25 Years with my Dillon 550B

I bought my 550 lightly used as an alternative to my 650.

The 650 is set up to load 308. Has a case feeder.

The 550 has about 10 tool heads fitted with dies for various calibers.

With both presses I size and prime as separate operations. Only primed cases go into my Dillons.

The 650 is clapped out. Loaded over 500,000 rounds.

The 500 is going strong. Lost count at 100,000 rounds. On the second powder thrower. First one burned up when a visitor tried to use it as an ash tray. (He was drunk.)

Dillon service is outstanding. They have supplied free parts, as required. Including a new powder thrower.

I also have a Redding turret press, used for sizing and pulling. And I use a simple Lee single press for some special operations, like high volume bullet pulling.
 
Update: so the base for my auto priming system got loose and sloppy. Called Dillon yesterday and they are sending me a new complete autoprime unit and spacer plate. Absolutley no questions asked and no charge to me. I love Dillon!

I also asked about the new greaseable cross shafts and bushing system in the handle / arm assembly of the new 550C model: he said "when yours wear out give us a call and we will send you a set free of charge". May never need them but good to know they are not only willing to supply you replacement parts but willing to supply you with the updated versions: that's customer service.
 
buckbrush said:
Hey you guys, don't run a 1050 what ever you do. You will never be satisfied with Dillon's aluminum econo presses again!
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No doubt: but I got too much invested in tool heads, conversion kits and powder throwers to make the switch now! It would be different if the machine were unreliable or I was not happy with its performance but it still runs like a swiss watch so I'll keep it for a while yet!
 
I noticed RCBS is now making a couple of Dillon 650 clones, at a higher price than the 650! I had a 550, it worked great for the most part. I broke 2 cranks loading rifle cartridges. When I was ordering the second replacement crank the tec. suggested F.L. sizing rifle cartridges was not what the 550 is best at. Ganderite's loading methods are probably good idea and would result in a much smoother working press.
 
buckbrush said:
I noticed RCBS is now making a couple of Dillon 650 clones, at a higher price than the 650! I had a 550, it worked great for the most part. I broke 2 cranks loading rifle cartridges. When I was ordering the second replacement crank the tec. suggested F.L. sizing rifle cartridges was not what the 550 is best at. Ganderite's loading methods are probably good idea and would result in a much smoother working press.
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Those RCBS models don't seem to be very well reviewed. Lots of good reading about them on ar15.com. Too bad because i love my rock chucker, but rcbs can't seem to figure out the progressive thing
 
I bought my 550 on Dec 18, 1990 (I still have the sales receipt); I had a 450 before that so the 550 was a big upgrade. I have never regretted the purchase and it is still working fine.
 
Bought my 550 at least 25 years ago to replace the Lee progressive I had at the time. It's loaded many thousand high quality rounds of both rifle and pistol. Never had a problem with it. After my Rock Chucker it is probably the best purchase of reloading equipment I've made. I list it second to the Rock Chucker because that's what got me started reloading.
 
I recently upgraded my 550 with an aftermarket primer track bearing plate that I purchased from a seller on eBay. Compared to the original piece, this one is both longer and incorporates a ball bearing to better guide the primer slide for smoother feeding. Thus far, it appears to have eliminated the occasional primer misfeeds that happened previously.

The 550 is a real workhorse that excels at producing moderate volumes of several different rifle and pistol cartridges. The new bearing plate makes a great press even better.
 
I bought a used Dillon 1000 from OMA reloading around 1990 for $1000 and included extra tool head and a ton of access and spare parts. Figure they probably loaded 100k+ easily (prob more like 500k). It's all steel and the only thing that has broken are the long springs, the ends break and an easy fix with a needle nose plier to form another hook on the end. I've prob loaded 100k easily. Dillon is the best. I also have 2 rock chuckers, one mounted with a Dillon power trimmer and the other for sizing rifle calibers.
 
beretta boy said:
Similar "good relations" with my Ponsness/Warren "Elite Grand" shotshell reloader.
A little over 20 years now, and I'm sure well over 100K. target reloads.
No broken parts issues at all - well maintained and lubricated as per the instruction manual.
Their S.T.O.S. (slipperier than owl s**t) synthetic lube is really good stuff !

Firm believer in investing in quality equipment. My CF reloading is "small scale", likely less than 200 - 300 rounds a year,
so the old RCBS Rockchucker works just fine for my needs. Dillon would be a first choice for a progressive !
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An excellent point. High quality equipment is best, but many shooters don't shoot endless bucket loads of pistol ammunition, and don't need a progressive press.

For us, an RCBS Rockchucker, Lee Classic Cast iron press, Redding Big Boss, or a cast iron turret press from Redding or RCBS is ample, even if you shoot three hundred rounds a month instead of a year.

As far as reliability is concerned, I'm still using an RCBS JR3 that I bought new in 1972. It will outlive me.
 
If you are the type that likes to do large batches in single stages by all means the single stage Rockchucker is the way to go.

Even if only reloading in small quantities my time is valuable and as much as I enjoy reloading just about every caliber I shoot the process doesn't need to be any longer than necessary.
Bang for the buck, ease of caliber change and speed of production I'd still recommend a Dillon.
 
Boomer686 said:
If you are the type that likes to do large batches in single stages by all means the single stage Rockchucker is the way to go.

Even if only reloading in small quantities my time is valuable and as much as I enjoy reloading just about every caliber I shoot the process doesn't need to be any longer than necessary.
Bang for the buck, ease of caliber change and speed of production I'd still recommend a Dillon.
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If you load in small batches, the time factor is insignificant. If you can't spare an hour to reload a box or two of ammo, then you probably can't spare the time to go to the range to shoot it.

In 40+ years of shooting, I've never been so busy and so impatient that I begrudged an hour of reloading time to the point where I wished for a progressive loading machine instead of a press.
 
Only have had the 650 for about 2 months. Loaded about 6k 9mm already. I'm buzy and lazy at the same time, so I usually load before going to the range. 10-15 min I'll have enough for the day.
 
1873shootist said:
If you load in small batches, the time factor is insignificant. If you can't spare an hour to reload a box or two of ammo, then you probably can't spare the time to go to the range to shoot it.

In 40+ years of shooting, I've never been so busy and so impatient that I begrudged an hour of reloading time to the point where I wished for a progressive loading machine instead of a press.
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Different tools for different tasks imo. I load all my 9mm and 223 on my Dillon 650. No way I'm loading 1-2000 rounds of these on a single stage per month to meet the our shooting need.
If I'm in the mood and fancy some "precision" loading, I load some 223 and 308 on my wife's co-ax or my T7. To be honest, co-ax sees the least amount of use but I do use all the presses in the house.
I've only gotten into reloading this summer, and being a EIT and tight on time, a progressive makes a lot of sense to me.
 
A few years ago I bought a lightly used 550B and I've never regretted it. I was single stage loading pistol rounds before and unsure if I should spend the money. It has saved me so much time that money is not missed.
 
Just an update: been a slow 2018 shooting season for me but my counter is now at 170K rounds thru this 550B Dillon machine. Still reliable as ever, still like it, and still my favourite progressive press.
 
Wow ! I wasn't aware that this machine is really older than me. It must be something to have a machine that is 25 years old and still working. Congratulation !
 
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