To Dillon or not to Dillon

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TackticalZacktical

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I shoot USPSA and 3-gun matches religiously, and I’m looking to reload bulk 9mm and then add in .223 sometime in the future.

I plan to deprime with a Frankford arsenal hand de primer, wet tumble with stainless pins, then load in the Dillion 550. I have access to everything I need to pour and powder coat my own 9mm bullets.
Below is my current shopping list.

————

Dillon:

509.99 Dillon RL 550C w/ caliber conversion kit

75.99 Dillon carbide pistol dies

17.99 Dillon 9mm case gauge

TOTAL $633.96 after shipping and tax

——————-

Amazon:

35.49 Frankford Arsenal Hand Deprimer

35.00 Frankford arsenal DS-750 Scale

19.50 2.5 lbs Guntap stainless tumbler pins

22.95 Neiko Stainless Calipers

5.99 RCBS Primer Flip Tray

*Note: Already have bullet puller and Reloading manual

TOTAL $128.84 after tax (free shipping)

————-

Harbor Freight:

59.99 Dual Drum Rotary Rock Tumbler

TOTAL $50 after coupon

——————

$811 COMBINED TOTAL

Am I good to go? Please advise.
 
Why not take the small step and get the 750. Having the extra hole for the powder check sure adds some piece of mind when loading bulk ammo.

Plus, it will be faster than the 550

I had a lot of 550 owners tell me they love their press but regretted they didn’t just start out with the 650 (now 750)
 
Considering how much you shoot, your quality of life will go up a notch after buying a Dillon. You will be soooo happy.

When it comes to Dillon everybody is opinionated and will try to tell you which press is best, or even a cheaper brand all together.

Being an owner of 8 different Dillon models (including discontinued models), some even duplicated, I can say with confidence that you will be happy with any of them.

The 550 was my first Dillon about 35 years ago when I started in competition and I have had no regrets.

Enjoy
 
Nature Boy said:
Why not take the small step and get the 750. Having the extra hole for the powder check sure adds some piece of mind when loading bulk ammo.

Plus, it will be faster than the 550

I had a lot of 550 owners tell me they love their press but regretted they didn’t just start out with the 650 (now 750)
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I would love a 750, but the price difference ($614 vs $1,055 with a case feeder) is a little to steep for me, especially for a first press. Thankfully, I know that these presses retain their value because I’ve been shopping for used 550s for a month now!
 
Reinz said:
Considering how much you shoot, your quality of life will go up a notch after buying a Dillon. You will be soooo happy.

When it comes to Dillon everybody is opinionated and will try to tell you which press is best, or even a cheaper brand all together.

Being an owner of 8 different Dillon models (including discontinued models), some even duplicated, I can say with confidence that you will be happy with any of them.

The 550 was my first Dillon about 35 years ago when I started in competition and I have had no regrets.

Enjoy
Click to expand...
Thank you for that. It gives me peace of mind to jump right in with a nice blue press instead of starting small and working my way up.
 
Have a 550. Bought the double alpha mini mr bullet feeder and the seat/crimp die. Also have an extra tube set so I can do 200 in a batch without taking a break to stack bullets in the tube. Then I did the unthinkable. I bought a decked out 1050. It runs 9 exclusively for my brothers and my uspsa addiction. 30 minutes and my major match ammo is done.

The 550 will work but its so much slower than either a 750 or 1050. Do the 750 now and dont look back.
 
NVcharlie said:
Have a 550. Bought the double alpha mini mr bullet feeder and the seat/crimp die. Also have an extra tube set so I can do 200 in a batch without taking a break to stack bullets in the tube. Then I did the unthinkable. I bought a decked out 1050. It runs 9 exclusively for my brothers and my uspsa addiction. 30 minutes and my major match ammo is done.

The 550 will work but its so much slower than either a 750 or 1050. Do the 750 now and dont look back.
Click to expand...
That’s a tough pill to swallow, but my subconscious knows you’re right. I’d think about the 750 every time I pulled the lever on a 550
 
rabid wombat said:
I understand money, consider sacrificing some of the other bits...get the 750 (I went to a pair of 650’s....)

Regardless, you will be happy with a Dillon over a single stage for volume...
Click to expand...
Honestly, the extra cost is justifiable.
It will eventually pay for itself.
The time saved has value to me.
It will retain its value should I ever sell it.
It’ll last longer than I will.
And it’ll save me the expense of buying another press later.

But man. Still a big chunk of up front cost
 
I made the same decision a few years ago. I really wanted a 650, but just couldn't get there. I ended up with a 550. I've loaded roughly 15k in the last 2.5 years. Am I happy? Yes. I run roughly 400 a hour and that's plenty for me.

Would I get a 750 now that I got some extra money? No. I'd rather have another 550 set up for large primers lol. Just need to figure out where I'm going to put it.
 
I am a low volume pistol loader, meaning less than 2k per year and for others like myself the Simple inexpensive Lee works well and fills my needs, BUT, if you are a serious competitive shooter that will be shooting a whole lot then you need a Bigger Dillon. I would suggest that if you can buy the 750 press and hold off on the case feeder until money isn't as tight. After all the 550 does not come with a case feeder.
 
Shak3s1977 said:
Would I get a 750 now that I got some extra money? No. I'd rather have another 550 set up for large primers lol. Just need to figure out where I'm going to put it.
Click to expand...

part of my thoughts..,the reason I went with a pair of 650’s. large and small primers . Had I known, most the accessories would have been InLine, and not Dillon. Specifically, the mounts. Different mounts would significantly change the layout. Oh well, better next time I build out the reloading room.

https://inlinefabrication.com/collections/ultramounts
 
Go big or go home! I upgraded from a LCT to a 750 for 9mm. I couldn’t justify the Dillon feeder based on my volume. For cost savings check out the DAA Mini Case feeder. It holds 150 9mm cases. I found a 3D printer file online for a collator much like the Lee collator. I had a local guy print it up and it is awesome. Fills up the mini case feeder in less than a minute with 99.99% of the cases orientated the correct way. I have a video on YouTube:
 
I’m still trying to figure out the thread title... Seems like it should be To Dillon or to Dillon?

I currently load on Red, but regardless the color I wouldn’t load on a progressive without a powder check station. I shoot competitively as well and don’t really want to experience a squib or the double charge. I know Dillon has a powder check thingy, I use an RCBS lock out die. I strongly recommend one or the other, especially if you’re new to progressive press loading and/or shoot competitively.

Your list looks good for a start. If you’re only going to have a digital scale, you should get a set of check weights so you can verify the scales’ accuracy. Even a balance beam should be checked, but you’re going digital.

The other thing I’d suggest is a really good lighting setup so you can visually inspect for a powder drop inside the case of each round before placing the bullet on the mouth of the case. One should do this whether you have a powder check station or not, and the lights really help.

If you’re new to reloading you should take some time to think through the process, including the QC checks. Get a notebook, either paper or soft copy since you’ll want to refer to what you did time and time again. Good luck!
 
I'm an odd duck, so my advice may be off from others that may or may not load like you would.

Personally, I like the 550 I bought in Jan of 2019. I do run the occasional large lot, "set and forget" 9mm lots...but by large I'm mostly taking 500 at a time, tops. For that, the 550 is fine by me. I more so use the Dillon as a hybrid loader, often doing some more like single stage loading on it. I run a lot of 38 special and 44 magnum, so I'll do stage work on the 550 where I may not make fully loaded cases by resizing/de-priming and priming them...then store them for small batch loading later. For 44 I'll use all kinds of different projectiles and powder charges so a Dillion powder dropper isn't really needed as I'm changing it up all the time. I also do not use Dillion seating and crimp dies for 44 as I'm constantly switching projectiles. I also load match 223 on a single stage press, no problem there.

I'll say this, it's my opinion that Dillon presses are designed to be "set and forget". Their dies (many of which I own) are superb once you have them set up but fine adjustments on them is a massive pain, they're clearly designed to be set up once, then ran like that. If you're going to switch back and forth between different projectiles/loads/powders...I wouldn't suggest Dillon dies. If you're going to set up the machine to run one type of load, with the same powder, same charge, and same projectile over and over again...Dillon has that down to a science.

That's going to be my breaking point that will drive me to a 750, when I'm ready to load mass lots of one kind, I'll get a 750. Until then, as much as I swap things back/forth, my 550 is perfectly fine for me.
 
rbernie said:
Can you disable the auto-advance feature on the 750 so that you can manually index / rotate the shellholder? I bought a 550 specifically because it was not a true progressive....
Click to expand...

If you take off 2 bolts on the side and remove the camming shaft (takes 3 seconds) you can stop it from auto indexing.

For loading pistol, I would 100% go with the 750 and a casefeeder, unless you truly just like doing lots of manual things. Can't knock that if you like it, but I like loading 9mm on a 750 with a casefeeder and bulletfeeder, absolutely hated loading 9mm on a single stage.
 
Get the 750 with a case feeder. You'll be MUCH happier.

Also, there's NO reason to deprime off the press. Tumble the brass, lube it, dump it in the collator and load it.

You're not going to be able to tell the difference at the firing line. I've never cleaned a primer pocket on a pistol cartridge. Unless you're needed to get that last X ring shot to get your Distinguished Pistol badge it's not worth it. In fact, the three DP shooters I know don't even clean primer pockets.

https://www.dillonprecision.com/xl-750-reloader-package-9mm_8_134_26660.html

Start there, or get the mount and roller handle from Inline Fab. I much prefer the Ergo handles from Inline. But that package has everything but the tumbler. You'll also need a RCBS Lock-Out Die.

I've got a pair of 650 presses on the bench. One for 45 ACP and the other for 9mm. Really it's large and small primer :)

Since you plan on casting and coating your own bullets you should be able to pay for that 750 setup inside a year. You should be able to save $0.20 per round at current prices. That's only ~7500 rounds to pay for that setup.
 
Bosn Ski said:
Go big or go home! I upgraded from a LCT to a 750 for 9mm. I couldn’t justify the Dillon feeder based on my volume. For cost savings check out the DAA Mini Case feeder. It holds 150 9mm cases. I found a 3D printer file online for a collator much like the Lee collator. I had a local guy print it up and it is awesome. Fills up the mini case feeder in less than a minute with 99.99% of the cases orientated the correct way. I have a video on YouTube:
Click to expand...

That is absolutely brilliant! Huge costs savings too without sacrificing time and effort. Thank you for that!
Have you since found anywhere that sells a collator online?
 
lordpaxman said:
I’m still trying to figure out the thread title... Seems like it should be To Dillon or to Dillon?

I currently load on Red, but regardless the color I wouldn’t load on a progressive without a powder check station. I shoot competitively as well and don’t really want to experience a squib or the double charge. I know Dillon has a powder check thingy, I use an RCBS lock out die. I strongly recommend one or the other, especially if you’re new to progressive press loading and/or shoot competitively.

Your list looks good for a start. If you’re only going to have a digital scale, you should get a set of check weights so you can verify the scales’ accuracy. Even a balance beam should be checked, but you’re going digital.

The other thing I’d suggest is a really good lighting setup so you can visually inspect for a powder drop inside the case of each round before placing the bullet on the mouth of the case. One should do this whether you have a powder check station or not, and the lights really help.

If you’re new to reloading you should take some time to think through the process, including the QC checks. Get a notebook, either paper or soft copy since you’ll want to refer to what you did time and time again. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thank you friend! I’ll look in to getting an extra balance so that I can double check my weights.
 
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