Dillon 550 or 650?

[Rich219]

I have a NIB Dillon 550 setting in my garage that I haven't opened yet but now I'm beginning to question myself. Should I get the 650 instead and sell the 550? I could probably get back close to what I paid for the 550 so I don't want to open it and then decide I want the 650. Help me out here.

[garandsrus]

They are both great presses. If I could only have one, I would choose the 550.

The speed difference between it and the 650 really isn't too much. In addition, the 550 caliber conversions are quite a bit less expensive than the 650 conversions. The change over time is much quicker with the 550 also.

John

[Calamity Jake]

Depends on how fast you want to load ammo, the 650 is auto index, the 550 manual.

I perfer the 550 myself, the manual indexing makes me go slower and look a little closer.

YMMV

[Rich219]

Is it impossible to double charge a round with the 650?

[kevin45acp]

Is it impossible to double charge a round with the 650?

Not impossible, but with auto index and the powder checker it would be more difficult to do.

[Russ in WY]

They are plenty fast for my reloading demands. Unless you are loading Fast burning powders that a case will actually hold a [double charge] , that isn't a real big problem on the 550 model. Some have spoken 'Ill" of the primer feed sys on the 650, don't have one so can't comment on that. As others have mentioned above , cheaper to add new cartridge changes on the 550. If I were in your Shoes, would open the 550 box & go forward with it. My 2¢. Russ.

[Rich219]

How reliable are the casefeeders for the 550s? This was one of the major attractions to the 650 for me.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Been reloading on a 550 since 1988 and have no conplaints about Speed, manual case feeding, manual advancing, manual bullet placement, or even manual handle pulling.
But then I drive a manual 5 speed auto and kick start my 1971 BMW motorcycle. I like the hands on approach to life.
With my extra primer tubes full and waiting and a good supply of brass and boolits I can easily load 600 41 mag rounds in an hour.... unless the second baseman boots the ball out into shallow right. Tall Rifle cartriges slow me down to about 500 an hour as I value my finger tips attached.
Only had a powder measure break some little gizmo (replaced) and the primer flat on the press wear out (new steel base supplied) so far. I like my 550!

[curiousgeorge]

I have two 550's. One stays set up in large primer, one in small primer. As others have stated, cost of caliber change and faster time in set up sold me on the 550. Plus the slightly less cost of machine and accessories allowed me to have two presses, and now primer change out time totally done away with. Very pleased with speed and versatility of 550, but I load for over 20 different rifle or pistol calibers / cases. Have not invested in a case feeder, but unless you are planning on having to load a LOT of the same caliber ammo VERY fast, the 550 gets my vote.

[Rockchucker]

I've only had my 550b for a short while and only have 6 conversions, but can say it's the best press I've owned. Plus it's my first progressive, and after getting it set up and running I have to say it's as smooth as silk. I'm sure the 650 is the same way but didn't feel that I needed it for the cost difference.

[hicard]

I also have two of the 550B's and feel I have the best set ups there are. I have owned a 550 since 1986 or so and have no complaints. A friend of mine has the 650 and likes it also. I am not at all jealous or envious. My only complaint is that I have to go shoot before I can find empty brass to reload or r&d with. I might add that I load for numerous rifle and handgun calibers. Keep the 550. You will be glad you did.

[TWBryan]

I bought a 650,but if I had a 550 waiting for me in the garage I'd get busy on it. As far as I know the 550 casefeeder only works with pistol cases. The 650 will handle rifle or handgun cases,but you have to swap out the plates in it depending on what you are reloading. Primer feeding will always be an issue I think,as it's the smallest component to handle,and therefore the easiest to get out of line.

[legend]

Grandsrus was right on.

i have owned a 550 since they came out.i have used a friends also,and his 650;i LOVE the 550 and load many cals.it works!

NOTHING BROKEN? DONT FIX IT ON A MABE!

MY 3cents (inflation you know)

[runfiverun]

i knew about the dillons before i bought my own.
i went in half on a 650 and a 550 with my dad.
when i moved too far away to use them, i saved up and bought a 550 followed by another 550.
they are fast enough for me course i still use a couple of rockchuckers too.
if you want speed look elsewhere for it, like in brass prep and primer tube filling.
get that 550 ooooout and go.

[Triggerhappy]

I have one of each. The 550 is easier to make caliber changes and offers a little more control over what you're doing. The automated advance on the 650 can get you into trouble if you don't pay attention. The case feeder on the 650 is very helpful, don't have one on the 550. I would suggest you determine what kind of volume you'll be doing. If you shoot a lot of matches and have to keep ahead of the powder burning maybe consider the 650. If you load occasionally with many different calibers the 550 is really nice. After a while you don't even think about setting the brass or manually indexing the shellholder. A number of years ago I was shooting a LOT of IPSC, PPC, highpower, USPSA and 3-gun matches, to the tune of 62K rounds a year. I loaded them all on the 550 as it was all I had at the time. I still prefer the 550 over the 650 for it's simplicity. With the 650 you have to have a good concept of how things work. If you're new to loading stick with the 550 hands down. I've heard of a lot of people getting frustrated with 650's due to that complexity.


With whatever you choose to do, you'll be glad you chose Dillon. Good luck.

TH

[Firebricker]

I would open it up. If you change your mind you'll still get close to what you paid unopened
or lightly used. I think you will wind up keeping. Either way your gonna have top notch machine. FB

[Rich219]

I think I'll keep the 550 and buy a Giraud trimmer with the money I would of spent on getting the 650.

[Firebricker]

Now thats my kinda thinking.

[Shiloh]

The 550 has served me well for almost 20 years now. I don't need anything else.

Shiloh

[Russ in WY]

In addition to 2-550's ,I also have the Giraud Trimmer. Rolls Royce of trimmers. You will be very pleased with it also. My 2¢. Russ.

[M-Tecs]

It really is dependent on the volume and type of your reloading that you do. Also your mechanical abilities come into play. I am a toolmaker by trade. I was happy with my first 450 and I was even happier when I upgraded to a 550 but I still dreamed of a case feeder and auto index. This was before the 650 where available. When the 650 out came I got one. After using the 650 I got rid of my 550 and I purchased a second 650. Set one set up for large primer and one for small primers.

I love the auto index and case feed most for bottle necked or tapered case that you have to lube. I inspect the cases, lube them, throw them into the case feed, size and deprime. From there they go into the tumbler. When I am ready to load, it’s back into the case feeder for priming, powder dropping and bullet seating. I use a 450 funnel die when I am hand weighing charges.

If I was doing pistol cases with carbide dies only I would be very happy with the 550 but since I do a large volume of bottle neck case I truly hate swiping lube I really like the 650. Later I picked up a third 650 that I have dedicated to 45/70.

The only real short coming that I had with the 650 is that it doesn’t swage crimped primer pockets. I also purchased two 1050’s that I truly love. I use the 1050 the most but the 650’s are great machines if you have some mechanical aptitude. My 650’s really sing but that took some fine tuning.

Looking back, my 550 worked fine. I couldn’t go fast enough with it to require tuning other than reaming and polished the powder drop tubes. What’s better the 550 or the 650 is dependant on your abilities and what your want from your machine.

[jeff423]

Another reason to get the 650 is 5 stations vs 4 stations on the 550. This allows me to use a powder check die and still seat and crimp in 2 steps.

Jeff

[LUBEDUDE]

Have a 550 and two 1050's. Naturally I love the 1050's better, but I still use the 550, had it for 20 years. Actually, never saw the need for a 650, it's like the dilema you are in. Hard to decide.

Now there IS a difference when your talking 550/1050 or 650/1050. It's worth every penny!

And I'm not made of money either.

Lubedude

[Southern Son]

Rich,
I have the 550 with the case feeder. I use it pretty much only for 38Spl since I got the case feeder. Since setting the case feeder up, I have had NO issued with feeding. The manual indexing on the 550 is irrelevant, you have to place a boolit on the charged case, while your hand is at the plate, index it, how hard is that? The extra station on the 650 some people use for a powder check die. I have not felt the need for one, but if you want to seat and crimp in separate stations, then you will need the extra station.

On the "double charge" side of things, the case feeder has pretty much killed of any chance of that. If you don't index the shell plate, then the case feeder will try to put a new case into the first station. If you have not indexed, there is already a case still there and the new case will sit next to the already sized and reprimed case. When you try and cycle the handle, the new, unsized case will hit the press or the sizing die and everything will stop. Very suddenly. If you still manage to double charge a case, perhaps stamp collecting would be a better hobby?

[ddeaton]

+1 on the 2 650's, one small and one large primer. Killer setup :Fire:

[Rich219]

I do a lot of .223 so I'm think maybe a 650 would be right for me, this is harder than buying a new car.

[Explorer1]

I got the 650 for the autoindex and the extra station. That said, the 550s I have used worked great and were probably easier.

if you have a 550, I see little reason to change.....but............

[ddeaton]

I do my 223's on one of my 650's. I prep brass on one toolhead, tumble to clean lube and trim to length offline, then prime, powder, and bullet seat in the other tool head. It works great and brass is prepped and ready to load either back on the 650 or on the single stage. I even have a John Whidden powder funnel die which allows me to weigh and drop charges in the toolhead if I choose to. This slows things down a little, but still light years faster than single stage.

[ddeaton]

by the way, if anyone is looking for a 650 here is one for sale. I have no interest in this, just passing it on, looks like it has all the bells and whistles.
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=59263

[Southern Son]

Rich,
If you want to use a case feeder to speed up your .223, then you may have to go the 650. Having said that, before I got the case feeder on the 550 I loaded .38spl/.357Mag, .44 Mag, 45ACP, 222 Rem, 22/250 (then 22/250Imp when I got rebarrelled), .243 Win, 7MMTCU, 30/30, .308 Win, and one or two others I forget. It is not nearly as quick when you have to feed cases by hand, but it is quicker than you would think. If it was set up from a previous loading session, it would usually take me about 20 minutes to load 100 22/250Imp for a night of Fox Shooting.

[biggome]

I have never used a 550, I might really like one if caliber changes are really easy as compared to a 650. I have two 650's and at least 20 complete caliber changeovers to cover anything I load enough of to go beyond the ease of my Lee Turret or 'ole Tru Line Jr. setups. I am a bit shy of changeovers though, I keep one set up for 357 Mag. and the other for 45 ACP. Even though I have all kinds of other choices I hate to mess up what I have perfected.

I didn't buy this mess new, it was a giant package deal and I set it up for what I shoot a lot of and haven't changed it up since which is a big waste, I can load up a couple of years or more worth of ammo in such a small amount time I really need to get comfortable with changeovers and then be able to load several years worth of ammo in my lesser shot calibers. I might be far better off with a 550 or two as compared with my 650's but I've got what I've got so I deal with it even though I am sure I am not getting nearly as much use out of it due to my lack of desire to change, now where was that Lee Loader in 25 ACP?

Paul