New Reloader chooses an auto progressive to start

[9x45]

"While some people say a new reloader should start on a single- stage press,.."

Complete article can be found here page 36-37

https://www.dillonprecision.com/docs/May_2016_Issue_Web.pdf

Wish there was something that affordable and reliable when I started. Stars were around but very expensive, even in the 60's. Our local club bought one and everyone took turns cranking out .45acp for Bullseye 2 hours a week. It was the chance to drive a Tesla when everyone else was driving a Yugo......

 

[JeepHammer]

Honestly, with the price coming down,
And ease of use going way up,
I don't see a thing wrong with starting out on something like a single caliber Dillon.

You WILL have to be able to figure out basic mechanical functions enough to adjust dies or primer insert station, but they are REALLY simple to operate.

ANY reloader depends on your volume of consumption, its not cost effective or practical to buy ANY reloader/accessories IF you only shoot 2 or 3 boxes of ammo a year...
With Months or YEARS between bench sessions you will forget practices and have to crack the books out each and every time.
Not time or cost effective.

*IF* you shoot high volume, And have a steady supply of components,
You can seriously reduce costs while keeping quality high.

*IF* you shoot superior quality (high cost) accuracy ammo, you can produce that for a considerable reduction in price.
(Usually not built on a progressive press, every component hand checked before loading, so volume isn't the objective)

I have ZERO issues with buying a Dillon 'Square Deal',
Realitively inexpensive for the quality and ease of operation,
Cranks out handgun target or hunting ammo like a champ,
Very easy to operate & maintain.

 

[JeepHammer]

I DO have issues with throwing a XL650 at a novice.
There are TONS of adjustments on the XL650, and some annoying habits/parts that come with the Dillon XL650.

The two things that annoyed me most were the pointed STEEL rod that activates the case dropper/shuttle 'Ramp' that's made of PLASTIC.

Doesn't matter how much you lubricate that friction point, the steel is going to 'Win' (Wear) the plastic part every time,
And its going to wear the plastic in short order...
A roller bearing on the end of that steel rod is available on 'eBay' for cheap, and its a good upgrade.

The second most annoying thing is the 'Mass' (weight) of the detent ball indexing the shell plate, stopping the shell plate in the correct place under the dies.
Between the square edges on the shell plate detent holes,
The way over power spring,
And the mass of the ball slamming 'Home' in the detent hole,
That press threw powder EVERWHERE!

My cases weren't 'Full', they were below the neck bend at the shoulder or lower,
And the press threw powder no matter what powder I was using.

Honing a radius on the edges of the detent holes of the shell plate helped some,
De-tempering the spring a little helped some,
But switching to a synthetic, low mass ball helped the most.

Again, there is a 'Kit' sold on eBay for this upgrade, well worth the money.

After fine tuning the dies, getting the shell plate as tight as possible and still allowing for free rotation, getting the charge bar powder dropper to function properly, and getting the primer assembly to leave *Most* of the primers turned 'Up' instead of sideways or up-side-down,
Polishing (NOT removing excess material) the primer feed system helped a bunch...

Now it comfortably cranks out about 350 small rifle rounds an hour with about a 1% failure rate, mostly primer issues.
I don't seem to have the primer issues as much with large primer rounds.

The Dillon XL650 is NOT cheap if you intend volume production!
The base press is around $600,
Everything from Dillon is expensive,
A case feeder is another $250...
Press specific tool kits, and only available from Dillon,
Caliber changes are super expensive compaired to other quality presses,

The one thing you can count on is Dillon's "No BS Warrenty", they WILL replace their stuff in short order, and with virtually no questions.

Keep it clean & LUBRICATED and it will perform as advertised.
Its every bit as much adjusting/fiddling as any press to get it 'Exactly Right' in the beginning,
But once that's done, it cranks out rounds like a champ! No complaints once adjusted...