Growing Pains Into the Dillon 650 XL

Pops1911 · Jul 12, 2019

Well, my new to me 650 XL are getting to be pretty close friends now. I have been slipping over to the new house and into the basement to "play" with the new to me Dillon. Finally and at last I have successfully changed out the 9mm reloading package for my 45acp package. Been waiting on parts and upgrades to arrive so I could get started on the machine. Only made about 64,527 Dillon Rookie mistakes but I believe I have it almost dialed in now. The powder drop was the biggest problem for me. Thank goodness for utube videos or I would still be curled up and sniveling under the bench with a hand full of meaningless parts. The last task to accomplish is to set the bullet seater die for the correct OAL. Eyeballed it to 1.266 in two trials of loading dud rounds using a case gauge as a guide. Yeah the caliper needed new batteries. Fixed that too today, sigh. Now the dry wall folks are working their craft so no more trips over this weekend. Pops

Pops1911 · Jul 14, 2019

After the dry wall folks left I did get back to the Dillon. Got the bullet seating die set right on 1.260 now. Read way too many articles debating 45acp seating depth LOL. Using Berrys Bullets RN 230gr I was previously using 1.265 OAL on my Loadmaster. I am feeling better about 1.260 now. I don't run anywhere near max loads so all is well. Next is the powder drop to be dialed in. Using WW 231 and it always seems to meter well. Sorry for the monologue but I cannot reload just yet so talking about it is the next best thing. Thanks for dropping by.

bbbass · Jul 14, 2019

Pops1911 said:
Well, my new to me 650 XL are getting to be pretty close friends now. I have been slipping over to the new house and into the basement to "play" with the new to me Dillon. Finally and at last I have successfully changed out the 9mm reloading package for my 45acp package. Been waiting on parts and upgrades to arrive so I could get started on the machine. Only made about 64,527 Dillon Rookie mistakes but I believe I have it almost dialed in now. The powder drop was the biggest problem for me. Thank goodness for utube videos or I would still be curled up and sniveling under the bench with a hand full of meaningless parts. The last task to accomplish is to set the bullet seater die for the correct OAL. Eyeballed it to 1.266 in two trials of loading dud rounds using a case gauge as a guide. Yeah the caliper needed new batteries. Fixed that too today, sigh. Now the dry wall folks are working their craft so no more trips over this weekend. Pops

Takes me back to the days of setting up my first Dillon... long before YouTube... what a nightmare!!! Some kind of Rube Goldberg device.

BTW... OAL needs to vary between bullet manufacturers. I've used the same settings for the same weight bullets, both 9mm, and had the shell fail to go into battery even tho it checked ok in a Dillon case guage. Turned out the ogive of the new bullet was slightly fatter, more rounded, at the pointy end. Just enough to mess things up. Problem was the Xtreme doesn't provide reload specs, so I didn't know until I had already made 100 loads. Fortunately all I had to do was run them into the bullet seater a bit more, since I rarely put much crimp on them it worked ok. (I hate using the bullet puller!!!)

Pops1911 · Jul 14, 2019

+1 on disliking the bullet puller! I still have to use it occasionally. Wow, setting up a Dillon before utube my hat is off to you. No one I have ever personally known has owned a Dillon. Before utube I wouldn't have even had friends to talk it over with. +1 also on the ogive challenge. At least with Berrys Bullets I have reloaded and shot way too many seated at 1.265 to change much now now. I did have a few "whut tha?" moments when the odd round would not chamber correctly. Ogive is as good a reason for that as any other. Thanks for the encouragement bbbass. My current Dillon plan is to reload a small number of rounds and try them out at the range before I go hog wild reloading lotsa 45s.

bbbass · Jul 14, 2019

Dillon has a vid, but I don't remember if it shows how to put the machine to together. Glad you got er done!! Keep up the good work!

Pops1911 · Jul 16, 2019

I've ordered a Dillon tool head and a tool head stand. The plan is to set this new tool head up for 9mm and the other one stays equipped as is for the 45acp. The stand is just 'cus it looks so cool.

Pops1911 · Aug 3, 2019

Well the Dillon only needs the powder dropper to be set up for my 45 load and it will all be good to go. However all serious reloading efforts continue on hold as the necessary focus is on getting the house ready for habitation. Cannot even get out to the range because of house things. Not complaining at all. Just missing my hobby. Ya'll are the closest I get to reloading these days. Thanks for sharing your stories.

MrElectric03 · Aug 3, 2019

I feel your pain pops, I moved into my new house no had to build my new bench before I could reload. But first I had to insulate and drywall the wall it was mounting to so that I wouldnt have to tear it back down to finish the garage. Between the move and build I went 10 months without pulling the handle on my Dillons. It's worth the wait though, once you get used to it the 650 is a simple machine.