SND

I use varget for 308 and 223. 223 is loaded fully progressively on a 550. The trick for me was to ream out the powder funnell to prevent the varget from bridging. I did polish out the bottom of the powder dispenser and metal parts also. The 550b throws very consistent 24 gr charges that works well out of my Colt LE. I check every 10th round or so and they're right on.

I bought a gently used 550b several years ago with literally all the extras. A guy was simply going a different way and sold everything he had. Too much to list really. I sold extra dies, caliber conversions, powder dispensers, tool holders and bullets, electronic scale and recouped 90% of the price. Kept everything for 9mm and .223 then bought my .308 stuff. Great customer service from Dillon for sure that got me started. Nice thing also is just about anything Dillon sells very quickly on online auction services. It was an outstanding deal .... Look at the set-up carefully, download an owners manual if possible and give the unit a good once over before you buy. My bet is you'll do well. Scott

Agreed. I use some Dillon, some Redding - both are good dies and run well in my 550. I must say I prefer the Dillons for some reason.... Scott you will have no problems with non dillon dies. all i use are RCBS's the crimp is up to you, if you wanna use a die that seats and crimps in one step thats fine. but you will have the last station empty the lee FCD's are awesome, and do a better job than seating/crimping dies

Great suggestions Doug. I broke the front corner with a small mill file in a drill press. Unfortunately, the anvil bottomed out in the knurled collet before getting pressure on the pin. I placed a small brass nut between the back of the pin and the flat of the anvil to take up the space. Kind of a cobble job but it's solid! The die set "destructions" seem to suggest the pin should be tight. Scott

Had a similar issue while loading 9mm w/ Dillon carbide dies. Operator error was the driving force for the first occurance but I had quite a time getting the stock replacement pin to seat so it would not move. The square shoulder on the front side of the decapping pin doesn't seem to seat well in the tapered anvil collet. I ended up futzing with it such that it did end up seating fairly well but ended up bending [and straightening] the replacement due to misalignment. I will tear it apart and have a closer look over the next couple days. No gripes here, the Dillon is still the best ammo producing machine out there IMHO!! SND