550 or 650?

I've got more time than money, so cranking out a gagillion rounds an hour isn't a huge deal to me. But this is going to be a one time purchase, so I'd rather buy once and cry once.

Ease of use is a big deal to me. If the 650 is significantly more complicated to use or setup or switch between calibers, the increase in speed isn't worth it to me. I don't want to fiddle with it, I just want to load.

The 550 is far more versatile. If you plan to load rifle and pistol, the 550 is the better tool. If you plan to load one or two pistol calibers the 650 is a smooth machine.

I prefer the manual index of the 550

I'll load .223 and .40 almost exclusively. Probably around a 60/40 split.

If I had to do it over again I would go with the 550. 20 years or so ago I bought a Square Deal thinking I would never need to load rifle rounds on a progressive.

pretty much what he says, i feel the same way. Don't be sure you will only do two calibers.
I still use a rockchucker for a lot of things. Where the dillon comes into play is like doing a couple thousand of something. I have a tendency to bulk load a bunch of .38special as an example, then won't reload it again until i hit the bottom of the pile.
when i am screwing around with various combinations, i still prefer the rockchucker for a limited amount.
I really don't like the 650, prefer to have the control of manual indexing.

550 - after tens of thousands of rounds loaded this is the right choice.


Terry

I have an older 550. Great tool. However, I learned to look into every case after powder charge station to make sure there were no double charges in pistol cases. (Don't ask.)

You should justt get all your ammo from your depts unlimited budget

Do you have an estimate on the number of rounds per batch?

I have a 650, on at least 12-13 years now. Never busted a part, loaded good ammo with it. It's not for the mechanicially disinclined, but it's not a space shuttle.
Pay attention to what it "says," keep it clean and lubed and it just runs.
Pistols, I can see where the shell plates get ridiculously expensive if you are one of THOSE people.
But I would recommend the 650. I LIKE the auto advance. Changeovers don't take very long, no more than five minutes for me -- but I never change the primer pusher. Small works for everything.
The only thing I would ever scream about is the powder charging. It is not as precise as I would like for nitpicking loads, especially with stick powders, but I get around that with an interrupted cycle, pulling dies from the station. No matter which unit you get, I would recommend a powder checker if you are doing pistol.

Ideally I'd like to be at a routine of doing 2K at a time.

Just bought a 550.

First order of business; putting it together.

Second order of business; buy lots more brass.

Dillon 550B.Very happy with it.

You will need two 550s One for calibers with a small primer and one for large primers. That way, change-over takes half the time.

As soon as the family finances recover from my daughter's wedding, I plan on buying a 550B mainly for pistol ammo, but also for .223. I will probably still load small volume rifle ammo on a single stage press.

I have the 550B and reload 15 different calibers.
Dillon talked me out of buying the 650 and I am very happy they did.
I have done about 250 per hour but average between 150 to 200.

550=more control through manual indexing and moderate speed
650=much more speed at the cost of some control
550= ~400-500 rds/hr
650= ~600-700 rds/hr
YMMV but both are great machines

i have the Sq Deal B for 9mm. with some friends, i skipped the 550/650 question and went for the 1050b. i had reasons that i believe/hope will justify the cost.

as for me, i prefer the auto index of the 650. you won't need to change primer components with .40 and .223, so that is a non issue.

i am sure you have googled '550 or 650'. if not, do so.

often your choice depends on how many calibers you are going to load. if price is the factor, there isn't much difference between the 550 and the 650. if you are choosing the 550 only because it is cheaper, save up and get the 650.

good luck, i am sure you'll like either

Everything I've read at Enos says to get the 550, but just wanted to get a fresh set of eyes on it.

Thanks for all the feedback.

That's enough to justify the cost increase for the XL 650, which is what I did. Nowadays my batches are a smaller 300-500 and I probably wouldn't see much of a slowdown with a 550B. There's some truth to most guys recommending the 550B because that's what most guys bought.

My brother has a 550B and we'd often set-up both presses in the same room and flat crank out rounds, smaller batches on the 550B and large batches on the XL 650. I really don't have a preference. If you fiddle with smaller batches (1-300), different bullets, powders and charges, primers, etc. then the 550B is the press for you. If you bolt yourself down and crank out 2,000 with no changes then XL 650 all the way.

No matter which way, there will always be a place for a Rockchucker or similar press next to the big blue one.

Ignore this idiotic comment.

At one time, I owned four Dillons - two 550s and two 650s.
Decided to slow down on loading after blowing the primer stack on a 650.

Now down to a much more reasonable Rock Chucker...

JOG nails it. Have a single handy for the little jobs. My breakeven is about 20-25 cases for "developed" loads. If doing workup, I prep primed cases in the 650, take the single-holer to the range in my handy dandy range kit, clamp it all down on the bench, and go after it. Works great, less spilling.

You just gave the best argument for the 550B. I like mine very much. My brother in law, using his 650, outproduces me in a mass loading but I load more calibers than he does. The 550 is versatile compared to the 650. The 550 sacrifices speed for flexibility. I can stop in the middle of an operation and easily change something in the press or the load, which is much more difficult to do with the 650.
The 650 is more productive than the 550 if you are loading just one caliber of pistol rounds for a match or major shooting event.

I bought the 550B about 7 years ago. Got conversions for about a dozen calibers. All it does anymore is 223's and 45acp. 400/hr on the 5.56's and 500/hr on 45's. The owners manual says it will load 600 rounds/hour. I don't think so.

It's not so idiotic in my case where a brand new 550 was given to me. Since I already had one, the new one is set up with large primers and my original one handles the small primers.

You're probably just jealous.

It takes 2 allen screws to change primer size. Not that difficult.

I haven't changed out that primer bar thingy in years!

? How do you get it to feed small primers on the large bar?

contact this member spotshuntclub. he sells dillion at very fair prices.

550 was my choice maybe 20 years ago. No reason to change at this point.

The comments in this thread are pretty much right on from my view.

I have a 650 and really like it. I have no experience with the 550, but a friend of mine has one and is very happy with it.