Dillon Press Question & 9mm Brass Question

[CareyH]

I used an SDB for years to load .45 ACP. I think it's ideal for a mid volume dedicated pistol press. I now use a 650 for .45 and .223, and I wish I has my SDB back.

I will buy you a new SDB if I can have your 650... My 650 is getting lonely and could use a friend

[MarkCO]

Attachment 48909Attachment 48911

Left type won't damage the press if you have the spring loaded firing pin. When I hear the lack of the snap, I know something it wrong. The second is the AmmoLoad brass.

[Bentsight]

Daniel
You've probably shot a couple box carloads of SG ammo in the last 15 or so years and I'll bet it wasn't loaded on a Lee Load All. Not that I'm comparing the SDB to a Load All but it will severely limit your options in regard to other caliber options. The 550 can be used easily on both 3 gun calibers you mention and the conversion time between the two is minimal by just changing tool heads and the shell plate since they both use small primers. Brass is actually getting easy to find again and a set of carbide dies will bring it back to spec pretty easy no matter what brand it is. Good luck at Noveske this weekend!

[dzeke]

Yeah I have never used a Lee for any shotgun loading lol. Thanks for all the advice, you all definitely have me leaning towards a 650...this is quickly getting very expensive. However in the long run it will be cheaper.

[Hoser]

As far as 9 brass goes, most all commercial flavors will work as long as you avoid AMERC and AmmoLoad. If you run into GI brass (with crimped in primers) you will also have issues.

The 550 and 650 are excellent presses. I have a lot of time using both. I much prefer the 550. Not only are conversions cheaper, but when you get down to a gnats ass, they load higher quality ammo. I have a lot of Dillon presses and chose to go with the 550 over the 650 for loading Long Range Precision rifle ammo and odball/low volume pistol calibers. Everything else gets loaded on a 1050. Shotshell gets loaded on a Spolar Hydro.

If you go with a 650 over the 550 for the 5th station and casefeeder, you might as well save up a few more dollars and get a 1050.

[XC700116]

As far as 9 brass goes, most all commercial flavors will work as long as you avoid AMERC and AmmoLoad. If you run into GI brass (with crimped in primers) you will also have issues.

The 550 and 650 are excellent presses. I have a lot of time using both. I much prefer the 550. Not only are conversions cheaper, but when you get down to a gnats ass, they load higher quality ammo. I have a lot of Dillon presses and chose to go with the 550 over the 650 for loading Long Range Precision rifle ammo and odball/low volume pistol calibers. Everything else gets loaded on a 1050. Shotshell gets loaded on a Spolar Hydro.

If you go with a 650 over the 550 for the 5th station and casefeeder, you might as well save up a few more dollars and get a 1050.

^^ this is honestly very good advice, for what I have into my 650 and extra sets of quick change sets and conversions, I could have had a 1050 set up for the 2 truly high volume calibers I load and a 550 for the rest. And in 100% honesty, I could sufficiently do what I need on a 550, but I will say the case feed and auto-index is nice. But on the same token, priming and swadgeing on the 1050 is so much nicer for it's worth the extra jump.

Now that I'm into it all, I'm not going to switch over now, but I wish I'd have thought about it in these terms before hand.

For pistol only the SDB is a nice little unit though, but the SDB only dies is my biggest concern with it.

[Caithford]

I would go with the 550. You can operate it as a progressive, or as a single stage/turret. I even picked up a at-500 powder die and funnel so I could load rifle on it with my rcbs chargemaster. Lots of great stuff you can do with the press. But any press is better than no press!

[dzeke]

Thanks for all the great advice, now I just have to decide if I can justify the 1050 or go with the 650.

[Great-Kazoo]

Thanks for all the great advice, now I just have to decide if I can justify the 1050 or go with the 650.

Once the press is set up and you've puled the handle, you know the expense IS justified

[Busta Prima]

Thanks for all the great advice, now I just have to decide if I can justify the 1050 or go with the 650.

Wait, you came here considering a SDB and are now considering a 650 or 1050? Yikes! Are you still going just 9mm?

The 550 is the best bang for the buck. I've owned one for over 20 years now. I too started with 9mm on a Lee Turret press. Now I load 40, 45, 38, 357 and of course 9mm. Back then 9mm was cheap enough that it wasn't worth the press investment but I enjoyed doing it and my ammo is better than any target ammo available. I do rifle on a single stage press only.

As for brass, my favorite is Winchester.

IMO the 650 is overkill if you're not loading thousands of rounds a month. Whichever way you go, don't skimp out when buying new calibers. Buy the complete change kit because the LEAST fun for me is setting up the dies and powder drop. I recently bought my first 10mm and I knew I would not shoot it a great deal so instead of buying a change kit for my Dillon I just dropped $40 for some dies and I'm doing them on my single stage. I'd rather single stage them than try and use my .40 cal setup for 10mm because I hate adjusting the dies and powder that much!