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Showing results for tags '550'.
Found 13 results
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So... recently been working with virgin Lapua .308 Palma (SRP) brass and Fed 205M primers on the old Dillon RL550B. Hadn't been having a problem before with my ~8x fired brass, but I needed to switch over to new brass, so... Started experiencing the occasional 'full stop' when I went to push the handle forward to prime the case. Pull it out, everything looks fine. Try it again... no go. Dig that primer out, cycle the primer slide to get a fresh one, and that one usually went in just fine. Tight, being brand new Lapua brass, but fine. I tried seating the 'problem' primer in another case - nope. Not happening. On one or two that I tried anyway the primer was definitely not going in correctly - almost like it was off center, hanging up on one side of the cup/pocket. The occurences started increasing in frequency, until last night - of course, last night when I really *needed* to finish loading ammo to ship out today for a match - it just finally was every single primer refused to go in the hole. Had to break out the bench-mounted priming tool and prime all the cases first, then run them through the press for powder and bullet. Not quite sure where to look for what the problem is. I took the shell plate off, and inspected both it and under it, to see if any grit or gunk had built up in the recesses around the case head and rim, that would preclude the case going all the way into the shell plate and lining up with the priming punch. Everything looked clean/clear. Had a chance to take things apart this afternoon and mess with them a bit... Yes, there had been powder spills, off and on. One of the 'hazards' of dealing with weighed charges, powder funnels, and other people interrupting me. They'd been cleaned up just like before, using ye ole shop vac, and one of those gun-cleaning two-headed 'tooth' brushes. IME, powder in the priming cup tends more to leave 'dents' in the primer during seating, rather than dick up the alignment. But it was clean, regardless. The sub plate was/is tight. The feed lips on the bottom of the primer tube look pretty much cherry. The feed plunger looks fine. Not sure how the primer cup could be out of alignment with the sub plate - there's very little clearance around that thing to begin with. Really weird, because nothing was 'adjusted', but the error rate kept getting worse and worse, until just nothing worked. Any suggestions on what to look at next?
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I have a Dillon SDB and have loaded many thousands of 9mm/45ACP/357Mag/380ACP rounds with it, but now I am wanting to be able to add rifle reloading--mainly 308, 7.62x54R and 223/5.56. I do shoot some Steel Challenge and may add-on IDPA soon, but my round count is probably on the low side as compared to many here. I am leaning heavily towards the RL550 as a replacement to my SDB, but unsure how the 550 is advertised as having a faster round production number per hour when the shellplate is manually indexed. It seems the SDB might actually be faster than a 550 without the case feeder since the SDB is auto indexing. So, my main question is: is a baseline RL550C really 'faster' than a SDB? Sure, I could get the 550's case feeder, but then I might as well just get the XL650. Since that is significantly more, and I am not sure I need the advantages, I am looking at the 550 without the case feeder. Any feedback appreciated! -
So, I've decided that I want to begin the next chapter in my shooting career, and am intending to set up a 550 press very soon. Firstly, I need recommendations on a potential gear list for a new-to-reloading guy with a 550 series Dillon. I am a mechanically inclined, do it yourself-er. I am shooting about 5 thousand rounds annually, with two main calibers, 9mm and 5.56. I also want to reload my 6.5 Grendel which may for all but CQB steel replace my 5.56 BCM. I want to improve my shooting mastery, and find a load my Grendel really performs with. I have spent dozens of hours reading forums and PDF manuals, pulling the handle a few times with my buddy on his 650, picking his brain a little, and discovering the joy of losing yourself to the monotony of making your own ammunition. What I am looking for are the "I wish I would have bought that when I started" - reading material, equipment, modifications, bench tricks, lighting solutions, etc... Feel free to throw out even the slightest thought. And next, I wonder if you all have any advice on my equipment. I have an old and well used 550, and a 600 swager. It came with 4 quick changes with .44Mag/spl, 357/38, 45acp, 30/06 and the corresponding shellplates. There are dies for 30/30 and 308 as well, but not on tool heads. SO, I need dies. Which ones - Dillon? Lee? RCBS? etc... I will get two quick changes for 9mm and 5.56, maybe a third later for the Grendel. (I will keep and someday use the previously mentioned quick changes) I think want to wet tumble... advice? I need case gages, calipers, etc. Are the cheap digital versions from Amazon OK, or do I need to spend a lot more? I need a scale... what about Frankford Arsenal digital scales? I am thinking about sending the press to Dillon, do I need to do anything to have them go through it? I.E., do I need to get an RMA? Is sending it in even necessary? The guy I bought it from said he thought - doing the math in his head - that the round count was "more than 150, less than 200,000." I don't think there are any of the new mods to the press, the guy said he bought it when he got home from being deployed and bolted it down, "and there it sat since." I don't know how long this was, Dan is an old guy. I'm making a list of mods from Dillon and Inline for the press, handle, mount, light, tray, empty bin, etc... (covered above). What about loading with a fan blowing on/at your back? I'm using my Garage, and it's gonna be hot in the spring/summer. Press cover? I've got it wrapped in a pillowcase at the moment, thought that would suffice? I'm not sure where to mount this thing on my bench. At this point I'm thinking about the far right end, any reason not to put it at the end? What about mounting it to a piece of (XXX) I can clamp onto my bench so I can move/remove it? Perhaps lastly, though, in a day or two I'm sure someone will spark another train of thought... There is an old furnace at the left end of the bench which warms my shop in the winter, I'd be a minimum of 15 feet from it. The old man (who knows my bench) said it wouldn't pose any danger. He said that smokeless powder doesn't create dust, so there was no worry of ignition just because there is a pilot lite in the room. Was he right? Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any time you take to throw your two cents in. I know I'm probably overthinking this. I come from a long line of perfectionists. My Dad's youngest brother says that my dad is "the only guy I know that has to warm up his bicycle before he can go for a ride". Maybe the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
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Ok I have been loading on my 550 on and off for 10 years. Up until last year I was loading 1k of something then changing calibers. Now that I'm shooting mostly 40sw I have been doing huge batches right now I'm in the middle of a 10k run and have been having problems with the primer slider sticking just short of going all they way back on the up stroke and not picking up a new primer. I Can fix this problem if I pull the primer assembly every 1 k or so and clean the underside of the slide. When I do this no problems its just a pain to pull it off every 1000 rounds. Is there anything I can do to fix this so I don't have to pull it apart so often. Things I have tried are checking the been in the rod that runs the primer slide and I have installed the after market plate that is longer and has the bearing on the side both no help.
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Earlier this year, I bought a 550 for 38 spl, and also caliber conversions for 9 mm and .45 acp (with powder measures, dies etc, the whole thing). So far, I used it mainly for 38 and some 9 mm. This afternoon I was going to convert it to .45. There is no primer bar (primer slide) for the large primers anywhere to be found. Does the press come with both, large and small bar?? It was set up with the small bar, and I went through all the stuff that came with it, and did not find a large primer bar. Odd..... -
XL550B I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I couldn't find anything on it. At the moment I'm loading .357MAG, using new Starline brass. Seems to be decent brass. But, it seems to be sticking on the powder drop tube. I can clean it off with a q-tip and alcohol, but that only last for a few cases. There are streaks of what looks like brass on the lower part of the tube up to the enlarged portion which bells the brass. Is there any way to eliminate this sticking. Very annoying and upsets the smoothness of the press.
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Well last night I shot my load! I've been saving up for a while and last night, got my order to Brian for my first progressive / dillon / 550 reloader. Now the wait...
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I'm building my reloading bench prior to the arrival of my 550B w/ Strong Mount and want to be sure I don't have a bench support where I need to put a mounting bolt. Should the Strong Mount be attached flush with the front of the benchtop? What is the bolt pattern dimensions? I plan on a stand-up bench and am 5'-6" tall. I've read that the handle should be at shoulder height. What is the distance from the bench to the handle with the Strong Mount? Thanks, Heli Av8tor
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Hey guys. I've had my 550 I purchased through enos now for a couple of months. For the first couple of thousand rounds I have been using my already federal match primed 9mm cases. These were pulled due to a bad load. Long story. So a few days ago I re-insert the decap pin and start loading up. Very soon there after I noticed a common occurrence. I am talking like 20% of the time I am either getting no primer in the primer cup or the primer is upside down when in the cup. I read up online. Watched some videos. I thought it was the thin bar that goes from the primer tube down through the 2 wheel tracks. I ever so slightly bent it so that it would apply more force on the bar to make sure it was going back all the way. Things got a little better after that. However I am still having the problem quite frequently. I could expect this like once every couple hundred of rounds but not 10 or 20 out of 100. It seems to work perfectly if there is no brass in station 1 ( only did this for testing purposes ). When brass is in station one it seems like the force of the case being resized and decapped is causing the primer cup to be little higher which is causing it to run into the primer that is getting ready to drop. I have taken the bar of multiple times and made sure that the primer cup was compressed as low as it could go. I am not sure what else to do. Any advice would be grateful. Thanks!
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I have 3 1050s with one in 45acp, 9mm and 308. I've been loading everything else on a couple of 550's. I shoot a lot of volume in handguns and lately have become addicted to 38S. I'm thinking about going to the trouble to change my 308 s1050 to load 38Super and load my 308 on a 550. My thought is, I shoot 308 for accuracy and not volume and with the amount of Super I'm shooting, it would be better served loaded on a 1050. The biggest lost is the crimp swage on the 1050 but Dillons hand crimp is fast enough to remove crimps for 308 cases in the volume I shoot..3,000 plus or minus a year. Am I missing anything or does this make sense? The 550 should load accurate 308 ammo...any thoughts or suggestions before I commit myself?
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Hello everyone, this is my first post. I am new to the forum and soon to be new to reloading. I plan to be loading 9mm, .45 acp, .223 & 5.56 (what differences in parts and process are there between the two?) and will be wanting to add an additional larger rifle round in the future that is yet to be determined. (any suggestions?) I am looking at the 550, 650, or 1050 and so far am leaning toward the 650 but was curious what others thought about the rounds I am looking to do and if such a thing makes any difference. Thanks, Derick
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Hello all, I'm a new loader running into a lot of problems that are frankly making me want to give up, sell my stuff, and buy more factory ammo instead. I'm hoping someone can help me... Relevant Equipment list: RL550B press, Dillon dies (.223), Lyman .223 case gauge, "WFT" .223 trimmer Relevant Components list: Hornady 75gr BTHP Match bullets, Wolf .223 primers, once-fired Lake City brass (fired from my rifle, all from the same case of Federal M193), H335 powder, 2.260 COAL Relevant Firearm: home built AR built around a White Oak 20" 1:7 SDM barrel When I first got my press, everything seemed to adjust and happen the way I expected it to, based on the books and articles and advice I'd read/been given. I got everything adjusted for headspace, seating/COAL, and crimping. After doing something like 50 cases (checking each with my Lyman case gauge), I did about 1000 cases. When I was done, I went to doublecheck my headspace and found that 95% of my resized brass was wrong; it stuck up just past the "no go" top lip of the case gauge. (Yes, I've double checked the case gauge. Factory ammo gauges properly.) >< Ok, so I take 50 of the correct pieces I have and I get the rest nailed down with a ladder. I go test it out, find the load that shoots great for my gun. Success! I go back to load some more and find that my dies have surface rust spots all over them. Apparently my storage was insufficient and humidity was too high. (I had just moved, long story) I strip it all down, clean it all, and oil it all. Press is back in business, but all my adjustments are gone. (if relevant: I cleaned the dies by soaking in Hoppes #9, then using a brass chamber brush for the inside of the dies and a brass brush for the outside. I cleaned the press with WD40 and paper towels--no soaking, just spray and wipe) Now I'm trying to get everything readjusted, and NOTHING IS WORKING CORRECTLY. I try to adjust my full length sizing die, and nothing works right. I follow the die instructions (raise press, screw in till touches baseplate, back out 1/2 turn) and the case stays the same (slightly too long for the case gauge). Screw it in a little further, nothing happens. Screw it in some more....and suddenly the base of my cases is somehow warped and the case won't fit in the case gauge at all? If I turn the brass around, I literally can't get the base in the gauge; it's stretched or squished or lopsided or SOMETHING. But if I rubber mallet the case in the gauge anyway (can you tell I'm desperate by this point?), it's still slightly too long. Are my dies screwed up due to the (removed) surface rust spots? Did I ruin them cleaning them? Am I missing some laughably obvious newbie issue? My attempts to Google similar search terms have been utterly unsuccessful thus far. Help?
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Hello all, So I have a "Old" 550, you know no zerts in it, no B stamped on it. What I am experiencing it a "sticking", or "freezing" of the action while returning the handle to the up position before seating the primer. I have taken the press apart, cleaned all the parts, lubed and reassembled it. This has not resolved the issue. Has anyone had this issue, and if so how did you fix this. Kevin
