Gave In...Bought a Dillon

[legion]

My new XL650 arrived today. I'll get it set up over the weekend.

On an unrelated note, I have a Lee Pro 1000 with 9mm dies for sale and a Lee Loadmaster with .223 dies for sale...

[mossguy]

We'll need a range report as soon as you have it up and running!

Happy reloading!

[Joeaksa]

Congrats! You will never look back, this is one of the best ever made!

[ODDJOB UNO]

silly joe forgot to ask, so i will for both of us.......................


CAN WE BORROW IT and TAKE FOR A TEST DRIVE?


for say a month or so would be fine.


pretty please.

[vash]

my brother gave his away!! he said he didnt think i wanted it. i almost beat his ass over the phone.
he kept the brass cleaner..and all the rifle stuff.

since he joined the police force..he gets all the ammo he wants, no need to reload. i get all heated up just thinking about it.

then there was this antique meat slicer.......

(i gave him a 911!)

have fun with that thing. ive heard the new ones rock!!

[Joeaksa]

Vash,

There is no "new or old" with Dillon. Buy one anywhere and if its not "up to snuff" send it here in Scottsdale Arizona to the factory and they will overhaul it and replace anything needed FOR FREE for the lifetime of the press.

They want the owner to be happy and we all want everyone to be safe, so this is their guarantee. Sure works for me...

Joe A

[dhoward]

That's not "giving in". That's "stepping up".

[on2wheels52]

So Chris, after you get it set up and running, will you say the Lee is almost as good as the Dillion?
Don't know if you have Dillon dies or not; I know they will make you sell your RCBS ones.
Jim

[Tim Hancock]

I cannot comment on how a Lee Loadmaster works with .223 (my guess is that it is not the greatest for rapid trouble free loading of tall rifle rounds). That said, my Loadmaster works perfect loading 9mm. The case feeder collater gizmo works great and I can zip through 100 rounds very quickly. Dillon obviously makes great loaders, but with my mechanical aptitude, my much cheaper Lee Loadmaster does the same job just as well. To date, I have probably ran about 10,000 rounds through it.

[azasadny]

Congrats!!

[legion]

Well...I started assembling the 650 press today. I got to the step where you install and adjust the dies and I realized it didn't come with dies. I guess when I ordered it with a 9mm caliber conversion, that didn't actually include any dies. I'm used to all of the Lee stuff coming with everything needed for a caliber. It is a minor annoyance that they don't just raise the price $65 and presume you want dies. So I guess I have to wait a little bit longer to get going.

What I can say after using Lee equipment for 5 years (and spending more time keeping it adjusted than actually reloading) is that it is clearly evident that the Dillon stuff is much better built. There is hardly any plastic--especially in the wear parts that tend to break on the Lee presses. The action of the ram is so smooth as to be surreal. I noticed there is a little extra travel on the downstroke for primer seating, but I'm already used to that on my Lee Pro 1000. In fact, I will probably mark where the ram needs to travel down to on the press frame so that I get some visual confirmation of a firm primer seating. (I did this on my Pro 1000 too.)

The Achilles heal on all of my Lee progressive presses is the priming. My Pro 1000 primes on the downstroke and my Loadmaster primes on the upstroke. Over the years, I have learned to feel when a primer is getting mangled, which usually necessitates an hour of dis-assembly and diagnosis, followed by a trip to my substantial cache of spare parts, and ultimately an on-line order as what broke this time is something that never broke before. My other criticism of Lee is their reliance on thin metal rods to actuate powder drops and bullet feeds. These tend to bend over time, never to be right again. It got so bad with my Loadmaster not dropping powder that I eventually bought a Hornady powder die and measure. The other thing I've learned to feel for with a Lee press is the shell plate not indexing (the Pro 1000 and Loadmaster have very different indexing mechanisms, but they are both reliant on a large number of small parts--some plastic--being aligned just right to work). If I happen to miss that feeling, the next feeling inevitably is a shell being crushed.

I'm sure I'll be happy with the XL 650. It seems that I can also use it for rifle calibers, so I might just go down to one progressive press. (Or get an 1050...)

[Joeaksa]

You can use it for various calibers. I used to reload .38/.357, .45 auto, then 5.56 and 30.06 with mine years ago. Just need the conversion kits for each caliber.

[shadowjack1]

I use mime to load from .223 to .375 ulta mag. The thing is bullet proof. The no BS warrnty is great. Mine went underwater during Katrina and Dillion replaced it at no charge.
Once you get the hang of setting it up you will not look back.

[legion]

I spent about an hour and a half setting up the press yesterday once the dies came in. I will say that setting up the dies on the Dillon was MUCH easier than on my Lee Loadmaster. On the Lee, as I set up each die I it would throw off all of the previously set dies, and I ended up constantly having to go back and tweak all of the "set" dies each time I added a new one. It took about 5 hours to set up that press.

I ran 100 rounds through the Dillon as a test. My only complaint is that the plunger on the powder check die occasionally gets hung up on the case mouth and gives me a false warning. Other than that, I found the Dillon to have a smoother stroke and require less effort than any of my Lee presses. It took me 20 minutes to load 100 rounds while carefully watching everything. Compare that to 1-2 hours (depending on the mechanical difficulties encountered) on my Lee progressive presses.

[Joeaksa]

Glad to hear it!

We have been trying to get Tim to try one out for years and he keeps protesting... eventually he will come "into the fold!"

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by legion

My only complaint is that the plunger on the powder check die occasionally gets hung up on the case mouth

My Dillion (550 with Dillion dies) does that too with new cases or overly cleaned used cases. I use an old toothbrush to put the lightest smeer of Lee Resizing Lubricant on the plunger every 3 or 4 cases.

[flatbutt]

What say ye to using RCBS dies in a Dillon press? I know not of what I speak.

Anyone have springfield 30-06 dies for sale?

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

What say ye to using RCBS dies in a Dillon press? I know not of what I speak.

Anyone have springfield 30-06 dies for sale?

Good quality dies are the same, they will work in any good press. Does not have to be a Dillon die...

Go to a local gunshow and pick up dies there.

Which press did you get? The 550 is a good starter but if you reload much the 650 makes things a lot easier.

[on2wheels52]

I've been using RCBS dies since the '70's, they're fine.
Used them on the Dillion a bought a few years ago.
A used Dillon and a number of Dillon die sets came through the shop.
I sold the press to some guy .
Then I sold the duplicate RCBS dies. They lack features the Dillon's have.
Jim

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Glad to hear it!

We have been trying to get Tim to try one out for years and he keeps protesting... eventually he will come "into the fold!"

I tried out my uncles 650 at x-mas..... worked great.... no better or faster than my Loadmaster when reloading handgun rounds.

I am guessing that should I ever start reloading .223, my Lee Loadmaster might not work so smoothly.

While the Lee might not be the best for everyone, mine works great and has not required any finicky re-adjustments.