For a 2nd press, are there advantages of Dillon 1050 over the XL650?

[valleyforge.1777]

I have a Dillon XL650 and I generally like it a lot. I want to get a second press, that will be left set up for 9 mm loading (rarely, if ever will do a caliber change out). I currently use my XL650 to load 223, 9 mm, 357 Mag and 38 Special on it. Caliber change is not too bad in terms of time or difficulty, but it definitely takes me longer than advertised. It is enough of a mild pain in the butt to me that I don't change calibers unless I've loaded plenty of whatever I am set up to load and do not plan to go back to loading that caliber anytime soon. I am finding that I am not having time needed to make huge batches of 223 or 9 mm, so I am hesitant to break the press down and set up for a different caliber because I will want more soon of whatever it's not set up for. So, I want a second press.

My question is, would a 1050 be worth the extra money compared to getting a second XL650? I load 9 mm slowly on my XL650, but I am definitely not as fast at doing it as many people seem to be able to do on a 650. (Probably about 300-400 per hour at a continuous rate). Stuff just seems to need constant tweaking and attention and so if the 1050 would be smoother and faster, I'd probably pick that one and leave my current 650 set up for 223 loading. (I rarely ever load 357 Mag or 38's, but I'd do that on the 650 if I needed more of those).

I've looked at a bunch of YouTube videos, and read the FAQ on Brian Enos's site. I'm still undecided. Do I want the 1050 for my second press, or just get another one of the 650's?

thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[hAkron]

I don't have a 1050, but from what I understand:

The 1050 has more stations, so you can do more operations (if that is desirable)
If your 9mm brass has a military crimp, you can swage your primer pockets on the 1050
You can add a bullet feeder and not have to either remove your powder check or change to seating and crimping in one operation. You can add a motor to the 1050 so that it can run automated. Just fill primers, cases, powder, & bullets then let her rip.

The 1050 only has a 1 year warranty though.

 

[dave333]

I dont have or load on any Dillon equipment but if money is not an object I would think there wouldnt be a better machine to load 9mm and 5.56/.223 brass for the primer pocket swaging if nothing else. I would love to not have to sort out all the military 9mm crimped brass I come across.

 

[Kaldor]

You need to examine you volume you need.

If you are shooting 1000's of rounds a month, then yep, a 1050. If you are not, then the 650 is the ticket. Add a Mr Bullet Feeder, and fire it up. 600+ rounds per hour is easily attainable with a bullet feeder.

I run about 500 an hour with a LnL w/ case feeder. Buy a VibraPrime, pre-load primer tubes, lay everything out so you can keep producing ammo. That is how you increase volume.

You said you are constantly tweaking the press? Once you get the second press set for 9mm, lock it down and dont touch anything.

 

[jmorris]

I have a few of both. The 1050 has a built in swage station, more leverage, positive primer depth adjustment (set with an Allen wrench), a lockout to prevent anything less than a full and complete stroke and is just a smoother press to operate.

It doesn't have the lifetime warranty like the others but is also made from cast iron vs aluminum and has bearings vs bushings.

Biggest negative I have with it is that it uses the same plastic primer tube tip that the SD and 550 use and are generally the culprit if priming problems arise but I have never been charged for them despite telling Dillon I needed them for one of my 1050's vs one of the other presses.

I feel the 650 has the best primer feed out of all of them, the only compliant about the 650 primer feed I ever hear is that it always feeds primers.

Load rate, in the end is not a lot different (if you don't run into problems seating a primer on the 650 that the swage rod of the 1050 would have fixed), I have loaded 100 rounds on a 650 in 3 min and 100 on a 1050 in 2.5 but generally just poke along with either at a rate of 100 in 5 min.

 

[joem1945]

I have the 650 with case feeder and low powder sensor and safety powder check. Since almost all my brass is mil type and i have the super swedge i have no reason to go to the 1050. One might be able to load 800 or 900 rounds a hour on a 650, but try to keep that up for a hour. I can't

 

[highlander 5]

Get the 650 and have one set up for lp/lr primers the other for small primers then just switch machines as needed. I have this set up in my work area using a strong mount with an interchangeable base plate. Undo 4 bolts slide out one press,install new press retighten bolts and ready to go.

 

[BCRider]

From talking to a few others the big issue with the Dillon is switching primer sizes. The shell plate and tool head is not so bad.

As such I'd likely opt for a second 650 so one could be set up for small primers and the other for large. To speed things up for greater volume specific calibers would then be set up with a bullet or case feeder. My own feeling is that a case feeder would be better than a bullet feeder so I didn't need to do it all with my right arm.

The only issue is that my small primer dies still occasionally hold and reseat a spent primer when it forms around the tip. Until I can cure that with spring loaded pins that snap the old primers off the tip I would not want to fill in the casing placement area with a case feeder.

That's my thinking on it. Hopefully it makes you consider your own experiences and move to a good solution for your needs. Either way I suspect that either press is fine and it's more about how you equip them with feeders that will produce the advantage you're after.

 

[Archie]

Do another 650

I bought a second XL 650. As Highlander suggested, I leave one set for Large Primers, the other for Small Primers. Changing the tool heads and such are really not a big problem and I have quick flexibility.

I load all manner of pistol (.32 ACP to .44 Magnum) and rifle (.22 Hornet to .35 Whelen) cartridges BUT I do not load .223 Remington nor 5.56 mm NATO. I also make a point of not using military brass with crimped primers.

Even Dillon says their 1050 loaders are meant for large volume commercial loaders. Use the difference in cost to buy large quantities of components.

 

[Johnnyd]

“Stuff just seems to need constant tweaking and attention…”

Am I reading this wrong or are you doing more than just replenishing powder, primers etc?

 

[jmorris]

I have to agree with the others I prefer to have at least two of each model, not only for small and large primer but a complete set of spare parts so I am never out of commission waiting on something to ship.

I wouldn't say I need multiple 1050's but I don't own a boat and sold my motorcycles off years ago so that is what I have fun with.

 

[valleyforge.1777]

Most of the slow-down/stops I have while loading 223 are because the Dillon powder check does not function correctly and the alarm prompts me to stop and weigh the charge. In every one of those cases, the charge was correct. The rod that goes down into the case does not always go down into the case, thus implying a massive overcharge. Also, sometimes processed brass still has too tight a primer pocket, and I need to take the case out of station 2 to re-swage the pocket. Rarely, the deprime pin pulls the spent primer back up into the primer pocket. Also, rarely the case feeder is not perfectly aligned with the case feed tube and the case feeder stops. All of that adds up to give me a loading rate of about 400 cases an hour. I load 1,000 primers into 10 pick up tubes before starting to load ammo and that time is not counted.

With 9 mm loading, the slowdowns are mostly due to primer pockets that are too tight on range pick up brass, and sometimes due to spent primers not being de-primed correctly. Also, the cases spill powder (4.8 grains of Win 231/HP 38) as the shell plate rotates. I deal with the powder spill issue by putting my finger on the shell plate to slow it as it rotates. Does not significantly slow down the process, but rarely I see enough powder spill to warrant stopping to weigh the load. The fastest loading I do is 38 Special or 357 Magnum. Can load about 600-700 rounds per hour. With 9 mm and 38/357, I let the bin fill about one-fourth of the way up and then take the rounds out and put them bullet-down into ammo box trays so that I can inspect all of the cases visually to make sure they were primed correctly and so I can get an accurate count of how many rounds I've made so I can label the ziplock bag correctly. That process slows the loading progress a lot. I'll probably stop doing that. With 223, I don't do that. I just load until the bin is overflowing loaded rounds, then dump them into a bag and when the bag is full, I get another bag. I know roughly how many I made by how many primers have been used.

Listening to everybody's advice, and reading on the Brian Enos forum, too, I have concluded that I probably will get the 1050 but have not totally decided yet.

Interestingly, I read on the BE forum that lubing the 9 mm cases, something I've never even considered with my carbide 9 mm dies, will make the loading process go much more smoothly and consistently.

 

[jmorris]

The 1050 it the best cure for primer pocket problems I have found and yes I lube all cases rifle and pistol. I imagine I loaded pistol for 20 years before I tried lube, from that day forward I lube them all.

 

[GW Staar]

Interesting thread. As an RCBS Pro 2000 user who turned down the chance of buying a Dillon 650 instead, partly for reasons talked about here, I'm finally entertaining the thoughts of a second press, too.

Not due to primer size changes.....that's a 10 second operation for me.

Since powder dies are in tool heads, changing powder dies is the same operation as changing tool heads....that's not hard. Since I bought two Uniflows (one small cylinder one large) all that's required is to drop one in, fill it with powder and turn the mic screw for the load I want. So that's not why.

I use a Hornady bullet feeder......caliber changes for that is maybe a couple of minutes, for pistol. For rifle I drop them one at a time above the tool head into the hole in my seater dies. Same with my home-built case feeder.

I never have to load tubes of primers.....I buy mine preloaded in strips ready to load.

Changing shell plates is about the same on any press, unscrew, replace the plate and tighten up.

So.......why do I need another press? I have to agree with jmorris on that....more is more fun, certainly more fail safe than one, especially if you have the space and the funds lying around wasting space in the bank....

I'm probably a different reloader than most......I really don't load crates of boxes of any one load, but I reload a lot of calibers......so speed of changeover was #1 with me. Even with my quick-change-artist press, I can see that having two calibers set up is better than one.....and three is better than two.

For me a 1050 as a second press would be more of an asset, although I really don't consider it a drudgery to us a bench swager as a 2 second add on to case prep. I like to uniform my primer pockets anyway, and to keep them from catching an edge on tool in the Trim Mate, I like to touch/bump them with the Military reamer first, leaving a little shiny circle, removing the sharp edge.

That does three things...makes uniforming effortless, ensures an edge doesn't catch on the progressive and mangle a primer, and makes swaged brass easier to spot for the next reloading. After all all this extra stuff is done only once on a case. It's nice to tell at a glance that a case has been uniformed, swaged, and deburred so you aren't as likely do it again.

I don't think swaging only on a 1050 or a bench swager alone makes processed brass "look" processed. They still look crimped. However, you don't care on a 1050.....swage rod goes in every piece for insurance.

I'd pick the 1050 if you plan on leaving it set up for one caliber......if not, and I can't see myself doing that, unless I could buy two, I may look at the new RCBS seven station press, and take care of primer pockets the old way.

 

[jmorris]

I don't think swaging only on a 1050 or a bench swager alone makes processed brass "look" processed. They still look crimped.

Before (right) after (left) out of my .223 1050.