Reloading - Need info on Dillon

[RustySocket]

Currently loading on a single stage rock chucker. Not new to reloading.

I have been reading for days on the different Dillon presses. I need the capability to load rifle so the square deal is out as it is straight pistol cartridges only.

I'm trying to make the decision between the RL550b and the XL650

Can anyone who is using either of these presses tell me what the upsides and downsides are. Any regrets or things you'd do different.

My intent is to use my existing RCBS dies and go with a dillon or lee crimp die in the fourth postion. I will be loading several calibers. I know that the coversion kits arent cheap but I think for high volume stuff it will be worthwhile.

For my big rifle stuff I will continue to use my single stage and had weigh each charge.

Also who sells Dillon locally. I'm near Olympia. Any Ifishers that are dealers out there?

There's lots of postive comments on the internet. I know there have to be some negatives what are they.

Thanks for any comments

[Hawk]

We went with the XL650 directly fron Dillon. We're brand new; it's all still in the box! We researched it up one side and down the other and decided on the Dillon based on their reputation here in iFish and a couple of other forums we consulted. Dillon is upper end on price, but top end on quality.

[Flatfish]

If you can afford the 650, have at it. We have a 550 (Bought it before the 650 came out....or I would have the 650), and it's pretty spiffy.

[sealgal2008]

My dad does a lot of reloading and I have helped him and loaded lots of ammo on my own on his dillion presses. He has both of the presses you are asking about and I have used both of them. I prefer loading on the RL550B, it has 4 stations and manual indexing. When something goes wrong while loading its much easier to correct the issue with a manually indexing shell plate than an auto indexing one like on the XL650. Both presses can load the same calibers. The 650 can be fitted with an auto case feed but it doesnt save that much time and is just one more thing to go wrong. The 550 is less expensive and works almost as fast as the 650. If you are loading 2000 rounds or less a month there is no reason to consider a 650, a 550 will take care of your needs.

You can go tho their website dillionprecision and order your press today. no need to bring in a middle man, go straight to the manufacture.

Cheers

Betty

Originally Posted by RustySocket

Currently loading on a single stage rock chucker. Not new to reloading.

I have been reading for days on the different Dillon presses. I need the capability to load rifle so the square deal is out as it is straight pistol cartridges only.

I'm trying to make the decision between the RL550b and the XL650

Can anyone who is using either of these presses tell me what the upsides and downsides are. Any regrets or things you'd do different.

My intent is to use my existing RCBS dies and go with a dillon or lee crimp die in the fourth postion. I will be loading several calibers. I know that the coversion kits arent cheap but I think for high volume stuff it will be worthwhile.

For my big rifle stuff I will continue to use my single stage and had weigh each charge.

Also who sells Dillon locally. I'm near Olympia. Any Ifishers that are dealers out there?

There's lots of postive comments on the internet. I know there have to be some negatives what are they.

Thanks for any comments

[Oregon-Jet]

I have a 650 and have loaded thousands of 223, 308, 357 Sig, 40 SW, 45acp, without any trouble.
I have all the beeping Warning's on the stations and i don't have any trouble with it as long as you set it up correctly.
I know nothing about the other Dillon's as i came for single stage press reloading before my 650 Dillon.
If you want to put an end to probles feeding, use the Dillon Dies with the Large Radius mouths.

[cwh]

I went through the same decision making process, and ended up with the 550. Basically, it comes down to the question above (how many rounds are you loading per month?) plus, how many different cartridges you want to reload. The 550 is much quicker to convert from one caliber to the other (reportedly - I've never run a 650, but everyone seems to agree on that).

Brian Enos has a good run-down on the strengths and weakneses of each here:

[RustySocket]

Thanks for all the information. Looks like a 550 would be the way to go for me.

I have yet to hear from someone who purchased a dillon and didn't like it.

I tossed around the idea of adding a rcbs piggyback to my rockchucker but there seems to be a lot of negative press and the setup is hit and miss for some.

Anyone have any firsthand experience adding the piggyback ii