Another Dillon

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hotshot357

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I was surfing thru Armslist a couple of weeks ago and ran across a 550B for sale. I shot the seller a price, he countered with $325 would buy the press, 3# of 700x powder, & around 3,000 .40 cal. cases. I jumped on it. The 550 is a older press but in pretty good shape. It came set up with a Lee 10mm/ .40 S&W die and conversion kit. I sold the brass for $80, so the press cost me $245.00. I'm not sure if I'm going to sell it or keep it. Time will tell. IMG_20190608_223049043_BURST000_COVER_TOP.jpg
 
I was surfing thru Armslist a couple of weeks ago and ran across a 550B for sale.

That Dillon 550 press as near new as possible. I'd bet money that press has not loaded anything close to five-hundred rounds.

My 550's primer feed system started to fail. Got great help from the company. All the parts came to rebuild the priming unit. The one that was replaced was maybe twenty years old. It had just worn out and now it's as good as new. My 550 will outlive me baring a house fire or such.
 
Nice. I would love a second 550 to have one setup for large primers and the other small primers. It's not a big deal to switch, but just the same.....

Just do it. I did it late last year when I bought my second 650.

FWIW I know have a 9mm 650 and a .45 ACP 650. I have conversion kits and tool heads for half a dozen other cartridges, I just haven't loaded with them yet.
 
Isn't that true!!! I started with one and now there are three.
I see the middle one is a SDB. That's what I have had for the last 25 years or more. I was loading only for .45ACP and 10mm. Now, I'm seriously considering adding a 650, as I'm shooting far more 5.56 NATO, and am afraid I'll miss the auto-index if I went 550. Meh, I'll likely make a decision by summer, but I'd go no other than Dillon again.
 
I see the middle one is a SDB. That's what I have had for the last 25 years or more. I was loading only for .45ACP and 10mm. Now, I'm seriously considering adding a 650, as I'm shooting far more 5.56 NATO, and am afraid I'll miss the auto-index if I went 550. Meh, I'll likely make a decision by summer, but I'd go no other than Dillon again.

If you miss the manual index on a 550 while loading .223 you'll get powder all over. I be more worried about pistol rounds as they have a much larger case volume to charge volume.
 
If you miss the manual index on a 550 while loading .223 you'll get powder all over. I be more worried about pistol rounds as they have a much larger case volume to charge volume.
There also won't be an place to set that bullet, since one will already be in the case at station 3, and station one will also be occupied.
 
Great Deal, hotshot357, thanks for sharing the story & pics! :)

As much as I have lusted after one since the mid-80s, the only way that I will ever have a Dillon is as a gift or as a crazy-cheap deal into which I stumble.

Thinking about me having a Dillon reminds me of a friend in the mid-70s who bought a Pantera sportscar. :what: It was far too much machine for his needs (or in his case, as it turned out, his understanding of how he should drive it so as to not screwup the engine).
 
If you miss the manual index on a 550 while loading .223 you'll get powder all over. I be more worried about pistol rounds as they have a much larger case volume to charge volume.
Well, that tears it, since that will surely happen to me at least once.o_O So I'll be going 650 if new, and 550 only if I happen into a used deal like the OP got.
 
My first Dillon 650 was a sweetheart deal. $200 for a press still in the box, extra tool head and powder measure. Sadly I had to buy my own case collator.

I bought my second after I sold an HK 91 that I had not fired in over 30 years. Loved the gun, hated what it did to brass. I sold it for 6X what I paid for it.
 
Now that's my kinda deal!

Congrats on the find.
I've got the proverbial two 550 setup, 1 for LG primers & 1 for SP

The LP is a 550B that I bought NIB in 2010 for $150. Original sales receipt said it was new in 1993.
The SP is a 550C that I paid full price for in 2016.
 
My first Dillon 650 was a sweetheart deal. $200 for a press still in the box, extra tool head and powder measure. Sadly I had to buy my own case collator.
Poor baby!:rofl: HOLY CRAP, what a deal!:what: I don't suppose I'll ever run across something like that, but it sure is fun to think it possible. My SDB was just an SD when I got it for (I believe) $137, but that was when they first came out. Even those are approaching $500 now. But, my reloads over the years proved FAR more accurate and reliable than any factory loads. And besides, working up loads is FUN.
 
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