Xl650 up to a 1050

davide montini

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To all the reloaders out there.... that use a Dillon xl 650 ....I’d like to ask your opinion about having the 650 and getting every gizmo for it ....and then after awhile you step back and think hmmmm maybe I should of went with the 1050 right off the bat .....from doing a calibre change and set up .....processing brass..... to me I think I should of went with the 1050... more stations ,...swage primer pockets!!!!, it’s just I find a lot of finicky stuff to do on the 650.....change this change that etc...etc...
1050 set up and go (buy the tool heads set up and go).....
Anyone else ever think about this .????
Anyone ever made the jump!!,...?..?
Please your thoughts on this .....I’m thinking about jumping up
Thanks for your time and opinions
Davide
 
You know, I've never thought about it like that before. Perhaps you're on to something. There are times however that I wish I had a 550 set up on my bench off in corner somewhere. Sometimes the auto indexing of the 650 is a pain.
 
The biggest issue with the 1050 is the warranty, the 650 will be life time issue free purchase where is the 1050 dosnt carry that warranty.
 
There's always something better and more expensive.

After you get the 1050 you'll want an autodrive. After you get the autodrive you'll go through the same process and think you should have got a camdex right away. After you get a camdex you believe a whole ammo manufacture is what you need. A few more iterations and you're competing with Hornady and Remington.

Then to cut costs you outsource production to a cheaper country. After a while you're just managing numbers. So you miss actually making ammos and get nostalgic about your first press and be like "maybe I should get a 650 like in the old days, just to roll a few once in a while as a hobby". Then you're back to square 1.
 
I started with a lee turret press then sold it and bought a 550 and used it for 15 years. Recently I put together a loaded 650, and then bought a used 1050 with conversion kits, extra tool head, etc. I am certainly not rich, but to play in this game we all need a certain level of disposable income.

I have kept all three machines as each fills a niche. I am a fan of the engineering and the lifetime warranty (except for the 1050 which is only one year for the original purchaser).

I can only speak to non commercial use. With the 1050 the conversion costs are higher and you have no warranty on parts. Canadian dillon suppliers have a greater variety of parts/conversions for the 650 than 1050. As I bought used, I had to replace a few parts ($55 US). I met a guy in a gun store who had a 1050 who regretted buying it over a 650 as his friend was supplied with an endless supply of free parts which he didn’t get.

Ultimately, the choice of press is based upon your disposable income, shooting volume, and calibers. With Dillon, you cant make a bad decision :)
 
How much do you really shoot?
Why are you changing setup so often?

If you have a progressive press, use it to it's advantage.
Make 5000 9mm, then 5000 45.

If you bought a 650 to make small lots, you missed the boat on the basic idea of a progressive.
Unless you plan to run an autodrive in the future, or just have a wallet on fire, a 1050 is for the vanity of a home loader.

As someone who loads 2-4k a month of 9mm, i've never once swaged or trimmed, i don't expect anyone that shoots pistol on mass does. (Except you 357 sig guys)
It's faster and cheaper to throw 1 out of 2/300 that crushes the primer on a badly crimped primer socket than it is to bother with the extra step.
 
How much do you really shoot?
Why are you changing setup so often?

If you have a progressive press, use it to it's advantage.
Make 5000 9mm, then 5000 45.

If you bought a 650 to make small lots, you missed the boat on the basic idea of a progressive.
Unless you plan to run an autodrive in the future, or just have a wallet on fire, a 1050 is for the vanity of a home loader.

As someone who loads 2-4k a month of 9mm, i've never once swaged or trimmed, i don't expect anyone that shoots pistol on mass does. (Except you 357 sig guys)
It's faster and cheaper to throw 1 out of 2/300 that crushes the primer on a badly crimped primer socket than it is to bother with the extra step.

They make autoloaders for the 650 too.
 
You know, I've never thought about it like that before. Perhaps you're on to something. There are times however that I wish I had a 550 set up on my bench off in corner somewhere. Sometimes the auto indexing of the 650 is a pain.[/QUOTE]

At least 3 ways I know of to disengage the auto indexing on a 650 , all take only a few seconds to do and return to original. The two easiest are just remove the advancement dog from the press body (black piece of plastic with two caphead screws holding it on), the second is just remove the long spring from under the head that returns advancement cog. Third is to remove shell holder and remove advancement cog from head (also requires long spring removal as well) and re-install shell holder without cog in the head.

With any of the above you just advance by pressure on any brass in the shell holder instead of the "star" as you would with a 550.
 
If it wasn't for a small Lotto 649 win I wouldn't have a 1050. I use my 1050 exclusively for my 9mm IPSC load and have a Mr. BulletFeeder on it. I also have a 650 with quickchange kits for about 6 different calibers. I also have a top end for processing 223 brass with an RT1200 trimmer and a SwageIt during the processing. I have had more issues with the primer mechanism on the 1050 than I have had any issues on the 650. The only issue I have had on the 650 is a broken spring.

As I have said before, having both presses, if I were starting over again I would only buy the 650. I loaded about 30,000 rounds of 9mm on the 1050 last year and close to 20,000 of various other calibers on the 650 and would go the 650 as a multi-caliber progressive press if I could only have one moving forward. A caliber change on a 650 is a piece of cake compared to the 1050.
 
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