Dillon 1050: How do you fill all those stations?

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Gary H

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I'm about to build a new room (14x20 shed) to hold my reloading equipment. My wife wants a kid and that means that she wants my bedroom/reloading room back. So, might as well refine my workbench. I'm thinking of buying the 1050 for loading .45ACP and .38 Special. I'm presently using a Pro2000 and would like to add a powder check, keep my separate crimp station and speed things up a bit. I bought the 2000 for a more dependable priming system and cheaper caliber changes. So far, I'm very happy with the ease of priming.

What does the 1050 do for you that the 650 won't?

Other than a powder check station..what adorns the extra stations?

Do you have problems with the Dillon priming system?

Can you load more ammo in less time on the 1050 vs. 650? How/why?

I know that Brian Enos gets a good bit of Dillon business. Where do you buy your Dillon stuff?
 
Since I just started reloading I can't address most of your questions except the last one. I just got my whole 550B set-up from Brian Enos and it was a good $100 cheaper than going through Dillon, and it's still shipped from Dillon straight to you. You also still pay $19.99 shipping (or whatever Dillon charges on a 1050) while Brian pays the actual shipping cost so he loses money on that part. He was great to deal with.
 
What's wrong with your PRO2000?
I certainly wouldn't sell it to get a dillon, even though I have a 550b now, and am happy with it.
I also bought mine from Brian Enos.
 
I would still load a half dozen calibers on the 2000, but I was wanting to cut my reloading time and increase the safety factor for the handgun calibers that I load the most. I was thinking of adding the 1050 once I have the extra space.
 
I see.
Prolly a wise choice.
The 1050 is certainly not an easy machine to change from one caliber to another.
 
The 1050 does everything on the downstroke. That includes the priming of cases, so you don't have to do that little extra push on the upstroke for priming as in their other presses. In other words it would be tough to have a case without a primer and you get a little more economy of motion there. One of the stations on the 1050 has a built in primer pocket swager that swages any potentially crimped primer pocket, so no more having to presort your military brass out of your supply of brass. This is one of those things that a 9 mm and 45 ACP loader has got to love as we all have encountered these cases and suffered the destroyed primer as a result. I'm not sure but isn't the distance of the handle stroke shorter as well? These little things make the 1050 really run nice and fast. I haven't heard of too many people who don't like the 1050, though there were some stories of guys having some problem with the current Super 1050 early on. I think they have worked the kinks out by now though.

The 1050 is warranty covered for a year as opposed to the lifetime warranty of their other presses as they consider the 1050 to be a commercial type press.

I have 2 XL650s and they are nice. I still get the occasional crimped primer case that screws me up every now and then and the casefeeder will jam with greater frequency than I like, but it is still a nice press and I think it is better and faster than the 550B.
 
Sheldon:

Welcome to THR.

Thanks for your comments. This is a rather large forum and the slow response makes me think that few folks own the 1050.
 
Well, the 1050 IS rather expensive and meant for the commercial loader and the high volume competitor. I felt flush and jumped all the way from SDB to S1050, with prior experience in an old C-H AutoChamp and MEC shotshell.

Its greatest advantage over other Dillons is the primer pocket swage and positive primer seating. The primer pocket swage matters only if you are shooting mixed brass in a military caliber, no advantage for .38 or .40; or if you are loading sorted, prepped, and checked anything. The downstroke to positive stop priming is a large improvement over the SDB but the 550 I got to load other calibers than .45 is not bad.

Its greatest disadvantage vs other Dillons (Besides price and mechanical complexity for maintenance and caliber change.) seems to be a rather finicky primer feed. Mine does pretty well with Federal and fair with Winchester, but forget CCI. I have tried only a few Remingtons, they seemed to do Ok, but only in R-P brass. The 550 eats anything.

Found another little characteristic the other day, that would apply to 1050, 650, or anything else with casefeed. A 9mm nested in a .45 will shut you down. I am in the habit of looking in the case I am placing a bullet on and have never before felt need of a powder check. Now I have to eyeball
both the powder charge and the upcoming empty. Guess I need the powder probe so I can concentrate on the case coming off the feeder.
 
I have been loading on a 1050 for a little over seven years. It has been one of the best firearms expenses I have made since I started shooting.

Changing calibers is easy and only takes 15 or so minutes. Add 5 minutes if you have to change primer sizes. There isnt any mousetraps or anything complicated.

I have spent more in toolheads than I have in the initial machine. I load 45 ACP, 40 S&W, 9x19, 38 Super, 38 Special, 223 and 6XC on it. About the only calibers I load on my 550 is 41 Mag and 454 Casull.

Get the 1050 and cry once.
 
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