Dillon Progressive Press

[bob4432]

Can someone walk me through why it seem there are more Dillon 550 presses than 650s?

[Fredman]

Cost. Cost for each cal. For me, when I bought mine, the 650 was a wet dream. For accurate rifle ammo, I prefer more hands on approach. If I was shooting 500-1000 rounds a week, I would look at the 650.

[montana]

The Dillon 550 is bullet proof and a great progressive loader for most calibers. Like Fredman stated' if you are going to be shooting in Practical shooting or any other a high round count endeavor then go with the Dillon 650 or 1050. The cost difference is also quite a bit lower for caliber changes and set up with the 550.

[cory]

Do a search, there was a thread on this topic where a well respected member broke down the difference and made it clear that the 550B was the press of his choice.

RJstoker I may have mispelled his handle as I haven't seen him on him in quite a while not since his account was deleted by mistake.

[bob4432]

Appreciate the info,

Bob

[Boostmeister]

I'll just reinforce much of what has already been written and offer a bit more. The initial cost of a 550B is less than a 650, and the cost of caliber conversions is less. If you are loading a bunch of different calibers, and like to leave the dies in the toolheads for quick changeover, the toolhead cost is less for the 550B. In other words, if you are loading just one or two calibers in large volume, then the 650 or 1050 is the way to go. From my experience, I have a tendency to get really fussy with my rifle rounds, and end up loading them on an RCBS Rock Chucker single stage press. That is not to say that you can't load precision rounds on a progressive press. The 6.5 Guys recently had an article that makes for an interesting read.

http://www.65guys.com/precision-from-a-progressive-reloader/

The only thing that gets loaded on my 550B is pistol rounds, and I load lots of them and in various calibers (.380 ACP, 9MM, .357 SIG, .357 Mag, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, and .454 Casull). This is where the cost of caliber changeover and toolheads can really begin to add up. Another area that doesn't get discussed much is simplicity. When I got close to the purchase of my first progressive, I sought out the help of Brian Enos. Brian is a competition shooter that is well respected in the shooting sports, and he deals with the Dillon line. Brian strongly recommended that I go with a manual indexing progressive press. His logic was primarily that indexing the press when I wanted, was preferable to the press indexing the shell plate whether or not I wanted it to. In the event of a problem, the manual index model is easier to control and correct, and indexing the shell plate is not a big deal in the first place. Brian has a website that has a forum with lots of Dillon related information. Check it out here:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showforum=4

Brian also deals with Dillion presses and accessories:

http://www.brianenos.com/store/dillon.html

Whichever way you decide to go, have fun and be safe.

[Moonshine44]

His logic was primarily that indexing the press when I wanted, was preferable to the press indexing the shell plate whether or not I wanted it to. In the event of a problem, the manual index model is easier to control and correct, and indexing the shell plate is not a big deal in the first place.

This is one of the main reasons that I have a 550. Any press can have issues, and being able to stop the circus, and even reverse something if I have to without messing anything up, is nice.

[mongoosesnipe]

i have a 650 it is a fantastic machine as far as precision as long as I'm using a powder which meters nicely its as good as any other method of loading

i use the 650 mostly for high volume pistol and rifle and use a single stage for low volume and load work up

for the most part if i am not loading at least 100 rounds i will just do it on the single stage though

[bob4432]

Thanks for the info and links, very helpful