550b getting primers to seat flush or just below

[98sr20ve]

I load CCI in mostly Win and FC. 95% FC. My primers are never that deep.

[ToneSurfer]

I load CCI in mostly Win and FC. 95% FC. My primers are never that deep.

Thanks for the data point. 95% FC might explain why you aren't seeing the same problems I am. Most all of my troubles are with WIN brass. In this photo

That is WIN brass with a WSP primer and is the BEST I can do. I would say 80% turn out well like in that photo using WSP primers. The other 20% end up high (edge high, as if slightly tilted). I get slightly worse results with CCI and Remington primers.

With FC brass I seem to have few problems, but I have had some that were high.

Perhaps I am the only one that has gone totally anal on this and checking my primer seating religiously (I'm new so I am really paying attention).

[98sr20ve]

The WIN looks exactly the same. Before I loaded 95% FC I was loading nearly all WIN. It's zero difference.

[98sr20ve]

Perhaps I am the only one that has gone totally anal on this and checking my primer seating religiously (I'm new so I am really paying attention).

I check mine as well. Your a new reloader. Your doing something wrong with your machine or something is not setup right. I never saw the answer to the question

"Did you take the plateform off the ram"

In the past you totally dismissed it could be an alignment issue but people with experience know that can be an issue.

[ToneSurfer]

I never saw the answer to the question

"Did you take the plateform off the ram"

In the past you totally dismissed it could be an alignment issue but people with experience know that can be an issue.

I do load seated. But I sit back from the bench a bit to give me leverage (I'll lean in to check the powder before I put a bullet on station 3).

Never had the platform off (you mean the big black part that the spring and ball-bearing goes into).

Shellplate is tight. I tighten it till it won't move and then back it off a hair (an by hair its thousands, not 1/16's or 1/8's or 1/4's). There is only the slightest of flex and what is l can see no way to eliminate.

What alignment should I be checking?

Toolhead to platform? Doesn't matter in priming.

Shellplate indexing so that it is centered above priming ram? Can't be adjusted at all.

Primer slide/ram with the hole in the platform? I have checked this. The priming cup slides into the hole without interferance/impacting the platform.

Which of this are you referring or is there another? And how do I check it?

Edited March 31, 2014 by ToneSurfer

[Sarge]

I never saw the answer to the question

"Did you take the plateform off the ram"

In the past you totally dismissed it could be an alignment issue but people with experience know that can be an issue.

I do load seated. But I sit back from the bench a bit to give me leverage (I'll lean in to check the powder before I put a bullet on station 3).

Never had the platform off (you mean the big black part that the spring and ball-bearing goes into).

Shellplate is tight. I tighten it till it won't move and then back it off a hair (an by hair its thousands, not 1/16's or 1/8's or 1/4's). There is only the slightest of flex and what is l can see no way to eliminate.

What alignment should I be checking? Everything

Toolhead to platform? Doesn't matter in priming. sure does. if the toolhead is not aligned with the platform and plate it can cause primers to not seat straight at times. And it can cause the priming system to not feed 100%.

Shellplate indexing so that it is centered above priming ram? Can't be adjusted at all. Sure can. This is what we have been trying to tell you. On the 550 you take the shell plate off and loosen the platform on the ram. It moves quite a bit in the holes. I would guess as much as 1/16" in all directions. Using the alignment tool you can tighten the bolts back down with the platform in perfect alignment with the tool head. Then reinstall the plate.

Primer slide/ram with the hole in the platform? I have checked this. The priming cup slides into the hole without interferance/impacting the platform. Once the platform/shell plate are aligned properly then you loosen the primer slide and center it so it goes up through the shell plate without binding.

Still, I think something else is binding or out of spec with your press and you should send it to Dillon. The excessive force you are describing is not something I have seen discussed before.

[98sr20ve]

You need a part from Dillon to properly align the ram and plateform.

[ToneSurfer]

Press is on the way back to Dillon. ON MY DIME. WTF. Not happy about it!

[docjohnson]

Are you sure you have the small primer cup and anvil on the press there are two different sized primer cups and you can push small primers with the large one. But the large one will hit the base of the case and not seat to depth. Been using a 550 B for twenty years and in the early days went through such learning curves with this equipment. Hope this was helpful Doc

[bowenbuilt]

He stated that he does have the small primer slide installed on the second page. Look at the second post down on page 2. I thought the same thing but apparently this is not the case.

[ToneSurfer]

Press was returned back from Dillon. No notes in the box about what was fixed (nothing), just a shipping inventory. They did send back some of my brass which I had sent to them. All primed. Most of the primers were flattened. None were seated beyond flush. They were all brass colored primer cups, could have been Winchester's but they had green priming compound and I think Winchesters are all red, definately not CCI, or Remington's.

I loaded 50 more WIN brass with WSP primers myself. Same problems as before. Out of 50 I had 9 with high primers.

I'm curious what press they loaded that brass on because I cannot flatten a primer like that if I hooked a breaker bar to my operating handle.

So I'm out $25 for shipping and right back where I started.

[bowenbuilt]

I didn't think they were going to find anything wrong with it. You are just going to have to send the primers home like you mean it, get a small running start on the handle then put a half a second of ass behind the handle and you are home free. Don't be sceered send them babies home hard and flatten them just like the ones they sent you back.

[TheChimp]

ToneSurfer,

Where are you located?

Maybe someone nearby can take a look at your press for you?

Ken

[Glocklvr]

I've been following this post with a lot of interest. I have a 550b and have the same problem only it is with 9mm and .40 cal. For 9mm, the WSP seats great on everything except Herter and Winchester brass. For .40 S&W, the WSP primers seat perfectly except with Win brass. The primers seat high about 80% of the time on both the Herter and Winchester brass. I don't know if it is the brass or the machine. I'm leaning toward the former. I can't see a problem with the machine if it seats the primers perfectly except for two types of brass.

To compound the problem, some of the Winchester brass is brass that I've previously loaded with no issues. I've only been loading for about six months with a combined total of 4k between the 9, 40, and 45. Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance!

[mikedio]

There were several things I had done to improve primer seating with my 550. I purchased and installed a roller bearing from Unitek which allows me to tighten the shell plate more than I could without it and still be able to rotate the shell plate easily. I got the Dillon roller handle and I used an oil on the ram instead of slide glide grease. And be sure to use a good grease like Mil Comm's TW25B under the center of the shell plate that will not migrate elsewhere.

Good luck and good shooting. Mike

[Bob DuBois]

Is there a chance the primer punch has a slight bend in it? Without a case the punch should go smoothly into cup. If not then the punch is binding. It's very easy to bend the punch with to much force. I use powdered graphite as a lube on the primer slide, it helps the slide from binding when it gets a little trash build up. Use an air compressor or canned air to clean the track. Make sure the bottom of the primer slide is not marked up but smooth along with the bearing plate that the slide rides on, just a few strokes with a fine file may help remove any burrs that are binding the slide.

I have seen the hole in the primer slide wollow out a little and even if the lock screw is tight the punch and cup won't align.

I purchases a Lee hand priming tool last year as it seems I run into a few high primed cases, maybe three in a hundred on either my 650 or the 550. My 550 is close to thirty years and I've just run into this problem lately. Look over loaded rounds for primers installed up side down or missing along with high primers. Use the hand tool to fully seat primers and I'm anal about primers being seated just below flush. Just finished a run of 2,000 45acp on the 550 mixed range brass had around 40 rounds that needed hand seating.

Lubing cases? just a little lube will make the whole process easier on the brass, dies, press and the operator.

[Glocklvr]

I tried more muscle. On the tough ones, I'll hold the back of the strong mount with my left hand and put some right "shoulder" into pushing the handle (not slamming). Everything now seats flush. It just took a little more "umph" on the hard one than what I realized.

Thank you for your comments!

[ToneSurfer]

I don't see anyone in these video's having to muscle anything. It looks like it takes about what one would expect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkOPdoEazcs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d73HR0EP9vY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XKtGKCG8l4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYuIRUt3Umc

This guy is doing the two handed push. But, he says he has to because his bench is not very stable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtWZhNMUN7g

Pushing extremely hard does fix the problem. I'd just like to know what's so different between my experience and everyone else that doesn't seem to require the gorilla smash to get a proper set on a primer.

[benos]

The mounting relationship between the bench and the machine cannot be too strong. My bench was 2" laminated Grainger unit, bolted to the wall and the floor. It was like part of the building. It would support a dance party on top of it no problemo.

[ChemistShooter]

For future readers: I had a problem a lot like the OPs. My 550B was seating primers properly. Then suddenly it wasn't. 4 or 5 out every 100 were seating high.

I tightened the bolts connecting the strong mount to the workbench. Bang, end of problem.

Not that I didn't go through a circus to find the answer. I was seating CCI 500 pistol primers in Blazer brass. Suddenly they stopped seating right. I didn't actually make any bad rounds because I could feel they weren't seating right. A bunch started coming out high. I could do the same thing as the OP. Grab the back of the instrument and make it seat.

Okay, they're coming out high. So obviously they're not being pushed in far enough. Something, somewhere, has wiggled out of position from where it was when I installed it. Dig through the forums here and found this post, went through and came up with a plan of action.

Number 1: Check primer cup height. 1.215" within 1.215"-`1.220 spec. Okay, that's not it.

Number 2: Disassemble and re-install shell plate holder. No change at all. Tightened shell plate down into shell plate until shell plate could not turn at all and still got high primers. Okay, it's not the shell plate. Played a number of games with the shell plate, all with no effect.

Number 3: Disassemble and clean primer assembly. Still no change.

Number 4: Watch punch go through hole. Don't know how high it should be, but it looks OK.

Okay, quit and off to let it sit.

Not the shell plate. Not the punch. But somehow the height is too low. What's left?

The machine. The machine has to be moving UP when I push up on the handle. That fits with being able to make it work when I pull back on the machine. That would imply the bolts connecting it to my workbench have come loose. Back I go to wiggle the strong mount. It feels absolutely rigid. I am up against the wall. Because I'm totally out of options, I get out the wrenches and test the strong mount bolts.

And DAMN, that was it. All the bolts were loose, the one next to the handle the loosest of all. Tightening the bolts made everything go back to normal.

For future readers.

[9x45]

This guy is doing the two handed push. But, he says he has to because his bench is not very stable.

The mounting structure has to be geometrically correct to resist the moment arm of the priming stroke. Any rotation during priming will cause it not to fully seat. That doesn't mean your bench has to be 3" thick plate steel over concrete with 1" diameter grade 8 bolts, but rather simply be able to resist the moment arm. Mine is nothing more than scrap 2x6 and 2x4 members. Tone, can you post a pic of you mount?

Edited February 28, 2016 by 9x45

[ChemistShooter]

This thread is three years old. I posted where I did for the next noob like me who presumably would find this thread.

I have decided that if you suddenly have high primers, the FIRST thing to do is tighten the mounting bolts.

[pistolpete10]

I've loaded thousands of rounds with Fed. primers without problems, bought 3000 Win LPs, now major problems to get them flush. My solution will be NO MORE WIN PRIMERS. I'll use only Fed. Life is too short for this crap.

[GrumpyOne]

I've loaded thousands of rounds with Fed. primers without problems, bought 3000 Win LPs, now major problems to get them flush. My solution will be NO MORE WIN PRIMERS. I'll use only Fed. Life is too short for this crap.

My guess is that with the Fed primers, it doesn't take as much force to crush them (they are softer). I would also think that if you had high primers with the Win primers, you probably weren't seating the Feds all the way either, they were just more forgiving...I have used Win primers almost exclusively, and I have never had a high primer with them...only high primers I have ever had was with Remington primers...as the anvil is not fully inserted from the manufacturer.

[MyWifeShootsBetter]

I'll add my two cents here. Been following this post. I posted yesterday that my "550 broke".

Been reloading for a few years and have had a few stubborn primers over the years to seat, it eventually damaged/bent the primer punch which also damaged the primer cup.

Replaced them and barley notice I'm seating a primer now, very smooth and effortless.

I wonder if this was his problem ?

Dillon should have caught that ?

Was the press not mounted securely ?

Hope we get a final answer after all the years