New Dillon

skooter525 · Oct 5, 2014

Got my Dillon XL650 2 weeks ago just got around to setting it up. Man why did I wait? Doing .223, I am quickly getting a supply. Wished I would have gotten the case feeder, well next time I get extra cash. Now I need to do some product testing, to the Range

bigdaddycoolfm · Oct 5, 2014

What made you choose Dillon

I am looking at reloading presses now to buy and was curious as to why you choose Dillon over Lyman, Hornady or Lee?

BenL · Oct 5, 2014

I set up a Dillon 650 about six months ago and love it. It's amazing how fast you can churn out ammo. It can be a little picky about powder- I've switched 223 powder because the two I usually use won't meter in the Dillon (Varget and AR Comp. I've picked up a pound of CFE223 to see if it meters better.)

Yeah, I know... my bench is a mess.

forkauto · Oct 5, 2014

The case feeder is nice, I got mine from Maryland ReloadR in Pomphret Md. He's a good guy

skooter525 · Oct 5, 2014

bigdaddycoolfm said:
I am looking at reloading presses now to buy and was curious as to why you choose Dillon over Lyman, Hornady or Lee?

Cause it's the best :thumbsup:

but seriously I started on a RCBS single stage, I wanted to speed up the loading, and it seemed like the Dillon had all the bells and whistles available

bigdaddycoolfm · Oct 5, 2014

any thoughts about the Lee 1000 to start with? I am looking for an entry press to start off to see if i like reloading. Sorry to be such a Newb with this topic.

Jackson923 · Oct 5, 2014

skooter525 said:
Cause it's the best but seriously I started on a RCBS single stage, I wanted to speed up the loading, and it seemed like the Dillon had all the bells and whistles available

Same thing here!

E.Shell · Oct 5, 2014

I have an XL650 and love it for handgun ammo. I have .223 & .308 setups for it, but mainly use it for 9mm & 45s.

bigdaddycoolfm said:
any thoughts about the Lee 1000 to start with? I am looking for an entry press to start off to see if i like reloading. Sorry to be such a Newb with this topic.

For what sort of loading? Rifle/pistol? Match grade ammo or bulk blasting ammo? What do you consider to be bulk? How much brass and other components will you amass for each loading session?

IMHO and generally speaking, a new reloader will have an easier time learning how to set up and adjust everything using a single stage press, and there is also a much smaller potential for errors when processing one cartridge case at a time on a single stage.

Loading equipment can serve you, or haunt you, for a very long time. Buy the best tooling you can afford. Personally, I'd rather have a good quality single stage press than a cheap progressive. If you do make the jump to a progressive, I would first consider the Dillon line, then Hornady, with Lee bringing up the rear.

Overboost44 · Oct 5, 2014

BenL said:
I set up a Dillon 650 about six months ago and love it. It's amazing how fast you can churn out ammo. It can be a little picky about powder- I've switched 223 powder because the two I usually use won't meter in the Dillon (Varget and AR Comp. I've picked up a pound of CFE223 to see if it meters better.)

You may want to try Win748 it meters well (ball)

DocAitch · Oct 5, 2014

bigdaddycoolfm
I would recommend against the Lee 1000.
There are too many things that can go wrong. I am an experienced reloader and thought I was being careful with one that I purchased but wound up with squibs (13% in one run) because of primer feed problems (short stroked the press without being aware of it). I did run it successfully by priming the cases off the machine.
I also experienced double charges(luckily discovered before I fired them) using the return spring instead of the lamp chain on the powder dispenser-the lamp chain broke too often (Lee warns against using the return spring on the 1000 which I found out later)
I have a Dillon 650 which has given no problems but tried the Lee 1000 because I did not like to change the primer system for my 45ACP. I am now a firm believer in changing the primer system.
I like the 650 because it auto indexes, but hear great things about the 550 and the Hornady progressive. I also know some guys on this forum have no problems with the Lee 1000, but I sure did.
DocAitch

Pinecone · Oct 6, 2014

Any of the ball powders will meter well in the Dillon. Also flake powders. Extruded powders not so well.

For .223, H335, WW748, IMR 8208xbr, CFE223 and many other work well.

One thing I always point out in making the decision about a progressive is, how much do you actually shoot????? If you shoot 1000 rounds of a particular handgun caliber a year, then with a Dillon 650 with case feeder, you will load a years supply in about 1 hour. So you use the press once per year.

Also, how much do you have in components? Powder? Primers? Bullets? Cases? If you don't have enough to load thousands for rounds, a progressive is over kill.

Also look at total system costs. Changing calibers is not cheap. With single stage you need dies and cheap shell holder ($5). For a 650 with case feeder you need a conversion kit ($78), maybe a case feeder plate ($40), preferably a tool head with powder die ($65 with stand), and best case another powder measure ($77), PLUS the dies. Now, once you get a number of calibers, you can mix and match and only buy a few parts to make the conversion kit, but you really want a tool head for each caliber to avoid having to set up the dies each time.

BenL · Oct 6, 2014

Pinecone said:
One thing I always point out in making the decision about a progressive is, how much do you actually shoot????? If you shoot 1000 rounds of a particular handgun caliber a year, then with a Dillon 650 with case feeder, you will load a years supply in about 1 hour. So you use the press once per year.

Also consider, how much of a hobby do you want to make of reloading?

I purchased a 650 because I don't particularly enjoy reloading. Loading 1,000 rounds of ammo on a single stage press would take me most of a weekend, which if you enjoy it, is no big deal. Because I don't really enjoy reloading, I would rather crank out the same 1,000 rounds in an hour and get on with my weekend.

Broncolou · Oct 6, 2014

BenL said:
Also consider, how much of a hobby do you want to make of reloading?

I purchased a 650 because I don't particularly enjoy reloading. Loading 1,000 rounds of ammo on a single stage press would take me most of a weekend, which if you enjoy it, is no big deal. Because I don't really enjoy reloading, I would rather crank out the same 1,000 rounds in an hour and get on with my weekend.

^^^^^ What he said^^^^^

skooter525 · Oct 6, 2014

DocAitch said:
bigdaddycoolfm
I would recommend against the Lee 1000.
There are too many things that can go wrong. I am an experienced reloader and thought I was being careful with one that I purchased but wound up with squibs (13% in one run) because of primer feed problems (short stroked the press without being aware of it). I did run it successfully by priming the cases off the machine.
I also experienced double charges(luckily discovered before I fired them) using the return spring instead of the lamp chain on the powder dispenser-the lamp chain broke too often (Lee warns against using the return spring on the 1000 which I found out later)
I have a Dillon 650 which has given no problems but tried the Lee 1000 because I did not like to change the primer system for my 45ACP. I am now a firm believer in changing the primer system.
I like the 650 because it auto indexes, but hear great things about the 550 and the Hornady progressive. I also know some guys on this forum have no problems with the Lee 1000, but I sure did.
DocAitch

I agree with Doc, I wouldn't go with a Lee 1000. You can get the RCBS Rock chucker kit for around $300, gives you every thing to get started IMHO it is a good deal. all you would have to get is makins

skooter525 · Oct 6, 2014

That being said, I did a Rookie mistake, in my hurry to mass produce .223 I left out 1 very important step. Product testing. after reloading about 700 rounds I decided to try some of these puppies out down back. Hmmmmm why won't my bolt go all the way shut? Well dummy your sizing die wasn't seated all the way down so none of the 700 was sized properly. Now I have to take all my dies out except the sizing die and feed one by one the loaded shell and run it thru again to get the right sizing. I always double check the powder and the .Glad my case head space gauge came today that would have helped

Topher · Oct 7, 2014

E.Shell said:
...

IMHO and generally speaking, a new reloader will have an easier time learning how to set up and adjust everything using a single stage press, and there is also a much smaller potential for errors when processing one cartridge case at a time on a single stage.

Loading equipment can serve you, or haunt you, for a very long time. Buy the best tooling you can afford. Personally, I'd rather have a good quality single stage press than a cheap progressive. If you do make the jump to a progressive, I would first consider the Dillon line, then Hornady, with Lee bringing up the rear.

Excellent advice IMO. :thumbsup:

Pinecone · Oct 7, 2014

skooter525 said:
That being said, I did a Rookie mistake, in my hurry to mass produce .223 I left out 1 very important step. Product testing. after reloading about 700 rounds I decided to try some of these puppies out down back. Hmmmmm why won't my bolt go all the way shut? Well dummy your sizing die wasn't seated all the way down so none of the 700 was sized properly. Now I have to take all my dies out except the sizing die and feed one by one the loaded shell and run it thru again to get the right sizing. I always double check the powder and the .Glad my case head space gauge came today that would have helped

What you SHOULD use is a Redding Body Die.

If you run them through your standard sizing die, you will try to resize the neck (with the bullet in) down to smaller than desired.

The Redding Body Die does not size the neck, just the body and shoulder.

Of course, they tell you to NOT size loaded ammo. Your choice. But I have had no issues with doing so, YMMV.

Broncolou · Oct 8, 2014

I have a 223 prep head for my 650. On my case prep runs I run Dillon deprime/resize-open-dillon rt1200 trimmer-open-redding neck resizer. On my prep runs I use a GS swager in the primer station, it works pretty good but I still crunch 1-3(per100) primers out of once fired nato brass and almost never on my seconds. I run 40ish min stainless tumble depending on how the batch looked. Then store in pretzel jugs till ready for reload.
Reload 223 head has only open-powder/prime-powder check-bullet seat-crimp. I stop and check powder drops probably 10-15 times in the first 100 and then spot check every couple of hundred rounds if the previous were consistent. OAL needs checked like the powder too. All my loaded rounds go through the case gauge after the press and before storage. I also gauge the first 100ish during prep and probably 10-15% get spot checked/case gauged along the way a good bit less in larger batches if the early cases check consistently. Along the way visual inspections are done during all of the handling. Once fired 223 seems like significantly more than half if not 75% need trimming...... I just do it everytime with the RT1200, if by hand I would sort and trim as needed. Good luck and pay attention to every step. Load in small batches when beginning. All the stuff above is for my go-to load that has been tested/chronographed and shot a lot. Brian Enos forums are pretty good for Dillon specific problems and questions. Most of the time with a search in there you dont even have to ask the question to find what you need....

Winterborn · Oct 23, 2014

skooter525 said:
That being said, I did a Rookie mistake, in my hurry to mass produce .223 I left out 1 very important step. Product testing. after reloading about 700 rounds I decided to try some of these puppies out down back. Hmmmmm why won't my bolt go all the way shut? Well dummy your sizing die wasn't seated all the way down so none of the 700 was sized properly. Now I have to take all my dies out except the sizing die and feed one by one the loaded shell and run it thru again to get the right sizing. I always double check the powder and the .Glad my case head space gauge came today that would have helped

And suddenly (one of) the reasons that having a single stage press handy is a necessity shows itself.

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