Dillon RL450 Opinions please

[tazman]

I know nothing about Dillon presses. I currently run a Lee classic cast turret press for my handgun cartridges.
I have been offered a Dillon RL450 in decent shape for about $275. It has the powder measure, a set of reloading dies set up for 9mm, and has the primer tube with it. It appears to have been setting unused for a time(light surface rust on some parts).
Is it worth it?
How easy is it to setup and use?
Does it use standard dies?
Any problems I should look out for.

[NavyVet1959]

I have an RL450B. Works good enough for my use. I haven't seen a need to upgrade to the 550. The RL450B does not have the removable tool heads, but you *could* upgrade it to the 550's frame and get that from what I understand.

As far as the price they are asking goes, I don't know. Look at the cost of a new 550 and see if it is cheap enough to make it worthwhile.

If you reload a lot of different calibers and swap between calibers a lot, having the removable toolheads set up and ready to go is definitely nice. But to really quickly swap between calibers, you need a powder measure for each toolhead. I suspect that the people who do that are a minority though.

[VHoward]

The BL550 is currently $260. But that is with no priming system, no powder measure and no dies. The RL550B is currently $440. That comes with a priming system and a powder measure, but no dies.
For $275, I would say it was worth it to me. It will still have the Dillon lifetime warranty as the warranty goes with the machine and does not stay with the original purchaser. As long as Dillon still makes parts that will fit it, they will send you replacement parts free.

[engineer401]

I have two 550s. They come with automatic priming and powder assemblies. They also come with the auto-eject system. I like those upgrades. The removable tool head doesn't thrill me that much. Tool heads cost $20 for each one. It doesn't take long for the cost to build up. A new 550 goes for $400. If the 450 doesn't have the powder, primer and eject upgrades and you want them, it will cost more than $200 extra. You can get those over time at Christmas and birthdays perhaps. The nice thing with the 450 is the solid frame won't spring as much as the 550. Some here really like that. Someone on ebay wants more than $275 shipped for one. The rust is pretty bad. Based upon all of that, $275 may not be a bad price.

[Alvarez Kelly]

The devil is in the details. Dillon made at least 4 slightly different versions of the RL450. On some early versions, it is very hard to get the right parts for the priming system. Almost everything else can be replaced with or modified with current RL550 parts.

I sell good, clean, used RL450s for about $250, with no conversion, dies, or powder system. $275 seems like a fair price, IF, it is reasonably complete and can be cleaned up by you. If you have to ship it to Dillon for cleaning, restoration, and lubrication, I'd knock off $75...

Just my opinion.

[Roundball]

In my experience it may be good to do some homework. As suggested it may be worthwhile to see in the powder measure and priming system is the same. The older system did not work very well compared to the current measure and primer system. Removable tool heads are great for those who load a number calibers. May be worthwhile to check out the cost of the conversion to 550 specs. I found all this out by jumping into the deep end of the pond to learn how to swim.

[Roundball]

In my experience it may be good to do some homework. As suggested it may be worthwhile to see if the powder measure and priming system is the same. The older system did not work very well compared to the current measure and primer system. Removable tool heads are great for those who load a number calibers. May be worthwhile to check out the cost of the conversion to 550 specs. I found all this out by jumping into the deep end of the pond to learn how to swim.

[wv109323]

I had a 450 and liked it a lot. I traded it to my brother for a P-W shotshell loader. The 450 has a manual powder drop and primer feed. That means on the up stroke you must push the powder slide and retract the primer feed for a primer. Then prime the case on the down stroke. THERE IS NOTHING THAT PREVENTS YOU FROM WORKING THE POWDER DROP TWICE. I loaded for NRA Bullseye on the 450 for years. (.45 ACP)
The press does use standard dies BUT the neck expansion is done with the Dillon powder funnel. The powder funnel comes in one diameter for a specific caliber. With cast boolits (that are large for the caliber, like using a .358 boolit in a 9MM) the powder funnel/neck expander may not size the neck adequate to keep from distorting your boolit. Different powder funnels must be aftermarket. This is true of all Dillon models.
The 450 is slow to change over between calibers with a lot of adjustments. The number of adjustments are the same as a single stage press starting from scratch. I would make sure I got the parts for large and small primers. The 450 is not a press you set up to load 50 rounds then change calibers. The press is very capable of making match grade ammo.
$275 seems about right with dies.

[NavyVet1959]

The 450 is not a press you set up to load 50 rounds then change calibers.

Agreed... When you are making small quantities like that, having an already configured toolhead like you see with the 550 is probably better. Or the same sort of thing with a turret press like the Lee Classic 4-hole Turret Press. You keep one toolhead / turret configured for each caliber and then it's relatively quick to switch calibers. You still need to reset your powder measure and possibly your bullet seating depth if you change loads, but that is less work that redoing *everything* from scratch.

I think it depends upon how much you need to reload at one time and whether you will be swapping calibers very often on whether it is worth it to go with the 450 or the 550.

[1bluehorse]

I have one that I purchased from Alvarez Kelly here on this forum....I bought it to REPLACE a Classic Turret as I wanted something a little more "versatile".....and it is...a couple things about it that some may not like is the solid tool head....for some reason a lot of "hand loaders" seem to think changing out dies from a press is a painful process and to time consuming...(takes about 5 minutes out of my "busy" schedule) and horror of horrors you have to actually hand operate the primer and powder stations (pull one, push the other) not only that, you have to manually index the shell plate by hand.....WHAAAT!........my little mental program is: handle down, two P's (powder, primer) handle up two B's, (brass, bullet)....these little detriments to some, are the reasons I wanted one. NOTHING happening unless I wanted it to, (remember this was to replace a auto index turret press) the 450 can run as a single stage, run as a turret press, or run as a progressive, solid tool head for better consistency (my opinion) smooth and easy to operate.....but, it's obviously not a press for everybody these days.....not "automated" enough I guess......I should add that I DO have two auto progressive presses on my bench but the "old" 450 is my favorite and most used press......I think it's the best press ever made..... [smilie=2:

[tazman]

1bluehorse---What kind of production do you get with it on pistol rounds?
I don't mind a bit of manual labor. I like the idea of a machine that doesn't make mistakes that maybe you won't catch. The thing for me is, if the production isn't significantly better than the press I have now, there is no use spending the money. I get decent production and excellent ammunition now.

[NavyVet1959]

I\my little mental program is: handle down, two P's (powder, primer) handle up two B's, (brass, bullet)....

When I first got the 450, I kept a sign in front of my reloading station:



Brass
Bullet
Pull
Primer
Powder
Push
Rotate

[1bluehorse]

1bluehorse---What kind of production do you get with it on pistol rounds?
I don't mind a bit of manual labor. I like the idea of a machine that doesn't make mistakes that maybe you won't catch. The thing for me is, if the production isn't significantly better than the press I have now, there is no use spending the money. I get decent production and excellent ammunition now.


I really don't know, I've never "timed" myself for a set time....I know I can easily double the output of the LCT if wanted ( a finished round with each handle stroke vs four on the LCT)....theoretically it should be 4 times faster.. I don't get that I'm sure but I'm not trying to and I'm sure there are some members here that can produce more than I can on one, but that's not why I bought one anyway.....the name, Rapid Load 450 is probably a good indication of it's ability....(450 an hr.) :D....the two "additions" I did to mine (an early model) was the star wheel (easier indexing) and the finished cartridge eject...but that was simply for my convenience.....

[rbt50]

my first Dillon press was a 450 and I like it a lot. I still have that press but over the years it has been converted to a 550.

[wv109323]

I think the output of a Dillon 450 would be 300-350 rounds per hour. You are much more apt to forget something than double charge a round. The operation of the 450 is: Insert Brass , Place bullet on the round to be seated, Operate Ram UP, While Ram is up Push powder slide to drop powder and pull primer arm to pick up a primer to be seated, Lower ram and seat the primer, Remove loaded round and rotate the shell plate. REPEAT
I don't think the press is difficult to operate and has a short learning curve.

[NavyVet1959]

my first Dillon press was a 450 and I like it a lot. I still have that press but over the years it has been converted to a 550.

Which begs the question of how much it would cost to build a new 450 around the 450 parts that you have leftover.

[garym1a2]

This is about the speed I get loading on my 550B. It takes a while to load primer tubes and you must pay attention to what you are doing.

I think the output of a Dillon 450 would be 300-350 rounds per hour. You are much more apt to forget something than double charge a round. The operation of the 450 is: Insert Brass , Place bullet on the round to be seated, Operate Ram UP, While Ram is up Push powder slide to drop powder and pull primer arm to pick up a primer to be seated, Lower ram and seat the primer, Remove loaded round and rotate the shell plate. REPEAT
I don't think the press is difficult to operate and has a short learning curve.

[1_Ogre]

I can't speak for the 450, but you mention that you are loading handgun cartridges. Have you looked/considered the SDB from Dillon? I purchased mine for $178, used, and have had it for years now and it still functions perfectly. For each caliber I load I also have purchased tool heads for that caliber so when changing calibers it's pretty simple and fast. I even have separate tool heads for 38 and 357, 40S&W and 10mm. Might seem anal but I cast for all my loads and have each tool head set up for fast change and ease of loading. The only adjustments I might make is a different bullet type for individual calibers. On the SDB, I preload my primer tubes and can easily crank out 500/hr, even on a bad day.
If you are loading only handgun calibers, you might want to consider this as the option. Dillon is great, their customer service is 2nd to none, and if things break, they ship them to you free of charge and I usually have them within 2-3days max. Just food for thought.

[NavyVet1959]

Have you looked/considered the SDB from Dillon?

The problem with the SDB as far as I'm concerned is that it does not use standard threaded dies, so you're locked into having to buy them from Dillon. I don't like that sort of thing. I prefer a bit more competition in the market. I don't want to be locked into a single source situation.