I am so sick of me XL 650

peter2772000

peter2772000

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Montreal, Quebec, Canada
For those who don't know/remember, I had issues with this re-loader from the get-go.

38/357 Mag; The ejector wire pops out or causes binding at ejection of finished cartridge. I also had an issue with the shell-plate tolerances being too tight to accommodate 75% of the shells I was using. Dillon promptly sent me another one, that particular issue is gone!

.45ACP; The cases "seem" to hang up on the powder funnel at station #2, which causes excessive force to pull the handle back up. Tried a buddy's powder funnel, no change. Tried his complete tool head, no difference either. I'm getting tennis elbow, for fluck's sake....

.40 S&W; Same issues. Didn't have these issues with .40 initially, it was the 1st cartridge I'd reloaded for on this machine. But now, I have the same problems as with the 38/357 mag. As well, the ejector wire must have popped off/caused binding about 100 times today while I reloaded 1000 rounds (which, due to the above problems, took me around 3 hours to reload. That in itself is ridiculous)


I haven't yet tried 9mm. Quite honestly, not looking forward to it. I purposely bought what I believed to be one of the "top of the line" progressives. While Dillon's customer service is impeccable, fact is that I'm becoming physically ill just thinking of reloading....

I'll be calling Dillon tomorrow morning to see what they recommend
 
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Thats too bad, reloading is supposed to be your hobby. Thank god your frustration wasn't countered with ####ty customer service, at least your luck that way :)
 
One frequent suggestion I keep seeing for the 650 is to very gently break the edge of the shellplate opening with a gentle radius and polish.
 
I went the hornady lnl ap route.

bought the press, spend about a month and a half looking for .223 and .45acp shell plates.

Ended up buying a #6 shell plate and re-machining it for .45, that took three hrs yesterday to make a fixture and machine.

I hope to make a bullet with it soon.

The free bullets still have not arrived.

I think you're having better luck with dillon but it's arguable :)
 
Canuck223 said:
One frequent suggestion I keep seeing for the 650 is to very gently break the edge of the shellplate opening with a gentle radius and polish.
Click to expand...


I am going to do this with both of my shell plates. It seemed a logical solution to ejection problems.
 
Pete, let me know if you want me to come over your place and inspect your press. I would be glad to help you resolve your issue.
 
In the manual it says to lube the cases, I recommend it. I use Lyman quick spray with the cases laying flat on a cookie sheet..
The belling of the case might be excessive, binding on the die walls on the way down.
The bolt holding down the shell plate might not be screwed in tight enough, so when you pull the handle down it tips the shell plate a little causing extra friction.
I really like my 2 XL-650s
 
Lubing won't make a huge difference when you'll bell the case. I don't think you are supposed to pour powder in a lubed case either.
 
that is no good i have well over 15000 rounds loaded on mine between pistol and rifle and not one hic cup yet i would contact them till its running properly, great customer service when i have talked to them
 
tigrr said:
In the manual it says to lube the cases, I recommend it. I use Lyman quick spray with the cases laying flat on a cookie sheet..
The belling of the case might be excessive, binding on the die walls on the way down.
The bolt holding down the shell plate might not be screwed in tight enough, so when you pull the handle down it tips the shell plate a little causing extra friction.
I really like my 2 XL-650s
Click to expand...

I appreciate the suggestion. However, no one else (primarily my shooting buddy Drücker) has to lube his cases with his 650, so I don't wanna have to either. As far as excessive belling goes, great point. When Drüker came by the last time, he as much as stated the exact same thing. He reduced the belling to what he considered appropriate, tightened the shellplate bolt tighter and the machine worked great....for two to three rounds. Then it was back to the same shenanigans, just like before. most casings will cause excessive effort, a few won't...

And yes, Steve, their customer service is great.

I called 'em up this afternoon. The customer service guy was at a loss as to what the culprit(s) could be. I told him that my buddy had come over to set the machine up initially. I told him that after the 1st set of issues, I went thru the machine starting at step 1 and again set-up the unit as per the instruction manual.

He eventually proposed to send me a return number for the machine. I imagine that they take the unit and run thru it to see what the problem is. The representative said that he'd worked in the service department for a month and that the tech in there was incredible and had "seen it all".

For me, living in Canada, that is a hassle. The shipping costs are a hassle, as are the possible duty/customs crap etc.. So I told him to talk to their tech and mention what issues I was having. If the tech had no solutions, then I'd send the machine back for inspection.

So then he proposes selling me a set-up DVD for $20, but that Dillon'd foot the bill on shipping. My, that's awfully white of him...LOL Being told that I need to spend another $20 on top of the $2200 it already cost me was sticking in my craw. I told him as much.

So, his supervisor is supposed to call me and lemme know what they wanna do. At no time was I impolite or even aggressive with the rep. I told him that I was sure I hadn't made a mistake in believing that a Dillon was a great unit; there's no way so many people would be lying about it. I did tell him that it was frustrating, paying big bucks for a Caddy and having so many issued with it. I swear, I have yet to load 1000 rounds in less than 3 hrs.

So it's wait'n see fer now. But I may just take Antoine's offer and watch him grow grey hairs while trying to fix my machine LOLOL
 
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Here are a few things to check...based on my 650 Dillon experience.

There are 2 screws under the shell plate that hold the base on, check them and make sure they haven't come loose. If they have you'll have to make sure that the shell-plate base is properly aligned when you tighten them. Even a slight misalignment in rotation can cause all sorts of issues, and any cant or flex in the base plate will get transfered to the shell plate and case.

One of my manuals warns about leaving cases inside the tumbler to long, something about the inside of the case getting etched. I'm a little doubtful about that one but thought I would mention it.

I have a similar problem with .45ACP cases sometimes but not with .45 Colt or .38 Special. I do find that using a spray lubricant helps a lot. I use the Lyman quick spray. I think a very small amount gets on the inside rim of the case and helps things out.

Screws loosening have been the #1 issue I've had with the 650. I think it was an assembly issue but just about every screw/bolt on mine has worked itself loose and caused some sort of problem. Other than that I'm very happy with the 650 and have pumped out thousands of rounds.
 
peter if you send it back mark on the outside of the package it is going back for warranty work. If they do the same when they send it or a new one back to you all it should cost you is shipping down. You should not have to pay customs, duties or taxes.

I know this dosen't fix your problem but it may come to that.

Good Luck Ken.
 
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