Dillon's No BS Warranty

[AnthonyB]

Comes through again. I have a 550B that I bought used and have played with a few times. It loaded acceptable 9mm and 45 ammo, but appeared to have a little misalignment between the ram and shell plate. I figured that was the cost of loading on a progressive and tolerated the resulting loads because they were short range/high volume anyway. That changed when my kids recently went on a shooting kick and wanted vast amounts of 38 Specials loaded yesterday. The alignment was bad enough that boolets seated crooked and bulged the brass. I called Dillon and three days later received an alignment pin and detailed instructions, all free of charge. Problem solved, and excellent service. Tony

[sundog]

Dang! The kids went on a shooting spree? Cool. Tell them I said, "hey." And Miss Nancy, too. I guess all that brass I sent you must've come in real handy - that was you I sent it to, wasn't it?. That's way cool, the kids on a shooting kick!

Reactive targets in an area that doesn't care about flies, ants, and other critters - plain ole saltines (cheaper the better), Oreos (prolly not 'cause they're too good fer eatin'), Animal Crackers (for those who don't mind shooting a giraffe or hippomotomous (hypotenus?), or clay pigeons. All of them work, and make alot of fun. sundog

[Johnch]

I have had the same good results dealing with Dillon about things that broke .

I have a Square Deal and I broke the handle off , they over nighted a new handle and a bunch of spare parts for my trouble .

Last year I ordered a few things for my 550 inculding some upgrade parts , Not 550B
Some how the directions and the parts didn't match
I spent 2 hrs on the phone with them as a tec talked me thru installing the installing the parts .
I then received a repair parts kit for my trouble , without ever asking .

Johnch

[rbstern]

That's good service. Of course, you've paid a premium for that service in the product price, so it is as it should be.

[AnthonyB]

Corky, it was me you sent the big box of brass. Beagle also sent a box full, so I'm well stocked on 38 brass thanks to you guys. After our first range session of the spring I bought a S&W 617 - had to have one for the kids, I told the wife. The oldest likes a little recoil, but the younger two far prefer the 22. Our lab pup has been going with us and shows no concern over the noise at all.
We've been shooting at an Izaak Walton League and they require paper targets only. The kids do like the shoot 'n see targets that chnage to bright green when they are hit. We are headed to AL in two weks and will be able to play more at my Dad's place. The animal crackers sound like fun.
I'll tell everyone you said hello, and same back to your family.
Tony

[StarMetal]

Tony,

I got one of those Smith 617's. I didn't think any revolver would shoot along side or outshoot my Ruger Mark I Bullbarrel pistol....I was wrong. That Smith does. Mine has the six inch barrel.

Joe

[sundog]

The cheap store brand 'Cheez-It' crackers work really good, too. Nice orange color for contrast and they disappear 'right now' with a good hit. Instant gratification! And besides, if ya get the munchies while yer out shootin', just reach in and get a handful. Have fun on the vacation. sundog

[wills]

Or saccharin tablets, like Bill Jordan

[MGySgt]

I bought a 550B right after they came out, (80?) I loaded a bunch of 38, 45ACP and 44 mag on it.

In 2001 the primer arm started to stick when loading, no real big deal, but we were shooting a LOT of 38's at the time so I called Dillion.

They said to ship it back. It needed to be complete, tool head, powder measure, dies, etc.

Well I shipped it off before leaving for a hunting trip. I was gone 2 weeks, the thing beat me back home.

I opened up the box and re-assembled it and looked at the Parts List that was included.

Over $90 worth of parts and they rebuilt the old powder measure and put in the new baffle.

Charge = 0

All it cost me was shipping to them.

Great service on a 20 year old product!

Dillion Customer for Life!

Drew

[PatMarlin]

Mines 10 years old now. Wonder if they'll give it an upgrade?

[biggome]

I broke a plastic part on one of my XL 650's, although it broke incredibly easy, it was my fault. I e-mailed Dillon and gave them the part number and my address and asked for a total for the part and shipping. I received an e-mail in return the same day saying the a replacement was on it's way free of charge and suggesting that I buy a small parts kit to prevent future down time, I thought I already had one so I looked in my stash and sure enough, the part I needed was in the kit! Great service like this is so rare today it is downright shocking! I am sold on Dillon products from here on out and I am as thrifty (read cheap) as they come!

Paul

[JSH]

I have had my SD since the mid 80's and loaded a bunch of 44's with it. It had been setting for quit a while and I wanted to get it set up for 38/357. I fooled with it and couldn't get it to go. I called them and emailed them, they sent parts and gave advice, still no luck of working properly. I finally sent it back and had them look it over. I don't know what they did, but it works fine now. They even set up both sets of dies. No charge and it even had some of the new up dated stuff. I have looked at the 550's and just can't bring myself to purchase one. I shoot a fair amount in several calibers. But to take full advantage of the system and so forth all the shell holders and tool heads would set a fellow back quite a bit. I do wish that they would offer the SD in other calibers though. Like the Hornet, 25-20, 32-20 and a few others in that size area. I understand the carbide die issue, but a good lube would solve that issue I belive.
Jeff

[FISH4BUGS]

I bought a 550 many years ago.....like 20 or more. I have upgraded it to the B, and have had minor things break, and have lost a few parts as well. Never a charge and they sent me extras besides.
I shoot machineguns and load a TON of ammo. I would buy nothing else but Dillon. In this day and age, you get what you pay for.

[straightshooter1]

PatMarlin
You bet they will. I have sent mine back at least twice for rebuilds. They have never charged me a dime and pay the return shipping as well. I don't know that they would upgrade the RL550 to a B model without charging for the additional parts, but they will clean it, realign it, fix it, etc.

I bought my first one in '87 and currently have two-one for large and one for small primers. I hear all these guys say you can't load accurate rifle ammo on a progressive. I think David Tubbs finally put paid to that old claim, and I have always loaded ammo that would shoot more accurately than any factory loads I could buy. I admit I have never tried the Black Hills stuff which seems to be all the rage in the gun mags now, but I tried all the Federal Match in comparisons of 223, 308 and 30'06 back in the 90s and my loads would shoot better. Enough better that I would use mine over Federal even after excluding the cost.

I have a match M1 Garand that the guy I bought it from said shot really small groups with the Black Hills Match. (He claimed 1/2" groups at 100 yards). I can't shoot 1/2" groups with iron sights at 100 yards with any gun I own (and couldn't even when I was a young shooter), but I have shot under an inch with my handloads and Sierra MatchKings loaded on my RL550B in that Garand 308 and under an inch with my '06 Springfield '03 and 03A3. (I kinda doubt the 1/2" group story-and think of it like the last Snook that got away from me in TampaBay except his group got smaller while my Snook got bigger as the tale was retold).

I have a match 03A3 in 308 put together many years ago by one of our local legends here in the area, Cliff Huston, and I regularly shoot under an inch with it also.

That Dillon 550 is fast, loads accurate ammo and the folks at Dillon are NICE and really know their stuff.

Send it in-they are also very fast with returning it.

Bob

[45 2.1]

Geez, all you guys with this new equipment, mine is an early 450 which has gotten new parts from Dillon several times now. Very Good people to deal with.

[David R]

This is all good to hear. I just bought a used 450 that had been upgraded to the "Kicks Brass". Already loaded 1200 or so rounds including 44 mag, 45 colt, 45 acp,308, 7.65 Arg, and '06. Seems to be great. I will probably up grade to the 550 B in time. So far I have put ONE primer in sideways. Nuttin else. Just take my time, pull the lever. The whole press has ONE plastic part and that is the primer thing on the end of the tube. The powder measure holds more than 1/2 lb and the spent primer cup holds a bunch. I did order the low primer sensor, spare parts kit and put a LED flashlight on so I can see that each case is charged. Love it.

David

[robertbank]

Living up here on the other side of nowhere I can tell you having Dillon equipment makes life a lot easier! Visited the factory a couple of years ago with a broken powder measure. Before I could explain what happened a new powder measure was on the counter. At least I got to thank them in person. Best company I have ever run into on either side of the 49th.

Take Care

[Dale53]

I hate to be one of those "Me Too" guys, but I have to speak up for Dillon, also. I started with one of their very early 450's. When the 550 came out, I sold my 450 and bought a 550 and later upgraded it to the B. I have only had a couple of minor problems that the good folks at Dillon fixed immediately. No BS MEANS "NO BS" and that's a fact.

In addition, there are all kinds of tools for all kinds of tasks. Some are "user friendly" and some are not. Happily, the Dillon 550B is "User Friendly" in spades!

Terrific design by a terrific company run by terrific people.

Dale53

[bart55]

Another Dillon fan here, started with a 450 upgraded to a 550 then a 550b now have two 550b models and a square deal ( gave the square deal to my brother as a birthday gift) have had nothing but fantastic service and they replaced a couple of parts that I broke just being in a hurry . I wanted to pay because I felt it was my mistake but they would not here of it. I am a dillon fan for life

[ebner glocken]

On my 12th Christmas my dad bought me a Dillion 550-B. I had been using a old herters single stage for loading mostly .38s and 30-30s. That was close to 200k rounds ago and I haven't bought another press since for metallic cartrige. At 125K the springs was pretty much wore out, the teflon bushings was pretty much gone, the aluminum primer arm, and the small powder charge arm was wore small enough they rattled. One call to dillion and it was on the way. They wanted me to send it to them. I told them I prefered to rebuild it myself. You can wear these things out but they are more than happy to replace or rebuild what you have. I think my dad gave around 200 for that thing with one caliber conversion kit and a set of dies, perhaps a little more but not 300. That was over twenty years ago and those .38s and 30-30 dies have grown into somewhere just under 30 different headstamps I load for now .....same press. How many of us can say they still use a Christmas present they got when they was 12 and it still works like new?

[59stude]

One more long time Dillon Fan. I bought an SD in march 1988 for $145 and used it for about an year when it broke the frame. I phoned Dillon about the problem and they just said "no worries , parts are on the way". As I am located in Sweden I thought of waiting awhile to get the replacement parts. But to my surprice a few day later was a man from airport with a parcel to me. Dillon sent the parts by air freight express to me, free on charge, and the cost for freight was $ 165 delivered to my door, all payed by Dillon. With that kind of service I have keeped on buying dillon parts.


59stude.

[omgb]

Nobody can argue with Dillon service, it's above reproach. However, not to nit-pick but their powder measure is kind of a pain to change and dial in. It's accurate but shifting loads is a chore. Hence, many Dillon users buy more than one measure. I have a theory that the Dillon measure is really just a rehash of the Star measure. They sure look the same.

Still, as i said before, nobody can gripe about Dillon service except maybe the boys at the Green or the Red competition.

[robertbank]

Get yourself some plastic nut protectors from Home Hardware and use them as a dial. I have them on all my powder measures and it works slick. Much faster than using a wrench to turn the nut. Best advice I ever got off the net for the Dillon.

Take Care

[btr-cj]

Hate to sound like a broken record but my 550b is a about 8 years old and going strong.

I did pick up a 450 at a garage sale and really need to upgrade it to a 550b. It would be nice to have one for each primer size.

C.J.

[seagiant]

Hi,
I hate to play one upmanship but check this story out. I bought one of Dillions "small" case tumblers and used it for about 10 years until the bottom of the motor fell out. When I called Dillon the man told me to send it back and I said I would but didn't have a box that fit. He said one is on it's way and sent me an empty box through UPS!!! I sent it back and within a week a brand new one was back to me! I thought that was pretty good!

[yammerschooner]

Best company I have ever run into on either side of the 49th.

Take Care

I feel this way also. I have yet to run across another company in any industry that has the service and support that Dillon has. Yes, I pay a premium. Is it worth it? definately. If I ever get out of reloading my press will be worth almost exactly what I purchased it for.

What other product can you use for many years and be able to say that about?

[EDG]

A friend bought one of the early Dillon D-Terminator electronic scales when they first came out. That scale would not hold calibration for more than 2 or 3 weighing cycles of the same test weight. In addition it would not run on the internal battery. In disgust he gave it to me and continued using his balance beam scale. I called Dillion and talked to the technician about it. He said that was about all those scales would do for the cost and quality of the electronics at that time. Considering the performance and not wanting to tie up even $4 to ship it back it went into the closet for about 6 to 8 years. Out of curosity I called Dillon again and the tech said send it back. Not being on fire for it, it remained in the closet another year or so. Then I noticed that Dillion was advertising a new model. Hoping that the scale technology had matured a little I made a 3rd call and again Dillion said send it back. This time it went back. Within a about 10 days I received a complete new scale in the new model. The new scale has worked to perfection for about 4 years now.

[Black Prince]

Mee too. Mee too. For high volume loading, you just can't beat a big blue Dillon machine. I've used a 550-B since they first came out and lord only knows how many cartridges it has loaded.

I had a friend that also used a Dillon. His small shop in back of his house was struck by lightening and burned. He found the Dillon press all blackened and burned and just as a joke, sent it back to them with a note saying he was disapointed because the paint was all burned off. Believe it or not, they sent him a brand new one and an appology for the "lousy" paint job!! So they not only have great lifetime service, they also have a good sense of humor and in this case, they were also very generous.

When it comes to loading equipment, there is Dillon and then there is everything else.

[NVcurmudgeon]

I know I've posted my personal Dillon story before, but new bunches of members need to hear how great Dillon is, and Dillon deserves the praise. I have one of the earliest Square Deals. It has been back to Dillon twice in the last 20-25 (time flies when you're having fun.) years, and has been upgraded at no cost, as well as being repaired. Originally in 45 ACP, it now has a conversion to .44 Magnum. changing calibers is easy, with no adjustment needed, except for the powder measure of course. IIRC, Dillon my have beat RCBS to the punch on the no BS warranty.

[quasi]

I don't know if it applys to Americans, but Dillon now charges shipping on replacement parts to Canada. At least they did to me.