Dillon cal. change

[Texson]

What does it cost to make a caliber change on a Dillon 650 not counting dies and other non essential accessories? I do not own a Dillion yet and would look up prices but I do not know what all is required.

Thanks for your help.
Texson

[roc1]

Depends whether you want separate tool heads for each caliber. Plus some Calibers use same shellplates and buttons all you need is powder funnel on those. There is conversion chart on Brian Enos website for that. So I would say at most with conversion kits about $50 little less tool head and powder die about $35 little less. Even better deal on those purchasing 3 or more so $85 total if nothing interchanges if it does powder funnels are about $15 each.
There you go rough estimate. You can use your dies if standard not Square Deal dies they are special from Dillon only. One powder measure for all so it is not bad. Hornady is cheaper but I have had lot better luck with 550 than I did with my Lock N Load.
Hope this helps
Roc1

[Texson]

Thank you roc1. I load about 5 different pistol calibers and 30/30 and for ease of change want the easiest way to swap with the least setup problems.

I have a turret press but I load for two daughters and one grandson and I am getting behind. Trying to decide which is the best for me.

[Vance]

Everything you need for a caliber change minus the dies costs &77.95. It comes in a plastic box. There is also a quick change set up you can purchase that includes a powder measure, powder die and tool head that costs $107.95. If you are going to have multiple toolheads with dies and powder measures installed, then you will want the stands that the toolheads can set on. Those are about $22 each but is cheaper if you buy 3 or more of them at once.

http://www.brianenos.com/store/home.html You can go here and he lists exactly what is in the caliber conversion kits. He charges the same price as Dillon does, but Brian Enos is less expensive on shipping. He also gives free shipping on orders over $400. If you are serious about purchasing the XL650, you might consider doing it before Jan 1 as Dillon's prices are going up on Jan 1.

[Texson]

Thank you,
you have answered my question. It looks like I will invest just as much for tools as the press will cost. I can do this over a period of time and be able to absorb the cost and have a wonderful press.

Appreciate you time and help,
texson

[roc1]

Texson as a fellow Texan there is no need to buy multiple powder measures buy one for pistol one for rifle like I did then buy Uniquetek micrometer adjuster for measure. Just write down settings for each load when you get it set for powder charge type caliber etc. Then when you go back turn knob back check start loading again. Like I said one large for rifle measure one small pistol measure
Hope this helps great setup great prese
I still use single stage for precision loads
Roc1

[Lost Sheep]

Thanks for asking our advice.

I tried to figure out the caliber swap cost for Dillon presses. Too many options for a simple answer and too much knowledge about Dillon parts for me to be certain of my calculations.

Please allow me an answer that does not exactly match your question posed in post 1, but does (I hope) address your need (post 3). After all, no one buys a drill because they need a drill. They buy a drill because the need holes.

I suggest considering this solution:

Lee Classic Turret with 6 turret heads and dies (with auto-disk powder measure installed) set up for each of your progeny's chamberings.

Total investment (including dies and powder measures) about $600.

It is easy to knock out 100 rounds in one hour, starting the clock when you walk in the door and stopping the clock after washing up and walking out the door with boxed, labelled finished product.

That includes everything, from setting up the press and scale from their stowed storage locations, verifying the powder drop, staging the components, production, boxing and labeling the product, teardown and stowing the equipment and personal cleanup.

If you need more than one hundred rounds, your (continuous) production will likely be 50 more rounds per 15-20 minutes.

It is a solution that might fill your needs and has the added benefit of, perhaps, attracting your daughters and grandson into the loading hobby, thus taking some of the burden from you and bestowing on them the reloading satisfaction you now enjoy. When they graduate to buying their own manuals, press and scale, you could make a gift of their very own pre-assembled turret/dies/measure combo.

Thanks for reading this alternate solution to the Dillon 650

Of course, if you want a 650 because YOU want a 650, go for it. But always remember that the auto-advancing turret might be just the thing for your kids.

Lost Sheep

[TXGunNut]

One other bit of unsolicited advice, try at least one set of Dillon dies. Back when I was loading 10K+/yr I found them to be well worth the money. Other dies may work better now on the Dillon but back then there was a huge difference.

[BigJimP]

The 650 is a great press...I've had one for at least 10 yrs, and for what its worth, I'd buy it again !

Personally I invested in complete toolheads setup for each caliber...each toolhead has its own powder measure, its own powder check die and dies permanently installed and adjusted for the load I like for that caliber with the bullet I use...it makes the change over much easier.

So the way I look at the cost :
Caliber conversion kit ( shell plate, etc ) $ 78
Quick Change Kit ( powder measure, tool head, ) $ 108
Powder Check Die $ 69
Case Gague ( to check rounds before you box them ) $16
Caliber specific Dies $ 64

So its $ 335 for each "caliber kit"....

But the cost is one thing ..the time to change over is another / in most cases, most of us that use progressive presses will load one caliber in a sufficient qty to put some boxes of finished cartridges in inventory for use later...and then draw from that for range trips...when we change calibers, we break the press down, clean and lube everything - and then set up the press for the next caliber...and run the next batch of ammo.

Its been a quiet week at my house...so as an example I just ran 20 boxes of .44 Mag last week ( that'll last me at least 6 months)....and 40 boxes of 9mm (that will last me about 5 weeks )....today I'll setup the press to run 20 boxes of .45 acp ( that will last me about 8 weeks ).....so it isn't like I run 100 rds ..and then swap calibers / you can do that ...but its not really practical in my view.

[Vance]

I like the ability to do 400 or more rounds in 1 hour. I would rather be out on the range shooting or at the flying field flying my radio controlled aircraft.

[Texson]

Thanks for all your help, not only answered my questions but I have some thinking to do now.

I have had company over the holidays is the reason I have been silent the last few days.

It sure is easy to spend a lot of money on equipment so I am going to take some time in acquiring all that I need. My family knows my desires and wants when it come to firearms and components and will bless me on birthdays, father's day, and Christmas.

Happy New Year all,
texson

[wogpotter]

On the subject of dies.
I find the raduised mouths of the Dillon resizing dies a great help, but I don't have problems with seating or crimping dies from other makers.
Because of this I frequently mix 'n match die brands with the Dillon resizer & my existing non-Dillon dies for the other stations.

[MarkCO]

To specifically answer your question we need to know the calibers. Not all caliber changes need new parts. I am set up to load 6 pistol calibers and 5 rifle calibers and I have about $1500 total in my 650 including some upgrades over the years. A caliber change takes from 3 to 10 minutes and I can produce about 800-900 rounds per hours. I have 3 powder measures. One is for 9mm, one for .223 and the other moves around. For .300 BO and .450BM, I spent about $20 total to get the few parts I needed for caliber conversions. Yes, I have to rob parts from other conversions, but I have a list. I have 7 toolheads set up, 6 are locked in and one I set up as needed. For the .450BM for instance, all I needed was a case feed adapter (which I machined a longer slot into). I have one .450BM load I produce on the 650 (the others are on the Rock Chucker) for plinking and practice and I run about 400 rounds once a year. Takes me an hour to make 400 rounds all told.

The Dillon dies are worth the extra money for carbide pistol and I wish I had bought them off the bat, but oh well. The spring loaded de-prime pin and flared mouth sure are nice at high volume 9mm loading. For rifle, I have RCBS, Redding and Lee die sets. I also have Lee FCDs for most of my calibers. I loaded almost 30K rounds in 2014 and for me the 650 is THE press, no question. For a guy who loads 10K or less, there might be other options that cost less and get the job done. I do load about 2K rounds a year on the Rock Chucker for hunting and precision rifle match ammo.

[Texson]

The calibers are:
45 acp
45 Colt
38 special
357 mag
9 mm
454 Casull

Soon to start 30/30 so you can see the large expense in changing to Dillon. I have all these dies and a Lee turret press. I have the first Lee turret and it is getting worn pretty badly.

It would be OK loading the 30/30's won't be many of them to reload.

texson

[MarkCO]

38/357 Mag will use the exact same set-up if you get the .357Mag caliber conversion. The "top" side of the three 45 calibers will be a few small parts, and for all of those, I would use the dies you have already. Maybe for 9mm get just the Dillon re-size die.

You could probably get all set up for a little over $1k if you are willing to not have a "complete" drop in tool head for every set-up.

[Kilroy08]

Here's a neat tool I found for when I was looking up stuff for my 550:

http://gunwiki.net/apps/calconversion/index.asp

Some of the shell plates and locator buttons interchange for various calibers.
Depending on what you're buying, some stuff you can get away with only one
part. For example, with the existing caliber conversions I have, I just need to
order a couple powder funnels and I'll be set for .40 S&W and 7.62X25.

Why lay down the big bucks when all I need is a $15.00 part to add a caliber
to my press?

[boxing21]

sorry if this was mentioned in another post, but you might want to consider getting a second primer assembly. I have one for small, and one for large primers. Makes switching between the two super fast and easy. If I recall that's about 85ish bucks....