Well, I made my progressive press decision. I was thinking of the Hornady AP, but I decided on the Dillon 650XL. I figured in the end that Hornady has a lot of irons in the fire, where as Dillon mostly does presses. I ordered it in .45ACP. I will also be loading, 9mm, 40 S&W, 44 Mag, .223, and 30-30, all with easy metering powders. The larger rifles will still be done on the Rockchucker. Any one have any feedback on their 650?

You made the right choice, I have a 650 and like it very much. I purchased a Hornady progressive last December when Midway had them on sale but had to return it because the ram had a very loose fit and the casting was irregular. I know someone who has the Hornady progressive before lock-n-load and he likes his very much. I ordered the Dillon 650 to load auto pistol cals that I use a lot of,9mm,40S&W,45acp. I am impressed with Dillon and there press,service with them is the best I have ever seen from any company for product service,I had a few question on initial setup and they were very helpful.
I started off slow,and this was a good thing because there were a few mistakes on my part
during the learning curve . Once you get used to the machine and develop your own rhythm the speed will pick up. The quality of all the equip is great,I got the auto case feed and a setup for 9mm,40S&W and 45acp. I like the powder check die as it will keep you from double charging as well as short charging a case .This is my first progressive,prior to this I've loaded only rifle cartridges on a RCBS Rochchucker outfit I bought in 1964 from Gander Mountain,
and it still works great.
Best, Alan

Thanks for the answer, BigAl.
It was good to get solid positive feedback. I gave this choice a lot of consideration. Dillon's reputation swayed the scales to the 650. I figured a progressive press, being more complicated, would have more things to go wrong. You need that customer service. And, like you, the powder check die I consider a must for this kind of setup. Especially for the 45 ACP.

I have had the 650 for about 7 or years now. I use it for 9mm, 40, and 45, and do all my rifle on a single stage press.

I got the brass feeder and the whole nine yards. It is a very nice press for very high volume reloading. However, it does have its drawbacks if you just want to load 50 rounds, changing from caliber to caliber seems to be a little more involved then I care for.

The 550 is nice if you jsut want to do 50 rounds at a time, while not as fast as the 650, it seems to lend itself to changing calibers a little better.

I blew up my 650 once. Apparently this happens from time to time, another friend of mine had it ahppen to him, and I have heard of it happening elsewhere as well. The whole primer tube went up, destroyed a buch of parts, Dillon replaced them. I guess you can contributed it to the shell holder not aligning properly. I rember telling them about it and they did not even question me too much, so I guess they heard of it before.

I used to think Dillon's customer service was absolutly flawless until I broke one of thier bullet puller after only a little bit of use. They offered to replace it, but needed almost $15 in shipping and upgrade charges because they switched models. I buy nonprogressive press related parts from RCBS now because of this, But I still like the old 650.

These were my experinces. You will like the press, good luck with it.

------------------
www.rifleshooter.com

Thanks also for the imput Bill. I had no plans to load 50 rounds, then change calibers on this press. I will load runs of a certain caliber, perhaps batched with different loads and projectiles at times. As it is, I usually load 50 or a 100, then a day or 2 later go to the range. I want to have a large selection of ammo stocked, in different calibers, to shoot if the mood strikes me.