With progressive reloaders, only if you count the prep time.  Both the units
I'm considering will load faster than I can load rounds into magazines and
send them on their way with reasonable accuracy.

Besides, life is a losing proposition.

Lee

Hence my desire to get it right the first time.

Good article,  It brings home some of the issues.  I'll talk about them at
the end of this post, just in case you, or others have more things I should
consider.

Right now, probably not.  I'm working on that.  I'm considering several
options.  Of course, Jayna has a say in what space I can use, complicating
the decision.

Right now, I have a MEC Jr. shotgun reloader set up in one of the bedrooms.
It's mounted on a piece of 3/4 inch plywood that gives it a stable enough
platform to work well.  The added advantage is that I can move it to
wherever I want to reload, including the dining room table . . . provided I
clean up after myself.  The new reloader, however, will probably require a
more stable platform than the shotgun reloader.  There's not a lot of effort
involved in resizing a plastic shot shell.

One of the things I'm considering is redecorating that room, by replacing
the bed with a day bed/couch/trundle bed and replacing everything else with
book shelves and desk space of some sort.  If I do, that's where the press,
etc. will go.  I'll mount the press on the strong mount offered by Dillon
and give it about a foot in front and back, probably two feet on either
side.

A second, somewhat more interesting idea is to mount the press on something
like a Black and Decker Workmate.  I've got one, made by someone else, that
has a center board that, when in place, is very stable, but that can be
removed as well.  The whole thing folds flat and has wheels.  If it will
work, it has the advantage of being portable.  I can load where I please, be
it the garage, bedroom/office, living room or patio.  We'll see how it
works.  I also have a metal toolbox base that could be converted.  Jayna got
me a much larger toolbox for Christmas.

Short term, my best answer may be the existing work area in my garage.  That
area is one of the most stable platforms in my home.  I'm not crazy about
the idea of permanently taking up the space or of exposing my press and
other reloading stuff to the dangers of my garage, but if that's what I have
to do, that's what I'll do.  I'll probably look for something that will
allow me to remove the press to a safer location when I don't expect to use
it for a while.

OK, back to press issues:
1. Production rates are not a significant issue.  I'm doing this as a hobby,
in support of another hobby.  I don't normally stock more than about 500
rounds of ammunition in any one caliber.  To some that will sound like a
lot.  To others, it won't sound like much at all.  The point is, it's not
much when you're talking about a reloader than can do more than that in a
single hour, which both presses can.  Generally, it's unlikely that I'll
produce even at the slower rate of the 550, let alone the rate of the 650.
2. Comments about buying the optional case feeder, which adds a couple
hundred bucks to the price, are interesting.  I did not plan on buying the
casefeeder at first.  This goes back to the speed issue.  It's more
important to someone that wants to do a lot of reloading that it's ever
likely to be for me.  The statement that the press is nothing but an auto
indexing 550 is interesting.  It's not true, but it's interesting.  More on
that in a bit too.  Something that really got my attention was the comment
about what happens if something jams and you get off index.  That's a
downside that I'm not sure is offset by an upside for me.  Auto indexing is
nice, but manually advancing the stations probably won't be that big a deal
for me.
3. Something that I was concerned about was changeover times.  I was hearing
things about how it was easier and quicker it was to change the 550 than the
650, but had not really registered how much easier and faster or why.  Now I
know.  It's not a big deal, but again, it's one that may not pay me enough
in return to be worth it.
4. I was not particularly aware of the difference in primer feed mechanisms.
I missed that point.  I'm going to have to research that a bit further to
know if it makes a difference or not.
5. One thing that has consistently entered my thinking is the 4 hole
toolhead on the 550 versus the 5 hole head on the 650.  I don't think I care
for the no/double powder check system intended for the extra hole, but I did
think I might like to move the standard Dillon crimper to that hole and add
a Lee Factory Crimper Die to the last station.  Dillon doesn't think it's
necessary, those that use Dillon without the LFCD don't think it's
necessary, those that use the LFCD seem to love it.  That figures.  The one
thing nobody has told me so far is whether the LFCD can replace the standard
crimper or if it needs either a separate press or to be installed in that
fifth hole.  If I need a fifth hole, then the 650 is the right choice . . .
or I can add an inexpensive single station press for that, and other
purposes, later.  I may do that anyway.  I suspect that I might like to
deprime and clean the primer pocket before cleaning brass I plan to reload.
If I do, a single stage press and depriming die is probably better than
using a progressive press to do a single task, even with the automatic case
feed.  If the LFCD replaces the standard crimping die, then it's a moot
point anyway.

Let me take a step back on this before I offend anyone.  Curtis, who knows
more about reloading than I probably ever will, and I have talked about this
some.  Since the system he uses seats the bullet and crimps the case with
the same die, the LFCD would always be a supplementary crimper rather than
the primary one.  Both presses I'm considering separate these functions,
making it possible to replace the standard crimp die with the LFCD one, if
it's intended to be used that way.  Now that I think about it, I suppose
it's also possible to replace the Dillon seating die on the 550 with someone
else's seating/crimping die and add the LFCD to the freed fourth hold.

See, I'm leaning just by typing.

6. Originally, I thought cost was not an issue.  OK, so I know I've said
that cost is always an issue, but, in this case, I figured it wasn't that
much of one.  I may be wrong.  Mentally, I have been pricing the fully
configured 550 to the 650 without the case feeder.  The 650 goes for about
$100 without the feeder and for about $300 more with it and the toolheads
(I'll get the quick change kits) to change calibers are more expensive as
well.  That begins to add up.  For the $550 with the basic stuff and
upgrades, not including extra calibers, I'm looking at just over $600.
Presumably, I'm looking at close the $1,000 for the fully configured (with
the case feeder) 650.  Hmmm, what to do.

Preliminary Conclusion: I still need to research the primer feed question,
but I can't imagine that it will prove significant.  One type may be better
than the other, but Dillon has been around too long for either of them to be
bad.  I no longer thing the 4 versus 5 hole issue is important.  Until now,
that was a major stumbling block.  I don't need the increased speed or
increased complexity of the 650 enough to pay an additional $300 to have it.

I think I'm going to buy a 550.

If you think I'm wrong, speak up now.  Jayna's buying this thing for my
birthday on the 18th of this month and we're leaving for the Keys on the
16th.  It won't be long before I e-mail her (she's at work) with the site
and specifics of the present she's picking out for me.  8^)

By the way, I ordered a tumbler and both the Speer and Lyman reloading
manuals yesterday.  While I'm not ready to reload yet, I am ready to spend
time reading about it.

Lee

Thank goodness you responded this way.  My wife ordered my birthday present
about an hour ago.  She ordered through Brian Enos's site.  The cost is the
same, but he makes the order process a bit easier.  I'll be getting the 550
with his As It Should Be upgrade and a variety of accessories to make my
reloading life easier.

Lee