A Merry Dillon Christmas for me !

Road_Clam · December 31, 2016, 09:50 AM

Talk about having the best family ! My wife, daughter and son all chipped in and bought dad a Dillon 650 ! I've been wanting one for a while now as i've developed some tendinitis in my right elbow from too much arm repititions loading pistol and 223 bulk on my LEE classic turret. It wasn't really an issue until as of the past couple years my wife has started shooting pistol so our pistol ammo usage has doubled. Spent the last week familiarizing myself, watching vids and so on. These Dillon's are just what they say as far as top of the line for recreational handloading. I almost bought a Dillon 550 way back when I wanted to initially get into handloading and glad I worked my way up from RCBS single , to the LEE CT , and now the Dillon. There is a LOT of detais you need to clearly understand to be sucessfull with the Dillon's. I must say as long as you have all the dies precisely adjusted the press works amazing ! I had to fabricate an adaptor plate on my riser setup to facilitate the need for the "overhang" when using the Dillon. My riser can still also mount my RCBS single. At some point I will probably rearrange my basement to allow the Dillon and the RCBS single to be permanently mounted.

MarkCO · December 31, 2016, 09:53 AM

Load on.

huntinaz · December 31, 2016, 09:53 AM

Looking good!

Jeffm004 · December 31, 2016, 09:57 AM

Nice. I'm just running the numbers on .380 break even. 750..... Which is a lot of .380. It would take a couple hours and be a multi-year supply :/

I think I'll go .223 next.

What caliber are you starting with?

Total308 · December 31, 2016, 10:14 AM

Congratulations nice set up

Road_Clam · December 31, 2016, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffm004

Nice. I'm just running the numbers on .380 break even. 750..... Which is a lot of .380. It would take a couple hours and be a multi-year supply :/

I think I'll go .223 next.

What caliber are you starting with?
Today 09:53 AM

I'm going to get my feet wet with .357 mag first. Once I have a solid understanding of the 650 then move to bottleneck rifle. I bought extra conversion kits to do 9mm , .40 S&W , .223/556 , 308/30-06 , and 7.62x39. These are my needed higher "quantity" type calibers.

shootniron · December 31, 2016, 12:58 PM

That family is a keeper!

They did very well.

Congrats!

After getting going with that setup...you will know why folks become Lee progressive basher's...lol

Road_Clam · December 31, 2016, 02:33 PM

No regrets learning pistol and 223 bulk on my LEE turret. It did it's job perfect. No it's not the fastest but it did a quality job and was a big time saver vs single stage. For about $250 invested you can't go wrong with the LEE CT. It's just that the turret press really took it's toll on my arm joints.

nukeandjuke · January 1, 2017, 03:13 AM

Green with envy

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

shootniron · January 1, 2017, 03:42 AM

Quote:

No regrets learning pistol and 223 bulk on my LEE turret. It did it's job perfect. No it's not the fastest but it did a quality job and was a big time saver vs single stage. For about $250 invested you can't go wrong with the LEE CT. It's just that the turret press really took it's toll on my arm joints.

I said nothing about the turret...I said Lee progressive's.

Although, I had the turret also and I got rid of it as mine required constant attention to maintain proper indexing.

I am not totally against Lee reloading tools, I use a lot of them...matter of fact, I sold my Rock Chucker because I like the Lee Classic Cast press, better.

But, in my opinion, the Lee progressive's are junk.

disseminator · January 1, 2017, 09:32 AM

Merry Christmas indeed!

I love my 550b and have happily loads many thousands of rounds on it. They are great machines and a great company too. Don't forget to get a calendar as well.....

g.willikers · January 1, 2017, 10:46 AM

Very nice, indeed, especially with the accessories.
Enjoy.
My 30 year old Square Deal is still going strong with only one rebuild using free parts from Dillon.

rebs · January 1, 2017, 11:08 AM

Very nice setup and an excellent family. Enjoy your new Dillon and every time you load on it think of the great family you have.

surveyor · January 1, 2017, 11:21 AM

Nice setup, and great gift.
I got the square deal setup in all the calibers I load, and got rid of 2 red presses.
Happy blue new year.

JeepHammer · January 1, 2017, 01:38 PM

You just gotta love it when the 'Blue' shows up, if for no other reason than to 'Tinker' with something that IS going to work when you are done!

Road_Clam · January 1, 2017, 03:54 PM

So today I finally did a perfect trouble free run of 357 mag. My only screw up was I did not know to first cycle the loader a few times "empty" to allow the primer carousel disc to become loaded. If you start loading shells right away you end up with about 3 shells loaded with powder and no primers. Made a HUGE mess from H110 ball powder getting dumped all over my press components. Had to disassemble everything clean, re grease and assemble. So now I learned how to synchronize the shells and the primers to merge together at the correct time. The only other issue I had was the long plastic primer warning shaft was sticking in the tube and not working smoothly. There was some excess plastic casting flash at the bottom of the rod. I shaved off the excess flash with a razor blade and now the shaft runs nice and free up and down the tube.

TJB101 · January 4, 2017, 08:42 AM

Wow, really nice ... as someone else commented that family is a keeper. Do you need a step stool to get to the case feeder?

Road_Clam · January 6, 2017, 06:49 PM

Made a 650 tool head rack from some extra lumber I had lying around, works pretty slick , no need to buy the individual tool head stands.

Reloader2 · January 7, 2017, 02:26 PM

Nice set up. I'm still at the LCT stage here.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

JeepHammer · January 8, 2017, 03:20 AM

I giggle like a kid at xmas when the Dillon boxes come in.
NOT work related!

Well, at least the family will know where to find you!

December 31, 2016, 09:50 AM	#1
Road_Clam Senior Member Join Date: November 21, 2013 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 1,695	A Merry Dillon Christmas for me ! Talk about having the best family ! My wife, daughter and son all chipped in and bought dad a Dillon 650 ! I've been wanting one for a while now as i've developed some tendinitis in my right elbow from too much arm repititions loading pistol and 223 bulk on my LEE classic turret. It wasn't really an issue until as of the past couple years my wife has started shooting pistol so our pistol ammo usage has doubled. Spent the last week familiarizing myself, watching vids and so on. These Dillon's are just what they say as far as top of the line for recreational handloading. I almost bought a Dillon 550 way back when I wanted to initially get into handloading and glad I worked my way up from RCBS single , to the LEE CT , and now the Dillon. There is a LOT of detais you need to clearly understand to be sucessfull with the Dillon's. I must say as long as you have all the dies precisely adjusted the press works amazing ! I had to fabricate an adaptor plate on my riser setup to facilitate the need for the "overhang" when using the Dillon. My riser can still also mount my RCBS single. At some point I will probably rearrange my basement to allow the Dillon and the RCBS single to be permanently mounted. __________________ "To be old an wise you must have been young and stupid"

December 31, 2016, 09:53 AM	#2
MarkCO Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 1998 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 4,308	Load on. __________________ Good Shooting, MarkCO www.CarbonArms.us

December 31, 2016, 09:53 AM	#3
huntinaz Senior Member Join Date: September 21, 2010 Location: az Posts: 1,332	Looking good! __________________ "When there’s lead in the air, there’s hope in the heart”- Hunter’s Proverb "Feed me, or feed me to something. I just want to be part of the food chain." -Al Bundy

December 31, 2016, 02:33 PM	#8
Road_Clam Senior Member Join Date: November 21, 2013 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 1,695	No regrets learning pistol and 223 bulk on my LEE turret. It did it's job perfect. No it's not the fastest but it did a quality job and was a big time saver vs single stage. For about $250 invested you can't go wrong with the LEE CT. It's just that the turret press really took it's toll on my arm joints. __________________ "To be old an wise you must have been young and stupid"

January 1, 2017, 10:46 AM	#12
g.willikers Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2008 Posts: 10,442	Very nice, indeed, especially with the accessories. Enjoy. My 30 year old Square Deal is still going strong with only one rebuild using free parts from Dillon. __________________ Walt Kelly, alias Pogo, sez: “Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.”

December 31, 2016, 09:57 AM	#4
Jeffm004 Senior Member Join Date: August 22, 2013 Location: SW Ohio Posts: 255	Nice. I'm just running the numbers on .380 break even. 750..... Which is a lot of .380. It would take a couple hours and be a multi-year supply :/ I think I'll go .223 next. What caliber are you starting with?

December 31, 2016, 10:14 AM	#5
Total308 Junior Member Join Date: December 26, 2016 Posts: 6	Congratulations nice set up

December 31, 2016, 12:58 PM	#7
shootniron Senior Member Join Date: April 16, 2011 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,599	That family is a keeper! They did very well. Congrats! After getting going with that setup...you will know why folks become Lee progressive basher's...lol

January 1, 2017, 03:13 AM	#9
nukeandjuke Member Join Date: January 1, 2017 Posts: 17	Green with envy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

January 1, 2017, 09:32 AM	#11
disseminator Senior Member Join Date: November 26, 2016 Location: Minnesota Posts: 960	Merry Christmas indeed! I love my 550b and have happily loads many thousands of rounds on it. They are great machines and a great company too. Don't forget to get a calendar as well.....

January 1, 2017, 11:08 AM	#13
rebs Senior Member Join Date: January 10, 2012 Posts: 3,881	Very nice setup and an excellent family. Enjoy your new Dillon and every time you load on it think of the great family you have.

January 1, 2017, 11:21 AM	#14
surveyor Senior Member Join Date: April 13, 2007 Posts: 770	Nice setup, and great gift. I got the square deal setup in all the calibers I load, and got rid of 2 red presses. Happy blue new year.

January 1, 2017, 01:38 PM	#15
JeepHammer Junior member Join Date: February 27, 2015 Posts: 1,768	You just gotta love it when the 'Blue' shows up, if for no other reason than to 'Tinker' with something that IS going to work when you are done!

January 1, 2017, 03:54 PM	#16
Road_Clam Senior Member Join Date: November 21, 2013 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 1,695	So today I finally did a perfect trouble free run of 357 mag. My only screw up was I did not know to first cycle the loader a few times "empty" to allow the primer carousel disc to become loaded. If you start loading shells right away you end up with about 3 shells loaded with powder and no primers. Made a HUGE mess from H110 ball powder getting dumped all over my press components. Had to disassemble everything clean, re grease and assemble. So now I learned how to synchronize the shells and the primers to merge together at the correct time. The only other issue I had was the long plastic primer warning shaft was sticking in the tube and not working smoothly. There was some excess plastic casting flash at the bottom of the rod. I shaved off the excess flash with a razor blade and now the shaft runs nice and free up and down the tube. __________________ "To be old an wise you must have been young and stupid"

January 4, 2017, 08:42 AM	#17
TJB101 Senior Member Join Date: January 2, 2017 Posts: 498	Wow, really nice ... as someone else commented that family is a keeper. Do you need a step stool to get to the case feeder?

January 6, 2017, 06:49 PM	#18
Road_Clam Senior Member Join Date: November 21, 2013 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 1,695	Made a 650 tool head rack from some extra lumber I had lying around, works pretty slick , no need to buy the individual tool head stands. __________________ "To be old an wise you must have been young and stupid"

January 7, 2017, 02:26 PM	#19
Reloader2 Senior Member Join Date: June 18, 2013 Posts: 263	Nice set up. I'm still at the LCT stage here. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

January 8, 2017, 03:20 AM	#20
JeepHammer Junior member Join Date: February 27, 2015 Posts: 1,768	I giggle like a kid at xmas when the Dillon boxes come in. NOT work related! Well, at least the family will know where to find you!