fastmtnbiker33w Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 My old man came out for a visit over the holidays so I thought I'd show him how to set up the 550 as he has one in a box that he's never used. I've loaded thousands or rounds of pistol ammo and several hundred rounds of 308 with no major problems....just the usual extra bit of time of set up. So I had a bunch of brass that I'd sized/deprimed/swaged/retumbled. I set up with an old decapper and the size die a bit high just to clean any media out of the flash hole. Set up the powder charging station, then moved to an RCBS seater die, then finally a Lee factory crimp die as I'm using a cheap bullet with a canalure. I don't want to attribute all my problems to the next step, but I've found very little else to blame them on. The only powder my club had that would work for 223 was H322. It's a pretty short extruded powder, so I hoped it wouldn't cause any problems in metering. I was wrong there. I had to hold the press's arm down for a full 2 count while the powder dropped and several times powder spilled out as I brought the arm back up lowering the shell plate. AAARRRGGHH. My next problem was seating the bullets. I thought the RCBS seater die would be fine. It's just the standard seating die. MANY times the tip of the bullet would get caught on what I guess was a shoulder inside the die and the bullet would get mashed way down into the cartridge. Luckily my old man is quick with a bullet puller. This was very frustrating so I gave up on charging with the Dillon and used a crappy Lee powder charger with the cases in a case block. I still had problems with bullet seating. I'll never use that powder anymore on the 550....but has anyone had trouble with seating 55 grain bullets with a RCBS die on their 550? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I tried a RCBS seating die and didn't much care for it, so I switched to a Forster Bench Rest die. But I think that what you are seeing is that the bullet is not staying straight up as it enters the die so it is catching on something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastmtnbiker33w Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 It's a boat-tail bullet so "pre-seating" it by hand is not problem and it's straight going in. The shell tilts a little but I can't figure out what it's hanging up on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Just a thought, the RCBS die acts as both a seating and a crimp die. If you are seating without crimping, could you have the die backed out too far so that the plunger (or whatever it's called) is extending past the point where the top of the neck would go so that the bullet is not being "guided"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastmtnbiker33w Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Just a thought, the RCBS die acts as both a seating and a crimp die. If you are seating without crimping, could you have the die backed out too far so that the plunger (or whatever it's called) is extending past the point where the top of the neck would go so that the bullet is not being "guided"? That's a possibility. I thought the die I ordered was just a seating die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I thought the die I ordered was just a seating die. This one? Check the manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunsen27 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I also just got a 550 for Xmas and have experienced similar issues with powder metering and bullet seating. I did a bunch of research on the forums and found out that extruded can be REALLY finicky in the Dillon powder measure especially in a .22 cal case mouth. I avoided the issue entirely by sticking with a ball powder (W748) and it metered flawlessly. Now for my .308's I went with IMR-4895 and had similar issues as you described, even with polishing the internals of the powder metering system. As for the bullet seating issues with the RCBS die I had no issues with my 55gr load, but when I switched to the 69gr Noslers it was a P.I.T.A. to get the die reset properly. As Graham mentioned the RCBS dies is both a seating and crimping die. With the 55gr Hornady's I had a light crimp, but with the 69gr Noslers I had backed the die out 1 full turn and raised up the seating spindle to accommodate the longer bullet. I had to continually adjust the die body in (increase crimp) while simultaneously adjusting the spindle out for OAL. Otherwise when seated to an OAL of 2.260 the bullet would easily get pushed back into the case (loose). Even once I got that sorted out every 2 out of 10 bullets would get the tip sheared off a little while seating. I disassembled the die, put the spindle in an electric drill, took some 600 grit paper to the outside edge and a Q-tip with buffing compound to the inside cone to alleviate the issue. The spindle in my die had a VERY sharp edge to it. I can still shear the tip off if the bullet is severely misaligned and I force it, but otherwise it's fine. Since I will be loading both the 55gr and 69gr loads frequently I will be purchasing a second seating die, most likely a Forster. Hope that helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle O Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I loaded a BUNCH of H322 thru my 550 without any issues at all. I measured 20 throws in a row, and the largest deviation I had was .1 Is your shellplate and toolhead lined up? Mine runs like the dickens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastmtnbiker33w Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 My shell plate had trouble aligning after several grains of powder got under the thing. No problems after I cleaned everything up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Athouse Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 That die should work fine for you, its just not set up properly. I had the same problem with a RCBS die set initialy when getting my .223 toolhead dialed in. As I remember it, the problem was that the die was up too high, so when the shellplate was raising, the bullet had plenty of room/time to flop over and get caught up when entering the die- seating it way too deep. When I brought the die down some, it cleared up the problem. The bullets weren't catching on the way up, by the time the bullet could flop over it was already started in the die. Not sure if I explained this clearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooter545 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I usally run Dillon dies, although I do have Hornady dies for 6.8, but I don't use extruded powders because of the issues with accurate metering of the powder and the flow of the powder. I have been loading on Dillons for years and I love them, I have 3 550s set up and running. I stay away from those powders that don't meter well; it does eliminate some powders but it seems to me that I have had no issues using the ones that work really well. My 55gr load will shoot 3/4 MOA loaded on the 550 and that is about as good as I can hold the gun. I would echo what others have posted; check your seating die. It seems to me that may be part of your seating issues. Hope that it works out Dillons are the HEAT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShooterSteve Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 There are a lot of powders that work good in 223s, but some seem to flow better in our powder measures than others. Try some H335, it flows very good and is usually pretty accurate with a lot of loads and rifles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Morcillo Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 (edited) Had a similar problem loading .308's using A4350, a long stick powder. Solved it by polishing the powder dies funnel. Used 600 grit, the Simicrome polish till it shined. Now the powder just slides down the die. Secondly, I pull on the powder drop rod after the powder drops, so now there isn't any residual powder trickling out the drop. Now, about that bullet. I had RCBS make a special seater rod for me because when seating a 68gr .223 bullet I'd get a ring around the bullet where the rod touches the bullet. You can make your own by using a small amount of epoxy in the existing rod, wait till it sets up, then press your new bullet into it to change the dimensions. Hope this helps. Oh, I use AA2230 for the .223...very fine, drop great. Edited January 18, 2011 by Mike Morcillo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Oh, I use AA2230 for the .223...very fine, drop great. I've had great luck with this powder with both 55gr and 69gr bullets. It meters easily and small variations don't effect velocity badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Athouse Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Did you get your die working properly? What was the fix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastmtnbiker33w Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share Posted January 24, 2011 My club finally got restocked with powder so I picked up some H335 yesterday. The seater die is pretty high with the adjustment rod down low. I'll make the adjustments and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle O Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 My club finally got restocked with powder so I picked up some H335 yesterday. The seater die is pretty high with the adjustment rod down low. I'll make the adjustments and see what happens. bring the die down just until it hits the taper on the case mouth, then back it off slightly, tighten the die, then put a loaded round in that position, and screw down the seater plug until it kisses the bullet, tighten, and verify. Should work perfect after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertito Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I have a Dillon 550B with Dillon dies for 223. I use varget powder and unique with no problem. I only use Dillon Dies. I never had any luck using Dies from other Companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastmtnbiker33w Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 Proper adjustment of the seater die solved the main problem. Using H335 allowed me to move quickly....not having to wait on the powder to drop. I got the powder bar adjusted and 100 rounds loaded in less time than the President blew his hot air over the airwaves. I used my crappy lyman powder charger to finish off my H322 with some 75 grainers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I think Dillion is great, but the Hornady powder measure with the auto drop setup is even better for Rifle loads. it will fit my 650 and the 1050. when you want to change powder its quick. just remove the spring and lift off the powder measure. It cuts long powder like Varget with out much problem at all and the funnel is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastmtnbiker33w Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 Now I need more powder. After just buying a new RV, I'm going to have to wait a while. At least I have a few hundred rounds to practice with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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