Should I upgrade the 550b

[jmorris]

It's not that there is a "wrong" answer they are just two different machines that are better suited to different applications. There are some applications where a single stage would be a better choice too.

If you are wanting to load a lot of something with minimal effort quickly, a 650 650 can run circles around a 550.



However, if your loading 100 or this 200 of that the speed in that the 550 can be swapped from one thing to another could make it faster over all. Kind of a tortoise vs hare thing.

 

[MoreIsLess]

Interesting thread. I have been going back and forth trying to decide between these two presses. I thought I had convinced myself on the 650, but after reading this, again I am not sure.

Russellc

When I was trying to decide between the 2, the deal breaker turned out to be how much easier it is to change calibers on the 550b and the fact that if you buy a 650, you pretty much have to buy a case feeder as well, adding another $275 (approx) to the cost. Brian Enos, who sells Dillon equipment even told me that the 550 was Dillon's best all around machine in his opinion. The manual indexing is something that becomes a non-issue pretty quickly. I am happy with the 550b I purchased and I can still crank out a lot of rounds in a hour. I have pretty much decided, thanks to the excellent advice on this thread, that I am not getting rid of the 550, if anything, I will get a 650 and keep the 550 or stand pat with the 550.

 

[MoreIsLess]

how do I delete this, I accidentally double posted?

 

[RussellC]

When I was trying to decide between the 2, the deal breaker turned out to be how much easier it is to change calibers on the 550b and the fact that if you buy a 650, you pretty much have to buy a case feeder as well, adding another $275 (approx) to the cost. Brian Enos, who sells Dillon equipment even told me that the 550 was Dillon's best all around machine in his opinion. The manual indexing is something that becomes a non-issue pretty quickly. I am happy with the 550b I purchased and I can still crank out a lot of rounds in a hour. I have pretty much decided, thanks to the excellent advice on this thread, that I am not getting rid of the 550, if anything, I will get a 650 and keep the 550 or stand pat with the 550.

That' the way I am leaning, back to 550...the lack of auto index is no big deal, I currently use Lee Classic Turret Press, and many times I deprime separately, as well as size and prime separately, then charge and seat on another occasion.

Russellc

 

[Paddy]

They are pretty far from each other in design. There's a few others that are also often compared that are much more comparable. The 550 to me is actually not a progressive but closer to an upside down turret press. I love mine, for totally different reasons than I love my progressive. For 275$ the BL550 is a fantastic press too, if you don't see yourself priming on the press which I don't.

 

[jmorris]

The 550 to me is actually not a progressive but closer to an upside down turret press.

I often read this and don't understand it.

A turret press requires one stroke of the handle for each die for every round. So you use 3 dies that equals 3 strokes, add a powder die and that's 4 strokes for every round.

A progressive press allows all operations to occur at the same time so once full a new round is completed with each pull of the handle.

 

[Nature Boy]

For someone who has both the 550 and 650, could you explain why the 550 is so much easier to change calibers?

I watched the videos jmorris posted, but if you aren't changing shell plates or primer size and you have your dies on dedicated tool heads, aren't they pretty much the same in change-over time?

 

[jmorris]

The 550 is easier because it has less parts that need changing, same reason it can't load as fast as the 650 that does things the 550 doesn't.

Additional parts that you might need to change on the 650, that simply don't exist on the 550 are the arm bushing, body bushing, case feed adapter, station 1 locator, case feed disk (requires collator to be emptied), adjustment or reversal of case feed cam.

The priming system is nowhere near as fast to convert from small to large. Enough so there are folks that either get an extra priming system or like I did and just get two 650's, one for small primers and another for large.

 

[MoreIsLess]

It's not that there is a "wrong" answer they are just two different machines that are better suited to different applications. There are some applications where a single stage would be a better choice too.

If you are wanting to load a lot of something with minimal effort quickly, a 650 650 can run circles around a 550.

In this video, do you have a bullet feeder as well as a case feeder? I didn't see any,manual intervention at all, impressive. Also, is your 650 bolted to the wall? How's the stability of your 650 on the table shown in the video.

 

[jmorris]

Yes, it's both bullet and case fed. The bench is not bolted to the wall but it is pretty stable. 5" steel truss and cross braces where each press bolts down.

 

[RussellC]

I often read this and don't understand it.

A turret press requires one stroke of the handle for each die for every round. So you use 3 dies that equals 3 strokes, add a powder die and that's 4 strokes for every round.

A progressive press allows all operations to occur at the same time so once full a new round is completed with each pull of the handle.

I agree, to the way I see it, it is every bit of the definition a progressive....upside down or not.

Russellc

 

[MoreIsLess]

The 550 to me is actually not a progressive but closer to an upside down turret press

Why do you think that, because of no auto indexing? As JMORRIS pointed out:

A progressive press allows all operations to occur at the same time so once full a new round is completed with each pull of the handle.

The 550 does this quite well

 

[jmorris]

I think it's just something repeated and not really thought about.

I mean would you call a car with an automatic transmission a car but one with a manual transmission "not actually a" or "not a true" car?

Of course not.

 

[wally]

However, if your loading 100 or this 200 of that the speed in that the 550 can be swapped from one thing to another could make it faster over all. Kind of a tortoise vs hare thing.

For this few rounds between caliber swaps the 4-station Lee Classic Turret is IMHO the way to go -- one round in four pulls of the handle but you only touch the case once to insert it and once to remove the loaded round. Extra turrets are like $10 each and changing from small to large primer takes longer to get the parts off the shelf than to swap in, no tools required.

I have a pair of Dillon 650 one for large primers the other for small, to support my ~20-25K per year 9mm, 40S&W & .45ACP steel plate shooting, but I still have the Lee Classic Turret to handle my low volume calibers -- .38Special, .380,ACP, .357Magnum, 10mm, .38Super, & 9mm Mak. I have a quick change tool head and extra powder measure to swap between 9mm & .40S&W on the SP Dillon.

 

[MoreIsLess]

Yes, it's both bullet and case fed. The bench is not bolted to the wall but it is pretty stable. 5" steel truss and cross braces where each press bolts down.

Do you have any issues with the cases not feeding properly, like cases feeding upside down, etc. Some of the comments I've read from people indicate they have had issues with cases not feeding correctly until they anchored the reloading bench to the wall which solved the problem. I hope not to have to do that.

 

[jmorris]

I posted the videos so one can see the operations in action and if you watch the loading video you can see a malfunction in the operation, plain as day. If anyone says they have never had any issue with any press, from single stage to a $350,000 machine, you can rest assured they just lied to you or haven't loaded much. That said I have loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds and I have never had a single reloading bench bolted to a wall or floor.

I don't see (M)any issues with cases not feeding properly and almost never an upside down one but that really doesn't mean much other than I have found solutions to problems as I encounter them and I have had pretty much every problem that can be had on reloading machines.

They all have problems, some are better than others and easier to figure out solutions but if you have zero problem solving skills, factory ammo is your best bet.

 

[cfullgraf]

I feed cases by hand and get one upside down once in a while.

My presses are each mounted on its own free standing floor stand. I move them in and out of the operating position as I need them. The rest are stored out of the way in the corner.

I've also never found the need to bolt my presses, including progressives, to the floor or wall. But, the structure holding the press needs to be rigid. If the structure, the bench or in my case a stand, flexes it adds to the reloading effort and eventually the structure will fail.

 

[jmorris]

feed cases by hand and get one upside down once in a while.

That's a lot better than feeding your hand, I hope I only did that once, it hurts right side up.

 

[Beanie-Bean]

So, were you swapping out the 550b and the 650 using a quick change mount? The 650 looks like it would be kind of cumbersome to take off and put back on

650 on a Dillon strong mount, 550 on the Inline Fab mount (quick change)

Yeah, the 650 would be a pain to swap out.