Dillon 650 Setup Confirmation/Advice

N_Turs said:

What issues will I run into with mixed brass that I should be aware of ahead of time

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There is a pretty large difference when discussing bottleneck cartridges versus straight wall pistol rounds in terms of the resultant tolerance of the results.

For example, I agree that your experience with the press for pistol rounds is valuable and should shorten the learning curve since it is just a conversion to rifle. But, rifle brass prep is a little more demanding in terms of how your dies must be set.

You will need to give yourself a little stick time to get the hang of those combined stations where there is more than one demand, like the trim station for example. You will be both setting your case sizing as well as the trim length.

I would suggest you sort that first session by headstamp and then intentionally introduce different ones to see how they react. Sometimes one setting will work for all, and other times the results won't run. Brass differences can drive the die setting requirements in bottleneck rifle cartridges in ways that you might not detect in pistol brass.

You will be fine based on what you already know. No worries and have fun.

MarinePMI said:

Norma and Gecco.

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Thank you Sir ! I think I've only ever run across the Gecco. With as big as Norma is, I must have had some of their's too. Just don't recall it though.

N_Turs said:

What issues will I run into with mixed brass that I should be aware of ahead of time

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Oh, and if'n yer gonna swage, get yourself a Primer pocket "Go/No Go" gauge set. I have the Swage-it setup and their dimensions are right in there, no issues. But it's nice to have the gauges so you can pull brass off the press and check it immediately after it's gone through the swaging station.

Some people would argue that the gauges aren't necessary. I probably wouldn't fight them a bunch on that, but they're nice to have and don't cost very much.

N_Turs said:

. Have you had any issue using a it on the 650?

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Yes and no.
Using the swage-it has some feel to it. You figure it out as you go along.
I have had some case I thought were swaged but ended up flattening or squishing the primers.
If you feel too much resistance, stop priming that case and put it aside. Like I said, you will develop a feel for it.
Just don't force the swager or you may break the shell plate. I have not broken one but it seems like it may take a lot of force.
When I am reloading precision ammo, I keep the 650 set up with the swage-it and prime of the RCBS Rockchucker, the load on a Forster Co-Ax. One day I'll get a hand primer.
Not a fan of automating the 650 for loading because of the swageing issue.

If you haven't invested to deeply in the 650 I would suggest moving to the 1050 or Mark 7

MarinePMI said:

At least. (I keep at least 4-5 spare indexer rings for my 750 on hand. For what you pay in shipping, it makes no sense to order just one spare part).

But like Threadcutter, I run Autodrives. So when something goes out of whack, bad stuff happens, even when the machine is on it's slowest setting.

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Under "certain conditions", it's amazing how fast the "slowest" setting is, isn't it ?

fedupflyer said:

Yes and no.
Using the swage-it has some feel to it. You figure it out as you go along.
I have had some case I thought were swaged but ended up flattening or squishing the primers.
If you feel too much resistance, stop priming that case and put it aside. Like I said, you will develop a feel for it.
Just don't force the swager or you may break the shell plate. I have not broken one but it seems like it may take a lot of force.
When I am reloading precision ammo, I keep the 650 set up with the swage-it and prime of the RCBS Rockchucker, the load on a Forster Co-Ax. One day I'll get a hand primer.
Not a fan of automating the 650 for loading because of the swageing issue.

If you haven't invested to deeply in the 650 I would suggest moving to the 1050 or Mark 7

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"Not a fan of automating the 650 for loading because of the swageing issue".

Yeah, I puckered up a little the first time I tried the Swage-it with the Auto Drive on my 650. I just lower the torque limiter until I get nuisance trips, then increase it back up one notch. Really haven't had any problems. Having said that, if I had it to do all over again, I would have bought a 1050 from the get go. IIRC, Autodrives for the 1050 are the same price as for the 650/750's.

As far as "loading", I have two 650's. One for 9mm, one for 45. Both have Auto Drives and loading works really well. But, it takes time to set up everything and get it dialed in properly.

Some people think that with Autodrives you can just "press the button and walk away". Not me. That's a real good way to either damage your machine or make a lot of bad ammo very quickly. The first limiting factor is re-charging the primers. You are limited to 100 per charge, which means that you pretty much have to sit with the machine while it's running.

N_Turs said:

What issues will I run into with mixed brass that I should be aware of ahead of time

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I have not ran into any, for blasting ammo with 556.

Prep toolhead
Universal decap
Dillon trimmer/dillon die

Load toolhead
Mandrel/neck expander
powder drop
empty/verify powder/or powder check device
seat
crimp