The Armory Life Interviews: George Dillon

By Jeremy Tremp

The Armory Life is honored to recently have had the opportunity to speak with George Dillon of Dillon Precision. George is the grandson of Mike Dillon, who founded Dillon Precision in 1977. Dillon Precision is one of the most renowned reloading press companies in the industry, offering a wide range of products that support the reloading community. George is an avid competitive shooter, collector and reloader. He is passionate about the industry and is excited to bring reloading to the generations to come.

The Armory Life (TAL): Please tell us a little about yourself for those who may not know you.

George Dillon (GD): Hello, my name is George Dillon. I’m currently 21 years old and in school, working for the family company, and shooting competitively on the side. My favorite thing, however, is working on and building old machine guns.

TAL: What was it like growing up in the Dillon family? Were you interested in firearms from an early age?

GD: Since a young age I’ve had an interest in firearms, both in the competitive and machine gun world. At 4-years-old, I shot my first gun ever, a 1928 Thompson. As I grew older, I would go to local competitions with employees of the company. Having them made for a great support system.

TAL: At what point did you become interested in working for the family business?

GD: I had worked a couple of different jobs through and after high school, when my dad invited me to work for the family business and learn everything from the bottom up.

TAL: What is the most exciting aspect of reloading ammunition for you?

GD: My favorite thing about reloading is the freedom that the machine gives you to customize your own ammo. For example, I loaded a bunch of 9mm that is especially short so that I could reduce the charge weight further than it would typically be in an effort to make the ammo as quiet as possible.

TAL: What is your favorite caliber to reload or load?

GD: I love shooting suppressed, so naturally my two favorite calibers to load are .300 Blackout and 9mm. I find it incredibly interesting to tinker with the loads to make them as quiet as possible. Reloading Blackout is especially cool because of how much money you can save.

TAL: In your opinion, what is the biggest benefit of loading your own ammunition?

GD: The main benefit to me is the ability to create custom ammo. It’s widely an underappreciated thing to have ammo custom-tuned for one’s own gun. The amount of recoil and accuracy are the main things that can be improved.

TAL: Do you participate in shooting sports, and if so, which ones?

GD: I find myself shooting in USPSA and 2-Gun quite a bit. I look forward to seeing the new Limited Optics division open up so guns like the Springfield Prodigy in the field.

TAL: What are some of the biggest challenges in introducing reloading to the next generation?

GD: I think the biggest difficulty is the knowledge and confidence gap that must be overcome from ground zero to setting up a loading machine for the first time. It can understandably be very intimidating.

TAL: What do you most remember about your grandfather, Mike Dillon?

GD: Unfortunately, I didn’t get very much time with my grandpa, but I had a few memorable moments. One time when I was younger, I was walking through the shop with my airsoft Thompson. When he saw that he sat me down and explained how much he loved the gun and spent time showing me some of his favorite movie clips with the gun. An unknown fact about my grandfather is that he had an enormous appreciation for films and Hollywood.

TAL: What is your favorite Springfield Armory firearm?

GD: My favorite Springfield product is, hands-down, the M1A. With such a unique history and beautiful lines, the gun has a lot of character. We have an old National Match M1A in the collection that looks like a dream.

TAL: What would you like people to know about Dillon Precision?

GD: We here at Dillon Precision are very proud of the fact that all our products are manufactured here in the US. We as a company and family love our country and the 2^nd Amendment!

TAL: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us.

GD: It was my pleasure.

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