Getting ready to place my order on a new Dillon XL650.  I plan to reload .45ACP and .308 but most of it will be the .45.  My previous press was a Square Deal B in .45ACP so I didn't have to worry about dies and all the other stuff.

What should I get?  I don't normally make it out to the gun stores for this kinda stuff.  Mostly order online.  Should I get the ones from Dillon?  Steel vs. Carbide?

Was thinking about getting the case feeder.  Do you have one?  Only an extra $212 for it.

With my SDB I never used any lube.  Had no problems with it.  I took them straight from the tumbler to the loader.  Too bad I threw away the SDB cause I broke it.  Didn't even think to send it back to Dillon for repair under their warranty.  With that SDB, I was doing about 300-400 an hour and I would break a sweat doing it.

When loading straight wall pistol calibers using carbide dies I'll lay out 100-300 cases(depending on the physical size of the caliber I'm loading) on the old cookie sheet I have for the purpose, give them a VERY light, VERY short shot of one shot case lube, roll them around on the cookie sheet for 5 seconds or so, then dump them in the case feeder.

Case feeder, primer alarm, and a half dozen or so extra primer tubes, are, IMO, mandatory for the 650.  Otherwise, the 550 is capable of as much or more production than a 650 anyway.

With several extra primer tubes filled, and all your other stuff organized and ready, the 650 will run an easy, relaxed, and safe pace of about 600-700 rounds per hour.  That's only averaging a full handle stroke every 4-6 seconds.  Not a hurried pace at all.  But to hit 600-700 per hour safely, you must have all your components laid out and ready.  

Hornady One Shot lube:

Only straight wall calibers loaded with carbide dies.  It leaves almost ZERO residue, and lubes just enough that when you punch out a full 8 hour snowy winter day loading session, your joints, and the press will thank you.  Loading that kind of volume, the reduction in friction makes a large difference in wear and tear on both you and your gear.

$935.65   that's the amount sitting on my screen right now for a new Dillon setup.  Can't seem to put in my CC info.  Can someone lend me their CC number for a bit?  That means I need to load about 4000 .45ACP bullets to break even.  If I was shooting .308, it'd be even less.

Steve, just a note on 650 operation.  Don't get me wrong, I love mine, but:

Even with practice, it's about a 20 minute process to change calibers along with primer sizes, and get it dialed in and going.  IMO, it's not worth changing around just to load 500 rounds or less.  You spend nearly as much time converting as you do loading.  Drives me nuts.

As a matter of fact, if I intend to load less than 500 rounds, I'll make it an enjoyable afternoon, and do it  one at a time on my rockchucker for nostalgia's sake.

Not dissing at all Norseman.  Just that from my perspective, 20 minutes to change things around is quite minor.

Perspective is everything. I have been loading on a 550B for about 20 years.  I mostly load .45 ACP (get the Dillon Carbide dies) and .30-'06.  That caliber change on the 550 is about 10 seconds.  Compared to that the 650 takes forever to change calibers on.  Now if I have to change the shell plate and primer feed so I can load .357 Mag or .30 Carbine then the changeover is about 10 minutes.

Hhhmm...odd.  When loading on my single stage, it seems to me all I have to do is sit down, load and set the powder measure(scale too, but that's mere seconds), then screw in the correct die. Five minutes tops.  By the twenty minute mark, I've completed the equivalent of 30 rounds or so easily.  

Why you makin' it so complicated cpaspr?  That deal you describe would exasperate me to no end.

It exasperated me as well.  Which is why I didn't reload much for the first 10 years we had this house.  Most of the time, it just wasn't worth the hassle.  Especially when I wasn't shooting much. 

The cats sleep in the garage.  And uncovered metal reloading equipment, made of rustable material, is spelled P-E-E  T-A-R-G-E-T.  Doesn't matter that they were fixed at six weeks.  Therefore, I had to keep them covered with custom fitted boxes.  Kept the powder measure empty.  Kept other boxes of stuff on top of the press table just as filler to keep them from walking on it and possibly knocking the boxes off.

But that was then, and this is now.  December of 2008 I cut the table down and rebuilt it to fit in a closet in one of the bedrooms which has been converted to an office.  Now, I simply close the door.  I can go from typing this, to reloading in less than 30 seconds.  Or back the other way.

Use Dillon Carbide dies and Imperial Sizing Wax.  With Carbide .45 dies I've found that once you run a few (3-5) lubed cases through the die, you don't need to lube the rest, the lube on the die is enough.

I wish that someone had told me that when I first started.