New Press

[264charlie]

Hello Calgunners,

I canceled my order for the Dillon 650 due to mixed reviews and lack of knowledge of my part.

I have decided to learn a bit more before ordering a "650 like" press.

For now I am looking into a single stage . I have read this is a great press...

Just an update because I am board at work setting on a conference call

[What Just Happened?]

Mixed reviews on a Dillon? That's something I've not heard before. The only thing I would say to sway someone away from buying a Dillon is if it's your first press and you don't have anyone to help / guide you.

I would suggest a turret press. I started loading on a single-stage press and hated the fact that I would have to swap out the dies each time. That meant that each batch would be different than every other.

[chickenfried]

mixed reviews on the dillon 650 ...

[smokingloon]

I haven't read anything bad about the Dillion press in itself. Just that if you are new that it might be overwhelming at first. I started with a RCBS single stage and am looking at a progressive for those handgun rounds.

[foxtrotuniformlima]

You have been steered wrong my brother. Dillon is A+.

A 650 might be a little too much press for a first time reloader. The 550 is what I started out on.

[thebloodsonthewall]

You have been steered wrong my brother. Dillon is A+.

A 650 might be a little too much press for a first time reloader. The 550 is what I started out on.

My first press was also a 550. I have now added a single stage press for various things but it is not necessary. I did have some one help me set-up my press which was a huge help but with the instructions included and the customer support given it shouldn't be to hard. You can also ask questions on here.

[GW]

Really!
I'd love to see some bad reviews on Dillon's
They'd either be spoofs or from competitors.

[264charlie]

As all this is a learning experience for me I thing I will learn a lot doing things one at a time then order a big progressive press…
All the negative words on the 650 are focused around powder measure.
This is one point of view I found…

Your question usually ignites a firestorm of of "Blue verses Red verses etc." What you are not going to find is very many people that have actually loaded on BOTH DILLON AND HORNADY. I have loaded on both. Here is my perspective:

Consider the Hornady Lock and Load Progressive. It’s cheaper than the Dillon and has several features that, IMHO are better than Dillon.

The Dillon has been on the market a long time and have great customer service, as a result, Dillon users are dedicated to their blue presses. The Dillon's are EXCEPTIONAL presses and do an exceptional job in reloading. The competition to the Dillon is the Hornady Lock and Load Auto Progressive. Because most of the Dillon users are so satisfied I was swamped with comments like, "The Hornady L-n-L is Junk!" I asked if they had ever loaded on the L-n-L and 99.9% said no. When I did find someone that had experience with both presses, most liked the L-n-L and many had sold their Dillon's and bought the L-n-L.

IMHO the Dillon has one major shortcoming and, most Dillon owners will agree if they are honest. The Dillon powder measure is sorely lacking in ease of use and adjustability. It meters ball type powder very well but flake type powder less so. And, extruded stick type powder is VERY troublesome and not all that accurate. To be fair, extruded powder is difficult in all powder measures. But, the L-n-L powder measure handles all types of powder MUCH better than the Dillon. Also, it is a pain to swap out the Dillon powder measure to another die plate. As a result, many owners have several powder measures on separate die plates for changing calibers. This significantly drives UP the COST.

Also, the Dillon gets filthy as the old primers are caught in a cup after they fall thru the bottom of the shell plate. Ash and carbon from the spent primers finds it's way into the priming system. This debris causes "flipped" or "skipped" primers. The DILLON primer system works well provided it is kept CLEAN. The Hornady L-N-L spent primers are dropped thru a plastic tube and into the trash or bottle or whatever you want to use. The point is, the dirt off the spent primers does not foul the workings of the press. As a result, the L-N-L IS MUCH CLEANER TO USE THAN THE DILLON.

I think you stated you wanted a powder check system. The Dillon Square Deal and 550 has 4 die stations. You need 5 station to have a powder check. The L-N-L has 5 stations. The Dillon 650 has 5 stations but, costs significantly more.

How the presses index is an issue for some people. In reading the web about "KABOOMS" (Blowing up a gun!!). the VAST MAJORITY of kabooms I have read about were directly traced back to a manually indexing press. This is not the fault of the press but operator error. If you get distracted while reloading, you can easily double charge a case. IMHO, that is less of a problem with auto-indexing presses. The Hornady L-N-L, Dillon 650 and, Dillon Square Deal auto index. The MOST POPULAR Dillon press, the 550 is a manually indexing press. Some people prefer manual, some people prefer auto.

Next, the L-N-L uses a really slick bushing system for mounting loading dies to the press. It makes changing calipers and SNAP. After a die is adjusted for whatever you are loading you can remove the die from the press with an 1/8 turn and insert a different die. Each die has it's own bushing. The Dillon uses a die plate. The Dillon die plate costs more than L-N-L bushings. Another neat feature with the Hornady is that you can buy a bushing conversion setup and use the same bushings on your RCBS, Lyman or other single stage press and the L-N-L!

Additionally, the L-N-L seems to be built like a tank! The ram is about 2"+ in diameter and the basic press is similar in construction to the RCBS Rockchucker. I would say that a side-by-side comparison to the either the Dillon 550 OR 650, the L-N-L is at least as sturdily built. And, In some areas I think the L-N-L is better built. i.e., The massive ram, powder measure, and primer system. The head/top of the press is solid except for where the dies are inserted. The Dillon has a large cutout that is needed for their die plates. By just looking, it would seem the L-N-L would be stronger. But, of course, that may not be the case.
There is one piece that can get damaged on the L-N-L. There is a coil spring that holds the cases in the shell holder that can get crushed if you improperly change shell holders. That's the bad news. The good news is that they are only about $2-3 and they won't get crushed if you change shell plates correctly. The other good news is that this spring is the primary reason that while loading you can easily remove a case at any station. With the Dillon you have to remove pins in order to take a shell out of a shell plate.

You can load anything on both the Dillon and L-N-L from .25 ACP to 500 N.E. Realistically, I would say that people with progressive loaders mostly load pistol ammo about 99% of the time. After using the L-N-L for while I feel confident that my Grandkids will be using when I'm gone.

In summary, the Hornady L-N-L has all the features of the Dillon 650 but is much cheaper. Changing calipers is faster and cheaper. The powder measure on the L-N-L is VASTLY SUPERIOR TO THE DILLON, at least in my opinion. I bought the L-N-L and am very satisfied. A shooting buddy of mine is a long time, dedicated Dillon user. He has three! After giving me a ration of "stuff" about my choice, he came over and used my L-N-L and sheepishly said, "That's a very nice setup!!"

[EBR Works]

Real unbiased information here:

http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillonLeeHornadyComparison.pdf

[264charlie]

Impactoco, thanks for the info...

[randy]

Buy the 650 you won't regret it. Talk to AR15Barrels Randall can help you he's the California Dillion Photo shop.

[GW]

Real unbiased information here:

http://www.comrace.ca/cmfiles/dillon...Comparison.pdf

Unbiased but subjective nonetheless. That said, if the Hornady rocks your world, then go for it.
My personal experience with the Lee progressive was disastrous. It had lots of great ideas but (12 years ago) they were cheaply made and broke easily. Maybe they're better now, but I won't bother. I do own and like my basic Lee turret press. I use it for low volume pistol loading and it works great for that purpose. As for the LnL, Never even seen one set up, let alone in operation.

The 650, though, is a gift from above

[EBR Works]

I have had my LNL AP for about 5 months. And these are my observations:

What I don't like:

1: I have the wire ejection system which can be problematic when using a crimp die in the last station. I just removed it and flick the completed rounds out with my finger. The new ejection system introduced last month should be much better so I'll send the press off to be upgraded soon for $100.

2: The primer slide must be kept meticulously clean. A shot of canned air every once in awhile solves this. I still have issues with the last primer in the tube sticking in the mechanism despite using a piece of dowel to weight the primer stack.

3: The shell plate indexes very abruptly and consistently causes ball powder loads to spill from 7.62x39 rounds. This will be a problem with near max powder charges in most any caliber. I talked to Hornady about this and they stated that there was no resolution for this issue. I have had to stop using ball powder in that caliber.

Other than that, I'm happy. So far I have reloaded about 3000 rounds in 7.62x39, .223, 38/357 Mag and 9mm on the LNL AP. I still do 7.62x54r and 30-06 on my single stage Rock Chucker. I plan on reloading 308 and .45 on the LNL AP soon.

[Sunwolf]

I can load 10,000 .223 a day on the Dillon. The Lee Loadmaster ,maybe 800 due to breakdowns.The LNL don`t know and don`t care.

[C.G.]

As for the LnL, Never even seen one set up, let alone in operation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHCYnILM6u8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huhI-BtQHU0&feature=related