Money is here: RCBS Pro 2000, Dillion 550B, Dillion 650

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The 650 sounds awsome, but I think that the 550b has been on the back of my mind for about 4 years now. The pro 2000 has been right there with it, but when I see the 550b run it just sounds right, looks right, and I can see myself enjoying the press.
I think the 550b is what I will go with. What is the name of the shooter that sells them for a little bit of a discount?
 
I think you're talking about Brian Enos. He seems to be quite popular.

You'll like the 550, that was my first progressive press. The only reason I sold it was I wanted 5 stations so I could use a powder check die.
 
the 550 YOU have to index the plate. double charges are possible though the calibers you are loading for tend to fill the caseup enough for you to eye each one.
the rifle id stay with the lee as one tends to not make a lot of them.
44 and 44 mag are the same dies you just have to adjust by a few turns in or out. same for 38/357.
32 H&R can also male 327 federal and 32 long ( and short and some brands of dies will do 32acp also)

as for the filler tubes, i have 7 and load them while watching tv. so im good for 700 rounds, no time wasted.

my dillion is 20 years old, hasn't cost anything to fix--they answer the phones and you talk to a tecknician who talkes you through any adjustments or realizes you need parts. they arrive in 2 days--free. if the very detailed instructions don't work for you--phone again, never been a problem that was not handled rightly.

if only dillion ran congress...
 
550 here. Got it not to long ago and I could kick myself for not getting it sooner. Excellent press, easy to use and suits my needs. Dillon cust service is second to none. Can crank 150 - 200 rounds an hour easily taking my sweet time. ( you should take your time reloading anyway ) My rifle stuff still gets cranked by my RC except for the 30/30.
 
Eb1 said:
The 650 sounds awsome, but I think that the 550b has been on the back of my mind for about 4 years now. The pro 2000 has been right there with it, but when I see the 550b run it just sounds right, looks right, and I can see myself enjoying the press.
I think the 550b is what I will go with. What is the name of the shooter that sells them for a little bit of a discount?
Click to expand...

You're not going to be unhappy with either Dillon or RCBS if they fit what you want to do. There are just features that differ, and some features fit a particular person better than others. If you want status on gun forums, Dillon anything is tops...but they are really no more perfect than RCBS's or Hornady's offerings. The one thing that RCBS has is simplicity, fewer moving parts, and a faster, safer primer system....that means less to go wrong and nothing to recalibrate. If it's important to you, it also has faster caliber changes. Cons...one...no case feeder unless you make your own like I did.

The RCBS is an interesting case. As it is as easy to use as a 550...but has the capability of a 650 with it's 5th station. In fact, the Pro 2000 can be had as a manual advance, then upgraded later to auto-advance if you desire for $100. No you can't do that with a 550, nor can you upgrade to five stations without buying something else. The stationary powder measure station does not limit it. You can prime, expand and charge in station 2.

That means the permanent station 3 can be used for a lock-out die or powder cop if you want.

There's no good reason I can find NOT to use the permanent station 3 to drop powder, as it was designed, while loading rifle calibers.

BTW, the only Dillon press that is cast iron like the Pro 2000 is the 1050.

Warranty & service? 6 of one half dozen of the other. Both companies take care of their customers equally well.

This review, several years old, by Peter Eick, was the decider for me 3 1/2 years ago. Now he's passed 300,000 rounds loaded.
http://www.handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=26
He still likes it, but he can tell you that....himself.:)
 
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I hand prime off my progressive... I chose the Hornady L-N-L over the Dillon 650
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While the hornady has more issues with the priming system than the 650 it still is much faster than running everything through the machine twice. You really have that many problems priming on the press?
 
I don't recommend any junk pot metal presses, especially ones with two year warranties when every other manufacturer has a LIFETIME warranty that they stand behind.

While I have not used a RCBS 2000, either it or the Dillon 550 (I have a 550 and several 450s) should do anything you want. Friends have Dillon 650s and love them too. You can't go wrong with any of them. The ONLY thing these presses can't do is swaging and case forming, but for regular reloading, I'd go Dillon.
 
So, Dillion 550 over the Pro 2000? I have the money for the 650, but I heard it was a pain in the but to change calibers, and I will be loading at least 5 calibers on the press. I still have my old single stage stand by, by the way. I have also been loading for about 10 years now. I just now have gotten the money and balls to go progressive.
 
I picked the 650 over the 550, so that's what I would recommend.

Unless something has changed the 550 case feeder doesn't do rifle. If your gonna load a lot of rifle that's something to think about. The 650 also gives you one more spot for things like a powder check and of course auto indexing.

If you buy quick change tool heads and another full primer system caliber changes take minutes. If you ever want to chat to someone who knows a bit about Dillon gear give Brian Enos a call, he's nice and very helpful.
 
jmorris said:
While the hornady has more issues with the priming system than the 650 it still is much faster than running everything through the machine twice. You really have that many problems priming on the press?
Click to expand...

I prefer to clean cases between resizing and loading. Gives me another opportunity to inspect the cases. Over the years, I have found plenty of split case mouths and split bodies after the resizing/expanding steps.

I can hand prime 100 cases about as fast as filling a primer tube. Since I separate the process in two steps, no loss in time.

I never, I repeat, never load a case with a miss seated or missing primer when I hand prime. I inspect ever seated primer. Also, I hate re-working ammunition.

One miss seated primer on the progressive per session is one too many in my book. See above paragraph.

The bulk of my stoppages when running the progressive occur at the resizing die. If I run a case from resizing to loaded, this leads to either miss charged cases or extra loss time pulling suspect cases from the press to avoid a miss charged cases. I waste time process the case then running it through again. I do put my trust fully in powder check devices to catch these "oops"

When I do not resize cases while loading,the loading goes slick and quick. No problems at all.

I prefer the case mouth expanding done by the expander die and not the PTX powder drop tube. This step is done during resizing and before cleaning. All of my powder drop tubes are custom made, do not require adjustment of the powder die and do not expand the case mouth.

Besides hand priming, there are times that I charge the cases off the progressive as well. Small cases or very small batches go quicker if I do not bother with the press mounted powder measure.

Even when separating resizing from reloading, I still load more ammunition than I can shoot.

The Hornady with it's die installation works well for me. I place only the dies I need for the task. I can resize 100 cases in less than 5 minutes. I resize and clean cases shortly after shooting then store them away for a future loading session. Goes quick and I do not have a mountain of unprepared cases lying about.

I have two Dillon SDBs and both of them have the resizing die rempved and the priming system removed. The SDB's priming system was no better than the Hornady and I resize the cases on the Hornady. The SDBs are dandy loaders though.

It works for me, it may not work for all.

I have been loading for more than 30 years. I enjoy reloading as a hobby and do not need to crank out a ton of ammunition in two minutes.

Progressive presses can do some wonderful things if you think outside the box and mold the process to your liking and comfort level.
 
Chuck, I am not looking to crank out hundreds of rounds a hour. I don't want to run an ammo factory.


I do however would like to expand my reloading experience. I to can use my Lee Hand Press and in an afternoon load around 250 .44 Magnum rounds using a Lee Powder Hopper.
I am really looking into the Dillion 550b. I think that press has been around, and has proven itself very well. I have read horror stories about the Hornady L-N-L.

What I think is going to happen is I will end up with a 550b classic press ready for .223. I will buy a tool head and shell plate for .44 Magnum, and a tool head that will be used for .223 depriming/sizing and then for the Dillion Trimmer to process brass.
Until then I will setup my Possum Hollow trimmer for .223, RCBS chamfer tools in some drill heads that I have lying around. It will be fun, and possibly save me hundreds from having to buy the Dillion trimmer.

I'd like to have the 650, but I have read that it is a pain to change calibers. Someone said it was pretty simple, but what about having to move the case feeder? That seems troublesome. I am still not ruling out the Pro 2000. It seems like a pretty simple progressive press and that is appealing. I just don't think that I'd like having to adjust the power throw every time I change calibers. I am doing it now though with the Lee Powder Hopper.
I like the idea of setting the powder throw, and never having to adjust it again, but maybe someone with a 550b can chime in and let me know how well their powder hopper works.
 
I'd like to have the 650, but I have read that it is a pain to change calibers. Someone said it was pretty simple, but what about having to move the case feeder? That seems troublesome.
Click to expand...
The only time you would move the case feeder would be if you had two 650s and only one collator, it is held on the post with one screw and takes about 5 seconds to remove.

I like the idea of setting the powder throw, and never having to adjust it again,but maybe someone with a 550b can chime in
Click to expand...
From post #4
On the Dillons I keep the charge bars setup (and marked for powder/charge) for everything I load). So empty the measure and one socket head capscrew lets you swap them and your ready to go.
Click to expand...
. All of the Dillons use the same powder bars.
 
Eb1 said:
Chuck, I am not looking to crank out hundreds of rounds a hour. I don't want to run an ammo factory.
Click to expand...

Apologies, I did not mean to imply that all you wanted to do was be an ammo factory.

Some folks cannot understand why I separate resizing from reloading and the resultant use of a hand primer. Just giving some reasons why. It works for me. It does not work for many and I am fine with that.

Progressive presses open up many options. You do not have to always do the stereotypic reloading process on them.

Any of the presses you are looking at will serve you well.
 
No, worries.

I gave my Lee Challenger away to a friend who wanted to get into reloading. His daughter played on a soccer team I coached, and he was there to help me every step of the way. At the end of the year the parents gave me gift cards, and he didn't get anything. Well, I wanted to show him my appreciation so I gave him my single stage press, some other things I had duplicates of, and a Frankford reloading stand.

I didn't leave myself without a way to reload. I still have my beam scale, calipers, dies, a lee hand press, funnels, etc, etc, and I use them now to load .44 Mag - .25-06. My wife has known for a long time that I would like to own a progressive press, and we finally own a home with a nice area for my to work on my Harley and setup a bench for reloading. So for our 8th year of being married she worked hard to get stuff to sell in a consignment sell they have here twice a year, and she was able to sell enough to get me any progressive press I want. She is a keeper.

I have had my eye on the Pro 2000 for a long, long time. Because of the priming station, and the 5th die placement, and also the auto-indexing. But to be honest the first progressive I ever saw was a Dillion 550b. I like the sounds it makes when I watch someone load on it watching youtube videos. I know this is contradiction, but I like the manual indexing as well. I don't know about the primer tubes. Seems a little dangerous to me.

Anyway. After reading Brian Enos's page regarding the choice of a 650 or 550, if I go Dillion it will be a 550b. I am going to do more research into the Hornady, but I have seriously read horror stories about them on here and on other forums. Some have even touted the Lee Loadmaster to be a better progressive press than the L-N-L. Just what I have read, fellas not my words.\

Now that it is time to make the choice. I am so worried about making the right choice it is becoming a negative experience, and it was to be a gift and a great experience. Ugh!!
 
Eb1 said:
... I am still not ruling out the Pro 2000. It seems like a pretty simple progressive press and that is appealing. I just don't think that I'd like having to adjust the power throw every time I change calibers. I am doing it now though with the Lee Powder Hopper.
I like the idea of setting the powder throw, and never having to adjust it again, but maybe someone with a 550b can chime in and let me know how well their powder hopper works.
Click to expand...

You will always have to adjust powder throw with any powder measure, just because of temperature, humidity, and powder lot differences that change powder density. On a Uniflow powder measure with a micrometer and a known setting, it usually means dropping a charge, measuring it, and then turning the mic a degree or less one way or the other. That's about as quick as it gets.

For changing Rifle calibers, a it's just a matter of releasing the spring, lifting the hopper and emptying it ... if a drop tube needs changed that's only a matter of pushing it out and dropping another in before you drop the hopper back in and attach the spring.

You do have to adjust the depth of the p.m. sometimes, but you can opt out of that too if you buy a lower assembly to mount on each die head. If you do that, you set it once, and only have to set the mic. (which setting takes all of 3 seconds if you write it down the first time.)

For pistol, I buy the powder-through-expanders and prime, expand, and charge cases on station 2. That allows me to have a lock-out die on 3, a simple Hornady bullet feeder on 4, and my seater/crimper on 5. Works for me.

Not trying to sway you one way or the other, because only you know exactly how you will want to load and enjoy the hobby.....but the powder measure is one of the plus features, not a reason reject the Pro 2000. :)

BTW, you can buy the manual version the the Pro 2000 and "enjoy" that feature if you want......I did......and I enjoyed it for a hundred rounds. But I also had the $105 auto-advance kit....which I mounted after a few hours. Did I ever make it manual again? :rolleyes: I don't think so.

Why did I buy a manual Pro 2000 and the auto-advance kit at the same time? Because in Obama Victory January, that was the only way to get a Pro 2000......all the auto versions were sold out.:D
 
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Thanks for the input. I called Brian Enos, and had a conversation with him. It seems that all my H4895 and IMR 4227 loads are going bye-bye if I buy a Dillion. He said the powder would not load correctly into the .223, but might in the .44 Mag.
So it looks like I will be reworking my loads. Another option is to get a cheap single stage, and finish out the 3 lbs of 4227 and 6 lbs of 4895. I doubt Unique loads worth a flip on the Dillion either. Which I use a ton of. Also there goes the IMR 4350 and I haven't even opened the RL19 and RL22.

Looks like I am going to loos about $200 plus dollars in components just moving to a progressive, and then another $200 plus in working up loads to replace the loads I already have. GEEZ!!!

Now I am thinking of getting the RL550 with a RCBS Chargmaster to finish out the components I have, and then buying the parts to upgrade the RL550 to a 550B. I can't win for loosing.
 
It was said that the extruded powder would not load in the smaller .223 case mouth, and that the charges could be off.
 
There's a heck of a deal on a used 550B on the Buy & Sell Reloading Forum here on THR. The guy's in Alabama and selling a complete setup.
 
Thanks. $1650.00 is a little much for me right now. I am thinking $550.00-$600.00 is my budget.
 
Thanks. $1650.00 is a little much for me right now. I am thinking $550.00-$600.00 is my budget.
Click to expand...
Post #33, link to a fellow whos sells new 550Bs for $415.
 
Pro 2000

I have owned Dillon, Lyman, Lee, and RCBS. I can afford any press I want and I choose the PRO 2000.

PRO 2000: I like manual indexing, caliber changes are easier, primer swapping is easy and fast, the powder measure is superior to the Dillon, toolheads are cheaper, built like a tank, you can choose aps or tube priming, auto index is an option, warranty is top notch, service is fast and friendly.

Dillon: Decently built although not as stout as the RCBS, expensive caliber conversions, decent powder measure but it must be removed and replaced when swapping tool heads, or you can just buy a measure for each tool head, service doesn't match RCBS AND Dillon is the only company who ever gave me grief over a warranty issue. I have had better service from Lee, outside their warranty period. Dillon builds a good press, but they are overpriced and don't measure up to the green $ for $.
 
I like my Load Master. I like it better then my LNL. I don't have any advice for you because I don't know anything about the Dillions or Pro2000. I'm just following along to see if I learn something.
 
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