My first Dillon XL650, I have some questions

H

Hundy

New member
I have been reloading on 2 RCBS single stage presses since 1993. I finally am tired and older, and wanted to change to a progressive press. After a lot of my own research I got a Dillon XL650.
I was leaning towards new RCBS Prochucker, but there was not enough reviews on it yet, and there is no case feeder system.

So here is my questions. Keep in mind I have been reloading on 2 single stage presses, a bench mounted primer seater, and a bench mounted powder dump.

I am curious how many of you have mounted bullet feeders on your 650. I am debating weather to keep my RCBS dies and get a bullet feeder, or get Dillon dies and hand place the bullets.
If I hand place the bullets, its still a lot faster than when I used the single stage. Bullet feeders and conversion kits seem expensive. but also seems like it would make the process faster, and less work on my part.

I have looked at the GCI bullet feeder and the Double Alpha Mr bullet feeder. If I was to get one, I was leaning towards the Double Alpha. Just curious if anyone has any experience (good or bad) with these bullet feeders.

My Dillon is still in the box, I am building a new bench for it, and hope to have it set up by Christmas. My only thought now is weather to get a bullet feeder of not. Any replies are greatly appreciated.

Thank you
Jay
 
I used RCBS RockChucker for the last 30 or so years, and finally this year bought a Dillon 650. I would hold off on the bullet feeder personally and see what you think of the process of manually placing them. I found I am pretty quick and it is not much work - on top of that it lets me look closely at the powder charge in each shell. With the shell feeder, and the powder check die I can pretty much just stay focused on station 4 until the primer alarm goes off or the brass hopper needs more brass!

On the dies, I bought the Dillon for pistol calibers as their carbide dies have a radius built into the die to funnel the brass in, if you look at the RCBS carbide dies they have a pretty squared off carbide ring. If everything is not 100% lined up when you pull the handle it will come to a stop... That is not to say the RCBS dies will not work, just that you might need to focus on station one from time to time.

I still do all my rifle on the old single stage press.

The bullet feeder might be perfect for you, but I like placing the bullets. (Of coarse I am old and do not like to give up too much control of my reloading process, so even using the Dillon tenses me out more than the old single stage!)
 
I too would hold off on buying a bullet feeder until you try it without. I have owned the GSI bullet feeder. It got returned to GSI for a refund. The collator kept jamming up and tried everything GSI customer support suggested.
I then purchased the Mr Bullet Feeder set up and it works like it's supposed to.
 
Thank you

Thank you for your reply cwall64. I like your response, very well said. Sounds like are reloading past is similar. I am leaning in that direction to place the bullets by hand. There is more control in doing that. I also agree that using the dies would be better.

Thank you again

Jay
 
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thank you

Thanks vance. From what I reading that seems to be the common response. That the GCI has issues and is picky on the type of bullet. Sounds like a lot of people are happy with the Mr bullet feeder.
Still not sure what I am going to do, but I appreciate your reply, it does help.

Thank you

Jay
 
Howdy Hundy :)

I've had a 650 for about a year after using a Lee turret for about the same. I load 9mm exclusively on the 650.

I initially placed the bullet by hand but then got interested in lower end bullet feeder solutions.

I initially tried the Hornady bullet feeder die intending to use preloaded plastic tubes similar to primer tubes. There are several internet posts about such a setup.

I quickly grew frustrated with the Hornady bullet feeder and gave up. I then purchased the Mr. Bullet Feeder Mini.

The Mr. Bullet feeder die was very straightforward to setup and has given me no problems. The hidden gem in the Mr. Bullet feeder setup is the powder funnel they include in the kit. The design allows you to get adequate belling of the case to accept the bullet without over doing it.

I tried the Mr Bullet Feeder Mini rotary magazine and now load without it. I just drop the bullets into the bullet feeder by hand. Although it is a manual operation seemingly similar to setting the bullet on the case in reality it is much faster to just drop the bullet in and let the feeder to the dirty work.

If I had it to do over again I would have just purchased the Mr Bullet Feeder die and the associated powder funnel. The rotary magazine takes time to fill and in the end you don't save any time; in fact it may take you longer. Plus the operation of the rotary magazine was not glitch free.

The Mini rotary magazine is now just collecting dust.
 
Try it without any bullet feeder for a little while, with automatic indexing you have one hand pretty much free, setting the bullets by hand is not a real problem.

Production rates will run hundreds of rounds per hour, what difference will 50 more or less rounds make?
 
I haven't convinced myself to get a bullet feeder yet. I load 9mm and keep about 10 bullets in my left hand and place the bullets on the case as needed. For the money the Mini doesn't seem worth it. You still have to spend time loading the plastic tubes.

The MBF works like a charm but I don't want to spend $500 on it. After loading thousands of rounds with no bullet feeder I have a good flow going so I don't think I'll be getting one unless Santa brings me one.

Try loading without it. After 1000 rounds you will be able to make a decision.
Before buying one try to use someone elses and see if your really like it.
 
If you do get the Mr Bullet Feeder, forget the mini turret set up. Just get the complete with collator. That way you are not still manually placing bullets into the feeder die or filling the tubes by hand. Dump bullets into the collator and turn it on.
 
I have a 550B, been reloading with it since 1993. I reload a lot of ammo and I think it really depends on how much you plan on shooting and reloading. I just don't really see the need but I guess the volume of rounds you crank out would determine the need.
 
I've had a 650 for at least 15 yrs...and while I considered a bullet feeder I never purchased one ..and frankly don't think I miss it. The guys that I do know, that have installed them, are not that happy with them...they're a little finnicky.../ and without the bullet feeder the 650 does all I need it to do - in loading about 25,000 handgun rounds a year.

I also prefer the Dillon dies.../ the way they bell a case is a plus - as well as the separate seating and final crimp dies.

Make sure you take the time to properly install and adjust the powder check dies...its another feature that makes the 650 a great press.
 
On the dies, I bought the Dillon for pistol calibers as their carbide dies have a radius built into the die to funnel the brass in, if you look at the RCBS carbide dies they have a pretty squared off carbide ring. If everything is not 100% lined up when you pull the handle it will come to a stop... That is not to say the RCBS dies will not work, just that you might need to focus on station one from time to time.


I can not find the Radius you are talking about .
My Dillion dies (sizing) are as Squared off as any other die i use .
 
Keybear - I could be wrong, but below is an image of one of my Dillon pistol sizing dies, my RCBS do not have the nice polished bevel that the Dillons do to aid in feeding the brass into it. I'll freely admit that I am using older RCBS (from when they started coming out with carbide dies) and they could have changed them in recent times. This was also pointed out to me when I ordered my Dillon from Brian Enos (as well as it is preferable to seat and crimp in different stations - so, I was looking at using my 3 die set from single stage, size/de-prime die, expander die, and seat/crimp die).

Dillon_Die.jpg
 
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Thank you for all the information and advice. After reading here, and continue to read everything I can find. I think for me, I will place bullets by hand for a at least a year. See how it goes. If I start loading more and more, than maybe upgrade. For now I will take the money I could have used for a bullet feeder and invest in some Dillon dies.

Thank you

Jay
 
I really like the Dillon dies. The seating die and the crimp die can both be dis assembled right on the press to be cleaned and not loose your setting. I only regret not replacing my Lee die sets earlier. The Lee dies are now used in my single stage press for load work up.
 
I have looked at the GCI bullet feeder and the Double Alpha Mr bullet feeder. If I was to get one, I was leaning towards the Double Alpha. Just curious if anyone has any experience (good or bad) with these bullet feeders.

My Dillon is still in the box, I am building a new bench for it, and hope to have it set up by Christmas. My only thought now is weather to get a bullet feeder of not. Any replies are greatly appreciated.
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I have more GSI feeders than the others but the MBF works well and the collator design is better but I make my own collators anyway as that saves the most money.

The the MBF you either loose the ability to powder check or you loose the ability to seat at 4 then crimp at 5. The GSI allows you to PC and seat then crimp in different stations.

If your completely new to the 650, I would get to know it completely stock, for awhile then make changes one at a time. This way you will know how it was intended to work and if a change improved the machine or not.
 
If your completely new to the 650, I would get to know it completely stock, for awhile then make changes one at a time. This way you will know how it was intended to work and if a change improved the machine or not.
Click to expand...

That makes way too much sense. :)
 
Quick Update. Like I have stated great advice and help here. I can not thank everyone enough. I am going to hand place bullets for a year, get to know the system. See how much I am actually reloading. I took the money I had for a bullet feeder and purchased all Dillon dies for the calibers I reload.

Thank you

Jay
 
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