Hondo 60

Hey, thanks guys! I got it all back together & it's buttery smooth! I didn't realize how bad it had been. But it's working great now

I'm not talking about part # 13830 (the Main Shaft Pivot Pin - the rod with the set screw). I'm asking how to replace # 13700 (Link Arm Pin). The old one was just pounded out all in one direction. The new Link Arm Pin has a nut on both ends, & cannot go in the way the old one came out. One of the Link Arms has to be removed in order to get the pin in. And I don't know how to replace it.

OK, I got the part for my broken 550. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=157392 How do get the link arm off to put the new link arm pin in place?

Sarge asked some good questions. I was kinda thinkin along those lines as well.

Styptic powder didn't help. She kept licking it, so it couldn't scab over. I even tried the cone thing. She freaked when she saw it, so I never got it on her. Anyway, thanks for the tips all. Dillon sent a package to me today. I already got the tracking number too. Great folks at Dillon!

I did NOT get to call Dillon today. Had an emergency with one of my Great Danes. She tried to remove her entire toe nail & it wouldn't stop bleeding. But thanks for the tips about the "E clips" & alignment tool. I'll call 'em Tuesday

Sarge, thanks, I got it apart. Now I just have to wait for the part. This'll give me time to thoroughly clean & relube the press.

Found the problem. Part Number 13409, the Crank, is cracked & splitting apart. A call to Dillon tomorrow (Monday) & I'll be back in business by the end of the week. Now my question is:... How do I get those pins out?

Nice try, but I removed & re-installed the conversion kit, so I did loosen & re-tighten that allen screw.

Send an email or a call to RCBS. They sent me 5 pins & a new assembly. All for the princely sum of NOTHING - free.

Nufinish & a used dryer sheet. (I don't put in a dryer sheet when I add Nu Finish.) I use used dryer sheets on subsequent tumbles

Broken 550 I broke my 550. Not sure what I did. But the ram refuses to go far enough to seat primers. I've had the press for almost 3 years now. So I'm not a noob. I took it all apart even removed the priming system & the Shellplate Platform. Cleaned it & re-greased the ram, to no avail. I hate having to wait til Monday. Any constructive ideas? Nothing looks broken or bent, but something sure ain't right. Thanks in advance

I'm kinda surprised that only two responders mentioned Lyman's. I think Lyman's 49th edition(the latest one) is the best. It has over 100 pages on how-to & over 300 pages of recipes. It has data for a wide variety of bullets & calibers. Many of the others - Hornady, Speer, Sierra, Barnes, Nosler etc, etc only have data for their own bullets. Another great "manual" is the powder company's websites. They each have a nice reloading data section. You just have to figure out how to use it, cuz they're all different in design & function.

dillon, Thanks for the post! And yes, I'm aware that the berdan stuff can not be reloaded. I guess I'm gonna be cheap. I ordered Lee Dies. I have 9 or 10 sets of Lee & have really had no problems with them. Got one set of RCBS & the dang depriming pin likes to hang onto the spent primers & then reseat them instead of dropping 'em in the spent primer cup.

The surplus ammo had corrosive berdan primers. But there are also manufacturers that use regular boxer primers. Privi Partizan uses non-corrosive boxer primers. And starline makes reloadable brass

I've had the Lee presses. Pro 1000, Turret press & Challenger Breech Lock. I still have the Challenger single stage & can't see where any other single stage would be better. But I sold the other two & bought a Dillon RL 550B. Like rfwobbly said, I wanted a press I don't have to tinker with. Just put the primers in & I can run the press til the primers are gone, with no stopping to adjust anything. I got really lucky in that I got my Dillon from someone who never used it. He had it for 8 years & never took it outta the box. So I felt sorry for him & paid him $150 included a set of dies & caliber conversion. They were 45-70 gov - RCBS dies. so I sold the dies & caliber conv. for enough to get 2 caliber conversions 38spl & 45 Colt.

Thanks for the reply! I have the shell plate & buttons for 9mm That'll work great for the Tokarev, but the powder funnel is very different. The Tok has a shoulder like many rifle cartridges. So I would definitely need a powder funnel. But no idea which one.

Well now that the ultra cheep surplus ammo seems to have dried up, I want to start reloading. I searched & couldn't find a caliber conversion for my RL 550B. Does Dillon make a Tokarev caliber conversion kit? If not, I guess I'm stuck with doing it on a single stage. The though of going that slow is not a pleasant one.

I like the Dillon nuts, just cuz they're so much smaller. It leaves room for using a wrench, even when they're installed in the toolhead.

I'm almost too embarrassed to tell you guys about this... Sometimes those ah-ha moments are good & bad all at the same time. Good, in that you finally figured it out, bad in that you kinda feel stupid for not figuring it out way before. I bought a 2nd hand Dillon RL 550B around the end of last November. Ever since, I've been whining about the priming system. Either it wasn't dropping primers, or it would spit them all out at once. About 2 weeks ago it spit all out & I didn't notice it & crushed the Primer feed stop pin. Well I called Dillon & they sent 2 new ones. But it only got worse Until this morning. I stopped & was looking at it, and it suddenly dawned on me, it was in backwards. There's a bolt holding a little trap door & the previous owner had ignored that & put it in from the other side. I put it in the correct way & just reloaded 4 boxes & only once did it not drop a primer.

over on thehighroad.org, about a year ago or so some guy posted a pic of a Primer Magazine Tube that had shot through a ceiling tile, due to sympathetic detonation of a bunch of primers. Not sure how that happened, unless he was jamming a metal rod down on them instead of the plastic follower. I looked for the pic & the post, but couldn't find it.

Has anyone found the Dillon 1" nuts anywhere other than from Dillon? I want to find nuts that are the same size - internal of course, but also external so I can use the 1" wrench. I hate paying $1.10 each plus shipping. It's still expensive, even if you buy 'em in the packages of 5 (item # 10669).

No worries. I didn't take it badly. I just figure you guys who've owned one for a while are imparting your vastly superior knowledge. (isn't that the way it would be spoken in congress?)

I don't have the kit now, but that because I just got the press about 2 weeks ago. It'll have to wait til after the holidays now, but I will be ordering one.

turns out there was a bent primer in the que. only took me all evening to figure that one out