Press and everything else

[6132expert]

Ok guys, I have been a member on this board of a long time. I think there was only a hand full of us for a while. I have been saying I would be getting into reloading and now that time has come. I have now got that old azz lyman press and although I have not used it I can tell it will be a great one when I do. I have also be buying up powders,primers,dies,tumbler. I have a poop load of brass that I have been collecting for years, and now I am buying up bullets in the calibers I need/shoot/own. Here is where things are now going with my reloading. My wounderful wife has came and told me she is going to give me 2000.00 to buy my reloading equipment with! I have decided I am getting the Dillon XL650. Now what I need to know should be kinda simple.

What all do I need to order with the 650? I was looking at the Dillon site and the machine is like around 500 but by the time I was done adding in everything I was looking at 1500.00 I would really like to have a grand to buy componets with.

So without more babalingI would like to know what Dillon produect you have used and do you prefer the same product from a different brand.

[survivalshop]

A true progressive press like the 650 , might make more challenging to a new comer , if ya want a true progressive , its top notch .

The Hornady is well liked & ya always have the Dillon 550B that I have, less $$ , & its a performer .

The 650 has a lot of bells & whistles. There are those here that have them .

[6132expert]

Yeah I can see the callange and I will not trun and run from it. I was thinking that after a year or so and I was more use to and in a good comfort zone I may also add the rcbs bullet feeder.

I like the LNL and the dillon and I have thought about the 550b, but with the price difference in the 550 and 650 I think the 650 is the better buy. I would like to know what everyone thinks about the other products like swagers, and trimmers,case prep combos like the rcbs and lyman. Just random poop like that.

[Tripledeuce]

    I have a 650.  At one time I had two, one set for lg primers, and the other set for small.

  If  you don't get the case feeder with it, you might as well save some money and get the 550.

  The 550 is a good machine that will be hard to outgrow.

  Its hard to beat the RCBS Rockchucker to start with!

  Iv got 4 presses mounted on the bench.  A Rockchucker, an RCBS "Big Max", a very heavy press for case forming, A Star, and the 650.

    The rockchucker gets used the most.

  Respectfully

  Terry

[IM_JOHNNYV]

I've got the Dillon 550 and a Rock Chucker Supreme. Both have their uses, and in my opinion, both are needed in the reloading room.

Just my 2¢

[texas30cal]

Same here, I got the rockchucker kit (you will always need the items in the kit) with the press, scale, powder measure, and other goodies, learned from that and then got the dillon 550, both are excellent quality, I can't imagine any progressive being better quality that the Dillon. Its pretty easy to turn out 100 rds. in 10 min. All you should need from Dillon is the 550b with the powder measure and priming system, primer flipper tray, and the caliber conversion kits to go with the die sets you will be using, they even sell the kit parts individual so if some of the cal. conv. kits use common parts you don't buy multiples. There is also a tool I had to buy seperately to align the priming system with the rotating turret in case you have to disassemble, I had to for cleaning. I don't think I have forgotten anything.

[planeflyer21]

Learn from other people's mistakes...start with a single-stage press.

One of my students was sold HARD by friends and stores on the Dillon 650.  He loaded around 80 rounds and realized that he should have gotten a single-stage press.

If you are worried about out pacing the single-stage in a month or two, get a turret press.  Or the RCBS Rockchucker can have a turret conversion added later, the Piggyback II.

Jon

[6132expert]

No the lyman press I have is a manual turret press, I plan to have both set up and the main reason for getting the 650 is that it is a true progressive and I DO plan to get the case feed. If my wife is going to allow me to speed the money I'm not going to pass that up or she will find a way to speed it for me. Don't get the wrong idea, I have kicked the reload project around for some time and I agree that I need a single stage / old ass lyman turret, and the 550 is the one I have looked at for some time , but the 650 is where I feel in time the bacon is cooked. Lets forget the press the 650 is what I will get no doubt. I want to know the other tools that are needed ( i.e calipers,case length gages) you know the stuff other then a press.

[6132expert]

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=509168

This is the press I have but in like new condition.

[Tripledeuce]

  Did you read all the responses?  Especially the one from the guy who said that loads that shot great when loaded on his rockchucker, were NOT  accurate when loaded with the Spar-t?

  Respectfully

  Terry

[Pappy1600]

I use a LNL progressive, been very happy with it and very consistant on the ammo that it produces, I was considering a Dillon 1050 in the near future . I do have a Dillon primer pocket swagger and it works great, would prefer it on the machine hense the 1050.. If you are going to be doing volume reloading like I do for 223 and 308 I would suggest buying a Giraud case trimmer, pricey but well worth every single penny you will spend... I also just ordered one of their Case annealing machines, from what I have been reading they are great also.

[texas30cal]

I forgot the calipers I guess because they are standard equipment on every bench and in every tool box I have, that is why I suggested the rock chucker supreme kit because you will get almost everything you need in it, and will still use them after you get the 650, and can start with it even though you get the 650, I recommend this because you need to learn not only what your doing but why and doing them one thing at a time is the best way, there is a book called the a b c's of reloading that is very good, also I have tried several different types of case lube, the rcbs pad is very messy, the lee paste is good and not as messy but the Hornady one shot aerosol is great so far, easy, dries fast, no mess on you or the equipment and a quick tumble after loading removes it, even though it is so light that it could probably stay there and not hurt. Also one load manual won't be enough I ended up with the Speer, Lee, Hodgdon and a few of the small white spiral loadbooks.

[planeflyer21]

Ok...I missed the Lyman press someplace.

One issue I have is not listening to others, when they tell me why something won't work.

When you go to the progressive, as someone already mentioned, loads that did great on single-stage/turret may not be with a powder that meters consistently on a progressive.  I did a great 9mm load on single-stage, on the auto-press got a 2gr deviation in powder drops...that is HUGELY monumental in 9mm!  Did a couple of shots in my LC9 that felt WAY over powered...turns out, they were.

Pulled 70 rounds and weighed the powder charges, which verified the 2gr deviation.  Thing is, when getting everything set and adjusted, my jostling the press a bit gave me good powder throws with the large flake powder.  Same with the check rounds...stop the case feed, insert the case to be checked, catch it before it gets kicked out...just enough extra movement to get the powder to drop properly.

Plenty of people had warned me about large flake powder on auto-/progressive presses.  Had to learn it for myself.

Jon

[NoFail]

For consistent charges I measure by hand off of a RCBS 10/10 scale. Takes longer but screw it!! My rifle poop is accurate.

Your dies. For .308 I highly recommend Forster Ultra die set. You'll get seater and sizer die in the set and the seater has a dial on the top so you can easily, and very accurately, adjust your seating depth. The seater leaves very little bullet run out according to all reports I've gotten from anybody whom checks for that. Forster and Redding makes the best dies. Forster will cost less.

[mineralman55]

I'm going to give you a good "compromise". I put it in quotes because it is not a compromise at all. Get the Dillon BL550. It's a manual progressive. Learn to load on this, then down the road (months, years, whatever) you can get the gizmos to upgrade it to the RL550. It is the same in layout to the discontinued RCBS 4x4. I have been loading on an RCBS 4x4 for >20 years. I can load 200 rounds/hour still doing quality control. You can start with a manual powder thrower in one position but get the auto primer set up. That's nice.

Not trying to talk you out of the RL650, but I've seen a number of folks get in over their heads right off the bat with presses like that and give up in frustration. You can't go wrong with any of the Dillon progressive presses. Post pics when you get it set up.

[392heminut]

Seems like people have more problems with the priming system on the RL650 than they do with the RL550. I've never used an RL650 so I can't really say anything about them, but I sure do like my RL550. I've been loading on it for close to 20 years now and I don't feel any need to upgrade.

[Tripledeuce]

  I'v had my 650 for about 15 years, and never really had any problems with the primer feed, or anything else.

    But, with ANY progressive, you need to pay close attention to details.

    Respectfully

    Terry

[planeflyer21]

Seems like people have more problems with the priming system on the RL650 than they do with the RL550. I've never used an RL650 so I can't really say anything about them, but I sure do like my RL550. I've been loading on it for close to 20 years now and I don't feel any need to upgrade.

For progressive, we have a Lee Pro 1000.  Tried the primer feed and wasn't impressed at the squashing rate (especially during the primer shortage).  Started priming them all one at a time.

What was fun was someone new to reloading telling me what crap Lee is, then buying a Dillon 650 out the gate.  Hundreds of smashed primers later, they saw fit to ask what I do about it.

I've actually been going back to single stage for the consistency, for my personal use ammo.  The stuff for classes, where max distance is 15 yards usually, I can live with bigger variations.

Jon

[MikedaddyH]

For progressive, we have a Lee Pro 1000.  Tried the primer feed and wasn't impressed at the squashing rate (especially during the primer shortage).  Started priming them all one at a time.

What was fun was someone new to reloading telling me what crap Lee is, then buying a Dillon 650 out the gate.  Hundreds of smashed primers later, they saw fit to ask what I do about it.

I've actually been going back to single stage for the consistency, for my personal use ammo.  The stuff for classes, where max distance is 15 yards usually, I can live with bigger variations.

Jon

Here is my opinion ; when i can afford a Dillion I will get a used RL 550 and have Dillion refurbish it for FREE !  I have been beaten and bruised by 550's and 650's they really hurt !  <laughs>

I used Lee single stage most of the time. My loads are accurate. I all so have a Lee Pro 1000 set up for 40s&w. hate the priming stage and only can use HS-6 powder which meters well for me.

Thats my 2 bits worth of info.