I am looking to purchase a Dillon press in the neer future. Its purpose will be pistol rounds and bulk .223 (maby). I have read many horror stories about the RL550B. Not with the press but the problem is stemming from operator error. I have read about people forgetting to index the machine and double charging cases. This seams feasiable to me. On the other hand if you use powders with propercharges that fill up mor than half the case you are likely to notice all the powder on your bench before you KB a gun. At least that is what my dad says. But I feal that this mignt limit my reloading abilities. Which makes me lean to the XL650 with the auto indexing. You could easily overcharge a case but mostlikely not double charge if your powder measure got out of wack. I read that they have a powder check die that some how locks up the machine if the powder is too low or too high does this also work for the 550? Also what precausions do you take to ensure that you have not overcharged a case? I am trying to decide between to two

Any progressive press can cause problems if the operator isn't paying attention (same goes for single-stage, you just make mistakes slower).

If you really want to reload in high volume.... it's the way to go.

Auto vs. manual will be personal preference. I started out loading on an old MEC and manually turning the shellholder doesn't bother me.

Probably the best advice is to use a powder that will flow through the measure easily.

Good luck....

Inattention generally causes problems with any press. Progressives are more complicated than single stage, but either way, loading while distracted is just too dangerous with any press.

Turn of the cell phone, lock the door to keep the kids out, have good light, slow down, and pay strict attnetion to what you are doing. IF you are pressed for time or have a ton of upsetting stuff runing though your mind, don't reload.

Progressives are built for higher production rates, and this urge for speed may make the operator more likley to have an "oops".

Good advice from ribbonstone. As with anything gun related, start slowly until you understand what you're doing before going for speed. Dillon reloaders have a reputation for excellence and they carry a lifetime warranty. You won't go wrong with a Dillon, however, the operator bears the responsibility of using the reloader correctly. This holds true whether you are using a single stage tool, a progressive, or anything in between.

Probably the best advice I can give you is to STAY FOCUSED while reloading.

One of the things you need to think about is often high speed presses are designed to load lots of ammo in a short time. Most of the folks doing this load because it's less expensive than buying bulk ammo.

The less expensive part is being able to get many rounds from a pound of powder. That means that you using small volumes of powder for each case. That means that your not going to fill a case half full. Most of the time your only using between 4 and 8 grains of pistol powder.

I've never used a progressive, but I've loaded tens of thousands of rounds of pistol ammo. You've just got to be careful, follow the directions and be careful

I LOVE my RL550B and wouldn't trade it for ANY other loader!
As they already said, SLOW DOWN! and take your time, learn the how the press operates, the equipment is only as smart as the guy operating it.
You'll never double charge a rifle case, you'll see and hear the powder going ALL OVER the floor! (don't use STICK powders in the .223, they meter porly in .22 cal shells), I personaly choose a powder that fills a pistol case over half way for the same reason, for me it's the fear of ruining my gun, me, or an inocent bystander, all UNACCEPTABLE situations!
We are all human, we make mistakes, if some one tells you that the don't call him an AROGANT PRICK and turn around and walk away from him or her! (personal experiance!, non shooting related) every one here has made mistakes in the past and will again in the futer, we call that LEARNING. :)

You'll be happy once you get it figured out and find out how much fun it is!
I load 22-250rem, 243win, 270win, 7mmrem mag, 30-30wcf, 30-06, 300win mag, 338win mag, 35rem, and 458win mag for riffles and 40S&W, 44 S&W special, 44rem mag, 45colt, and 454 Casul for pistols on my RL550B.
I say get the 550 and spend the savings on extra equipment (you can never have enough ;) ), once you get the hang of it you can realy crank out the rounds! or build them one at a time.

I've got three generations of Dillons, RL300, Square Deal and the RL650. All are for pistol calibers.
I load all of my rifle ammo with a single stage press, since I like to look down into each charged case to check powder levels, prior to seating the bullet.
When I load for each of my rifles I turn out two hundred rounds in an evening, which is more then I'd enjoy shooting my 45-70 in one day.
I do load for an AR10 in the same quanities, 200, per night, which would be one days shooting for that rifle.
Jim
Jim

I feel more secure with a manualy indexed press, like a 550B, to one with automatic indexing. I can stop anywhere in the process and check. Mount a good light to the left of your press, and you can see the powder level in the case after charging it. Then just index the shell carrier to the next position.

I have a RL550B on my bench and I love it. I only load 40 S&W on it though. Any time I have a misque while loading I simply remove the little locator button and dump the powder on my scale, if everything is ok then simply pour the powder back into the case and put it back on station replace the button and resume the operation. This is much simplier than it sounds, but paying attention is what's important.

I would not rule out the Dillon 650. It is auto index. but you can still remove a case from any station, build rifle or pistol ammo, and if you choose, produce a high volume of quality reloads.