Well, I in need of a new press and wanted to go progressive, I dont have enough time durning the week to load the needed amount of ammo for the weekend. Shooting alot of semi's these days and like to shoot them alot.

Any have experance with the Dillon XL 650? That what I've been looking at.

What other good presses are out there, RCBS?

Thanks in advance for the help.

The 650 is a great press. I load on two 550bs, but I think the Hornady is the best bet going for a quality progressive today. Plus they throw in 1000 free bullets, that's like another $150 off.

I have a lee 1000 and i don't recommend it I wish i would have bought the dillon

Take a look at the Hornady's powder system. It is superior to the Dillon. Changeover on the Hornady is faster and easier, unless you buy a separate powder measure for each set-up on the Dillon.
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Thanks to all.
I took a look at the Hornady's press a few times. I seen the powder system on the Dillon and didn't know what to think. I just now took a look at Hornady's real close and it looks alot nicer.
The 1000 free bullets they give you with purchase is kinda lame, at least for me. The .22 or .308 would be my choice and they are crappy bullets unless you plink, just in my opinion.
I might need to re-think my investment, that Hornady looks nice. I have about a week before I order.

For a good comparison between Dillon, Hornady and Lee progressive presses, go here:

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

Andy

quote:

Originally posted by BigJakeJ1s:
For a good comparison between Dillon, Hornady and Lee progressive presses, go here:

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

Great read!!! Thanks.

The Dillon 650 is a fine press.....mine is set up in .223 and has never been changed.

My Hornady Lock and Load Ap is also a fine press and the lock and load bushings make it a very easy changeover.

Flip a coin~

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
The Dillon 650 is a fine press.....mine is set up in .223 and has never been changed.

My Hornady Lock and Load Ap is also a fine press and the lock and load bushings make it a very easy changeover.

Flip a coin~

Perfect person to talk to.

If you did have to switch calibers would the Hornady be quicker? I want to be able to load about 1000 rds. .223 and then switch to .30-06 and do the same. Is one more cost effective then the other to change?

Thanks for the input.

Not to mention there will be a few random "odd" calibers mixed in there, 7.62x39, and anything my buddies want me to load for them. These wont be loaded all the time, I run lots of ~200 at a time for a couple different people.

quote:

Originally posted by cjaholic:
Thanks to all.
I took a look at the Hornady's press a few times. I seen the powder system on the Dillon and didn't know what to think. I just now took a look at Hornady's real close and it looks alot nicer.
The 1000 free bullets they give you with purchase is kinda lame, at least for me. The .22 or .308 would be my choice and they are crappy bullets unless you plink, just in my opinion.
I might need to re-think my investment, that Hornady looks nice. I have about a week before I order.

I think you get a choice of bullets, so I would get 230grFMJ & trade them out or sell them to someone & get what you want.

the 650 is probably the best on the market. if you don't like the powder measure you can buy a hornady or rcbs with a linkage to make it work on the 650. i do this for rifle rounds, but go back to the dillon for pistol rounds.

although not a true progressive i would look at the 550 from dillon it is simple and utterly reliable, it is also fast enough to run off 200 in bout an hour.
change-over is also like 5 minutes.
and they caliber adapters are cheaper then the 650.
if you want a case feeder they have it also.
just get it and the primer filler so you can keep up with it.
there are places to save time and places to pay attention.

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:

quote:

Originally posted by cjaholic:
Thanks to all.
I took a look at the Hornady's press a few times. I seen the powder system on the Dillon and didn't know what to think. I just now took a look at Hornady's real close and it looks alot nicer.
The 1000 free bullets they give you with purchase is kinda lame, at least for me. The .22 or .308 would be my choice and they are crappy bullets unless you plink, just in my opinion.
I might need to re-think my investment, that Hornady looks nice. I have about a week before I order.

I think you get a choice of bullets, so I would get 230grFMJ & trade them out or sell them to someone & get what you want.

I thought of that. Sell the bullets to reduce the cost of the case feeder.

I have a Dillon 550 and have used to to load a round or two. I bought it when I figured loading time far exceded shooting time and that was with wheel guns.

The RCBS seems to be more ergonomically correct (case and boolit with left hand, actuator handle with the right hand), but have never handled one.

Primer feed can be an issue.

Simple "off the shelf" powder measure has to be an advantage.


Good LUCK.

All of them will let you shoot a LOT more!

I have a Dillon 550B. I have had very good experience with it. I have seperate die plates and powder die for each caliber. One powder measure. I can change calibers in about 10 minutes including recalibrating the powder measure.

For rifle ammo I use their 450 powder die adaptor so that I can weigh each charge and dump it in. Works great.

For me, the deciding factor was the flexability of the 550. It can be used as a single stage press, or progressive press. Because it does not have auto advance it is very easy to deal with glitches and calibrate it.

I haven't used any of the other progressive presses, haven't felt any need to.

The Dillon works great, and their warranty service is second to none. Something breaks or doesn't work right, they don't ask how it broke, just for your address so they can send you another one. They send you another one no questions asked, no charge, and they send it right away.

Fitch

A couple of thoughts on using a progressive press for rifle reloading:

The Dillon 550 and the Hornady LNL AP both easily support "single stage" type operations. On the 550, just don't advance the shell plate. On the LNL AP, just remove all the other dies (and you can still use a case feeder this way).

Rifle cartridge loading sometimes needs "custom" processing that is not used every time. For instance, if you neck size, occasionally you'll want to use a FL die or a shoulder bump die to reset the cartridge shoulder position. You may want to change seating dies for different bullet profiles, or change/add/remove a crimp die. The ability to change individual dies comes in handy in these situations.

As previously mentioned, the Hornady or RCBS powder measures do a better job metering extruded rifle powders than the Dillon PM.

Andy