Dillon 550B vs 650

[kpep]

I'm currently thinking about another press. I have two 1050's (not the supers). Anyone have thoughts about the 650 over the 550B? Only about $140 more for the 650. I'm used to the auto indexing on the 1050 and understand that the 550B does not have it. I can't load the rifle cal. I want on my 1050's. Although the 550B states it loads more different cal' then the 650. I've never used the 550B or the 650. Any info or suggestions would be appreciated.

[fredj338]

What rifle cartridge? I load on a pair of 550s. IMO, if you have two 1050s you don;t need another auto indexing press. If it's a hunting round, you could do quite well on a turret, hell, I use a single stage & powder measure for my rifle hunting ammo. The 55OB will be cheaper & easier to deal with for larger rifle rounds. The 650 & 1050 are for high production rates of ammo & IMO, the fewer caliber changes on them the better.

[Fugowii]

I load .223 and .30-06 on my 550 and it does a fine job. The 550 is not without
shortcomings but it will do rifle calibers just fine. The powder measure does not
take all powders, the primer system is not the greatest, but it will do the job, and
the really down side with using the 550 is that anyone else living with you will
learn a few new words from time to time.

[runfiverun]

the biggest problem with the 650 is the primer feed system.
the 550 you can watch the primer as it slides under the case.
i like the 550.
you can get a magnum powder bar,the regular rifle bar will easily drop @ 50 grs of stick powder,
the small bar will drop about 20 gr max.
i saved the dough and got the primer tube filler tool. the time you save with that almost makes up the speed difference.

[nicholst55]

The only two advantages the 650 has over the 550 is auto-indexing, and a 5th hole in the tool head. That allows use of a powder-check die, which I would personally consider a big plus. I hear too much talk of 550s either malfunctioning, or more likely, the operator becoming distracted, and loading squibs. Whatever the cause, a powder-check die would go a long way towards eliminating the possibility of this.

[Lloyd Smale]

got to agree with the others. If you didnt have the 1050s id say go 650 but the 550 is much handier for doing small batches of rife ammo and conversions are cheaper. Without a case feeder the 650 isnt any faster then a 550.

[WHITETAIL]

kpep, Welcome to the forum!

[Larry Gibson]

+1 for the 550 as it is much more verstile. I find the 650 to be fine if just one is just cranking out quanities of one load.

I load numerous rifle cartridges on my 550 with both cast and jacketed bullets. I also prefer to size the case first, clean the lube off, clean the primer pockets and inspect before i load them. That is easy to do with a 550 and not so easy with the 650. I've also found that by not FL sizing when loading the powder measure throws uniformly and there is no problem with the primer feed.

Larry Gibson

[ddeaton]

caliber conversions for the 550 are less expensive, but I dont have any runtime on them myself. I have 2 650's and am very happy with them. Dale53 loads on a 550 and he really likes it. I load 45acp on one and 223 on the other. I keep one set up for small and one for large primers and intend to get caliber conversions after I recover from these $$$.

Here is a couple links for some good Dillon info including a topic matching exactly your thread.
http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showforum=78

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillon.html#which

Changes on the 650 are not hard at all, just a little more $$. Stick with the same size primer and its a breeze. I had a little trouble with the primer system at first, but now have it all ironed out.