Getting Set Up

[alfsauve]

Knees, feet & back are my issues, so standing is bad, even on padded mats. 

[les snyder]

Magoo541... I've never used a 650, but the 1050 has a dedicated station to swage primer pocket... a plus if you shoot GI 5.56 brass

[Magoo541]

Magoo541... I've never used a 650, but the 1050 has a dedicated station to swage primer pocket... a plus if you shoot GI 5.56 brass

I recall looking at the 650 when I bought my 550 but I didn't plan on doing big runs, >500 rounds, but I think that volume will go up if my wife's health continues to improve (she had a dream she was shooting a competition and doing great  ).  She has MS but has been walking 5+ miles a day for the last 4 weeks which has been great on a number of levels.  We went out shooting last weekend, breaking in my new XDM 9 with a threaded barrel  and re-sighted in my red dot on my AR.
Back to the 1050, I recall a the price between a 650 fully loaded and a 1050 was not much and some wish they would have gone with the 1050 for high volume calibers like 223 & 9.

[MikeBjerum]

Good words to live by Les.

I like to sit rather than stand with my Hornady.  Is the Dillion not lend itself to operating it seated?

It is all about the height of the bench and the height of the still you sit on.  I prefer to sit an any of the presses.  Old fat body that I abused far too much when I was younger ... If that is what you call riding a bull just before your 49th birthday    With the Dillon I have a tendency to jerk the handle when I stand, and this causes primers to flip upside down.

[ellis4538]

I Have a 550 and it lends itself well to sitting.  The top of the board my press is mounted to is 291/2".  I use a regular chair to sit on.  Don't know about the 650 or 1050.  You might call Dillon on that.  Their tech support can answer that question for you.

Richard

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

Up and fully functional!

This shows all three presses on the little 22" x 55" bench.  It is intended that I will not have them all mounted all the time, but so far I have reloaded 500 rounds of 12 ga with the MEC 9000, and 50 rounds of .45/70 on the Hornady in this configuration.  I will need to remove the Hornady powder measure in order to set bullets on the Dillon 650.

The bench top is 33 3/8" high, and I ran both the MEC and the Hornady while sitting in my desk chair.  At this time I think I will be running the Dillon from the same chair.  It is possible that I could get a bar stool, but I wouldn't want it to be much taller than the chair ... We'll see as I go.

[Steve Cover]

I have been loading on a Dillon 650 since the late 1990s.  Great machine, but you need to make careful adjustments when you change cartridges. (I reload 29 different metallic cartridges counting  wildcats… also have 3 MEC presses for the shotgun reloads).

I started reloading in 1962 and have gone through several different reloading benches. 

Absolutely the best one is the NRMA designed bench. 



I believe that plans are still available.  Mine is over 30 years old.

It is super strong, but what I like most about it is that it is a simple takedown into several components by removing the 3/8 inch carriage bolts that hold it together.  This makes transport a lot simpler and getting through doors a breeze.  I flew helicopters for 26 years, and moved quite often.  Having this bench really was a boon to my reloading.

Besides my two Dillon presses I have three MEC presses and several other bench mounted tools.

Only using one tool at a time was a problem until I modified the bench with a key system for mounting the tools when I rebuilt the bench about 20 years ago.  (I had originally dyed the bench a dark walnut stain.  This turned out to be a poor choice because it hid dropped powder and other small dropped objects.)  I simply added a ¾ inch maple plywood sheet on top.  Before I installed the new bench top I cut out the key hole.

The largest tool footprint was my MEC Grabber, so I designed the key to accommodate it, and thus all others.

I ended up with an 11 x 11 inch ¾ inch thick  key block with ¼ inch holes set 1 inch from the edges in each corner.  I glued an 11x11 inch piece of 1x12 on top of the plywood key to give the mounting bolts a little more material to work with.
¼ inch holes were drilled through the bench and the underside was relieved using my Mototool to accommodate ¼ wing nuts.  These were secured using fiberglass rifle bedding compound and are totally solid.


This is a picture of my bench with a key installed that allows the full use of the bench without having to work around any mounted tools.



Here is a good look at the key slot showing the modifications I made to allow shotgun primers to drop into a catch jar mounted under the bench top.


One of my MEC 600 Jrs. set up for 20 GA. Showing the modification for the primer drop.


Here is how the MEC Grabber fits the key.


All of the presses are mounted using the appropriate size countersunk screw from below and lock nuts on top.  This makes for a very solid mount.  I have no trouble swaging bullets.


Here is the bottom of my Pacific “O” press showing the countersunk screws.



This is the Pacific press mounted and ready to use. 
Pacific was bought out by Hornady in the late 1980s.
(All the 22 rimfire ammunition was for a test of modifying the bullets. 
Several machinist/gunsmiths offer tools and or dies to form several different configurations…
Due to the 22 rimfire drought, this test was put on hold.)



Here is my 650 mounted and ready to go through another batch of 500 brass in an afternoon.
Tool change out is simply pulling the four ¼ in lug bolts, lifting off one press and setting on the other.  Tighten down the very same lug bolts and I am ready for the next job.


As to bench height, I chose to make it comfortable to stand while reloading.
The addition of a bar stool, allows me to sit if I wnat to.

It is not necessary to build as heavily as I did. 
But the key system works very well for me and could be adapted to a smaller bench.

I hope this gives you some ideas.

Good luck with the 650, you are going to love it.

Steve

[PegLeg45]

Steve, that is a great system...and is exactly the intended final result for my bench. It is all apart now (my machines are all in their boxes) and I just need to find the time to get it back together.

[alfsauve]

Very cool, Steve.  Very cool.   

[alfsauve]

My bench has been relocated.  While it's not secured to the floor, I did put the back splash up recently and pushed it up tightly against the wall. 

Nothing as neat as Steve's.  If, when, I add a  second press it'll be on the right side of the bench.