LearningIsOccurring

My buddy who helped set mine up and has been there for questions (he has a 550 also) has run 100K through his without a hitch. I've made 4 calls in 3k to Dillon - wore out a primer bar and decap assembly loading 9mm. Dozens of stuck cases (using lube now, see if the stuck shells stop). Even one of the guys on the phone told me they had some new help hired to keep up with demand and had some problems with parts assembly (he specificially mentioned Loctite over usage by these folks). I see it paints a bigger picture of a drop in QC. They got busy and needed more help to crank out these units and quality has suffered as a result. If someone were to ask me today if they should buy new or used I'd say used. It'll be a better machine. Customer service has been good, though it doesn't seem to measure up with what others have said. I think Dillon is feeling this pinch too.

Fixed it. Thanks gang. I have the spare parts kit and a whole second primer bar set up for large primers. Long story short - I started swapping pieces one at a time on the bar to find out why it was sitting crooked. I ended up just installing the punch into the primer bar with no spring or primer cup. As soon as the set screw hit it the punch would cant in the same direction as the pics above. I tried two small punches and two large - same result with every one! Grabbed my unused spare primer bar set up for large primers and at first glance it's perfectly square and straight. I installed all my old parts in the new bar and boom, straight. New parts in the old bar, bent. The primer bar fell out of spec. Appears the hole the punch goes in opened up slightly (don't know how) and there's enough room for the punch to move and cant in there. Thanks for the help gang, believe it or not it did move me along to fixing this quick. I'll call Dillon later today when they're open and see if I can swap out this bar with them. Less than 4k through it too. Oh well. Thank Enos for spare parts! update - just spoke with Lee at Dillon, sending me a new bar. Good service.

Thanks Bill. I can rotate punch 360 degrees, no problem there. The slide is cleaned and all the surface free of debris. I actually have the primer assembly on my desk in front of me right now and it is the primer cup that rubbing. I tried rotating it through four positions, each 90 degrees off. It rubs in the same spot is all the positions, only one position is a little freeer, but not perfect. The cant/bend is in the same direction in all positions too, that is, always rubs in the same spot. It doesn't lean the opposite way when I rotate it 180 degrees. Very weird. I think next I'm going to disassemble the primer cup from the primers bar, make sure everything is clean and then reassemble. Report back when that's done.

Stupid question. What pin? I see what appears to be a set screw in the side of the primer bar and it looks like it sits on a spring but I didn't dissemble that far. Bed time. I'll look in the morning. Pretty sure I twisted on it when I was trouble shooting but no luck.

Hi gang. Pics below. The primer bar started jamming today, less than 4k through the machine. We narrowed down the problem and thought we fixed it. Started acting up 300 rounds later. When the primer bar travels full travel and the primer pickup goes into the tube the round primer holder is rubbing on the primer tower (or whatever that thingy is called) and jamming. I know this is where it's rubbing. Took it apart and narrowed down to this. Earlier today I cleaned everything up and quickly hit the rub spots with 600 grit sandpaper. Was perfectly normal for a couple hundred rounds and then jammed up again. In the pics you can see the brass color worn off where it's contact the inside of that aluminum. Might be tough to tell but it rubs only on one side (bottom in the orientation of the photo) and it looks like the round brass colored piece is canted slightly. Now, I can sand things again but I don't wanna take off material if there's something else to fix this but I'm out of ideas. Thanks everyone!

Ha! Thank you so much.

Hey gang. Since I'm new to reloading (probably good habit anyway) whenever I sit down to start I always double check OAL of the first couple rounds and the powder drop. I have separate tool heads for 9mm and 45acp. Dillon 550 using Alliant Unique powder. First few powder drops are always off by a couple tenths. Measured on the Enos digital scale I got when I bought everything here. Using 5gr for 9mm and 6gr for the 45. (chrono'd the loads so I'm set there) and the first drops are always 5.2 and 6.2. Pretty close to that. I'll just cycle maybe 10 or more powder drops and then it dials itself in to the 5gr or 6gr selected. I never have to adjust the powder bar. I definitely have room with the 45 load that if I dropped 6.2 if wouldn't matter (I mean room on the chrono, not room in the shell). On the 9mm I don't have as much to play with. I'm confident that once I'm up and running it's dropping consistently. Thing is, it's separate tool heads and funnels and everything. Is this normal? Need to warm up a bit so to speak? Not a big deal, just new and thought I'd ask. Thanks everyone.

Another 250 rounds this morning. No jams. Couple upside down primers but I'm getting better at catching them before I press them into the shell.

No cracks. Couldn't tell if it was loose at all. Maybe just some teething problems? More reloading tomorrow.

Okay gang. Thanks for sticking with me this week. Company sent me home early to stay ahead of the weather so I got to the bench and started measuring everything. Carbide insert was good. Pulled a couple Speer headstamps and measured them, pre sizing. All within a thousandth or two of any other headstamp. Aguila, Winchester, Blazer. All the same. So I put those Speer into the reloader, no problems at all. Sat down and reloading 50 real quick, not a single jam. One missed primer and one upside down. So now I'm really stumped. It seems to be working but I have no idea why they jammed in the first place. I measured the brass that got jammed and other than the bases being torn up they are perfectly sized. Even measured wall thickness of the shells, all the same. I'll get back out there tomorrow and try and crank out a few hundred and report back. Fingers crossed.

Called Dillon. Much more helpful. Got the specs for the inside diameter of the carbide insert so I can double check the size. Rule out the die that way but I'm still at work? Couple more days.

Good to know. When I get home I'll hopefully find some Speer and measure them, see if they're bulged or whatever. Hopefully gather some good intel and call Dillon after the holiday and see if I can get any help.

Marked the station it got stuck on - all 4. So frustrating! I wanna crank out a few thousand 9. At least solve this problem and then swap to 45acp. I'm gun shy of 9mm on this thing now.It sucks! Wait. Are you saying they are all happening at the same slot in the plate? That's how I read it. If so, the plate is out of spec and rounds are being bulled through in one slot. Call Dillon and explain it that way. No, got stuck at any spot, not just one on the plate. Yeah, I've always heard about their customer service. Not impressed. No help at all and borderline rude.

Also let me add... I called Dillon about this, could it be a bad die or shell plate? Gist of their reply was "bad luck, sucks to be you." So then I turned to y'all. More info in a few days, promise.

I thought so too. Shell plate and pins correct. Tightened. Marked the station it got stuck on - all 4. So it's not that. I can feel the shell getting stuck. It is a lot harder to move the handle as the shell is almost all the way in the die. Hoping to find some cases in the pile to measure, wonder if it's bulged and that's why it's jamming. Takes a lot of force to lift the handle and tear the edges of the shell base as the shell plate rips free. Then disassemble the die and a fat screwdriver and 4 pound hammer and it takes a few whacks to free the shell. Can't do anything until I make it home. So frustrating! I wanna crank out a few thousand 9. At least solve this problem and then swap to 45acp. I'm gun shy of 9mm on this thing now. It sucks!