punxsutawn

What's the difference between a well dressed man on a bicycle and a poorly dressed man on a unicycle? Atire!

Why did the can-crusher quit his job? Because it was soda-pressing!

I was in a plant that uses really fine corn cob media for oil spills. It has the fineness of coarse corn meal. I used it with Nu Finish with spectacular results. In fact, the tumbler even ran quieter. It was fine enough, it didn't stick in the primer pocket like corn cob media can.

I too picked up an RL 1050 that had been dormant for a very long time and had quite a time setting it up. I wanted to chuck it out a window many times. I tore everything down as far as I could and to make a long story short, I used 600 grit diamond polish in the primer slide assembly so it slid effortlessly. I used the same material in the primer punch as that was sticky as well. That helped immensely but not perfectly. I replaced all the springs on the machine and literally, all my headaches vanished. It's an absolute pleasure to use the equipment now. Hindsight, I wish I had sent it back in to Dillon for refurbishing as I'm sure it would have saved me a lot of frustration. I did learn a lot from the experience though!

I bought 2 550s and an RL1050 at a garage sale. The 550s cleaned up and worked well immediately! They really are pretty straight forward. It took a little to get the RL1050 going. In fact, I was ready to chuck the press! I spent a lot of time on this forum and received quite an education. It's working perfectly now. All in all, it was a good learning exercise for sure. Hind sight, I probably should have sent in the 1050.

I bought a 243WSSM (shoots awesome!) and along with the purchase, 5 boxes of reloads came with it. Three worked just fine. The other two won't chamber. I believe I found the problem. He was using RCBS dies (came with the purchase) and probably didn't notice the sizing die was cracked. RCBS replaced the die and all is well with my reloads. My question is this: Can I resize the loaded ammo after removing the decapping pin using the RCBS dies? I also bought a Redding body die due to the difficulty in reloading. (really hard brass). Would that be better to use? Ultimately, is this safe or do I need to separate all the components and start over? Thanks!

Looks good to me! I know the best measurements taken are with cases at all stations. I did notice last night that when loading 308 on my 550, I would have an increase of 1.5 grains when I didn't have a case in the de-prime sizing station. I haven't noticed that large a difference when loading for pistol.

where do you keep your armies? In your sleevies...

I changed the tool head from 45acp where I had been loading large primer over to 40 cal with small primer. I didn't get back to the project for a while and neglected to change over the primer system to small primer. 1200 loads later, without one issue, I noticed the "problem" . I'm moving on to 357 and think I'll just change the tool head over and leave the large primer setup as is. Anyone see a problem with doing that?

Glad you figured it out. I bought a used press and had a similar issue. I chucked up the punch in my drill press, but wasn't able to remove any material. I believe it's hardened. I then used 180 and 400 grit diamond paste on the punch and gently tapped it through the press body a few times with each of the pastes until it dropped through easily on its own. Works like a charm now!

Amazing! Thanks for the idea. I'll build one as well!

Noticed this a couple weeks ago and looks pretty interesting.

you guys have convinced me to try the PC. I have a Pact XP pro and it is absolutely the worst thing I have ever bought. I sent it back after their many suggestions didn't work. They sent it back and I have the same "no start signal" error message. They didn't fix it. Now they want me to send it back at my expense (again!) along with $15 for return postage. This would be the third time I paid for shipping!!! Absolutely the worst "no BS" guarantee and the worst costomer service I have had to deal with.

I had primer issues until I built a rock solid bench. Mine has a .250" steel plate top supported by 2X2" angle legs with cross bracing all around the base. I was going to anchor it to the floor, but at this point, there is no need. I have very few primer issues these days.

OK... after hooking it up to the 6V battery, I still get the "no start signal" error message again. I just finished reading the "best chrono" posts and while the CED seems to have a big following, there are a couple of people who claim it does not work with rifle bullets very well. This has me concerned because I mostly play with rifles. Any ideas on a repair or a better choice for a replacement chronograph? I'm just beside myself upset with PACT !!

I may be missing something, but I'm not sure I can see the primer drop into the slide. Do you just drop one by one and cycle to see if the primer drops or is there a way to visually see the drop? I've tried to shine a light all around but must be missing something.

sperman: can you share what you think mnade the biggest difference for you? I'm glad you have it going well. I have greatly minimized my priming issues however, I still get one or two per hundred. Like you stated, the powder mess is quite an annoying issue! I switched to a flake powder for some of my pistols just so that when a primer is missed, it doesn't fall all over the place. I am also in the habit of looking at each round coming off the press to verify it has a primer. This of course slows down the process greatly!

I don't have the case feeder on the 550 but I do have one on the 1050. If I hadn't gotten such a deal on the 1050, a 550 with the case feeder would be just the ticket. I couldn't believe how nice it is to reload with a case feeder! You will truely enjoy that feature I'm sure!

Sorry, I should have said that. The pic was just brass cycling through. No powder or primers. I had been using Win 748 but I completely emptied and cleaned out the powder measure prior to the test.

Here is a pic after just 50 cycles:

Double checked and I do have the large powder bar installed. Actually it has never been changed as it was bought just for that purpose.

They're straight pieces about 1/16" long and/or less.

I know I saw this posted before, but I couldn't find it. I'm reloading .223 on an RL1050 and noticed on top of the tool head bright silver pieces of metal shavings I presume are coming from the powder measure as they are at the base of the measure. I have to believe this isn't good. In addition, the powder weights are all over the place... +/- 1 grain. The powder check system is catching the weight variations, but I have to believe somethins isn't right. Any ideas how to best address the issue? Thanks!!