FatboyFlash
Senior Member
Well, I got a wild hair up me arse and decided to buy a Dillon 1050. I don't know why because my loadmaster was working just fine and was cranking out 450 rounds an hour. I guess I just wanted something new. I had bought a Dillon 650 a couple of years ago and ended up selling it and buying a 2nd Loadmaster because quite frankly, I liked the loadmaster better. Anyway, on to the review.
The press showed up Friday afternoon and I had no intention of setting it up until sometime this week because I was working the 2017 North Carolina Section match. I did want to look in the box though which was a mistake. I only wanted to see if it had mounting bolts in case I needed to pick some up. There were no mounting bolts but I happened to have 4 of the right size bolts on hand so I ended up mounting it to the bench and putting it together. It took me just over 30 minutes to set it up and adjust the powder drop. I left it alone the rest of the night but loaded 100 rounds the next night and another 100 rounds on Sunday, just to get a feel for the press and double check the consistency of the powder throws. The powder throws were spot on and the primer seating was on the money every time.
I finished with work very early today and came downstairs to clean up my mess and decided to load another hundred rounds just to see if the press was any faster than my loadmaster. I already had primer tubes loaded so the 1st 100 took me right at 6 minutes with a few mistakes that I had to correct. (I'm not used to the operation of the press and I messed up a couple of times on putting the bullet in the case at the wrong time.) I am very happy with the results however. 100 rounds every 6 mintes is 1000 rounds per hour. I was checking every case for powder too and was not trying to go fast at all.
I decided to test the load time for 200 rounds and include the time that it takes to load primer tubes in this test. I hate loading primer tubes and this was one of the big reasons I sold the 650. The results surprised me when I looked at the stop watch. 15 minutes 9 seconds to load 200 rounds. This includes probably a minute that it took me to clear the press and blow the powder out of it. I had forgotten to put the plastic tube in the primer alarm and didn't realize it until I had spilled 2 cases worth of powder onto the press. The math works out to approximately 794 rounds an hour with that screw up. I am also taking my time putting the bullet in the case just so I can visually check the case every time for powder. I do plan on putting a Mr. Bullet Feeder on it in the future and don't see why I shouldn't be able to do 1200 rounds and hour very easily.
The only thing that I really don't like about the press is where they put the bullet tray. It is awkward for me to get my hands in there to pull a bullet out of the tray and then put it in the case. I ended up just putting the box of bullets on the table and reaching 4 times as far to get it. I honestly don't think this affected my time at all. I am very happy with the press and I'm glad I spent the $$$$, and it does cost quite a few dollars!
The press showed up Friday afternoon and I had no intention of setting it up until sometime this week because I was working the 2017 North Carolina Section match. I did want to look in the box though which was a mistake. I only wanted to see if it had mounting bolts in case I needed to pick some up. There were no mounting bolts but I happened to have 4 of the right size bolts on hand so I ended up mounting it to the bench and putting it together. It took me just over 30 minutes to set it up and adjust the powder drop. I left it alone the rest of the night but loaded 100 rounds the next night and another 100 rounds on Sunday, just to get a feel for the press and double check the consistency of the powder throws. The powder throws were spot on and the primer seating was on the money every time.
I finished with work very early today and came downstairs to clean up my mess and decided to load another hundred rounds just to see if the press was any faster than my loadmaster. I already had primer tubes loaded so the 1st 100 took me right at 6 minutes with a few mistakes that I had to correct. (I'm not used to the operation of the press and I messed up a couple of times on putting the bullet in the case at the wrong time.) I am very happy with the results however. 100 rounds every 6 mintes is 1000 rounds per hour. I was checking every case for powder too and was not trying to go fast at all.
I decided to test the load time for 200 rounds and include the time that it takes to load primer tubes in this test. I hate loading primer tubes and this was one of the big reasons I sold the 650. The results surprised me when I looked at the stop watch. 15 minutes 9 seconds to load 200 rounds. This includes probably a minute that it took me to clear the press and blow the powder out of it. I had forgotten to put the plastic tube in the primer alarm and didn't realize it until I had spilled 2 cases worth of powder onto the press. The math works out to approximately 794 rounds an hour with that screw up. I am also taking my time putting the bullet in the case just so I can visually check the case every time for powder. I do plan on putting a Mr. Bullet Feeder on it in the future and don't see why I shouldn't be able to do 1200 rounds and hour very easily.
The only thing that I really don't like about the press is where they put the bullet tray. It is awkward for me to get my hands in there to pull a bullet out of the tray and then put it in the case. I ended up just putting the box of bullets on the table and reaching 4 times as far to get it. I honestly don't think this affected my time at all. I am very happy with the press and I'm glad I spent the $$$$, and it does cost quite a few dollars!
