[Lone_Gunman]

Does anyone have this press?

I have been using a Lee Turret, but am thinking about going progressive. I want something that I can load both pistol and rifle, and I want something that auto indexes.

I would like to start off loading 45 ACP, but would also like to load 9mm, 223 Rem, and 308 win. Eventually I would load 38 and 357 on it as well.

What are you thoughts on the XL 650?

What accessories do I need to have to go with it?

[lykoris]

negatives I have with this press are

1. spent primers when decapping have a habit of jumping out of the little blue box
2. unused primers if you manage to skip a few also tend to fall off the blue lip container that is meant to hold them.
3. calibre changes are expensive and is the real cashcash for Dillon.
4. casefeeder isn't 100% reliable, if you put in 250 9mm cases you get misfeeds, I find putting in only 100 at a time solves that so I might have 3-4 misfeeds in reloading 500.

I did a LOT of research as it was my first press when I started reloading and it came down to the 650 or LNL.

I went with the Dillon for their customer service which considering the life of a press was important to me, in all probability it will still be kicking out ammo in 30 years.

I was unaware of points 1 & 2 above before I bought it, I'm being anal in finding negatives and 2 only happend in the first few weeks of reloading on the press, little piece of duct tape solves both.

I couldn't be happier with it but I "strongly suggest" you do the math on all the calibres you expect to use on it and the LNL before you start.

mine is for 9,45,38/357 and 223/308.

I absolutely love the press and am very happy I bought it, I believe I made the right decision.

[Lone_Gunman]

How hard is it to set up and get running?

How long does it take to do caliber changes?

Do you use the powder level sensor?

[lykoris]

Q1.
the instructions provided by Dillon are extremely clear and easy to follow, in all I found it very easy. I'm sure you'll have no problems. One thing I would mention is be sure to have the mounting screws/washers as these are not provided.

Q2,
10-15 minutes including the casefeeder

Q3.
No, I didn't buy that option as I thought it was pretty pointless for me. The powder container is large and is staring you in the face, easy to top up and for me it's not at all needed - I mean you clearly see when you are running low on powder.

The primer sensor however I find invaluable.

[lykoris]

I tend to run batches though, so I'd do like 2.5k in 9 and then switch over.

If you shoot mil brass (I'm guessing here) be sure to get the super swage 600 from dillon, it's worth every penny. I understand it works on the same principle as on the 1050 and you can very quickly decrimp mil brass.

I shoot a lot of pistol so it was daunting at first going with the 650 taking into consideration progressive is shunned as a 1st press but I had read 4 reloading books cover to cover and thoroughly done my homework.

[Lone_Gunman]

I thought that the powder sensor detected the amount of powder in the case?

[lykoris]

you're 100% right and I misunderstood :o

I thought you were talking about the low powder sensor for the container.

I don't have that so others that have can tell you more about whether it's worth it.

for handguns it's easy to visually check it at station 3 and 4 (before you manually seat the bullet)

case overloads with my load for .223 so no possibility of a double charge, have yet to load a squid(just keeping an eye on the powder container), the powder dispenser is accurate to within 1/10 of a grain....although it can take a bit of time to set it just right for your load...hence for evey calibre I have the toolhead/powder dispenser for each calibre so only had to set it once.

Hope that helps.

[jmorris]

They also have one for the powder measure (as above its right in your face). The powder check die, on the other hand, is a bonus especially if you’re loading small charges of fast powder.

[Lone_Gunman]

Yes thanks.

Could you tell me a little more about how you prime on the 650?

Also, do you seats bullets manually or is that done automatically?

Do you use a case feeder? If you don't, I guess you would just manually place the case in the shellholder like on a turret press?

[lykoris]

as I said before though you really need to do the math for the calibres you intend to load

the quickchange per calibre (if you want ease of switching them out)

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/23806/catid/2/XL_650_Quick_Change

runs at USD 96 each so that adds up quite quickly. I'm in Europe so we pay more.

conversion kit is 74 bucks per calibre
http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/catid/2/pid/23804/XL_650_Caliber_Conversion_Kit

then you have the casefeed plates to get, SP/LP/SR/LR

3 times 38 assuming you will get a calibre with your set-up, leaving you to get the others

small rifle .223rem
large rifle .308win
large pistol .45acp

I bought mine with casefeeder & 9mm set-up(including Dillon dies) for EUR780 - obviously the casefeed plate (small pistol) was included here.

[lykoris]

Could you tell me a little more about how you prime on the 650?

well taking 9mm as an example, I place the primers on a primer tray (bought an RCBS plastic one but quickly got the Dillon as it's much nicer to use. Once you've flipped them, you just load up a primer tube - takes me 2-3 mins per 100(depends on you, I really take my time, I'd say you could do it in 1min if you wanted to). Then just pull the pin on the primer tube to load into the 650, then I crank the handle 6 times near the top to cycle the primers within the silver coloured rotating disk that holds them. hit the button the casefeeder to load and then just start cranking away.

1st pull down sizes the case (I deprime and ultrasonic clean cases before so I removed the decapping pin on this die)
it then moves to station 2 and in pushing forward the primer is seated...then just operating does the rest, case belled/powder added and onto station three (which holds the sensor you spoke about so on mine it's empty).


Also, do you seats bullets manually or is that done automatically?

I do it manually, I'd love to get the KISS feeder but here they want EUR900 for it...and that's the cheapest price I have found :scrutiny:


Do you use a case feeder?

yes, it was included in the package I bought, it's extremely useful and saves me a lot of time...I wanted to automate everything as much as possible except for the automatic primer filling mechanism - believe it's called the RF-100


If you don't, I guess you would just manually place the case in the shellholder like on a turret press?

get the casefeeder, it's really worth it for time and the few misfeeds I have are very easy to identify and correct fast - it depends on your funds though. Personally I would get the casefeeder and hold off on buying the set-up for other calibres. I guess you could also do it the other way around though and add the casefeeder at a later stage.

[Hutch]

Got one, love it. I've loaded 9mm, .45ACP, 38Spl, .380ACP, and .223. Spend the money. It's worth it. If you don't mind monkeying around with the caliber change (that is to say, you are willing to change over some parts, rather than buy an entire conversion kit), you can save a bit of money. I wouldn't advise it. Keep an eye on the level of powder in the measure, just don't ask me how I know.

The strong mount is a good option. Go slow, and decide what you really need, and only buy it as you need it. It's a good thing...

[wally]

The XL650 with case feeder rocks for high volume calibers, I've one setup for .45ACP and 9mm.

But my Lee Classic Turret press is still the way to go for low volume calibers. While it is tough to keep up with half the rate of the XL650, It'll turn out 100 rounds of three different calibers in about the time it takes to load 500 rounds on the Dillon (including primer, power and case feeder refills). I have the extra turrets with the dies ready to go.

--wally.