Dillon 550 or 650?

Silver-Bolt

Full Access Member
Getting ready to jump in the deep end on reloading. I have narrowed my press down to either a Dillon 550 or 650. Any input from users/owners? Leaning toward the 650. My volume will be moderate at about 1k rounds of 9mm a week. Smaller volume on 10mm and .45.
 

Silver-Bolt

Full Access Member
I finally was able to place my Dillon order. Ordered the XL650 with all the trimmings. Ordered everything to do 9mm, 10mm, and .45acp. That will be the bulk of my reloading. Down the road I may order a second press so I don't have to take the time to swap between small and large primers. Also coming are the components to load 10k 9mm rounds. Montana Gold bullets, Federal Primers, and Bullseye powder. Time to clean out the garage and make some room.
 

Silver-Bolt

Full Access Member
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to load on both a 550 and a 650. The 550 is work horse and will run forever. It is slower than the 650 but not near as temperamental. The 650 once setup and dialed in flat out hauls ass. It takes more time to setup and change calibers but the auto index and case feed is pretty damn nice. I know my learning curve will be steep with the 650 but in the long run I really can use the volume it puts out.
 

Silver-Bolt

Full Access Member
Finished my benches. I had a bunch of scrap steel so that is what I used. 2x2x.250 square tube frame and the tops are 32x86x1/2" steel plate. The tops alone weighed almost 400 lbs each. lol. Last night I finished setting up the dies and I cleaned a couple of thousands rounds of brass. My load is for USPSA competition so it is a very soft recoiling load. 147gr bullet on top of 3.4gr of Bullseye, and Federal primer. Approximately 975fps which makes the minimum power factor for competition. Time to start pulling the handle.
 

Silver-Bolt

Full Access Member
Ran 1500 rounds last night. Getting the hang of this machine now. Hope to have 10k rounds loaded by the end of the weekend.
 

Silver-Bolt

Full Access Member
So back in January I loaded my first ever rounds. Fast forward to today and I have run just over 30k rounds without a hiccup. I have a second Dillon 650 coming in this week. Next year the wife and I will be competing with two different calibers. Rather than deal with the time and effort to change the tool head, change the case feeder, and change the shell plate I will have two machines. One running 9mm Major and one running .40. That way I have nothing to setup and I can run ammo as time allows.
 

Silver-Bolt

Full Access Member
Ready to rock.

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