DustinB wrote:As requested, here's my thoughts on the Dillon 550B:
I loaded 300 rounds of 9mm last night to try it out.
Setup was fairly easy. Took me about an hour or so to get it bolted down and get everything attached. Once attached, setting the dies was no more difficult than anything else.
Positive notes:
No powder will be dropped unless a case is present in that station.
Primer will not be seated unless you push the handle forward.
Retaining pins are very easy to remove a problematic case, though I had no problems.
Negative notes:
Picking up primers in the pickup tube is very tedious. Not that bad though.
Cotter pin on primer catch needs to be replaced with a small round pin. I cut off a section of a medium safety pin and bent the ends. Improves effectiveness 100%.
Overall I am really impressed. This is quite a step up from my turret press. I loaded 300 rounds in 50 minutes vs 100 in my turret press in 55 minutes. I was going very slow and making sure everything was taking place properly. The priming system is very reliable, no trouble whatsoever.
Now for the customer service. I was having trouble figuring out how to break the press down in all pieces to thouroughly clean it. I gave them a call and I was suprised, instantly talking with a person, no "waiting for next available operator". I told the guy I had just bought the press used and that was no matter. He walked me through the whole process and explained what to clean it with and what to lube it with.
I would highly recommend the Dillon 550B to anyone, beginner or expert. I started with a Lee turret press and I wish I had gotten one of these instead. Not saying that the Lee is a bad press, in fact it works quite well. I was very happy with mine, but I'm even happier with my Dillon.
Very nice. Makes me want to look around for a used 550 so I can load my 9mms with it. lol. I know I can do the caliber conversion on my 650, but I have it set up the way I wanted for the 45s, and I don't want mess with it. Yeah, I'm lazy.

I love the Lee Turret Press as well, but it is slow compared to the progressives.