Best progressive pistol reloader?

[BrownDog]

I have a Dillon Square Deal and have been using it for the past 18 years with no problems, however it only does pstol loads and uses Dillon's dies only. If you feel that you may want to reload rifle loads also a Dillon 550 would be a good start.

 

[GetA2J]

How important is the auto indexing? I kinda feel that with feeding cases and bulletts AND indexing the 550 maybe the 650 would be worth the extra $$. Anybody have opinion???

 

[Soundslikejosh]

How important is the auto indexing? I kinda feel that with feeding cases and bulletts AND indexing the 550 maybe the 650 would be worth the extra $$. Anybody have opinion???

If you intend to shoot copious amounts, the 650 may be a good choice. Also, if you want to reload as a way to shoot more, rather than reloading as a hobby in-and-of-itself, then the 650 is a good choice. The 650 gets the job done and gets it done fast!

The 550 is slower, but that depends a bit on the user. An experienced 550 user will churn out quite a few rounds per hour. If you have a little bit more time to spend, the 550 will be more than satisfactory. Also, some folks aren't concerned with top-speed reloading because the reloading is as much a hobby as the shooting. Obviously no one wants to spend extra time behind the press, but my point is that I think most users will be perfectly happy with a 550 and would be better off buying components with the money saved versus a 650.

I don't want to sound like I am taking anything away from the 650. My point is simply that the 550 can be run quite efficiently once you get your hands into a rhythm.

One final thought is that using the 650, with auto-indexing, it is much harder to load a double charge. On a 550, if you run the ram up and down, but don't index it, then you get a phone call or similar distraction, and return to the press, without indexing it, then run the ram up and down again, you've doubled the charge. This should be easy to avoid, but the point is that with a 650, it auto-indexes so a double charge is nearly impossible. I don't think that is worth the price difference, but its something to consider.

 

[GetA2J]

Thank you Josh. The price difference is only about $100 and they take standard dies so I really could start reloading instead of buying practically all the calibers I use.
I already have dies for 9mm and that greatly reduces the startup costs.
Still debating the strong mount though basically because I could build something just like it for next to nothing.

 

[JByer323]

You want a strong mount. And if you buy a 650, you best be buying the casefeeder to go with it.

 

[hornadylnl]

Only a 650 or LNL. A 550 case feeder won't do rifle cases.

 

[turnandshoot4]

That's good to know.

 

[GetA2J]

You want a strong mount. And if you buy a 650, you best be buying the casefeeder to go with it.

I understand JB however I only have so much money to use right now. I can upgrade later.
As far as a strong mount is there someone near the Terre Haute area that has one I can look at.