hotwls13

Very Cool!! I'd like to see a mirror for the 550 to look down into the cases to ensure powder was dropped (mine sits too high for me to see).

^^^^^ I tried that way. It works pretty good. The canned air though is easier. As for cleaning behind the bench, just use a match.

Hey, where is this "22127 Universal De-capping Die"?? I can't find a price or where it's listed in his store?????

Der!! I'm an idjit. I was reading deswage and thinking dechamfer. I'm scratching my head trying to figure how or why you would want to dechamfer something. Then it clicked. I know about the super swager and that it is a separate manual step for us 550 folks.

Sounds good. I will definitely get the decapping die. As for the "one head - (lubing for sizing) size/decap, deswage, trim," is the deswage and trim two separate steps? I know about the 1200 trimmer, but the deswage step is cornfusing me. lol

??? I'm reloading .223 ??? As for the other comments, here is a little more info. 1. I guess the universal decapper doesn't mess with the sizing?? 2. How do you remove the lube from the inside neck of the case to avoid powder sticking? 3. I want/need the crimp due to these being primarily shot out of several different AR's (the action can cause uncrimped bullets to move in the cases) 4. I wouldn't be able to use a universal decapper AND the trimmer in my 550 (only 4 stations vs the 5 on a 650) without removing the crimp die. 5. I have a TON of LC .223 brass to process, just trying to find the most efficient way without buying a bunch more stuff.

I would think that the Trim, Chamfer and Swage steps would eliminate those problems. How do you guys remove the lube?? Use a towel one at a time?

I have a Dillon 550B setup for .223. I currently only have 3 dies in the toolhead (Powder, bullet seat and crimp). With all the brass prep involved with my .223 brass (most of it LC once fired) I think it's easier to do the brass in the folowing order: 1. Tumble 2. Lube 3. Deprime and Size (I am currently doing this on a separate Lee Turret press) 4. Tumble again to remove lube (this is for a shorter time) 5. Trim and chamfer 6. Swage (Currently using the C&H Tool and Die, but I'm about to order a Super Swager) 7. Put in 550B 8. Prime, powder, bullet, crimp Do you guys think it would better/faster to have a separate Toolhead for the Depriming/sizing? Or do you think it's probably just as efficient to use my Turret? I'm also trimming by hand currently (using the Lee handheld tools) but I plan to rig up a Drill Press to do this soon. Any other tips? I MAY add the Dillon trimmer 1200 at a later date, but it just seems cumbersome and one more Toolhead to setup.

I am new to my 550 and I have been dumping powder like crazy. I think I have it all fixed (got a proper #3 shell plate and adjusted the plate down tighter), but I won't know til my next reload session. Anyway, I was wondering what is the process of cleaning up or reclaiming all that dumped powder. The only way I found to get it all out of the press was compressed air. Anyway, any tricks or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Woohoo!! Got my replacement #3 plate (that was SMOKIN quick Dillon!) and it works perfectly. Cases go in and out perfectly AND come out of the plate after the crimp and drop right into the tray (before I had to fight with each case). Now if I can keep from dumping powder I will be a reloading fool!!! I still need to take the rounds I loaded up last night to the range this weekend before I do any more. These will just be zombie rounds so they don't have to be PERFECT.

Hopefully the new shell plate gets here soon. I think that is why I had like 5 dumps of powder this evening. It's my first time using the 550b. For some reason (like I said I think it's the shell plate) sometimes the case when going up to get the charge of powder is crooked and raises the powder dump and half the powder goes in the case, the rest everywhere else. What a PITA. Anyone have a cool way to reclaim/cleanup dumped powder? I tried using a small brush to get as much as I could out of nooks and crannies, but I would have to spray the area out with compressed air to get it cleaned. Good thing I'm reloaiding in the Garage. Anyway, each time this happened, I took out each case and pin set them aside, cleaned up, then put the cases and pins back. I was sure to watch the case getting the powder and it worked fine. Also, I was thinking it would be cool to have a mirror that points down into the case after the powder charge to make it easier to verify I didn't get an empty case.

That will teach ya...next time just call the guys/gals in blue they take care of us PERIOD! Yep, just got off the phone, they are sending me a new Shell plate!! The Blue Kool-Aid is GOOD!!

I'll give you guys a call tomorrow. I'll also mention the stained powder measure and rusted press arm. If I gonna have to send stuff in, I may as well send it all at once.

I just did a bit of work on the plate with some sandpaper. They all fit now. As for the LC brass, it is ALL once fired from AR's. Even the stuff I shot out of MY AR didn't fit in the shell plate. I went back out and tried a bunch of brass. Even some Winchester stuff was having problems (though not as bad). One of the slots on the plate was more forgiving than the other three. After I took some sandpaper to it, they ALL fit now. I'm happy to be moving forward again. This is all new to me (Dillon 550B) so I am taking it slow trying to figure it all out. PS, did the 45ACP caliber conversion kit come with the three little buttons? I bought my setup used, and they were nowhere to be found. No worries as I won't be loading 45ACP for a long time.

This is mixed brass, some that I have shot, some from other sources. I will do a more in-depth comparison of which brass works and which does not. The frustrating thing is lots of this brass has already been sized and primed by me on my Lee Turret, now I find that I have to alter the shell plate of the Dillon. It just seems like everytime I turn around there is another hurdle to getting these .223 rounds loaded up.

Do you have a link to this info on the finger? I too agree my finger is worth more than $300. I guess THAT's why they discontinued. I'll stick with the manual way for now.

I recently acquired a 550B setup for 45ACP. I hadn't used it yet as I was waiting for my .223 caliber conversion kit and powder measure to arrive (this is why I bought the 550). I have had the conversion stuff for a week, but I finally got time to go out and set it up. I figured out how to get the new plate on, but my brass (mixed winchester, lake city, etc etc) are not fitting in the shell plate (it's too tight). I can get SOME cases to fit (very few) but the majority will NOT go in. I even removed the plate and tried them by hand and still no go. The # on the plate is #3 (the same as the # on the three buttons that came in the kit). On the outside the label for the kit is 223, 222, 221. Anyway, I don't know if this is a typical problem or maybe by some chance I got the wrong plate size. Thanks, Chris

Seems like the Vibra Prime was the way to go. Why would they discontinue if it was so good? I'm new to all of this (just got my 550 this weekend) but for such a fast loader, it's surprising the standard way of filling primer tubes is sooo slow. I can't bring myself to spend $300 to load primers.

Just an FYI, there are deals out there to be had. I just bought the following: Dillon RL 550B with the conversion for .45 ACP. It comes with the following: .45 ACP Dillon Die set Strong mount Aluminum bullet tray MR Dial installed on the powder bar and all the other goodies that come with it when purchased new including the manual to set it up. the press itself is in good condition only loaded about 500 rounds on it and then it just sat there on the bench for $375 shipped!!

Yep I sure did and I read them multiple times before posting this. I think the 550 deal I found today made my mind up for me. Like was posted above, if I don't like the 550 I can always sell it and move up. BTW, Thanks for a great site!

Yep, this is one of the things I mentioned above. It's gonna be the 550 for now with the option to sell it and upgrade to the 650 later. This way I get to try the 550 and see if it's what I want.

That's a heck of a deal in my opinion - you're getting about $550 worth of gear for $375. If cost is a big concern, I'd go ahead and get the bargain 550 with the knowledge that at some point in the future, you'll upgrade to the 650. Either way, you're NOT going to lose any money on the 550 at that price - don't think you'd have any problem selling it for what you'd have in it (more likely, you'd make a small profit). The 550 would meet most or all of your current needs and you could get acquainted with the Dillon company and how they do business. This would let you get started loading right away with the knowledge that you can always sell the 550, add a couple hundred bucks and get into a 650 anytime you want. I agree and that's the way I will go. Just talked to the guy, he is shipping ground so i should see it by the end of next week. So, I'm getting the 550 with the thought that if it ends up not what I want in the future I will just sell it. PS, the handle has a bit of surface rust on it below the 8-ball, can I get Dillon to replace it? No worries if not as I'm sure it will function fine.

Well, if cost is no consideration, go for the 650! Heck, go for 1050 which will swage those 223 cases for you! I thought you were worried about $. 650 w/ casefeeder is roughly 2x the cost of a 550 w/o casefeeder, especially when you figure conversion cost for 4 calibers. rvb Sorry if I am being wishy washy on this. What I meant by "Cost is a HUGE factor for me", was I would like to spend the minimum now and build on it later. I also stated this before I started looking at price differences for changing calibers etc. Here is how I see the pricing: 550 - $407 650 - $530 Difference = $123 (Not a huge difference in my eyes) Cost per caliber change 550 - $138 650 - $170 per with deluxe kit Difference = $32 (for a total difference of $96 for my other three calibers) Casefeed assy 550 - $240 650 - $210 Difference = $30 So, the TOTAL difference for similarly configured with caliber changes is: $249 I didn't realize the difference was so little. I hadn't done my research and just kept hearing how much more it is to do caliber changes on the 650. I'm not really looking at the difference between a 550 without Case-feed and a 650 with a case-feed as i will most likely want the case-feed in the future either way (though arguably i would want it more with the 650 due to the ability to do rifle cartridges).

Dang, now I have a decision to make: I just talked to a guy that will sell me his Dillon RL 550B with the conversion for .45 ACP. It comes with the following: .45 ACP Dillon Die set Strong mount Aluminum bullet tray MR Dial installed on the powder bar and all the other goodies that come with it when purchased new including the manual to set it up. the press itself is in good condition only loaded about 500 rounds on it and then it just sat there on the bench for $375 shipped Then I would NEED the .223 setup which would be another $147. So a total of $522 Whatya guys think?

I guess I am looking at all of this as "for an extra $125, I will NEVER have to question if I should have gotten the 650". I have read many posts of people who have a 550 and LOVE it. I watched tons of videos of both the 550 and the 650 and they both look awesome. IF I end up loading more than my current numbers, I can't help but think the 650 would be an advantage. WHEN I get a case feeder (it WILL happen eventually), with the 650 I will be able to use it with my rifle cartridges as well (which is a big plus since my primary load is .223). FullAutoShooter: As for the 5th station, with my current dies (Lee) I have: 1. Size/Decap 2. Powder 3. Seat Bullet 4. Factory Crimp The 5th would be used after the powder and would be a Powder Check. It wouldn't happen right away due to funds, but would be on my short list of things to get. With the 550 it is NOT an option.