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View Full Version : I'm drunk on the blue kool-aid


CGT80
10-23-2014, 8:52 PM
And, I have expensive taste!

The Dillon 1050 and Mr. Bulletfeeder have been sitting on my bench, not doing much. I went back to shooting 40 cal for competitions rather than 9mm. The 1050 is setup for 9mm and I used it to load for myself and both my parents. They stopped competing and only make it to the range once in a rare while to plink. I was running the 550 and casefeeder for everything but 9mm.

I just couldn't take letting a $2300 reloading press sit unused while I use the great, but less efficient 550 on the other end of the bench. My mouse and visa debit card found dillon's site and ordered a new toolhead and caliber conversion. I have two sets of 40 dies, but I just moved the dies and powder thrower from the 550 head to the 1050 head.

After who knows how many thousands of rounds loaded on the 1050, I figured it was time to clean and lube it. It needed the cat hair balls cleaned out, too. The cats like to lay on the bench and rub on the presses. It didn't take long to strip the machine down to a bare frame. The E clips are a bit of a pain to get the ram out of the machine, but I figured it out. The crank shaft, links, and bearings are a work of art. It took a while to clean all the gunk off, lube, and carefully reassemble all of it. It was my first time really working on the press. I adjusted the primer depth a bit when I first ran 9mm and I had to install the bullet feeder, but the only thing I have touched is the seating and crimp dies.

The 1050 is built like a tank. It isn't nearly as complicated as people make it out to be. It was easy to work on. It wasn't any harder than the 550 to work on. It took a few hours or so to read the manual, look up info on the internet, and strip, clean, lube, and reassemble it with the new toolhead. I was not in a hurry and I wanted to see how it all worked and I needed to make sure I didn't screw anything up by taking it apart. The only thing I got out of adjustment was the swage rod, but that is easy to adjust. The priming system is a piece of cake. I didn't have to convert it to big primers, but I did take it apart, including the lifter, tappet, and priming pin. Now that I know how the machine works, I could probably swap calibers in 15 minutes. Even at 30 minutes it wouldn't be bad.

The internet is full of stories about how complicated the 1050 is and some people claim it isn't the best dillon press or that caliber change overs are a total PITA. With plenty of experience wrenching on old school small block chevy engines, the dillon 1050 is no sweat. It is built with some parts that share names with engine parts, and the dillon parts are tough and well machined. It is built like a rock. It has three torrington main bearings that use small needle bearings inside. Allen screws and allen shoulder bolts are the most used fastener. It took three or 4 allen/hex wrenches and a 15/16" socket wrench to work on it, plus snap ring pliers and a couple screwdrivers. The ram gets 30 wt motor oil, just like my SBC engines, and everything else gets high quality bearing grease.

The 550 worked fine for loading 40 S&W ammo, but the 1050 is just so smooth and easy to use. It seems to take less force to churn out 40 ammo than it did when I ran 9mm in it. Somehow, I got the dies set or the quality of the machine is such, that the 40 ammo chambers in my case gauge and barrel better than when I ran it on the 550. I did clean out the dies as well, and had to adjust all of them when they went in the 1050.

Everything you read on the internet must be true, so if you are thinking of using a Dillon 1050 or switching calibers on one, just send it to me instead to save yourself the headache. I will make room on my bench for it.

If you are not at all mechanically inclined, then the press may be a challenge, but it beats the lee progressive that feels like any wrong move will break it. The dillon instruction manual has some good diagrams of the press, and of course they made more sense once I had the press apart vs. just staring at them when the machine was new and I had no reason to take it apart.

Yes, I already drank the blue kool-aid, but this tear down got me drunk on it. Now I just need to pony up the $150 for the conversion for the bullet feeder so it will feed 40 cal. The toolhead and conversion kit for the 1050 was about $330 with shipping. It certainly isn't cheap, but the quality and customer service are top notch.

I know............cool starry bra!

The 1050 will make it much faster to load these Dillon blue boolits. 9mm used to take me 3 minutes per 100 rounds of loaded ammo. I haven't timed myself with 40 cal and feeding boolits by hand (until I get a feeder conversion).

Oh yeah, I got a new NOE 5 cavity aluminum boolit mold as well.
http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k484/CGT80/Shooting%20Reloading%20and%20Boolit%20Casting/IMG_20141019_194227_866.jpg

http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k484/CGT80/Shooting%20Reloading%20and%20Boolit%20Casting/IMG_20141019_203359_024.jpg

xfer42
10-23-2014, 9:45 PM
Those look delicious.

BigBronco
10-24-2014, 4:24 AM
The 1050 is not Blue. Just sayin!

CGT80
10-24-2014, 10:35 AM
True.............but I did see one that was powder coated blue and had a gray low friction material applied to the other parts. The owner went all out on it. Mine is in the stock black finish.

It is still THE blue company and the 550 is blue, that sits next to it.


I showed the pic of the PC boolits to someone who was asking me about shooting, and they thought it was candy, then they asked if the bullets were for a toy gun. If the state gets wind of all the powder coated bullets that are not evil and scary, they just might make us print warning labels on the nose of the boolits to warn people that they are evil, destructive devices, made of toxic lead, but only when in Komnifornia.

bruce381
10-24-2014, 5:28 PM
1050 and a Mr boolit feeder you are the man I bow down, most long time handloaders do not even know what a mr boolit feeder is.

I have a lowely 650 with a case feeder not even in same demension.\

dude rock on

ElvenSoul
10-24-2014, 5:30 PM
Look like skittles!

CGT80
10-24-2014, 8:26 PM
I have seen photos of ammo that other people loaded up with mixed colors. It looks really cool.

I loaded another couple hundred rounds of 40 with some nasty mass produced wax lubed bullets. The bullets work great, but it makes a mess of my pistol. Even without the bullet feeder, it was easy to pick up a bullet with one hand and pump the press with the other. 100 primers doesn't last long. I haven't had crimped pockets in the 40 brass so that isn't all that useful, but priming on the down stroke is so much better than pushing back up. Of course, the 650 auto indexes, but I was using a 550, so my left hand did double duty.

With the 1050, it is actually fun to reload. I started out as a teen loading on a hollywood universal deluxe 12 station turret press. I primed on that as well and had to feed one primer at a time and prime one case. It took forever to load ammo. I was in hog heaven when I bought my 550 used. I had heard about dillon presses and watched videos, but it wasn't a priority until I got my own pistol and used it a lot. A client of my mom's was getting out of reloading and selling everything. It consisted of two pickup loads of stuff including custom cabinets. It was great timing as I had started a great paying job and wasn't keeping up with only a single stage.

I am glad to be able to use such nice equipment. A few decades ago, the reloading world was much different. My dad and grandfathers had to go by books or lgs BS, rather than internet forums which contain a wealth of knowledge.

stevec223
10-25-2014, 12:53 AM
Well dang OP ,, did you make a video to go along with that info-mercial write-up ?? That would have been great !!!... Or maybe dillion has a video ??? .. I may get dragged to the blue side after all !!! ... But probably not !!!... (But thanks for the write-up for your brethren !! )... Cheers...

stilly
10-25-2014, 1:37 AM
0o0o0o0o Makes me wanna rush out and buy a 1050 now...

ar15barrels
10-25-2014, 8:18 AM
0o0o0o0o Makes me wanna rush out and buy a 1050 now...

You can paint it red if it makes you feel better...

CGT80
10-25-2014, 2:09 PM
You can paint it red if it makes you feel better...

Priceless response :rofl:


Just search for "dillon 1050 with bullet feeder" on youtube. There are plenty of videos. They are very nice machines. I wanted to share my appreciation for the press and also let others know that the 1050 isn't some magical and impossible to work on machine. I have not had to tweak on mine, after initially getting it setup. Cartridge swaps may take a little work, but it beats loading on a slower press.

I am thinking about making a new thread, "I hate Dillon 1050 reloading presses." Yup, I went shooting today and tried that ammo..................or maybe I should just add it to this thread and not be an OT troll. :shrug:

stilly
10-25-2014, 9:54 PM
You can paint it red if it makes you feel better...


Nah, I would rather match the same piss-yellow color of Smart Reloader...

And then call it an SR-1050 and post various photos of it online...

CGT80
10-25-2014, 11:23 PM
That is kind of an ugly yellow color :puke:

I have no idea why Dillon went black rather than their well known blue, for the 1050. I know the 1050 is a commercial grade machine without the no BS warranty, but it is still more for serious shooters rather than for factories.

Just to make Stilly happy: The Lee bullet sizing dies are working great and the price was awesome. I measured my 40 cal bullets after PC and sizing and they are dead nuts on 0.401". I was really surprised at how little they varied in size. It is easy to grab a handful of PC boolits and feed them through the die using the old Hollywood single stage. Lube sizing on the RCBS LAM I is much slower and less fun. I tried the cheap little lee single stage press I have, but it isn't nearly as smooth and nice to use. It would have helped if I bolted it down better. Maybe it won't make you happy, +1 on the dies and -1 on their cheapest press.

On the Brian Enos forum, people were asking if anyone hasn't had primer problems on the 1050, as if it is a common problem. Many have had great luck. It seems there isn't any one brand or product that will make everyone happy. Maybe I got a good copy of the press. The priming depth was my fault and it is a drawback of that type of priming system, but it is worth dealing with.

I will use all the different colors of reloading gear. Some just works better for certain tasks. Heck, I will even use the purple reloading gear. Have you tried it Stilly?



















Just kidding! Were you going to google purple reloading presses? :p