Dillon xl650 for 30-06. Which powder bar??

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Ranman

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I'm in the process of setting up my new 650 for 30-06. The unit comes with large and small with x-small and magnum being extra.....I'm a bit confused, the manual says that the large powder bar is good for loads up to 50gr and magnum for larger. Most of the loads for the 30-06 are greater than 50gr;are guys loading for this cartridge using a large or magnum powder bar???? It would seem silly for Dillon not to have included the magnum bar with the machine which was ordered specifically set up for 30-06. Insights are appreciated.
Regards
Randy
 
my dillon came set up for 308, so it's ROUGHLY the same- you use the large powder bar, and WEIGH your charges - the reason i say this is that i'm using the large and it's cracked less than half way- there should be sufficent turns for you to use all the 30-06 loads- a few years ago i remember that dillon said they came out with the magnum bar, but they also advertised it as being over 100 grain capable- if in doubt, give dillon a call on their 800- i just looked it up and my manual says the small charge bar is for pistol and the large is for rifle- i should imagine that with the 30-06 being so common, they wouldn't make a mistake on a package
 
Depends very much on the type of powder you are using and how exact you want to be. There are lots of bench rest shooters that swear loading by volume vs weight works for them while others prefer to weigh each charge. I am of the latter group. Using stick powders can often prove very frustrating using powder measures if you are looking for loads down to a 1/10th of a grain. I throw my charges with a dillon measure then empty the case onto a balance beam scale. I then trickle to the desired weight and funnel the powder back into the case.

Some powders from my experience throw better than others. Go by experience and which method you want to use. Volume or weight.

Take Care

Bob
 
Thanks for your reply Bob....Îdeally it would seem that weighing each charge is ideal but doesn't that defeat the purpose of a progressive press?
Randy
 
Ranman

Yes I guess it does but it very much depends on what you are doing or trying to achieve. Progressive presses really shine when loading pistol rounds. For loading rounds for rifle use where a great number of rounds are required for three gun etc in cartridges like but not limited to .223 can be loaded quickly and in high volume. For cartridges for hunting or bench rest shooting or military shoots I prefer to use my single stage.

My comments relating to rifle go out the window if you are loading by volume as some do, or are using a powder that drops consistanty through the Dillon/HOrnady/RCBS powder measure attached to your progressive press. I do use my 550 fully progressive when loading cast bullets in my rifles when using pistol powders or when using powders such as 4227 that meter well out of my Dillon powder measure.

I guess we all have our own way of doing things with different goals set for ourselves to achieve the desired results for the application at hand.

Take Care

Bob
 
Ranman said:
Thanks for your reply....so I can assume that the large powder bar will throw over 50gr reliably??
Randy
Click to expand...

read what i said- weigh your charges - if you get 20 or so that are consistant, you can be sure it's doing it's job- you can get by with 10 but i like to do 20
the other thing is to be consistant in HOW YOU OPERATE THE PRESS- there have been more no double / no powder "accidents" caused by OPERATOR ERROR than any fault of the machine
 
Bob...I guess I am trying to achieve high volume, and accurate cartridges. I'm completely new at this so I don't know what to expect from a press like the xl650. From your post and from what I'm reading, it seems like if one wants accuracy, at least for rifle rounds, then each load needs to be measured individually as you suggest. I can and will do that. It would be nice if one could rely a bit more heavily on the powder measure to be consistent. That way I could achieve both speed and accuracy.
t-star......I did read your post. I understand the need to weigh the charges every x number of rounds to check consistency. What I wanted to know in my initial question was if the large bar would throw over 50gr charges so that I wouldn't have to weigh every single charge. Your initial reply was not explicit in the answer, hence the follow up question. Anyway, after finishing up the press setup I opened the large powder bar out to its max setting and dropped about 10 loads of IMR 4350.........50gr is max with that bar; for that powder at least.

It would seem therefore that the magnum powder bar would be more appropriate for that cartridge. I find that a bit of a PITA....if one orders a press for a specific cartridge, the appropriate powder measure components for that cartridge should be included.

Randy
 
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IMHO the dillon powder measure is more than accurate enough for medium to magnum hunting cartridges.......on the other hand if you are a benchrest shooter or just like the extra work then by all means weigh each charge.......my 3 rnd cloverleafs (3 holes covered by a dime at 100yrds)shot out of a win model 70 in 22.250 tell me that the dillon measure is accurate enough for what I require......ymmv
bclinehand
 
bclinehand....no I'm not a benchrest shooter....at least not yet. I would love to crank out ammo that shoots groups like your getting simply by letting the dispenser charge the case. Its good to hear that the powder measure is working that well for you...have you found any powders that work particularly well, or conversely particularly poorly with your press?
Randy
 
You have to understand that it took me a lot of time to find the combination of components and powder to get those groups to work for me but I did get them by using the Dillon measure.....as for do's and don'ts all I can tell you is stay away from stick type powders or if you must use them use a "short cut" stick powder. Anything that "pours" easily or has a large charge/weight density will work (ball type powders)
 
bclinehand is throwing charges by volume and like he says given the right powder the Dillon, like most powder measures will throw consistent charges. You may find that the powder combo your rifle likes is a longer stick powder that does not pour consistently. Hence me and others suggest to weigh each charge and this is particularily important when you are starting out.

I am not sure it makes much difference loading by volume vs weight. Lee makes the Lee Dippers that seem to be pretty popular and effective and I know bench rest shooters who have load by volume with results that are scary accurate so there you are.

Not sure what application you are loading for that requires high volume rifle reloading. Let us know.

Take Care

Bob
 
imr 4350 is a extended tubular kernel powder- and they're fairly large kernels too- that's why you can only get 50 grains capacity with the standard charge bar- when dillon makes these things, they set it up for MOST applications and your's isn't most, although it is a common powder for the '06 and a lot of others- in other words your 50 grains of 4350 occupies the same space as maybe 60 or more grains of something like ball 2 or ww748, which is what i use, but i've got a 8 lb keg of the stuff and i don't ever see buying anything else as it's so versatile-i've had it since the 90's and only about 1/4 of the way through- when we could shoot our 20 round mags ( grr)anyway, it looks like you HAVE to get the magnum bar if you're going to stay with that powder- wich begs the question- if the magnum bar is required for the '06 for 4350, what about something like the 300 win mag- where you're up in the 70-100 grain range- does dillon also make a"super mag" bar - it seems to me i saw something about a magnum powder measure, when the whole thing was bigger-bigger hopper, bar, the works- anyway, i my 338 win mag set-up i've also got only the standard charge bar, which throws 70 grains , but it's imr 7828, ( i've done the weights for that too) so it's your powder- i'd also be watching for kernel cutting with 4350
 
Hi Bob.....I don't necessarily want to load "high volume" per se. I just equate high volume while maintaining accuracy as being efficient. I also like devices to work the way they are supposed to so I don't really like the idea of having to check every throw of a powder charge from my press. In any event, I understand your points and especially since I am new at this I'm going to be very fussy in weighing charges until I get a good sense as to how trustworthy the powder dispenser on the press is. To this end I've ordered one of those Chargemaster Combos to use.

T-star...thanks for your insight into the IMR 4350. The reason I picked 4350 to start with is that seems to be well respected as an all round powder for the 30-06 cartridge. I would like to use this powder so I am going to order the larger powder bar which I really think should have been included in the press. It's good to know that the smaller bar may work with different powders. Being new to this I'm going to need to get familiar with the various powders out there. I was thinking about ordering 3 additional powders to experiment with: Varget, IMR 4064, H4831sc. Opinions or other suggestions?
Randy
 
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i've heard good things about varget and 4064, but you have to respect the bullet weights- as for the 4831, i don't know- like i said, you have to conider 2 THINGS- burn rate and kernel size- you don't want a heavy extruded kernel that's going to get cut every time you throw a charge- if it were me, i'd either get on the phone to dillon or e-mail them with all your questions- they're MORE THAN WILLING to help- , i also said i've only tried ww748 as i've got the stuff by the pound and it was a RECOMMENDED powder for MATCH loads in the 308 - the 7828 is for my 338 only, and probably not relevant to the 06- too slow
 
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