Cold hearted killer

When's the iPad app coming out? I'd pay a few bucks for an interactive chart app....

Make sure your case insert slide cam is setup appropriately for the type of rounds you are loading. It is reversible. One side is for pistols, the other side is for rifles. You can read about it on page 37 of your 650 owner's manual. If necessary you can adjust the camming pin. Instructions are on page 38/39. Go slow, take your time, and learn how the adjustments affect the brass feeding. If you don't have a hardcopy of the manual available you can download one here: http://www.dillonhelp.com/manuals/english/Dillon-XL650-Manual-May-2007.pdf I also place a thin film of Tetra Gun Grease on the rails the slide cam rides upon.

I recently purchased a lightbar setup for my press from Inline Fabrication. I have generally poor lighting in my workshop and was looking to be able to better see powder levels inside the cases prior to seating a bullet. They sell a model that only has one light bar. It's what I started out with (and it worked really well) but I accidentally broke one of the wires by hamfistidly pulling on the power cord where it attaches to the light bar to get the velcro to unattach from it's backing (I wanted to experiment with the light in a different spot). I got ahold of Dan at Inline Fabrication and explained what I'd done. I ended up mailing back my light and for a very nominal fee he sent me the new and improved model that has pigtail mounts that lets you run multiple lights: The metal backing on the lights cleanly forms to the curves of your press: Of course you'd never reload in the dark, but here's a shot with all the lights in the room turned off except the press mounted ones to show how much light it throws: I'm very happy with how much useful light it throws and I think it's a more than worthwhile (and inexpensive) addition for a progressive press to help improve your awareness during the loading process. I hope you guys find it as helpful as I did!

I was having the exact same problem as you reloading .223 on my 650. It was driving me NUTS. I called Dillon and they recommended the dryer sheet trick. I wanted something a little more permanent so I ran a wire that attached to the bolts in my strongmount over to the ground wire in my shop. It's completely eliminated the static electricity "bridging" / powder spillage issue for me.

I'd guess mid to late 90's vintage. I picked it up used though, so that's just a guess.

I ordered a Dillon 9mm sizer die (and a hard copy of the owners manual). No dice, the same issues as before. I called in and spoke with Tim at Dillon customer service who was gruff, unhelpful, and obviously did not want to take a phone call 5 minutes before closing. After I got off the phone with him I went through the manual and verified that all the adjustments dealing with case insertion were correctly set. The next day I spoke with Gary at customer service who felt that it might be excessive play in the shellplate due to the shellplate bolt not being tightened appropriately. I went back and checked and determined that the bolt was correctly tightened (carefully torqued down until the shellplate will not rotate and then backed off just enough until the shellplate will rotate if moved by hand). No dice, same issues as before. Since that didn't work I pulled out my factory alignment tool and attempted to align the platform. Since I had everything apart I thoroughly cleaned and then relubed. When that was done I spent quite awhile attempting to adjust the alignment and ended up getting very frustrated. I could get the platform to line up such that alignment tool wouldn't drag in the primer hole, but only if I was pushing/applying pressure on the platform towards the front of the press. As soon as I tightened the two screws and then released my pressure the platform would come back slightly and the alignment tool would no longer smoothly align with the primer hole in the platform. I finally noticed that if I removed the casefeed body assembly from the press the alignment tool would smoothly align with the platform. As soon as I introduced the casefeed assembly then I ran into alignment issues again. Even if I backed out the bolts on the casefeed body assembly and worked on platform alignment as soon as I went to tighten the casefeed body back up the platform wanted to hop out of alignment again. So, I called Mike (who was actually very helpful) at customer service who felt that the platform assembly may be excessively worn. My press is headed back to the factory for a refurb/overhaul.

The ramp is appropriately adjusted (pistol side was set) and the base of the shell is firmly pushed into place on the shellholder plate. Still have the same issues though.

It is the correct 9mm shellplate (I purchased the 9mm caliber conversion direct from Dillon).

Very helpful. My press didn't come with a manual, but after downloading a PDF and looking at page 37 that looks like a great starting place.

Yes

The lockring to the die was tightened with a piece of brass inserted into the die. I don't think so. I tightened the shellplate bolt until it was tight, and then backed it off just enough until the shellplate indexed/rotated freely without drag. Thanks for the heads up.

I recently acquired a used Dillon 650 and am having issues with the brass feeding correctly into the sizing/decapping die. Approximately 1/3 of the 9mm brass going into the die (made by RCBS) hits the edge of the die and has to be manually guided into the die. The brass consistently cants slightly to the right at the top of the cartridge, although it appears as if the brass is firmly into the shellholder at the base. I noticed the same issue when I was running .223 cartridges through a Lee universal decapping die. The cant of the .223 cartridge was even more noticeable due to the extra length of the case. Although grinding the edge of the decapping pin down to more of a bevel shape certainly helped alleviate most of the feeding issues, I still feel as if the brass wasn't as perpendicular as it should/could have been. I haven't tried to setup a toolhead for actual reloading with my .223 dies (also made by RCBS) but I'm positive I'll run in to similar issues. It really slows production down and is very frustrating since I picked up the 650 to minimize the amount of time required to produce bulk plinking ammo. Is there an adjustment I'm missing? Is it possible something is worn out of tolerance? Any input would be greatly appreciated.