Signess

July 22, 2015

Upon further consideration, for just a little more than the Dillon bullet tray with the mounting bracket I wanted from Inline Fabrications ($45 + $25), I opted to get the Bully Adapter and go with a bullet feeder. The Bully marries the Hornady bullet dies to the Lee bullet feeder tubes, so for under $100 I get a bullet feeder comparable to the Mini Mr Bullet Feeder, except you don't need to keep buying extra "cartridges" from Mr Bullet Feeder for each caliber; the Lee Tube Feeder does ALL pistol calibers.

June 29, 2015

The main problem I have with the 1050 is the lack of lifetime warranty; there are an awful lot of moving parts that you are on your own for with that machine...but I don't shoot matches, just for pleasure. I AM looking at processing quite a lot of brass, however, including mucho 300 Blackout, so my opinion on the 1050 might very-well change once I really can make use of the swager station. I've heard the 1050 is worth the expense for the swaging alone.

June 28, 2015

If you are both cheap, and, have zero talent at manufacturing, like me, here's another solution: Two angle brackets and a magnetic parts bin.

Total cost, around $7

Thanks Jerryz.

I didn't realize the magnetic parts bins were so inexpensive. I want to get my tray higher, though, as the less you have to move to perform a repetitive task, the better I like it. Even the stock Dillon tray is too low, IMHO.

The main reason I want cheap is that this tray is only a temporary upgrade, until I get a Mr Bullet Feeder...but I have a lot of items to buy before that happens...like a casefeeder and RT 1500 case trimmer so I can trim-up some 300 Blackout brass.

June 28, 2015

Nice thread...an older one, but very good.

I want to make a bracket like this one, that I can mount under the front-left 650 bolt, that mounts press to the 650 strong mount. This will solve two issues; I want whatever I use for a bullet tray (something much shallower than an Akro bin) to be fairly level to Station 4, while keeping the left strong mount available so I can make a wooden hex key/wrench holder like the one in the Cheap Tricks and Tips thread. I will however raise the tool holder to be easily accessible behind the new bullet tray...whatever that will be. I'm thinking a small steel/aluminum shallow cake pan...something I can get from a garage sale or Goodwill for a couple bucks, and mount it using wide washers to evenly disperse the weight.

This is InlineFab's bracket design, but don't be concerned, as he'll be selling me a bunch of other stuff very soon, like the Quickchange Ultramount (with a couple of top plates), Skylight, Casefeeder-mounted Primer Storage Bin, etc...but I'm not paying $20 for a bracket and $53 for a Dillon bullet tray! That's the cost of his Ultramount, so...no.

Here's the bracket...it should be easy-enough to bend and drill some steel from Lowes, but if it gets up >$10, I'll just buy it from inline, or just make the platform from some scrap wood I have already....I could get all that done in wood for well under $5...flat black spray paint will make it look good.

June 24, 2015

Great info. Tagged.

June 20, 2015

And the LIVE primer ski-jump pics: When you're done, sand it and paint it black!

June 20, 2015

I've seen the thread about the micrometer powder bar upgrade and the overwhelming response was that it is a worthwhile upgrade. However, there are several other which I'd like to get opinions on.

1) The first is a camming pin replacement. the camming pin scratches against the case insert slide as I move up and down and almost sounds like it is going to wear away the material. The upgrade pin has a small roller bearing which supposedly eliminates the need for any lubrication and would eliminate the scratching noise heard when operating the press. This kit has the pin I am talking about along with other parts http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dillon-XL-650-Premium-Performance-Improvments-Kit-/321399781658?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ad4eb791a

2) Low mass detent ball and new spring. I've seen these separately rather than part of the kit as above. No idea if these actually work as advertised.

3) Shellplate bearing kit. again, there is a "bushing" shown in the kit above which to me actually makes more sense. However, I have seen the larger needle bearing kits. Are these more trouble than they are worth or a great idea and must have?

4) Roller lever. I know most people recommend the Dillon roller lever but I cam across this one on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ERGO-roller-lever-for-Dillon-650-reloading-press-/261500338350?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ce2a280ae made by in line fabrication, the handle is bent so that the handle is up closer to your natural standing position so that you do not need to bend at all (or lean)

5) spent primer chute kit. this kit includes a bolt on plastic part that a hose attaches to in order to funnel spent primers to a larger jar or bottle. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dillon-650-Spent-Primer-Chute-Kit-for-Dillon-650-Reloading-Press-/171385365409?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27e75d23a1

6) Tool head lights. I've seen various versions of lighting including one that looks far superior to others. the light kit consists of a strip of lights by the powder check station and a machined light that fits in the center of the toolhead and is removable for toolhead changes. http://inlinefabrication.com/collections/dillon/products/skylighttm-led-lighting-kit-for-the-dillon-650

The company in line fabrication also has a host of other upgrades, so if you have used one of them and can either recommend or say forget it, the input would be very helpful.

thank you.

I made my own spent primer chute fix and ski-jump LIVE primer fix...both for under $10. Here are the pics...pretty self-explanatory. Parts are from Lowes. First one is a garden hose adapter (plumbing supplies part of store) with the inside brass barb attachment filed down until it fit inside the mounting bracket for the blue cup. I also filed it down in height to make it thinner and easier to screw into the press with original screws. For $7, this sucker isn't going anyehere. Get several feet of hose to atach to a peanut butter or mayo jar.

The ski-jump fix just involved getting the pictured splicer nylon barb (same department at Lowes) and cutting it in half. Drill the ski-jump and JB Weld the sanded half of barb (with the "washer" part) to the ski-jump, then use the other part to make a stopper for your hose that holds the live primers (you need to JB a piece of scrap plastic on the open end of the barb to seal the stopper). I also trimmed the nose off the blue cup, and JB Welded the built-up edges of the bottom of the jump in place, to prevent live primers from rolling off the bottom of the ramp. Black paint makes this mess look good! Use an inch or two of the hose from the first fix and make sure you keep emptying it out regularly...you don't want to mix primers after caliber changes, and you don't want a bunch of live primers hanging together for too long a time.

Both fixes took @ an hour while watching TV or a movie...easier than it looks, and saved @ $60 in retail fixes and shipping...that's almost a die set or caliber conversion.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w4/signessmonster/Dillon%20650%20mod/IMG_0343_zpsyckumc4j.jpg

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