40 rounds of rifle max in a session, while I shoot 200 rounds pistol. There other things that I use a single stage for, it is nice to have one on the bench.
The turret presses can be more efficient than single stage presses but offer many opportunities for errors, I use mine as a modified single stage.
DocAitch

 

[BigRick]

OP for what you have now I would start off with a Hornady LNL single stage press. You can buy a kit that will supply you almost everything you need to get started. Once you get started and the need arises and it will you can get a progressive press then. I do all my rifle ammo except 223 on a single stage and measure out every load by hand. I use my Dillon 650 for 9mm, 40 s&w and 223.

 

[Biggfoot44]

The key question was included in post#8 . If your intrests are turning out 500-2000 rds of the same load at a sitting , then a premium Progressive (such as Dillion ) is your huckleberry.

Reading between the lines , if you shoot a smaller number of rounds for each of several cals , or if you do lots of experementing and load developement , the turret is looking better.

 

[tylerevans42]

The key question was included in post#8 . If your intrests are turning out 500-2000 rds of the same load at a sitting , then a premium Progressive (such as Dillion ) is your huckleberry.

Reading between the lines , if you shoot a smaller number of rounds for each of several cals , or if you do lots of experementing and load developement , the turret is looking better.

I go through the 30.06 like its nothing and I anticipate I'll be shooting .45's in a similar manner. I make it to the range at least once a week, sometimes more. I know whatever I end up getting will be used quite a bit and very frequently.