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Dillon 550C -> do I just order it from Dillon and wait in line?

drew_235

drew_235

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May 22, 2019
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I have a Forster CoAx and I'm just looking to step up my volume a bit. Nobody has these in stock, I get that. I'm not expecting one tomorrow (although I blew my chances with one online at Scheels yesterday).
Having said all that, is there any downside to simply placing an order directly from Dillon and sitting back and waiting for it to arrive in the mail? I have no idea if they usually fulfill their own orders before shipping presses to their vendors.
 
Yes, order it straight from Dillon. They're wonderful to deal with.

Things aren't slowing down anytime soon. May as well get in line now.
 
NiteQwill said:
Are you a veteran or military? I would suggest ordering from Dillon directly for a discount.
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Neither, just an average Joe.
I'll take the advice listed above - order from Dillon and get in line. I'm getting a 550C and the .223 conversion kit. I'll get the mount and light from InLine Fabrications as well. The ball handle doesn't really bother me since I've been using one on a Ponsness Warren to reload shotshells for years.
 
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What everyone else said, just order it and wait in line. It sucks, but the times they are tough! I just had to order a Nightforce scope thats back ordered.
 
drew_235 said:
Neither, just an average Joe.
I'll take the advice listed above - order from Dillon and get in line. I'm getting a 550C and the .223 conversion kit. I'll get the mount and light from InLine Fabrications as well. The ball handle doesn't really bother me since I've been using one on a Ponsness Warren to reload shotshells for years.
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If you're going for Inline Fabrication... They're roller handle mount is worth every penny.
 
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Lots of resellers out there. I don't think you'll have much luck, but here's the link to find a local reseller: Link
 
I could be wrong, but I think most dealers just drop ship Dillon stuff. I like the Dillon Strongmount and bin setup for my 550 vs the Inline Fabrication setup. They've got it pretty well figured out with regards to ergonomics and workflow. No knock on Inline as I like their products as well.
 
I'd look on line for used reloaders. With Dillon's customer service, anything wrong or missing will be addressed by Dillon. Good luck!
 
BigBlue&Goldie said:
I could be wrong, but I think most dealers just drop ship Dillon stuff. I like the Dillon Strongmount and bin setup for my 550 vs the Inline Fabrication setup. They've got it pretty well figured out with regards to ergonomics and workflow. No knock on Inline as I like their products as well.
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No, there are a lot of stocking dealers now.

Keep an eye at Scheels, they will charge tax, but they will ship free above $50. They get 550's in regularly. They have the conversion kits in stock for 223 now. You can also check several other of the retailers, Gunstop, Double Alpha, Bobcat Armament, Ben Stoeger pro shop. I have ordered from all the ones listed and haven't had any issues yet. I ordered my 1100 through Bobcat, they were on backorder so I had to wait for it for a few months. But it finally came in.
 
I ordered a Dillon 550C (with 9mm conversion kit) direct from Dillon last sunday 11/29. It was on backorder status when I ordered, so I expected a wait. Surprisingly, Monday 11/30 it shipped and I received it friday 12/4. I was thrilled!!!
 
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stevieb92 said:
I ordered a Dillon 550C (with 9mm conversion kit) direct from Dillon last sunday 11/29. It was on backorder status when I ordered, so I expected a wait. Surprisingly, Monday 11/30 it shipped and I received it friday 12/4. I was thrilled!!!
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Did you order any of the other goodies that go with it? Extra primer tubes or a bin for bullets (that seems really expensive for a bin)
 
Order bins from Inline Fabrication when you order other stuff from Dan. He will get you setup. And second the recommendation for the roller handle. It's sweet. I don't think you mentioned it above, but consider lighting as well. The "skylight" from Inline Fabrication is nice, as well as the UFO lights you can buy off Amazon. Personally, I run both at the same time and can see everything when loading easily. I tried to load without them recently and couldn't do it. The lights make that much of a difference.
 
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Ok, order(s) placed. Did I miss anything?

From Dillon:
- RL-550C with .223 kit
- (4) pack of small primer tubes
- Extra toolhead

From InLine Fabrications:
- Ultramount
- Skylight w/ the extra strip LED
- Roller handle
- Bullet tray assembly with 2 bins
- Locator pin tabs

Still need:
- Universal decapper for the final loading tool head to make sure there are no pieces of walnut media stuck in my primer holes.

Not sure if I need:
- Extra "fancy" tool head to enable free floating of dies. I currently use Forster micrometer seaters and I have read that there may be interference issues with the floating retainer rings and the micrometer seater. I have also read great things about just using the standard Dillon toolhead and rubber o-rings that you would use in the female end of a garden hose.
- The extra bin for the empty brass from InLine Fabrications

Wish list:
- 9mm conversion kit with the deluxe quick change powder funnel (~$120). I don't reload 9mm yet and I've got shelves of factory ammo to use up first. Powder and primers are hard to find right now but projectiles don't seem that scarce.
 
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I dont think you need the extra primer tubes, unless you are just trying to crank out tons of ammo without stopping to refill. In which case, you may want one of those electric primer tube fillers.

I ditched my clamped/floating toolheads. I don't think they enable any more concentricity - UNLESS you have each station floated. The issue there becomes, some dies, in short cased calibres, don't have enough thread to float. I'm transitioning to the regular whidden toolheads. I may try their floater after a bit as I understand it's not clamped - but it also only floats two stations.

The o-rings you want are #17 - 7/8 ID. Lee used to use them on their lock rings, but their new lock rings require a special wrench and I'm not about that life.

The extra brass bin is nice for economy of movement. Also, If you don't want to buy another powder measure, you can get a quick change tab that replaces the screws, and a micrometer powder bar.
 
drew_235 said:
Did you order any of the other goodies that go with it? Extra primer tubes or a bin for bullets (that seems really expensive for a bin)
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No I figured I will play with it for awhile and then decide on more accessories. I will most likely buy some things from Inline Fab.
 
The secret to running 550’s is to have a separate toolhead, fully set up for each caliber that you load. Change out time is can be as short as 5 minutes unless you have to change primer size. (More of an issue for me, so I have a 550 for large primers and a 550 for small primers)

Other needs, a strong mount and bullet trays our really nice and all but indispensable. Forget the powder check, as the powder throw sits right in front of you making it easy to see. Primer check is included but to me its more than a hindrance than a help.
 
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First off, dealing with Dillon has been a pleasure and their "no BS" warranty is exactly that. Buying direct from Dillon is not a problem, rather nice to deal with them since they know their product.

I've been running a 650 for 25 years or so without a hiccup. Bought the basic press and first added a roller handle (highly recommended) and strong mount (ditto). Those things will work equally well on a 550. Once I got into really high volume loading I was glad I had gotten the 650 because of the auto-indexing feature. I added the case feeder which worked first time no problem (really sped up loading) and then extra tool heads with powder measures.

One caveat, the Dillon powder measures do not handle coarse stick powders well for precision loading, but a powder funnel die can be used to pour weighed charges. They do handle fine grained or ball powders quite well.

Take your time the first couple of times on your 550 to get used to how it operates.
 
Mike_in_FL said:
How do you get the discount? I don't see anything on the website. Sorry for the hijack OP.
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They don't advertise it.

You have to call and they will set your account up and I believe you'll have to send a copy of your credentials/DD-214. But not sure. My brother in law just walked in and they set up his account, but we live local to Dillon.

Other companies also offer discounts, Bobcat Armament, for one. https://www.bobcatarmament.com/service/military-discount-program/
 
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An update to this thread - for whatever reason, my order to Dillon did not go through and I got busy and didn't notice for a few days. When it finally came to my attention, I got back on their website and ordered a 550C with the .223 caliber setup. That was at approximately 10pm on Monday evening of this week. At 10am Tuesday morning I got an e-mail with a tracking number. My press, which still shows as back ordered, will arrive next week.
I've seen a few posts on social media about people having ordered 550C's in July and only just now getting them because the 9mm die sets were taking forever to make.
 
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