Nature Boy
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I was thinking the same thing. I'll bet the over too, but who will take the under? By morning the line will go from "absolutely no rifle ammo" to "absolutely no wildcats or belted magnums"
Dillon 550 progressive- lifespan?
- Thread starter Palladan44
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I was thinking the same thing. I'll bet the over too, but who will take the under? By morning the line will go from "absolutely no rifle ammo" to "absolutely no wildcats or belted magnums"
Nature Boy
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If the SD and 550 are the same price, why would anyone buy the SD?
kerreckt
Member
I have had a 450 since 1983 or so. Easily has 100k loaded. No signs of wear. Lost some parts back in the late 80's during a move. They sent me more...no cost. It's great when someone covers your stupidity! I now have 3 Dillons. Great tools. Great company!
GoldieMI
Member
if you wear out a 550 press - you definitely got your money out of it.
and then you send it back to Dillon to be rebuilt for 79.95 I think it is now.
and then you send it back to Dillon to be rebuilt for 79.95 I think it is now.
Chuck R.
Member
Slow thumbs and a fear of manually indexing?
The 550 is just a far more versatile press and one should never say never, especially when it comes to this hobby!
loadedround
Member
I have to jump into this discussion myself. After reloading on a Lyman All American turret press for almost 25 years, I broke down and bought a Dillon RL550 press in the early '80's. Still have his 550 and another that I add about 10 years ago. I load both pistol and rifle on both, and would say I've reloaded 20,000 or more rounds on my original 550 press since I've owned it. Granted I've updated with the Dillon offered upgrades and jus this week replaced the ORIGINAL primer arm return spring that gave up the ghost. These presses will outlive me and will be continued in use by my son. You can't beat a Dillon press or Dillon's Customer Service!!!!
buddyd157
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guys, i am not a hunter. i never had any thoughts of rifles, nor hunting. and at my age, i got all i can handle with handguns.
GE-Mini-Gun
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I have (2) 650’s and a 900…one of the 650’s has at least a million loads on it if not more. When purchased 30+ years ago it was used to load for 4 competition shooters, 10-20k per year for each shooter depending upon how many matches we attended, we stopped going after about 6 years, after that it loaded maybe 7-8k per year…now maybe 5k. The 900 sees the most use now as I’ve been shooting more skeet and 5-stand than anything else, 10k+ per year is a slow year. I’ve broken parts on all three machines, with the biggest part being one of the ram arms…bad casting, actually surprised it lasted as long as it did after seeing how bad the casting was; had a cavity about 75% of the width.
Howland937
Member
I can't tell you for sure how many years since I've put my sights on a living creature. I don't shoot rifles nearly as much as handguns either...but they're still fun. Can't swear to it, but I think my trigger discipline benefits from shooting rifles too.
243winxb
Member
1979 RL-450 . Hold lever parallel to the floor. Move lever left & right. If the shell plate & platform rotate a lot, a 45 acp case will not align with the hole in a sizing die. Rebuild time.
But check press first with the Dillon alignment tool.
View attachment 970753
RCBS replaced my old Rockchucker with a free RC2 PRESS.
But check press first with the Dillon alignment tool.
View attachment 970753
RCBS replaced my old Rockchucker with a free RC2 PRESS.
Kingcreek
Member
When I made that statement I was quoting a CS rep at Dillon. He is the one that told me when they originally released the SD they intended it to be an economical one caliber platform. It was apparently the customers that pushed them for the interchangeability. I’m not sure my early machine came with any other priming or charging parts. iirc it came set up for .45acp FMJ and I reversed the seating die for SWC, set the powder measure for W231 and never ever changed it. That was 40-50 thousand rounds ago...
jmorris
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That’s interesting I don’t think I have ever seen a reversible seating die for the SD. My oldest (around 36 years old now) came with different seating stems for different profiles all one piece and have the caliber stamped on top.
The 7/8-14 Dillon pistol dies do have the reversible seating insert though.
HOWARD J
Member
I purchased a 550 before the owners manual was printed----still works fine.
My 450 has a stiff ram from not being used in many years
My 450 has a stiff ram from not being used in many years
Kingcreek
Member
Now I’ll have to check and see if I misremembered.
Zendude
Member
The SDB doesn’t have a case feeder. I consider that to be a minimum requirement for a progressive press, especially for reloading pistol ammo.
rfwobbly
Member
Agreed.
The first big volume jump for the handgun reloader is a progressive press.
The second volume jump for the handgun reloader is the case feeder.
glc24
Member
I put a case feeder on my 550B quite a few years ago. I loaded only 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP on it though. I say loaded because I haven't pulled the handle for two years. I have a pretty good stockpile, so for now, I have quit reloading.
Catpop
Member
True but in my case switching from a Lyman Spartan to a SD cut my .357 50 round time from 60 minutes to 10 minutes. That was a blessing to me!!!!
That was back in late 70s
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Plastikosmd
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There may be equally as good out there but there is no better.
love the company and the product
love the company and the product
Zygodactyl
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- Dec 2, 2020
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I've had my 550 since the 80's. I've loaded many 10's of thousands of rounds with it. The only thing I disliked was readjusting dies, so I bought new tool heads for every caliber I reload. I reload in batches, loading everything that has large primers for pistol and rifle then switch to small. The only thing I can't reload on it is 25acp and 577 Snider. I have a single station that takes care of that. I recommend buy the spare parts kit so you aren't down while waiting for a small part.
Jethrohelm
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- Jan 17, 2021
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The only part I've had break on my 550B in nearly30 years (other than what's in a spare parts kit) is the connector body collar on the powder measure. Dillon sent a new replacement one free of charge. Parts that wear out are in the spare parts kit - mostly the bellcrank cube & primer pickup tube tips
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jmorris
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I threw this together after it was concluded on another forum that it couldn’t be done.
The minimum requirement for me to call a press a progressive is that, once full, I get a completed round with each pull of the handle.
That said, a 100 rounds on my SD’s takes around 9 min 30 seconds, a case and bullet fed press can get that to under 4 minutes and it’s not only less work I can focus more on what the machine is doing vs what I am having to do.
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