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Get what you feel will produce what you need. It took less than a year at 100 rds a week of .45 for me to have payed for my 650 with case feeder and .38 and .223 are just a bonus. The difference in price between even a lct and a fully set up 650 is not that much over the course of time .
 
You might have noticed that there is a tendency on the forum to try and up sell you. The reason for that is a lot of us started small and cheap. and then went through a progression of presses. It would have been cheaper just to start with something a lot better. But some times people forget that each hobby has a price point that each individual is willing to spend.
When I upgraded from the Lee turret to the 550 I was willing to spend that much money but doubling the cost at that time didn't make since to me. So I bought the 550. A few years latter the price of a 650 was reasonable to me but not the 1050. So I upgraded to the 650 and sold my 550. Had I started with the 650 I would have saved money. But a price point is a price point. Buy what you are comfortable with.
 
Each of the steps up to the 650 I was able to sell for near what I payed for them so I did not lose anything along the way. I used the 650 without the casefeeder for a while and it is still worth far more than the small difference in cost between it and the 550 or sdb. Stopping to load the case feed tube every 15-20 rounds is still better than stopping with every pull.
 
Buy a 550 instead. Then you can use any standard die you want.
Totally agree especially if you are going to reload other calibers down the road ie.. 40 S&W, 45 ACP with a RL550B just change out the toolhead and if need be the primer feeding system and away you go.
 
I think I could make an argument that auto indexing is faster than manual but by how much depends on how the rest of the press is set up and how you run it.

The main advantage is that all of the other Dillon presses will advance to the next station before the powder charge fail safe will reset. This makes it somewhat less likey that one throws a double.

Would also argue if you pay that little attention to the process, you should just buy loaded ammo.
 
Get what you feel will produce what you need. It took less than a year at 100 rds a week of .45 for me to have payed for my 650 with case feeder and .38 and .223 are just a bonus. The difference in price between even a lct and a fully set up 650 is not that much over the course of time .
Yep, over20yrs, $3/m vs $5/m, but everyone oes not need a 650.:dunno:
 
Get what you feel will produce what you need. It took less than a year at 100 rds a week of .45 for me to have payed for my 650 with case feeder and .38 and .223 are just a bonus. The difference in price between even a lct and a fully set up 650 is not that much over the course of time .
Yep, over 20yrs, $3/m vs $5/m, but everyone does not need a 650.:dunno:
 
Wow, I knew the day would come when Fred started talking to himself.
 
Yep, over 20yrs, $3/m vs $5/m, but everyone does not need a 650.:dunno:
The payback at 100 rounds of .45 a week average 18.00 savings per 100 is
8 weeks for lct
20 weeks for sdb
27 weeks for 550
34 weeks for 650 without case feed
46 weeks for 650 with case feed

This is based off of press alone with one set of dies .45 is what I load the most so I know exactly what my per 100 cost is vs factory your savings will vary but it remains the same the payback for even a relatively extravagant set up is not a lot.
 
I have owned 3 SDB, they make great ammo. down to 1 now in 45acp. I am a brass hog and the only issue I ever had was major 9mm cases and not getting resized all the way down. caused some issues in tight chambers.

for the $60 mentioned above I would go with the 550, and thats from a guy who likes the SDB.
 
The payback at 100 rounds of .45 a week average 18.00 savings per 100 is
8 weeks for lct
20 weeks for sdb
27 weeks for 550
34 weeks for 650 without case feed
46 weeks for 650 with case feed

This is based off of press alone with one set of dies .45 is what I load the most so I know exactly what my per 100 cost is vs factory your savings will vary but it remains the same the payback for even a relatively extravagant set up is not a lot.
Now a days, with a tank of fuel costing over $100 and a set of tires over $1000 and both are complete losses down the road, I don't worry about investing in good equipment.

The SD's I paid $130 for new and used all these years are worth more, not less. Looking on eBay the other day almost made me want to sell one of my 650's. There are people out there getting $2000 for a 650 that doesn't even have all the bells and whistles.
 
The payback at 100 rounds of .45 a week average 18.00 savings per 100 is
8 weeks for lct
20 weeks for sdb
27 weeks for 550
34 weeks for 650 without case feed
46 weeks for 650 with case feed

This is based off of press alone with one set of dies .45 is what I load the most so I know exactly what my per 100 cost is vs factory your savings will vary but it remains the same the payback for even a relatively extravagant set up is not a lot.
I don't know what your costs for .45 ACP are but mine are $120/1000. That's not especially low but lead costs money.

Somebody who is shooting a couple of boxes a week probably shouldn't be reloading at all but, if they do, an LCT is more than adequate. They simply don't load enough to take advantage of a 650 with case feeder.

However, when the entire family eats out of one ammo can, it's possible to go through 1000 rounds in an outing. That's only 250 rounds per person which isn't really all that much. The only reason it isn't more is the range rule that only one person can shoot at a time. If we were all on the firing line at the same time, that can would be empty in a real big hurry.

Then it simply gets down to how much time to spend reloading. Sure, it can be done on a single stage press. This gives a reloader and opportunity to enjoy reloading for a VERY LONG TIME!

For $60 (given that dies are in hand), the question about SDB vs 550 is a foregone conclusion. There is no advantage to the SDB in terms of anything so the little bit extra for the 550 is no big deal.

After that it gets down to volume. How long do you want to enjoy reloading before you get all the empties refilled? Do you want to enjoy the process for a long time or do you want to get it over with?

I'm in the 'get it over' camp. Reloading isn't my hobby, shooting is. Reloading is just a cost of having fun.

Richard
 
I got word this am that I could get a brand new LNL ap for about the price of the SDB.. That changes things a bit for me, might have made my decision..
No dies, no low primer alarm, no shellplate.

Dillons come with one complete caliber conversion. Which means shellplate etc (no dies). SDB comes with dies. LnL is a little cheaper but not by a lot when you really look at it.
 
If you want a cheap progressive, that will at times frustrate you, but still make a decent volume, get a Pro1000. Either get a Pro 1000 or a Dillon. The P1000 is cheap but imperfect, the Dillon is expensive but near perfect. Everything else is just expensive and imperfect, the worst of both worlds.
 
Discussion starter · #78 ·
No dies, no low primer alarm, no shellplate.

Dillons come with one complete caliber conversion. Which means shellplate etc (no dies). SDB comes with dies. LnL is a little cheaper but not by a lot when you really look at it.
All things I'm going to spend today pricing out, but at $405 this is hard to pass up..

If you want a cheap progressive, that will at times frustrate you, but still make a decent volume, get a Pro1000. Either get a Pro 1000 or a Dillon. The P1000 is cheap but imperfect, the Dillon is expensive but near perfect. Everything else is just expensive and imperfect, the worst of both worlds.
You all are probably very correct, but at such a low price point, it's pretty likely that if it's really a total piece of garbage I can probably get my money back out of it.

It should be noted that I have my LCT running flawlessly, so tinkering and fine tuning isn't something that really bothers me..

Again, not trying to argue with you all, but I might not be able to pass up this deal.
 
Discussion starter · #80 ·
Lol, I probably deserve that..

But really, $300 *IS* a lot of money.. Even buying the shellplate and PTX (which according to my research is all I need along with my dies in order to start loading) I'm still at $240 less than the 650..

Tough choices man.. tough choices.

I've ruled out the 550 though, I think.. From this thread and others it seems that there is a limit to what the 550 can do. I'm not buying a bullet and case feeder now, but I probably will someday. These items (I'm told) are "afterthoughts" for the 550..

Oh well, spending today doing some more research, I'll keep you all posted :)
 
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