Thinking of adding a Dillon 650

[hAkron]

I have been using a Hornady LnL AP for a little over a year, and while I like it a lot, it's not without its quirks/issues. I have added the case feeder and the bullet feeder. I think the case feeder seems cheap (the bowl on mine was so far off center I had to tape a piece of cardboard to the right side of the ejection chute). I have added a strong mount and an ergo roller handle from Inline Fabrication -- these were the best upgrades ever.

Anyway, I'm thinking of adding a Dillion 650 with all of the bells and whistles (buzzers?). I want to hear from anybody who has experience with both to see if there is any great difference. I plan to use the Dillon primarily right now for 9mm, and maybe slowly move a few other calibers over to it. Possibly keep the LnL setup for large primers.

Please try to limit the Blue vs Red debate to factual observations only, at least for the first few responses.

 

[Henry45]

I have two of them. I don't think you'll be unhappy... No issues with either of mine... I have a couple of Lee presses that i use for certain stuff too. I really like the blue. But, got no complaints about the Lee's, except they are just a little awkward for me to get into the rhythm with on the Classic Turret. But that's just my quark...

 

[Robert]

I never could get the hang of the 650. I have a 550B and love it. If I had the money for a 650 I'd spend a bit more and get the 1050. The 650 was just too delicate and temperamental for me, though it could have just been the one I was using. God help you if you have to go back a step. And I am not a fan of the priming system.

 

[Meta]

I've been reloading for over 20 years and have reloaded on quite a few different machines, both stuff I've owned personally and friends equipment. Without question the Dillon 650 is the best reloader I've used, the only exception being the 1050. The 1050 is not much better, just better in the sense that an S class Benz is better than an E or C class.
You will not be disappointed. The customer service and support is amazingly good.

 

[hAkron]

The 1050 crossed my mind as well, but my understanding is since Dillon markets the 1050 as more of a commercial machine, caliber changes are more expensive and more involved, and they don't offer the same warranty. I like that the 1050 primes on the downstroke and that it has a primer pocket swager, but since I don't reload rifle, and I desperate out my military crimp 9mm brass, I don't really see the point, though I'm not sure if the KISS bullet feeder will work with the 650...I may one day decide to add a bullet feeder (though I rarely use my Hornady bullet feeder). I'll probably get a 650 in the near term, then maybe a 1050 down the road (no kids and guns are pretty much my only hobby...well no my only hobby, but my Harley is paid for)

 

[highlander 5]

I have 2 650s and as I've stated in previous post the biggest pain is trying to switch out the primer assembly. I tried several different tools to removve the primer cup but ended up mangling the thing so I bought a second 650,easier to swtich machines. I've had mine for several years and find it to be rugged and will load most of the standard cartridge line.
I tried loading 45/70 on mine and did not fare well in the attempt If you can live with manually advanceing your cases the 550 is capable of loading a wider selection of ammo than the 650.

 

[jmorris]

I sold the LNL's I had and stuck with the 650's. I think the 650 has the best priming system of all the Dillons but I still load more with the 1050 than the rest of them.

I prefer the GSI bullet feeders on the 650 and 1050 as they allow you to seat and crimp in separate stations and you get to keep the powder check die, with the KISS and all of the others you either have to seat and crimp at the same station or you loose the PC die.

 

[mizer67]

I have both.

I rarely use my LNL AP after purchasing a 650.

My main issue was/is that my LNL never primes correctly ain that it takes a large amount of force to seat primers so that I don't get light primer strikes. Too much work to make it enjoyable after using a 650. I tried every "solution" in the book, my machine just won't prime appropriately.

I had numerous issues with my LNL though besides priming, however. The case feeder is complete garbage, and I could never get it to work 100% with 9mm without the cases tipping over during insertion to station 1, falling off, getting stuck, raining on my head, etc.

I still use the LNL as a hand-fed machine for some rifle rounds that I hand prime.

I like the LNL powder measure enough I added them to my Dillon tool heads. They're objectively better than the Dillon powder measure at dropping most powders consistently.

When comparing the two, the Dillon was designed around having a case feeder and it shows. Everything just works as it should when dropping and feeding cases. Priming also takes little effort, and the roller handle is excellent (even when compared to the Inline Fab. handle which I also have) and basically the machine just runs faster and better than the LNL, with few issues for me that aren't related to getting media stuck where it shouldn't be.

The main issues I don't like with the Dillon (and they're minor compared to those I have with the LNL) are that the snapping of the shell plate while indexing likes to sling powder out of the 9mm cases and the Dillon priming system will index irregardless if there is already a primer in place. The little ramp to catch the live primers is just silly, but it only takes one bolt to remove the block that advances the primers if you need to run the machine dry.

I've heard some people say the 650 is finicky, but I haven't seen that in my experience. I've put ~40K through mine in about a year and a half and for the first 20K rounds I don't think I had one issue. After that I only had a few related to media and general dirt accumulation necessitating some cleaning / oil.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

The 650 is a nice machine. It is fairly expensive to purchase, and adding caliber changes (conversion kit, dies, powder measure) are expensive and somewhat time consuming when compared to the 550.

 

[joed]

Never owned a LnL but have owned all of the Dillons except the SDB. The 650 is a good press. My only complaint is the priming system, I don't like it. Even though I don't like it I do tolerate it.

The one thing I was surprised with was when I bought the 1050. I spent a lot of money on the 650 for accessories, the 1050 comes with most of the accessories as standard. I believe it was a $200 difference at the time.

I believe it's a good move doing large primer on one press and small on another.

 

[hentown]

I highly recommend the 650, but you don't need a buzzer to tell you that the powder in the LARGE, clear plastic hopper is low, and I'd certainly recommend the RCBS Lockout Die over the Dillon system. Also, the only Dillon dies that I use are their powder dies.

 

[hAkron]

I do have the RCBS Lockout Die on my LnL. What don't you like about Dillon powder checker?

 

[Magnum Shooter]

I don’t understand why some of you guys are having problems with the XL 650’s priming system. I think it’s the best. You can buy a complete priming system for $81 then it only takes 2 screws to change it from large to small or visa versa and it can be done in 60 seconds. As for you guys that bought a complete press, you just got more money than me.

The case feeder on a 650, although not perfect, just make Hornady’s look like junk. And it’s a better price.

I have 7 Dillon powder measures and all of them will drop even Unique powder within 0.1 grain, or 0.2 grain at the worst, consistently. I can’t see why anyone needs a better measure than that.

The powder check is probably the worst thing about the Dillon. It is only really good for double/no charges.

I have used my XL 650 for 18 years now and I can honestly say I have never wanted to or needed to back up. If a problem accrues remove the problem case or cases and proceed.

 

[MtnCreek]

What don't you like about Dillon powder checker?

IMHO, it's made cheap and has flex in it that can cause it to not work sometimes.

 

[jmorris]

The "flex" in it is how it is designed to work. If that section were ridged it would break off.

As for the 650 priming system, it is the only Dillon that uses a brass tip on the primer tube, all the rest use the plastic tip that is usually the cause of priming problems. Some say using the 650 tube in the other machines is the hot setup. I figured if Dillon approved that idea they would quit sending the plastic tips out by the bag full for free.