Will Blastem

I use several of Uniquetek's gadgets on my 550: Mic. Powder Bars, Hopper baffle, Turbo Bearing, Toolhead clamp Kits. These seem to "tighten the machine" up really well but I'm not really sold on the clamp kits. First let me say that 80% of my loading is for cowboy action and informal paper target shooting. The rest is for accuracy with the 1911 in 45ACP. The stock tool head is plenty stable and tight just as Dillon makes it and I have found that a very little wiggle room is good anyway. When I'm running reasonably fast with 45 ACP, the machine will occasionally hang up on a case top in the decap/prime station when using a tool head with the clamping kit installed...Soooo for my 45ACP's I use a stock tool head. The Mic. Powder Bars are great (!!) and, combined with Uniquetek's turbo bearing on the shell plate, I think my seating and charges are more consistant. I do not use the 2X hopper tube but I do use their powder baffle. The standard Dillon tube holds enough powder to load anything I want in a single session and I believe the baffle might help keep the powder from compressing with a full tube. As far asa the shell plate illuminator...I use a small goose neck lamp mounted to my strong mount behind station 3...If you have a 650 just buy the Dillon Powder Check. I'm a gadget sort of guy...but, while I think these products work well, I also think Dillon does a great job with their machines just as they are and when It comes down to brass tacks maybe I'd be better off saving the money and buying more powder, primers, bullets and such That's my story and I'm Stickin to it

Can you post a pic or 2 showing this?

+1 for the Lee "U".

Not a D*** thing...I don't want ANY kind of potential distraction to take my mind off the loading process...Call me anal but I'm a for real safety nut

Don't know about your bushing but I talked to the folks at Hodgdon when I switched to Clays because of those little donuts. They are not Trail Boss spillage but Clays is made that way on purpose...I forgot what the exact reason was...(senior moment, dontchaknow )

It's Uniquetek that sells the micrometer head for Dillons: http://www.uniquetek.com/ It's a great little tool. Once you get it dialed in for a particular powder and load it's easy to go back to it. I think it makes changing powder measures obsolete. That , combined with the Redding Competition seating die makes experimenting with loads and bullets very easy within a single caliber. ...Just my $0.02 worth.

I've been reloading for about 2 years now so I still come up with an occasional dumb question or idea...It comes from thinking ( Yeah, I know it's not a real good thing to do )...So here it is: Can you put too much polishing additive (like Dillon, Flitz, etc.) in with your tumbling media? Will it possibly cause a reaction with the powder some where down the road? I've been using Dillon's polish and I discovered that if I doubled the dose (to about 4-6 capfuls) it reduced my tumbling time about 50-75% and my brass comes out lust like new. I was just wondering if it might not be such a good idea though.

About 8 months ago I was confused as well. I had been loading on a single stage (about 4-5000 yer year) and needed a faster way. I already knew I was going "Blue" but thought the 650 was the one I needed. After reading Brian's comments on "Which Dillon..." I kept coming up with 550 instead of 650. I bought the 550 going through Brian and have never regreted the decision. Mine is now set up with 3 quick change kits for he different calibers I load. Every time I use the machine I get even more comfortable...I love my 550

Well...Up until today I was only loading 38/357 and 45 Colt on my 550. I have (and use) Uniquetek's micrometer and really like it and about 6 months ago I bought the toolhead clamp kit but never installed it...Soooooooo today I got my new quick change kit from Dillon for 45 ACP and thought it'd be a good time to set it up. I ran accross the toolhead clamp kit and said "what the h***, I'll just install that too." So I stripped the tool heads on all 3 toolheads and went for it. The installation went smoothly and when testing each tool head on the press everything is rock solid. I then began to set up the quick change for 45ACP and afterwards ran 10 quick rounds of 45ACP...smooth. While I've never much cared for OAL or it's variances with 38/357 and 45 Colt (for cowboy action shooting...I just seat to the crimp groove), I thought since this was my first attempt with loading for a semi-auto pistol, that I should be more concerned with things like OAL and crimp diameter. What I discovered was a +/- .002" on OAL AFTER I installed the toolhead clamp kit. I then did a random check on some 38 spcl and 45 Colt loads and found the SAME variences in OAL...These rounds were loaded BEFORE installing the clamp kit. At this moment, it seems that the clamp kit does not make a difference for me but I figure I really need to run some normal batches through the press for a final test. I also noticed that the cap/sizing die (a Dillon) does not seem to line up perfectly to the case...maybe Dillon designed the toolhead pins so it will float just a little: enough to allow for some ever so slight misalignment situations like this ??? This is the first set of Dillon Dies I've used and I've heard that the carbide ring's taper on the capping/sizing die is less that some other's...Any thoughts on this?

I'm with you, Bronson7...I just dont' know what all this ruckus is about . I just set mine up like Uniquetek said and dialed it in for my drop weight and wrote the setting in my log...I just don't understand this "new math" and it makes my head hurt

I'm new to the Dillon machines...bought my first 550 through Brian just 30 days ago. I noticed , while setting it up, that Dillon didn't include the 2 springs for the powder measure shown on the video so I called Dillon to get them. They told me that they are no longer used and that the powder bar return was accomplished by the safety arm only...Instructions to adjust wingnut and rod spring tension is to place operating handle to full upright (primer setting) position. Then tighten the wingnut until the spring is in full compression and then back off 1 turn. Worked for me.

I just ordered a Dillon 550B and I From Brian Enos but I noticed 3 accessories in The Blue Press that have me confused: Primer Early warning Kit, Auto Eject System, and the Auto Prime System. What are these, what do they do, and are they worth considering? Thanks in advance.