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Joined: Sep 2010
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New Member
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Dillon. By the way, there are separate stations for seating and crimping on my 550.
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 19,497
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 19,497 |
Strong recommendation here for a Dillon.
Retired cat herder.
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 12,541 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 12,541 Likes: 1 |
Timely thread - I was thinking about this the other day.
As I understand it, the Dillons have fewer stations than the Hornady, so if you want to seat and crimp pistol rounds in separate stations, you are outta luck? Not at all, the expander ball in station 2 expands the case neck, and the charge is dropped thru the hollow expander, then you rotate to station three, seat the bullet, and when you rotate it to station 4, it crimps the case onto the bullet. It's really got all you need, unless you want to rig up the trimmer to do rifle cases, but that's best done on a single stage press anyway.
You can roll a turd in peanuts, dip it in chocolate, and it still ain't no damn Baby Ruth.
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,153
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,153 |
I've had 6 550's 1-650 and 1- 1050. I'm down to 1-550 and 1- 1050. I've loaded in excess of 100,000 rounds on Dillon machines. The 550 is hands down the best progressive press made.
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 3,194 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 3,194 Likes: 1 |
I have a Dillon 650 with case feeder and it is da berries. Their customer service rocks.
I can load about 600-800 handgun rounds an hour without breaking a sweat. With rifle rounds I size them all, then trim, then return them to the tool with the sizer removed and load them.
Life is like a purple antelope on a field of tuna fish...
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 952
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 952 |
I've had a 550 Dillon since 1995, there have been 0 problems with this machine. The one time I had to order a part, was because I broke it being dumb, they sent me a new one at no charge. You can't go wrong with Dillon.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 22,274
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 22,274 |
Timely thread - I was thinking about this the other day.
As I understand it, the Dillons have fewer stations than the Hornady, so if you want to seat and crimp pistol rounds in separate stations, you are outta luck? Not at all, the expander ball in station 2 expands the case neck, and the charge is dropped thru the hollow expander, then you rotate to station three, seat the bullet, and when you rotate it to station 4, it crimps the case onto the bullet. It's really got all you need, unless you want to rig up the trimmer to do rifle cases, but that's best done on a single stage press anyway. Okay, I also recall that Dillon requires you to use their dies? I guess the hollow expander is one reason. regular 7/8-14 dies do not fit? Are those hollow expanders removable from the die, so I could modify them if desired?
"...the designer of the .270 Ingwe cartridge!..."
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,352
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2006
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Dillon, you will not regret it one bit. GreggH
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,164
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,164 |
camdex works great. mine puts out about 55 rounds a min.
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,646 Likes: 2
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,646 Likes: 2 |
Dillion 550b Dillion has one of the best customer service dept. that I have ever had the pleasure to talk to.
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,271
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2006
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Brutal honesty is best on this type of question; if your using anything other than a dillon, your wasting your time.
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 30,997 Likes: 8
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 30,997 Likes: 8 |
+1 on the Dillion and I don't mean "Matt Dillion" either
I got banned on another web site for a debate that happened on this site. That's a first
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,699
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,699 |
Timely thread - I was thinking about this the other day.
As I understand it, the Dillons have fewer stations than the Hornady, so if you want to seat and crimp pistol rounds in separate stations, you are outta luck? Not at all, the expander ball in station 2 expands the case neck, and the charge is dropped thru the hollow expander, then you rotate to station three, seat the bullet, and when you rotate it to station 4, it crimps the case onto the bullet. It's really got all you need, unless you want to rig up the trimmer to do rifle cases, but that's best done on a single stage press anyway. Okay, I also recall that Dillon requires you to use their dies? I guess the hollow expander is one reason. regular 7/8-14 dies do not fit? Are those hollow expanders removable from the die, so I could modify them if desired? Only have to use the Dillon "dies" on the Square Deal, not the others. The powder die comes with the caliber conversion kit. I have a 650 - wouldn't do anything else after this. I use it for pistol and AR .223 loads. With a quick change kit, not bad to go back and forth between calibers.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,970
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,970 |
The top three choices are Dillon 550B Dillon 650 anything else along the lines of the RCBS 2000
I have both Dillon 550B and 650. I like the 550 for it's reliability and ease of taking care of problems without a bunch of histrionics. The 550 is a simple, durable, reasonably fast progressive, and I consider it the best on the market for it's intended use and speed level. The only thing I would change owuld be if they would add a fifth station so you could put a powder check die in it.
The 650 is a great fast machine, but it's not tolerant of missteps. I have had a problem with CCI small pistol primers hanging on the decapping pin that get re-seated by the waiting new primer. This lets the primer feed disc rotate around till it drops the primer down a little ramp and most of the time it ski jumps onto the floor. This is the first you know of a problem and then you need to go through your cartridge bin and find the one with the spent primer. This is not a problem using other brands of small pistol primers, but I had loaded over 2500 rounds of 38 special with the CCI's. Till I get through these, the 650 and 38's are not my favorite. I may even just go through the empty 38's I have with a decapping die in my Rockchucker.
Mark
NRA Life Member Anytime anyone kicks cancers azz is a good day!
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
Oh The Drama!
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 9,517
Campfire Outfitter
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OP
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 9,517 |
No one has the Hornady?
The Dillons seem great but look to be accesory lacking. The 550 is not self indexing. and they do not have 5 die stations.
more research ongoing.
"wanna hear God laugh? Tell Him you have complete control now!"
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 10,439 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 10,439 Likes: 1 |
I have a Dillon 650, for maybe 12 years now. I've kept it lubed and clean; once I figured out how to run it, it hardly ever burps. I've never busted anything on it. Not cheap to get started, but completely satisfied with the bang for the buck over what is becoming quite a long run. After 12 years and plenty of ammo, the only gripe I have is the powder measuring. You have to run the press perfect and use the right powder. Sometimes, especially with stick powders in the smaller calibers, you have to run two cycles, charging by hand. But it still beats the holy crud out of a single stage. As for the Hornady, my Dad is looking to get one, I think there might be some compromises due to patent issues, the Dillon designs are pretty smart. But I like Hornady dies, Hornady bullets, and don't expect my did to be disappointed at all.
Up hills slow, Down hills fast Tonnage first and Safety last.
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