Dillon 650XL or 550B

[Reloader]

I am a dinosaur..got the 450B first and love it so I never upgraded. have had no problems in over 25 years.

[dozerboy]

I would build a bench or reinforce something you have. We bought a new computer desk so I beefed up our old one and made it into a reloading desk.

[Piney]

I have purchased a Dillion 650 with an electric case feeder. I do not anticipate getting out of the shooting business anytime soon so I stepped up and made the investment (actually it is my Father's Day and Birthday present combined) but it's all good.

Now how and where to mount it is the question? I thought about mounting to a plywood bracket then holding it down with a Workmate portable bench but that does not seem stable enough. Any ideas on how to make it portable or am I better off just building a permanent bench?

Its time to face the facts--Your new hobby will eventually take over at least half of a room in your house so many folks suggest building a heavy duty permanant bench area. Some have suggested fastening (lag bolts) a 2x into wall studs and building a bench off of that. If your half of the room needs to look nice, some suggest using a piece of pre-covered countertop. Myself, Im not a fan of pressboard for a workspace, preferring good old plywood.

[jason237m]

I've had my Dillon bolted down to a long piece of pre-covered countertop from Lowes Hardware for a few years now. I've loaded many thousands of rounds and it has held up beautifully. When it eventually needed replacing I will just go back to Lowes and get another one.

[Gyrogearhead]

I did almost the same thing except I used a piece of 3/4" thick plywood 1" X 2' that I found in the wood pile in my garage. I put a "skirt" of 2X4 around the outside of the underneath part and left the 2X4 along one long edge extended 4" on each side. This little shelf unit bolts to the front of my regular work bench with 3/8" bolts; one on each side in the 2X4 extensions. There is another 2X4 bolted to the inside of the front skirt that's cut to length to form a single leg for support against the concrete floor. The Dillon 550b is mounted to the left of center of this little shelf and a Lee single stage press is bolted on the right side. The 2' wide and 1' deep shelf gives plenty of space for what I really need to reload.

I bolted this setup to the front of my regular workbench so when I got the urge to reload I didn't have to move whatever current project was occuping the workbench at the time. Also so that when I wasn't realoading I didn't have to work around the two presses to do other things.

When not in use the front strut leg unbolts with a single bolt and the shelf unbolts with two more bolts and it all goes back on the wall shelf out of the way and protected from accidental bumps & etc.

I got the idea from a friend who had his reloading set up in a walk-in closet in his bedroom along with all the rest of the usual closet contents. As he said, it was the only place he could be sure his wife & kids wouldn't cover up with household junk. His 1' X 2' shelf was bolted to the wall in the closet and made for a very compact reloading bench.

Gerry

[PBratton]

I found a guy that had a stack of formica covered doors, (the type used in commercial buildings), and cut it down for my bench.

It's been a great investment.

[Luggo1]

Any ideas on how to make it portable or am I better off just building a permanent bench?

This served me well, paid about $100 for it after coupon.

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Nothing fancy bit it works for me

[Zoomie]

I have the Square B deal, and have been underwhelmed with the quality of engineering. I don't know how well other progressive loaders work, but I'm sick of fiddling with broken parts and diagnosing indexing and primer feeding problems that should not exist in a new loader. That said Dillon's customer service has been outstanding, and I would list them as the second best company I have ever dealt with in terms of customer service.

[OldCannon]

I made a workbench myself as well. No Dillon on it though, just a Lee turret. Cost me most than $100 for the materials though, but it's solid as a rock

[Griz44]

I built my setup using 2X12 lumber with 1X12 shelving, double depth, so the whole thing is 8' tall, 12' wide and 2' deep. It hosts shelves, racks, a safe, the reloading setup and my CHL travel box.
I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole thing in the picture. Lumber is commercial grade framing, bolted together with 1/4" X 4" bolts for easy takedown at some future time.
Total cost not much over a hundred bucks.

[Munson]

We have the strong mount stand on our 650. We mounted it on a 2x10 cut to the width of the bench and mount it with vice clamps on the four corners. When we are done... unclamp it and move the whole unit on to the shelf. Works like a charm and free up space in the shop for woodworking projects.