Reloading 9mm with a Dillon 650

There aren't as many accessories available for the Square Deal. You can get a strong mount and the bullet tray. No roller handle available as far as I know. Since you have to buy Dillon's special dies for it, lock rings are a non issue, but you might want the Bench Wrench.
 
NavyCuda said:
If you intend to use the 650 the way it's meant to be, you'll want to spend a bit more and add the case feeder to the mix. Our first load of .45acp was without a case feeder and it gets real annoying manually keeping the press fed with casings. Twenty cases at a time in a tube out of a session of 700 was not fun at all.
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Yeah... if you're planning to do IPSC you probably are going to want to speed things up at some point, and a case feeder will really amp up your loading rate.

I can't remember if our 650 came with the powder drop or not, but you'll need that as well.
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Comes with one powder measure (with two powder bars) and one powder die.

At first I thought the powder check is needed, but if you setup really good lighting over your press you can easily see into the cases as they swing by and use that station for a bullet feeder.
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The powder check is OK but not great. I find it often gives false alarms.

The low powder sensor for the powder measure is pretty much useless, don't bother with it. It takes a long time to run out of powder and the level in the measure is readily visible.
 
I appreciate all the help buddy. I think I'm gonna go with a Dillon Square Deal and I emailed Epps about the cost.
So to summarize this is what I need:
-Dillon Square Deal (9mm)
-scale
-9mm die
-caliper
-strong mount
-bullet tray
-tumbler?
-reloading book

Than powder, primer, projectile and range brass and i'm set?
 
Yep, by the time you are finished dressing out the 650, your around $1500. However it's really nice with all the toys and makes reloading and tinkering alot of fun.

Add the bullet feeder eventually and your rocking!

Cheers
 
The short list to get a 650 churning out 9mm for cheap

Case feeder
Press
Dies
$900

Components:
Powder $30lb
Primers $35 per 1000
Cast lead bullets $50-75 per 1000
Brass - Free

Extras
Caliper $40
Scale $75

So just shy of $1200 to get the ball rolling with a 650 nicely equipped.


Ask yourself, "do I need to pump out 1000's of rounds in a afternoon".

If not then I would suggest the square deal, if you ever plan on loading for a rifle then the 550 is a better option.... No matter the choice if you decide to sell a Dillon chances are you won't loose much at all.

I'm looking back on my choice and regretting not stepping up to the 1050 because I load a lot of .223 and .308... That swager would of been the cats arse.

Here's mine all setup for 9mm
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200x52= 10,400 rounds a year. Let's round that down to a reasonable 8,000 rounds assuming consumption is not every single week.
If you are going to pump out 8000, you'd be a fool not to invest now. Minimum I'd recommend is a 650 with a case feeder. It will pay for itself inside a couple of months with that schedule of ammunition usage.
 
My other half has bought a fair amount thru MDgardner, great guy to deal with.

Ya the 650 pumps out ammo, fool to not get one from the start? Nope.
He could reload a months supply in a few hours, a years supply over a long weekend.... 3 days reloading and she sits in the corner for 362 days... Where is the fun in that?....
 
so thats about 1300 dollars for 8000 or so rounds for reloaded roughly vs 2100 dollars or more for the cheapest factory ammo. wow quite a hole in the wallet lol
 
man said:
so thats about 1300 dollars for 8000 or so rounds for reloaded roughly vs 2100 dollars or more for the cheapest factory ammo. wow quite a hole in the wallet lol
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Over time you will come out FAR ahead. In reality your budget is what it is, so you'll most likely shoot more rounds with the same budget. The saying goes "You don't reload to save money, you reload so you can shoot more."

Plus, the ammo you make will be way better than what you can buy as a rule. Factory ammo sucks :p

Also, for those that shoot at indoor ranges that don't allow fully jacketed ammo, it sure as hell beats paying $30 a box for WinClean. Load up with copper plated and away you go.
 
Hotwheels81 said:
Ya the 650 pumps out ammo, fool to not get one from the start? Nope.
He could reload a months supply in a few hours, a years supply over a long weekend.... 3 days reloading and she sits in the corner for 362 days... Where is the fun in that?....
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just speaking from my own experience and the experience of others i know....most start small with the thinking of 'that should be good enough' and eventually bite the bullet and expand. Lots of guys come to the conclussion similar to 'damn, I should of done that years ago'.

The reality for most that shoot a fair amount is that you are perpetually reloading. I try to do it in blocks of time, but more and more with life in the way is it highly unlikely I would find a long weekend to myself where I would squirl away and load thousands of rounds at a time.
There are the hidden time consumers like brass collection, sorting, cleaning and the like that eats as much time (and more) than the actual time spent reloading.
Another myth is the loading speeds - there is no way someone is going to keep up loading 500-600 rounds an hour for 8000 rounds in one sitting (unless they have machinery doing the physical work).
 
Can't imagine loading 8000 rounds in one batch! I'd fall off my stool and my bench would be covered in empties long before I finished! lol

I do wish I would have bought my 650 right off the start. I have a LoadMaster sitting collecting dust now. Double investment because I thought I was being smart saving money on initial start up. Mistake!
 
beltfed said:
just speaking from my own experience and the experience of others i know....most start small with the thinking of 'that should be good enough' and eventually bite the bullet and expand. Lots of guys come to the conclussion similar to 'damn, I should of done that years ago'.

The reality for most that shoot a fair amount is that you are perpetually reloading. I try to do it in blocks of time, but more and more with life in the way is it highly unlikely I would find a long weekend to myself where I would squirl away and load thousands of rounds at a time.
There are the hidden time consumers like brass collection, sorting, cleaning and the like that eats as much time (and more) than the actual time spent reloading.
Another myth is the loading speeds - there is no way someone is going to keep up loading 500-600 rounds an hour for 8000 rounds in one sitting (unless they have machinery doing the physical work).
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A lot of folks give up on loading 9mm once they figure out what they can buy BDX or wolf for in big lots... If I only shot 1 caliber I would just buy in bulk personally.

I know the argument for time and cost savings very well, you can't even compair the 650 to the SDB in production rate or cost... Thankfully like I said before resale on lightly used dillon equipment is all most it's new price, upgrading is very cost effective with Dillon...

And yes with 600 primers loaded into tubes and my hoppers full at the 45min mark I have to stop... To refill my primer tubes.
The loading rate of the 650 is excellent with pistol rounds... Rifle is slower but still in the 450-550rph.
Spread over a long weekend in the winter here I think nothing of reloading 3000-4000rnds and still have time to play MW2 all evening with a range trip mixed in.

It just seems a waste to have a machine like a 650 that's just going to spit out a few hundred rounds per week... Honestly you could load a months supply of 9mm in 1.5hrs at a leasurely pace.
 
With two people, the largest run we did was about 2000 rounds in one day. If I remember right, it was 800 .45acp, 1000 5.56 and 100 .308 for load development. I think it took us about 4 hours total with setup, cleanup and sorting into containers.

I can keep the press happy at 600-1000 rounds per hour depending on the caliber. That rate keeps my consumables man moving non-stop and he barely has enough time to get me a fresh beer while I'm refilling the powder drop.

Good thing my right arm is naturally stronger than the left, I have no problem pulling a crank all day!
 
If you are doing 200 per week, get the square deal B. Much lower cost and designed for one caliber, and will easily meet your requirements for speed.

I never considered it over the 650, but after using one at SHOT, I was sold, as a dedicated, medium volume setup. If you want to upgrade to a 650 in the future, sell the SD and upgrade, you won't lose much.
 
I started out small but soon realized I should have bought the bells and whistles from the get go. Two or three presses later till I got where I wanted to be ended up costing alot and listening to the wife complain more and more wasn't very enjoyable. If you can afford it , go with the best right from the start and you won't regret it. It will save you time and will sure look good on your bench. You'll love it, there's no doubt.
 
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