Opinion Poll
Which set-up would be best?








I have been shooting a lot of 5.56/.223 and 9mm lately, and need to start reloading to feed my habits. I am an unashamed "brassaholic" and enjoy picking up brass that non-reloaders leave behind. So  far, I have 2 5-gallon buckets full of 5.56 brass, and am going to start collecting the 9mm stuff left over from our IDPA matches as well. I plan to use the reloads for plinking, marksmanship training, and (non-professional) competition.

What this means is that I will be reloading cases from different lots and in various conditions. Also, much of the brass is military-type with crimped primers. There is plenty of brass to go around: all I have to do is spend the time to pick it up.

I am looking at both the 650 and 1050, and am currently leaning towards the 1050 because it has a built in primer pocket swaging die. Many years ago, I reloaded 5.56 rounds using a single-stage press, and painfully remember the extra steps of removing the crimps and trimming each case to length.

If I choose the 650, it will mean processing each case individually to remove the crimps. I am also concerned about trimming the cases to length individually after resizing them.

If I use the 1050 with the built-in swager, I can add the automatic case trimmer to save time and produce uniform case lengths.

After estimating the total package costs between the 650 and the 1050, (including adding an automatic casefeeder to the 650) there is only about an $800 difference between them. I know the 1050 might be overkill for someone shooting 500 or so rounds per month, but I have a busy Family life, and would look forward to cranking out 500+ good-quality rounds per sitting. In essence, I will be trading my money for my time.

In the (near) future, I plan to start using .45 and .30-06, which I know either press will handle.

Are there any other factors I should consider before making my decision? Both presses would do a fine job, and my friends using the 650 tell me it is the way to go. However, the 1050 could easily "pay for itself" in time savings.

Sorry for writing such a long message. I would appreciate any comments or feedback that you might have.

Thanks.