Author Topic: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster  (Read 3436 times)

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Offline levellinebrad

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I bought a used 650 the other day and got it all set up. I loaded about 20 rounds of 9mm yesterday to get it dialed in and went back and loaded 200 rounds today. Here are my observations in comparison.




1)Decapping:

no difference from one to the other. They both decap just fine




2)Priming:

The Lee primer loading system is by far superior to the Dillon. I absolutely hate having to pick up each primer in a tube and then dump them into another tube. Some of you guys may be a lot faster than me at that but in my opinion, that is a slow operation.




The actual seating system of the Dillon is superior to the Lee. It is much easier to seat the primers and I had zero bad primers. I usually have 3 or 4 sideways primers in the lee through 200 rounds.




I love the low primer buzzer on the Dillon. I have gotten to the point with the lee that I know when it is getting ready to run out by how many bullets I have in my container. When I first started loading, I wouldn't think about it and let it run out. I would notice my press getting powder on it and then I would realize what I had done after about 20 unprimed cases.




3)Powder drop:

 For adjustability, the Dillon wins. I am stuck with  .2gr increments with the Lee. The Lee has been very accurate and repeatable for me whereas the Dillon would throw as much as .2 gr high at times with E3. I don't know why that would be, maybe someone could explain that?




4) Bullet seating:

I actually got more and larger variance from the Dillon. I had believed that due to the tool head set up on the Dillon, this would be exactly opposite. My oal should have been 1.135 and out of 200 rounds, I had 33 rounds that I had to run back through because they were at or over 1.140.




5) Cost new for just the basics  to start loading.

Dillon $660.00 with Lee dies

Lee $231 with Lee dies













General observation:

The Dillon would shake the case so hard, when indexing, that powder would spill onto the plate. Youtube to the rescue on that one. I trimmed the spring under the ball bearing and VOILA! problem solved. Overall, the Dillon seemed to run much smoother than the Lee which is probably why you can load 100 more rounds an hour than on the Lee.

I like the way that Dillon did their primer catch tray better than the Lee in theory. However, I probably had 10 spent primers pop out and land on the floor. If you miss a case in the primer station, the Dillon has a little ramp where the primer is supposed slide down and you can retrieve it. Most of the time the primer ended up on the ground.




The loadmaster will kick out .380 rounds at the priming station. I have never loaded a 380 round on the Lee and very rarely even primed a case. I completely loaded (3) 380 rounds on the Dillon and primed another 3. You will need to be extra careful sorting brass for 9mm with the Dillon.




Without the case feeder for the Dillon (a $218 accessory), The Lee wins for speed at loading cases by hand. I am sure that with the case feeder, the Dillon will kick Lee's ass but with the case collator ($12 accessory), the Lee would be close enough to the Dillon to forego the $206 accessory. Just my opinion.




Summation:

The Dillon is a fine machine but seems to have as many quirks as the Lee. With a price difference of $429, I would not buy a new one and am actually toying with the idea of selling the Dillon and putting the money towards something else. These are all my opinions from 1 loading session with the Dillon. I have probably loaded 10000 rounds on the Lee Loadmaster.





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Offline Wobbly

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2014, 05:09:52 PM »
Great report. Many thanks. It would be interesting to see if your impressions change over time.

 ;)
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Offline rtp

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2014, 06:02:42 PM »
Now..pick up a LnL AP, and run them all for a few thousand rounds, please. ;)

Same comments here as the local forum - google 'primer ski jump' for a few fixes, and try de-greasing and polishing or waxing the Dillon PM funnel, and cycle a few #s of powder through it manually back into it's jug.  I prefer the Hornady PM over the Dillons, but there's no reason it shouldn't be consistent +/- .1gr with ball powders.

Offline vwpieces

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2014, 06:51:23 PM »
Thanks Brad for taking the time for the write up.
I own a load master with a Hornady case activated PM. I am happy. ;D
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Offline levellinebrad

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2014, 07:34:42 AM »
Great report. Many thanks. It would be interesting to see if your impressions change over time.

 ;)
I plan on loading a couple thousand rounds and then switch back to the lee and see if I still like the lee as much.
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Offline IDescribe

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2014, 12:36:33 PM »
The ball that sits atop the spring you trimmed may be replaced with a softer plastic one and reduce that vibration further for less spillage.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2014, 02:45:02 PM by IDescribe »

Offline SMSgt

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2014, 02:41:46 PM »
Comparing a 1962 Beetle to a Porche 911.
Life isn't fair, stop expecting it to be.

Offline jameslovesjammie

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #7 on: November 25, 2014, 04:38:51 PM »
Thanks for the review, Brad.

All presses have their "quirks" that take some time to work out.  I just switched from a Lee Classic Cast Turret to a Hornady LNL-AP.  There are some things that I really like about the press and some things that I'm not yet sure of.  But I've only loaded 100 rounds so far (40 in single stage mode, 60 in full progressive mode).  I think even at 1,000 rounds...it isn't a fair comparison versus over 6 years with the Turret.  You get so used to the way one press runs that it can be difficult to change your rhythm.  That is my observation of myself with this new press.

I'd say give the 650 a little more time.  I think once you get the "quirks" worked out, you will really like the press.

I look forward to an update after you get a few thousand rounds made.   ;)

Offline levellinebrad

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #8 on: November 25, 2014, 04:52:17 PM »
Thanks for the review, Brad.

All presses have their "quirks" that take some time to work out.  I just switched from a Lee Classic Cast Turret to a Hornady LNL-AP.  There are some things that I really like about the press and some things that I'm not yet sure of.  But I've only loaded 100 rounds so far (40 in single stage mode, 60 in full progressive mode).  I think even at 1,000 rounds...it isn't a fair comparison versus over 6 years with the Turret.  You get so used to the way one press runs that it can be difficult to change your rhythm.  That is my observation of myself with this new press.

I'd say give the 650 a little more time.  I think once you get the "quirks" worked out, you will really like the press.

I look forward to an update after you get a few thousand rounds made.   ;)
This is exactly how I feel as well.
Greed and the struggle for power will rule the day until we the people decide we have had enough.

Offline amada8

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #9 on: November 26, 2014, 01:26:11 AM »
The ball that sits atop the spring you trimmed may be replaced with a softer plastic one and reduce that vibration further for less spillage.

Or.....McMaster Carr (or any good factory supply house) will have 9mm (.354") stainless ball bearings that will also reduce the vibration.  The Dillon bearing is .375".
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Offline levellinebrad

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #10 on: November 26, 2014, 07:04:00 AM »
I have loaded approximately 600 rounds total now and am getting used to the quirks and the "feel" of the Dillon. I came down to my bench this morning and loaded 100 rounds for time. It was the smoothest session I have had to date. No malfunctions, loaded 1 380 case, had 2 bad primer seats due to crimped primer pockets, but all in all, a smooth session. From loading the primers and cases to the 100th good round loaded was 19 minutes. By my calculations, that is 315 rounds per hour. I am going to postulate that at the end of an hour I would have sped up a little so I will say that I could have loaded 350 -375 rounds in 1 hour. Starting to like the Dillon a little more but still cannot say that it loads better or faster in its current configuration.
Greed and the struggle for power will rule the day until we the people decide we have had enough.

Offline Wobbly

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #11 on: November 26, 2014, 09:37:35 AM »
Starting to like the Dillon a little more...


Ah ha !! The evil spell is starting to work its magic.   :o

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Offline larryflew

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #12 on: November 26, 2014, 11:06:33 AM »
About 4 or 5 years since I sold my 650 and bought (2) Lee 1000's and a turret with some money left over.  One of the 1000's set up for 9mm and one for 45 with the turret doing my rifles and 44 magnum.

No longer into the blue cool-aide but like others mentioned they all have their quirks.
When did it change from "We the people" to "screw the people"?

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Offline twowheels

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #13 on: November 26, 2014, 11:49:32 AM »
I love my 650 but it is the only press I've ever owned.  I load multiple calibers with it and find it to make very high quality ammo.  Re ski jump, I put a piece of tape around the primer repository tray and that stops the primers from jumping on the floor.  Re powder jumping out of cases, I clipped a bit off the spring.  I also tried the washer and bearing trick but disn't like it and took it off.  Powder jump occurs now only when a lack of smoothness happens usually when a primer does not enter the case smoothly.  I have gotten to the point where I can usually feel it happening and manipulate the handle smoothly so that the case primes more smoothly. 

Re powder charge weights, my 650 is incredible consistent, so much so that I don't check charge weights very often.  When I do, they are always perfect.

 

Offline Smitty79

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Re: First impressions of the Dillon 650 compared to the Lee Loadmaster
« Reply #14 on: November 26, 2014, 01:20:00 PM »
I have a 550, not a 650.   If things were shaking enough to spill powder on my machine, I would be looking to see if the shell plate is loose.   If it's set right, I can't imagine it wobbling the case to spill powder.
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