Dillon Precision - Which one????

[RAP66]

I've been a fan of the Dillon precision line for as long as I can remember. Their product support in my opinion is legendary

I'm trying to figure out which reloading press will work for my needs. I have a "typical" assortment of pistols, 22, 9mm, 45acp, 357. In rifles I have 22, 5.56 & 308

Which press will work for all of the calibers I currently have? 550B or 650?

Everytime I try to sort through the options I always get lost in the caliber selections and give up on sorting it out.

What do you suggest?

Thanks

Rich

[GeoffLinder]

.22 rimfire cannot be easily or properly reloaded. Otherwise all of your needs will be covered by the 550 or 650.

If you are fairly new to reloading and/or you want to switch calibers fairly often then the 550 will be a much better choice as it's a lot easier to switch calibers than the 650. The 650 has more features but is more finicky to get setup and running right.

Go to www.brianenos.com for best way to buy Dillon anywhere (even better than buying from Dillon direct).

http://www.brianenos.com/store/dillon.html

Call Brian Enos and ask his advice, you will not get better advice, help choosing or customer service anywhere.

[Colt562]

I have the 550. I love it, cant comment on the 650.




In before the Hornady is better people

[Bill Steele]

I have a 550B and also love it. I think it was XDRox who first pointed out that the beauty of the 550 was its simplicity. Simplicity equates to reliability and ease of debug when things to go sideways. If you don'T plan on getting a casefeeder, then the 550 is a no brainer.

On the other hand, if you plan on getting all the bells and whistles, case feeder, on press trimming, etc. The 650 will shine.

Call Brian Enos (you can get it from Geoff's link above), lay out what you want to do, how much you will be loading (round up because when you start reloading you will shoot more) and he will tell you what your best choice is. Brian will not over sell you (in fact, he will likely try and talk you into the 550 versus the more expesive 650). After the call, you will be glad you called him.

[XDRoX]

Bill said it perfectly. If you want a case feeder then get the 650. If you don't require that type of speed the 550b will do everything you need.

Don't listen to the ones that say you need auto indexing or a 5th station. IMO you don't. And although they make a case feeder for the 550b it doesn't work well.

What I want most in a reloading machine is reliability. I know I can walk into my garage and load 500 rounds with minimal setup and no hiccups. The 550b excels at that. Truly a 3 minute change over time between calibers if you have full conversions.

[Horton Fenty]

I have the 650 and love it. I picked it over the 550 because I wanted something that will case feed rifle. Another vote for calling Enos.

[RayB]

When it comes time to get the caliber conversions...http://gunwiki.net/apps/calconversion/

[madjack956]

I can't comment on the 650 as I have not used one, but my 550 has handled all my needs for years with no hassles.

I have never thought to myself on my way to the garage to reload that I was going to have to hassle with the machine.

It really is a joy to work with because it is a well thought out, well made piece of equipment. And that joy is multiplied by knowing Dillon is behind you all the way.

[Diabolus]

I prefer the 650, and caliber changes take 10-15 minutes tops when you are use to it.

[morrow]

I love my xl650, the case feeder + auto indexing really speeds up the process and reduces the amount of work you need to do. I also like the 5th station.

[ar15barrels]

550 has lower total cost of ownership but lower rounds per hour.
550 are much cheaper and easier to tool up for additional cartridges.
550 are manual index so it is easier to load a squib or a double charge.
I load about 30 cartridges on my 550's.

650 is more expensive and will honestly produce twice as many rounds of ammo per hour when fully setup with a case feeder.
650 are not too hard to change between cartridge setups, but they are more expensive to re-tool than a 550.
650 has an option of a powder check die station that will sound an alarm if you run out of powder or somehow double charge a case.
With the auto index, it is very difficult to double charge a case.
I load about 6 different cartridges on my 650.

My main high volume presses are 1050's though.
They swage primer pockets right on the press.
I have one dedicated to 9mm and another dedicated to 223.
I never have to worry about setting up a machine for a run of ammo the night before a match as these two machines are always ready to walk up to one of them and start pulling the handle...

[Divernhunter]

I have two 650XL's and they are great. That said IF you do not have a single stage press you should get one. I still do most all rifle ammo on my single stage presses(4 of them) and you will find a single stage press very usefull.

[madjack956]

Rockchuckers were $139.00 last month at Natchez. I bought one for decapping. Nice piece.

[DRAB_81]

I started with a Rockchucker, and eventually stepped up to the 650. I still use the Rockchucker for little stuff here & there, but the 650 does most of the work now. I have quick change setups for 9mm, 45 & 10mm, as well as 2 toolheads for 223 (1 for prep, 1 to load), and I'll eventually get a quick change setup for the priming system to switch between large & small primers. The 650 is a little more time consuming to do the initial die setup due to the auto indexing though. I have to keep shuffling the brass after it indexes, until I get the dies where I want them. Once it's squared away, it absolutely flies with the case feeder. The 550 is a great machine, but I'm definitely glad I chose the 650.

[Kevin Rohrer]

I have a 550 and used to have a 650. I stayed with the 550 due to the expense of caliber changes, the time needed to make them, the ease of correcting mistakes, and the increased safety of the manual index.