Dillon 550 Slow - Nah!

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kingdarb

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I've owned a 550b press for about three years now, and I mostly load 9mm.

I've read a few threads on various boards lately, and some people compare the production rate of a 550b to things like the Lee turret press. I've also read a few threads where people say that they have a 550 (or used to) and can/could do about 250 rounds an hour, and because of that they bought a 650. Some people I personally know say that they can do about 600-ish an hour on a 650.

I'm not looking to suggest that a Lee turret is a bad press, or that a 650 is a poor choice. They are both good machines that fulfill their purposes well. I am just looking to write about my own rate when I load 9mm on my 550.

I have four primer tubes, so I pre-loaded them all prior to my loading session. Once that was done, I started a timer and started cranking out ammo. It took me 38 minutes to load 400 rounds of 9mm, so I am fairly certain that I could do 600 an hour if I had a couple more primer tubes. As long as I keep my hands moving, I can keep cranking out ammo pretty fast and I am still being safe and looking at the powder in every case before I seat a bullet. I would likely not load for more than an hour to two hours in a row at the most, as my attention starts to wander after that.

This is my first reloading machine, and I taught myself to use it with manuals and youtube heh. I've never had any issues with it, and it is a very versatile machine able to load a bunch of calibers. Because it is manually indexing, it let me build one round at a time and make sure that everything was good while I was getting the hang of it. Now that I'm comfortable with the machine, I can crank out ammo at a decent rate.

So... I am basically wrote all of this because I have seen many people write off the 550b because it isn't fast enough for them. With a bit of practice one can easily load 4-600 rounds an hour on this machine, and it lets you load for almost any pistol and rifle calibre to boot. If I ever get another progressive, it will be the 1050 for heavy production, but I don't know that I will ever get rid of this little gem. If you are considering a machine for pistol ammo, you really should not write this one off.
 
I assume you have the casefeeder?

I find production rates very subjective. What one can or will crank out in 20 minutes isn't necessarily extrapolated to 3 times that amount over the course of an hour.

The 550 is quite versatile. One thing I would recommend to folks looking to purchase one, is if they are thinking of doing both rifle and pistol, skip the casefeeder as it doesn't work with rifle (although I think there are some mods out there to work with some calibers). If the casefeeder is really desired, the 650 is the way to go.
 
I find this very believable. On my Lee turret, I can crank 250 9 mm per hour without rushing (if I can go at it for a solid hour. Usually do 30 minute sessions). That takes 4 strokes of the ram per round. With a progressive press, each stroke produces a round so I think 600 and hour is very doable.
 
No, no case feeder. That might speed things up a bit, but I hear that the 550 case feeder can be a bit buggy sometimes. Just busy hands. I'm pretty sure I could bang out 600 in an hour (the rate I was loading at today is about the rate I normally load at - and I did do 400 in 38 min without getting fatigued), but having said that, I usually don't load for more than an hour at a time. I also would not suggest to anyone to ever load at a rate that is faster than they are comfortable/safe with.

I do like the 650 a bit, but I don't know that the upgraded speed/hour would be worthwhile for me. If I ever need to produce more than I do, I think I will look towards the 1050.
 
I agree with everything you said. Back in my competition days I used to load/shoot 60,000 rounds of .38 Super a year - have NEVER had a breakage or failure and yes could crank out 600/hr. When I bought the 550 from Dillon I had a Squaredeal to trade - in the end - Dillon gave me credit for the SD and rather than them paying the cost of shipping it - they said "aw just keep it". Best part of 550 is its versatility/cost. Yes 650 easier to use and faster BUT whole bunch more $$$$$ and a pain to change calibers AND to "back up/clear" a jam or "mis-load" - same goes for 1050. Switching calibers using same size primers is a 5 min job!
And as you stated - the most time consuming operation is the loading of the primer tubes regardless if its a SD, 550, 650 or 1050. To sum it up : simple easy to operate, reliable, strong, loads rifle and pistol and no other press even comes CLOSE for the SERIOUS reloader....0
 
I can load 350-400 rounds of .38 spl in my 550B most of the time if I have pre-loaded primer tubes. The only hic-up is the occasional spent primer causing a few minutes delay when it gets behind the feed bar. I prefer the 550 manual feed for my 9mm because I can control the turret rotation speed so not to spill powder out of the case. I have 3- 550B's in a row set up with large primer feed, small prime feeds and the third one for rifle cartridges. Caliber changes are a simple 3-5 min. job. I just can't see the advantage of a 650.
 
I think my average rate over a long period of time is about 1 round per 4 seconds. I can do this rate all day long.
brass, bullet, lever, turn.. clink......
 
hoochie said:
I think my average rate over a long period of time is about 1 round per 4 seconds. I can do this rate all day long.
brass, bullet, lever, turn.. clink......
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Very impressive 900 rounds/hr. Way to go. You're a machine. And let me see now, all day long equals 900 times say just 12 hrs equals 10800 for the day. Wicked!!!!
 
i like the 550 for the quick switch of cal , as mentioned above 5/10 min . my rate of production is an honest 400/hr [ continuious ], incl loading primer tubes , lubing , delubing , my guess is , if i had a case feeder , i might get as many as 600/hr . i do deprime on a lee classic , not a spent primer on the floor & no fallout on the primer slide . i'm loading 32 , 9 ,40 , 45acp , by the 1k & 45c by the 500 .
if you're into hi volume a 650 c/w case & bullet feeder would be a good thought .
 
beltfed said:
I assume you have the casefeeder?

I find production rates very subjective. What one can or will crank out in 20 minutes isn't necessarily extrapolated to 3 times that amount over the course of an hour.

The 550 is quite versatile. One thing I would recommend to folks looking to purchase one, is if they are thinking of doing both rifle and pistol, skip the casefeeder as it doesn't work with rifle (although I think there are some mods out there to work with some calibers). If the casefeeder is really desired, the 650 is the way to go.
Click to expand...

I've had a casefeeder on my 550 since they came out in 2006(?). I bought the 550 in 2004 not knowing what I would eventually need. I see no point in going to a 650 now, but If I had a do-over I would go straight to the 650 with casefeeder.

Having 10 primer tubes ready cuts down my loading time. I've never really timed myself as I'm retired and just sit at the press to load 200 or 300 or 400 at a time. I have adapted it to load .223 as well as the 9mm I normally load. I decap/resize the .223 on my single stage, trim/ream pockets on the Frankford trimmer, then load them in the 550 for primer/powder/bullet/crimp.
 
Seems kind of meaningless to state production rate excluding filling primer tubes! Better to start the timer as soon as you flip the light switch in your reloading room.
 
I figure that going at a constant/leisurely pace I can easily load 400 rounds an hour with my 550 which I bought in 1990 when it first came out. That includes time for filling primer tubes and no case feeder. I thought about getting a 650 but I have at least a dozen caliber conversions which would be very costly to replace.
 
ryan said:
Seems kind of meaningless to state production rate excluding filling primer tubes! Better to start the timer as soon as you flip the light switch in your reloading room.
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Filling Dillon primers tubes to use with any press would take the same amount of time. Seems meaning less to add that to the stated production rate of a press. Cycling rates of firearms don't include the time to fill magazines or link ammo.
 
I use Dillon 550B now but I had a Lee 1000 in 38 and it was way faster than the Dillon and no primer tubes to fill and had a case feeder that worked great in 38. Primer feed was a bit difficult at times but once you learn how to use it it's okay. I also had one in 9mm but occasionally a case would get into the feeder upside down and that wasted a lot of time. Filling primer tubes is all part of the game and the Dillon filler is not cheap but it's the trade for time, I don't have one. I would like to try the Lee Load Master one day, it is probably a decent machine.
 
ryan said:
Seems kind of meaningless to state production rate excluding filling primer tubes! Better to start the timer as soon as you flip the light switch in your reloading room.
Click to expand...

Meh. Add about 2 minutes per tube. That said, I don't think anyone really takes primer tube loading into account when they are figuring out an hourly loading rate for their machine, be it a 550, 650 or 1050...
 
Pr589 said:
I find this very believable. On my Lee turret, I can crank 250 9 mm per hour without rushing (if I can go at it for a solid hour. Usually do 30 minute sessions). That takes 4 strokes of the ram per round. With a progressive press, each stroke produces a round so I think 600 and hour is very doable.
Click to expand...

Ive been using the Lee turret to reload 308 and I will be using it for the first time to load 9mm this weekend. Not looking for speed, but I'm looking for efficient ways of pouring the powder in the cases while its still on the press. I picked up some RCBS dies but they dont have a powder-through die so my only feasable option right now is to resize/deprime, prime, Expand the top part of the case, remove bullet to add powder then slide it back in the holder to seat/crimp the bullet. What is your method to efficitenly complete a bullet with this press?
 
frank2003 said:
Ive been using the Lee turret to reload 308 and I will be using it for the first time to load 9mm this weekend. Not looking for speed, but I'm looking for efficient ways of pouring the powder in the cases while its still on the press. I picked up some RCBS dies but they dont have a powder-through die so my only feasable option right now is to resize/deprime, prime, Expand the top part of the case, remove bullet to add powder then slide it back in the holder to seat/crimp the bullet. What is your method to efficitenly complete a bullet with this press?
Click to expand...

Leave the case in the press & leave a die station open for the primed case to stick up through, use funnel to add powder as you would in a loading tray...continue on to bullet seating station.
 
kingdarb said:
Meh. Add about 2 minutes per tube. That said, I don't think anyone really takes primer tube loading into account when they are figuring out an hourly loading rate for their machine, be it a 550, 650 or 1050...
Click to expand...

I do, and I take all the other steps into account as well. Everyone else is of course free to think otherwise.....
 
I usually load 200 rounds at a sitting
includes filling hopper - checking powder throw, filling the primer tubes, loading the ammo, checking the ammo, cleaning the powder out of the hopper and cleaning up - takes 45 minutes or so
if i am all set up with primers tubes etc 450-500 in an hour is easy
 
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