SCC

I'm using a Lee adjustable seating die for 300blk. It didn't start life as a micrometer die. But after scribing a vertical line and several around the circumference of the adjustment knob along with some notches in the top of the die body it sure works like one. All my load data has the die setting and I can just dial it in as needed. Also once you know the length change per turn it's real easy to change seating depth by predictable amounts. The Lee die unfortunatly needs more work to be usable. The seating plug is way too loose inside the adjuster. I shimmed it with some brass tubing so that it's always concentric. Also, the plastic tips on some bullets will be deformed by bottoming out in the plug. The center of the plug should be drilled deeper on a lathe and the entire cone and transition to the now deeper hole polished. If I was starting over I would buy a different die. Maybe someone like me who already has one can use this info.

To stop the primer feed, I remove the Primer Cam. It's the black plastic ramp that pushes the Primer Indexing Arm. I replaced the hex socket screw holding it on with a length of threaded rod, loctited into the frame. Vinyl tubing over the rod creates a friction fit with the Primer Cam. I had to wrap some thin copper wire around the rod to expand the vinyl a bit to get a proper fit. The cam can now just be pulled off when I want to stop the primers.

I came up with this little add on to my 650 because I got tired of stopping frequently to load casings in the feed tube and don't want to get a case feeder. As can be seen in the pictures it's little more than some acrylic tubes and a coupler on top of the Dillon feed tube. The tubes came from ebay and are 3/4"x1/2"x36" (OD, ID, length). After cleaning up the ends of the tubes, a hole was drilled about 1 1/2" from one end of each to accept a clip (made from 12ga copper wire) similar to primer pickup tubes. The coupler was made on my woodworking lathe from a piece of nylon rod. About 3 1/2" of rod was first turned down to a little under 1" and drilled out at 9/16". The hole was then enlarged to 3/4" for a depth of about 1 1/4" to fit the acrylic tube. The fit was a bit too tight so it was scraped out for an easy slip fit. Parting off at 3 1/4" and reverse chucking, the other end was drilled out to 11/16" for about 1 1/4". Lacking the proper drill bit to match the Dillon tube, much scraping was required to enlarge the hole for a snug friction fit. A small section is left in the middle at 9/16" to act as a stop for both tubes. In use the speed loader tubes hold 47 9mm casings. The Dillon tube on the press holds 24. I preload the press, add a full speed loader tube, and pull the pin. (That sounds ominous.) When the casings drop below the coupler I load another tube. Working this way I can run 2 boxes of primers before I have to reload the press and 4 tubes. Two problems were discovered in use. First don't let the casings drop from the speed loader into an empty feed tube. The force is enough to bend the rim of the bottom casing or two. Secondly, a jam developed at the entry to the casefeed adapter where it reduces ID off the end of the feed tube. The bevel was shallow enough that the increased column weight was causing canted casings to wear a ridge and hang up. The solution was as simple as reaming out the adapter to increase the bevel angle. I happened to have an appropriate reamer, but it could have just as easily been done on the lathe. Hope this little idea helps someone. ---Scott.

There's a thread from back in 2011 on ar15.com titled "Cheap Tips and Tricks For Dillon 550B and XL650s - Updated 8/6/2014" that's a must read.

I'm relatively new to reloading and have never used anything other than homemade lanolin lube. The mix is around 16:1, but my application technique is different from what most seem to be doing. I use a 2 gallon zip-lock bag and spray the inside 2 or 3 times. Then dump in the brass, seal it up and roll the brass around inside with the bag on a towel and my hand on top. I'll flip the bag once or twice to redistribute the brass and roll some more. The brass is then dumped out into a large plastic cake carrier to dry. By spraying into the bag I don't have to worry about overspray getting on everything. The first time with a new bag takes an extra squirt of lube, or if I clean out the bag. To clean the bag I'll give it a spray of straight alcohol and wipe it out with a rag. I only clean the bag when it starts to need it. A bag lasts for about 10-15 uses, cleaned once or twice. I do about 200 9mm cases at a time. Started this way with 9mm. Have recently used the same technique when resizing some .223 down to .300blk without problem.