Dillon

[James B]

Does anyone here use the dillon reloaders? If so which one do you have and what are the strong points and down side if any, with these loaders?

I have tried out the 550 for rifle and it seems pretty great and powder is accurate but what a pain to setup if you like to change calibers. Just like every progressive I have tried.

I want one for pistol. I now still use a Lee 1000.

[Hairtrigger]

The big thing dillon pushes is the lifetime warranty.
But then again so does RCBS Redding and Hornady...
I have had a few dillon reloaders and found them to have more parts than other progressive presses and dillon likes to use small springs and plastic parts that other presses don't have.
On a good note dillon stuff is easy to sell as they have a cult following!

[halcon]

I've owned the 650 and the square deal and for pistol rounds they work great . I don't shoot pistol that much anymore so I got rid of them . I actually got more thanI originally paid for them .

[nksmfamjp]

No, but people who do swear by them. I use the Hornady LNL. Their warranty is great and they are responsive. In addition, caliber changes are much less than the Dillon and easier too.

[Hairtrigger]

Another thing about the GREAT customer service from Hornady, They will give load data out as well as tips for troubleshooting reloading problems and other advise on dies/tools.

[James B]

Thanks for the info. I have the Lee 1000 as well. It works great if I can get the wife to help me watch that I don't run out of primers and stufff. For the money, its loaded a jillion rounds pretty cheap. I plan on doing the majority of my hunting from now on with the 7mm-08 as I have the rifle and the Encore in that caliber. As bad as my shoulder is getting, I may well be doing most of my hunting with the Encore. That way I can use my right arm and good left eye..

ORIGINAL: James B

Thanks for the info. I have the Lee 1000 as well. It works great if I can get the wife to help me watch that I don't run out of primers and stufff. For the money, its loaded a jillion rounds pretty cheap. I plan on doing the majority of my hunting from now on with the 7mm-08 as I have the rifle and the Encore in that caliber. As bad as my shoulder is getting, I may well be doing most of my hunting with the Encore. That way I can use my right arm and good left eye..

I didn't know you had a Lee 1000 as well. Lee 1000 is ok, as long as one, you don't miss a primer,or two get low on powder or powder clogs up.

If a primer somehow doesn't get seated, all cain brakes loose.

[James B]

Yeah. Miss a primer with fine ball powder aqnd you have a mess to clean up. I like to have someone stand there and just watch things while I reload. That way I can load a ton of pistol ammo in a couple hours. Have you ever tried the bigger Lee progressive? I sold one to a friend when I had my store but he has never set it up. I should try to get it back from him.

Right now I don't reload and shoot enough to invest to much in equipment. The shooting season outdoors is pretty short in ND. The wind always blows and we have only had two days in the last two weeks that its got above zero, itsbeen minus -20-25 for low temps for a couple weeks now.

[ShatoDavis]

I have a dillon 650. It's great for mass production. I originally bought it to make 45 ACP rounds when I shoot IPSA matches. The pistol bug has passed. Now it only gets used when I'm loading up in preperation for a trip to the Dog Town. You can make a thousand round in a hurry with that dude. Powder variation is surprisingly little, especially with fine kernel powders or ball powders. I love my dillon for specialized application as described. But, If I'm only planning to load 50 rounds of hunting ammo the set up time is not worth the effort.