Dillon 1050: Ever run one?

Looking for anyone that has ever operated a 1050 for some thoughts and wisdom on the press. I recently considered buying one, possibly more than one and loading a serious amount of ammo, but I don't know what I'd be getting into or if this is the right press for me. I would be changing calibers very seldom, almost never on the 1050. I have a 550 for that. I'm curious if they are hard to keep running consistently and if they are worth the extra scratch for what you get out of them.

An old team mate of mine has a 1050 and a 650--he loads up significant amounts of ammo for his training classes.

Last time I was at his place, I got to pull the handle on both the 1050 and 650. Both have case feeders.

I actually liked the 650 better--plus, it has the no BS Lifetime warranty. The 1050 only has a one-year warranty.

Jeff

I have a 1050 for .223 with a KISS bullet feeder and several 650’s with GSI bullet feeders. For pistol rounds I like the 650’s as I have gotten used to feeling the primers seat. On the 1050 everything happens on the down stroke so you can’t really feel the primer seating over everything else going on. A friend of mine who also owns 1050’s and 650’s says “If everything is right what do you need to feel?” Unlike other progressives, the 1050 has two locating dowels ensuring that the primer is perfectly located below the freshly swaged primer pocket. So, I guess he’s right but it’s really different if you’ve been loading with other machines for years.
If you are going to be reloading very large amounts of crimped primer pockets, the only machine on your list should be the 1050. If you are loading bottle neck brass you still have to have another machine set up with a trimmer, it’s fast but still another step. For pistol the 650 will do everything you need.

One year I blew the entertainment budget on a 1050 instead of a new gun - actually a Super 1050, they changed over while I was making up my mind. At my consumption rate, I figured it took several years to amortize, but I just grinned every time a round dropped in the hopper. As said, the on-press primer pocket swage is a great thing if you use military brass, which I do for .45 ACP. And the positive mechanical stop primer seating is great, I had a lot of high primers out of a SDB and have to lean on a 550 pretty hard to prevent them.

The only problems mine ever had were jerky case advance and irregular primer feeding. The first was fixed by getting the later advance lever. I assume it is now standard on the machine. The latter took a lot of tinkering, cut and try and cuss and try again. It is now doing well, exept when the little nylon alignment wedge got loose and caused some smashed primers before I spotted the screw loose.

No Dillon I have owned (SDB, 550, S1050) or seen (650) has as reliable a primer feed as my old CH AutoCHamp, even though it is way behind in all other respects.

I had a 1050 that I loaded several hundred thousand rds. of .38 Super with. Never changed it to another caliber.
Great machine for quanity reloading.
After I quit competitive shooting I purchased a 650. I leave it set up for .45 ACP. I tend to shoot a lot in this caliber.
I find I use my 550 (with casefeed) for a few hundred rds. of .41/.44..45 Colt and several rifle calibers, as it's easy to change over.

I don't own one but have a friend that owns two. The one I have used is set up for .45 ACP. He's never changed it to another caliber. I've got several progressive presses and am used to looking for problems on each pull, adjusting when required and continuing. I'm not saying a 1050 can't or won't have problems but I've pushed 10,000 rounds through it and with the exception of some spilled powder when filling the hopper never had a minutes problem. It spits out rounds like no ones business. It does appear to be a rather extensive process to change to another caliber.

I have one with the KISS bulletfeeder and conversions and KISS adaptors for 4 calibers, all set up on there own toolheads.

I had to made a stand for the toolheads so as not to damage them if the fell over.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/RePete/HPIM0703.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/RePete/HPIM0696.jpg

Since this picture was taken, the bullet drop has been installed on all of the toolheads.

I run 3 1050s and a 1000. They are worth every penny. There is no faster or less troublesome manual press. They last forever, and Dillon service is outstanding.

My 1st 1050 was used commercially, I loaded ~1 million rounds with it. Other than a few small parts that wore out (indexer pawl, springs) it's as good as new.

You won't regret buying one.
LT

I'm thinking about setting one up for .223 and eventually getting one for 308, possibly 45acp and 9mm but I'm not sure. How involved is changing calibers? Are we talking 3 hours or what? If I loaded 10,000 rounds in 3 days, I wouldn't mind taking a day to change calibers. Basically I'm looking at making a serious amount of ammo in a short period of time with out spending too much.

Basically I'm looking at making a serious amount of ammo in a short period of time with out spending too much.I would say you are looking at the right press.

Tarvis -

If you have a dedicated toolhead, changing calibers on a 1050 is ~10 min unless you are switching primer sizes.

Remove the toolhead, undo the shellpate retaining ring, remove shellplate, clean and re-lube the detent ball, install a new shellplate after greasing it's contact points, reattach the retaining ring, install the new toolhead, oil the ram with motor oil, switch shell inserter size if needed, ready to load.
If switching primer sizes, add 20 min.

LT

REALLY? I was thinking it was a LONG time, but honestly I'll probably get two if It's that easy to swap calibers. I am seriously thinking about starting an ammo business, as well as loading for myself but I'm not sure what I want to do. Thanks for all the info guys. Keep it coming if you think of anything else.

I am seriously thinking about starting an ammo business

In that case you'll be looking for one of these.
http://www.ammoload.com/
http://camdexloader.com/
Don't forget you'll need an FFL before you start selling your reloads.

Tarvis - my only suggestion for you is to price out everything. If you're only shooting/loading one caliber, the 1050 pays for itself in no time. OTOH, if you're looking at buying 3 extra toolheads with associated dies, kiss bullet feeder... well the cost starts rising pretty quick.

As for your buisness idea, before you give it any more thought, check with your county/city zoning laws and regulations.

It sucks to apply for your ffl, get all setup to work and have some stupid zoning issue that gums up the works (don't ask me how I know).

Give Brian Enos a call if you're still undecided about the press. He's the guy if you're planning on buying new dillon equipment, and he can give you the plus/minus of any combination of dillon presses (as well as price comparisons).

I still have a ways to go before I start selling ammo commercially, it is just an idea that a buddy of mine and I have been kicking around. I will give Brian Enos a call when everything gets straightened out.

tarvis, starting an ammo business is probably not a fantastic idea.

it would take a phenomenal investment to avoid having the entire world put you in the "gun show reloads" category.

then there's the liability, advertising, packaging, taxes, etc.

and then, there's the commodity prices where you could lose your shirt if you're not fairly careful.

then you'd have to put up with the thousand people on the internet complaining about how high your prices are, when you're barely clearing a penny/rnd.

however, i love my 1050 and it's awesome for cranking out a relatively high volume for personal use.

In that case you'll be looking for one of these.
How much do they cost?

I know I know, expensive to start, not a great idea, customers (you guys :scrutiny:) are fickle and cheap (lol), have to have good liability insurance and a big investment. But hey, Black Hills started somewhere and money is just a business plan away.

How much do they cost?
You might be able to find a used one for $7000-$10,000 set up for one caliber.

I don’t want to diminish any grand idea, but all of us that got into reloading to save money don’t, we just shoot more. One good thing about reloading equipment is that is doesn’t loose value at the same rate as other products. This means that you can start with just about anything and recoup your investment as your needs outgrow its production rate.