MG08

Ok - don't hate me. Went over to look at the super 1050. Turns out it was set up for 223. also had the 45 and 9mm conversions, tool heads and powder measures for them, case plates for the case feeder. Everything was pretty much new. 9mm and 45 stuff is also all pretty much still in the boxes. Includes a bunch of bullets, primers, and brass, tools, parts and a dillon cover. the machine is pretty much new, the case feed tube does not even look like it ever had cases go down it. the loader WAS dusty, and will need to be cleaned and lubed. I walked out the door with it for $800. Figure it was a good deal. So now - what do I need for it ?

So, I have never run a 1050, but own 650s and 550s so I have the idea and can look at the usual wear point. BUT.... what kinds of issues should I look for on a super 1050 ? I don't even know what caliber it is in or any other details yet, but figured I had better jump on it quick.... Any thoughts will be appreciated - Brian

Interesting - related but different problem I just had sizing a batch of once fired 6.5 Creedmoor brass from Graf's. I bought 500 new, and 500 once fired to work up loads, blaster ammo and then "good" ammo. One batch of the used brass ( all Hornady by the way) had a fair number - like 20 cases that were very difficult to press into my RCBS die and ended up with 5 or so stuck ripping the rim off. I use a combo of dillon case lube and some teflon lube that stays on well and have had no issues with it in thousands of rifle rounds of various calibers. there was a huge difference in the amount of force needed to size deprime the brass, and I had to drill and tap the stuck cases to remove with my home made stuck case tool. after the 4th one, I started feeling for it, and stopped the sizing before stuckage happened. So, some Brass was easy or hard, same lube on all, same correct 6.5 CM die properly adjusted. I assume that some of these were just fired in a chamber that was a little oversized or a lot hotter load. Real PIA and a waste of brass.

I have had this problem with my 650 and blazer brass in 9mm and 40 S&W. the pin pulls the fired brass back into the case . I have two SDBs - both picked up used. One in 45 and one in 38 Spec. The 38 loader has a good 60k on it from me no idea how many before that. I used them for a while and had some other little issues. Sent them back for rebuild, and dillon sent me new loaders. I can't complain - they still work great now that they are "new".

So I have a couple of Square deal B loaders that I use for downloaded ammo for target use. ( I Also use several 550s and 650s) They are pretty simple die wise, and I really did not see any issues until I was loading 38 special wad cutters. I had been loading plated DEWCs for the smith model 52. I switched over to a 148 gr WC caste bullet with a graphite or some such coating tht I got for free from another source. After a couple hundred, I started getting real inconsistent bullet seating depths, with most seeming to get pushed in to far. I dis-assembled the seating die and found two issues - first the top "segment" of the wadcutter of one projectile had apparently broken off and jammed up in the nose of the seater. It was held in place by a lot of the graphite and / or lube stuff that built up in the seater. as it shifted it changed how the new bullet was being seated as far as depth. Once cleaned up everything was re-adjusted and loading was just fine again. I wanted to post a heads up for those using this type of setup and loading lubed / wadcutter type bullets.

Another "so do I" post- I gauge every round, but only after loading. Cracked brass makes a distinctive sound and I can usually pick them out of the tub, bin or what ever before they go in the case feeder. I have more issues with Blazer brass .....

Inline Precision makes a bracket assembly as well. I have both types, and Prefer the inline one . I made some from scratch when I first saw these but liked the Inline better.

I just saw this thread, and really like the idea of the video for the 550. In the big picture, the solutions are not that expensive. the LED lights are common and for sale a lot of places ( Ebay) and I have them for all my loaders already. I am going to see if I can rig a video system I can easily move between loaders, as I have several I use and leave in a caliber for a long time. The 550s are the biggest concern for me as I can't easily see inside even with the lighting, and the 650s have a spot for powder check if I wanted to install it. I can see into the station and check powder visually. I can post pics when I get it done with links and cost estimates, but it is looking like a system similar to those posted above will run about $50-60.

I use a newer 550 to load plain old 308. I do case prep on separate equipment, and use a surplus ball powder. I am not really sorting cases by HS, but do gauge them all before loading. the ammo goes in MGs and semi auto rifles. I use the same load in the 550 as I do for my "fancy, loaded on a single stage" 308 for bolt guns. I really do not see any significant difference in group size for a given load in a rifle between them.

I bought some of the 3-D printed "arms" for my 650s. I broke one right away, and the seller replaced it with a spare one to boot. Now, I had tweaked my wire ones and was a little dubious of the claims, but I find that the 3-D printed ones seem to eject and operate "smoother" when the handle hits that part of the stroke where the finished round is kicked out. It is a bit subjective, but the printed ones are not expensive either.

Trouble shooting this should not be a big issue - try to refire the duds in the offending pistol. If they dont go off, refire in a different pistol. Inspect the offending rounds, and inspect them BEFORE firing. High primers should be obvious.. overinserted primers should be too, but should still go off unless your pistol is really picky. Generally you run a bigger risk of detonating a primer from crushing it than over -inserting it. then see above. One thing to consider, since I dont know what machine you loaded them on, or how you do QC, but I have run into brass that the primers "stick" and get pulled back into the case on station one of my 650. This results in a case still having the fired primer in place. I can feel it on station 2 , as the new primer dos not seat. I have missed a few and it if not caught, they end up in the bag of ammo and when loaded and "fired" give the impression of a bad primer. That said, I have run into batches of primers with higher than normal "failure rate" - as in several out of 100 will be bad. I load on the order of 20-40,000 rds of ammo in all calibers a year, so this is not a high rate. I also have a large stock of primers, some fairly old, and no failures I can attribute to old age.

you might look and see if you are getting a build up inside the die - cast bullets are notorious for this, but plated or swaged will do it too- otherwise the OAL cna be varying due to mixed brass.

I have this problem every so often with a 650 in 40 S&W. Lots of good suggestions here - none of the deburring/ smoothing has worked so far. Had not thought to look at headstamps to see if it was case specific.

some days you get lucky. Same can happen with 9mm in a 40.

It really does boil down to whether you stand or sit. I stand. All my Dillons are on Strong mounts. I have a short ceiling so I had to consider the case feed, but I can still get cases into the hoppers.

I am a little prejudiced, since I pretty much only load one caliber on any of my Dillon Presses, and I have 3 650s ( 9mm, 45, and 380/40/30 carb) and 4 550s ( 30-06/308, 303 Brit, 8mm Mauser 8mm lebel/44 mag/. Also 1 SDB ( 357 Mag) . Got good deals on used presses, and have the room to set up and leave them. My point would be that it really depends on how you load, how much you shoot and how often you would change the press out. I do not do marathon reloading sessions, I stop off , load for a little bit and go do something else. in the 9mm and 45, I am loading for SMGs, have my standard load and that is all. I shoot 4-6,000 rds a year or so. the one 650 I change out is set for small primers, and I load the 380 , 40 S&W or M1 carbine then swap out . I do not go through nearly as much ammo in those calibers, and can stock up to the tune of several thousand rds, then switch. It is really handy to have single stage presses, I do the same as others - found Rockchuckers for nearly nothing, use one for a Hornady collet puller, another for trimming with a RT1200 one other with a small volume loading like 30-40 Krag or 45-70. Now that I am retired, I can actually use the stuff I bought over the years. I really enjoy reloading, and am getting back into shooting rifles I have barely fired over the years. another point, if you watch the slae boards, I find that Dillon gear sells well, and for near the original mfg price. in other words, you wont lose money on the gear . I got lucky and found some great deals at garage sales and CL.

They replaced the slide cam assembly (?) the black thingee that I never remember the name for on both presses they refurbe'd for me. I also have some spares since they have cracked before.

Well, Dillon confirmed that the aluminum casting was bent, and is being replaced during the rebuild. Should be back here in a day or two. their rebuild turn around seems pretty timely these days- only a couple of weeks out and back. If previous rebuilds are any indicator, I will have three new 650s running in a week or so. Cool.

well, sent it off to dillon for rebuild with a letter describing the problem. will update with the results.

Read this a while back - I have 3 650s, all with different add on Dillon handles. I found the old "triangle" one to be hard on my hand - I just bought soome 1" pipe insulation from the local big box store. Cut a section and it works great. I have big hands, so thicker diameter is a plus.

Ok - ran into this with my 650 in 40 S&W. there is adjustment on the cam slide - BUT - if it just started doing this check for an empty case dropped into the case feed assembly on the back side of the assembly- took me a month to find it on mine. It prevents the slide from going all the way into place.

glad to see I am not the only one with multiple loaders- I started on a 550 ( well actually a rock chucker, then a Hornady Pro-jector, then 550) but found changing calibers to often was harder - so bought the 650. found I ran out of one caliber ammo before getting around to all the loading in the one caliber on the machine. found two 650s for really cheap in the used market with a month of each other. I found I prefer to load the rifle caliber stuff on the 550 (as it allows me to index and do quality control checks ) and pistol rds on the 650s. Then I found a couple of 550s loose and cheap . Now I leave one 650 in 45, one in 9mm, and change one from 40 S&W to 380 to 30 Carbine as needed. The 550s are set up for 30 cal US, 303 Brit ( although with all the HXP I got that will not be a priority) 8mm Mauser and 8mm Lebel. I shoot the ammo in the MGs. Parts are common among the loaders so I do not need as many spares, and the only pain is buying the add-on stuff like bullet trays, handles, lighting and primer catch systems - once I try them I find I like them, and then need to buy several. Found a dillon SL900 cheap too- probably aught to take up clays or trap again.... I just re-organized the reloading room. this photo was taken on moving day. the Hornady 366 loaders are 12 (AA trap loads) & 20 Ga. Guess I just like machines..... there is a SDB in 38/357 in there too, got that for free from a co-worker.

We got in about 150 USPs in 40 cal for work- this was the first duty auto pistol we ever had, and The two armorers and a few other supervisors and I went to the range to fire all of them for function and accuracy. same ammo, new pistols most Vs, some V4. Based on my firing about 30-40 pistols, I would say the accuracy of the ones I fired was all about the same - decent groups . none were "bad". I ran into one V4 pistol that shot incredibly well for me- like 1 1/2" groups. That ended up being mine.....

So here are photos of my issue - First photo shows the 9mm loader, and problem appears to be that the aluminum frame on top of the ram is bent down in the section of the casting under the cam slide. Second photo shows the "new" ram and casting right from dillon. You can see in the photo the difference in geometry. It appears to be a "send it back to dillon" problem, but am I missing something ? Anyone else seen this same issue ?

Well, I just got my 650 set up in 45 ACP, back from a Dillon Refurb. I wanted to see what it looked like "new". Now first off, great job on the refurb, Dillon. I got my frame back with pretty much every part on it replaced. it s a "new" press. Now, they did not re-coat the frame ( same old wear mark from 20 years ago in transit ) but all the rest was new. I will post photos of the new one with the old one ( 9mm with the feed problem) tonight and see if I can demonstrate where I think the problem is. I went as far as elongating the bolt hole in my cam slide to get more travel out of it and got the press to work, but it is not a solution. It appears that the aluminum casting on top of the ram is bent where the cases come down, allowing yhe slide cam to be tilted way from the pivoting arm reducing the throw.