cardiackid Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Received my bundle of 550 goodness from BE yesterday (thanks again!) and I'm already at question one of most likely a couple. While installing the shell plate, sprocket and bolt, I read in the instructions that there should be "no slop" when rotating between stations. I have found that when I back my bolt off just a touch from "too tight to index by hand" and then snug the brass-tipped screw that there is a little bit of play in the sprocket and just a hint of a shifting on the shellholder. Is the little bit of play in the sprocket standard despite the "no slop" in the instruction manual or should I expect to get a few "You're doing it wrong" replies here Thanks for the help - this thing is a beast! It looks like a partially assembled hot rod sitting next to my lincoln towncar RCBS green machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I tighten my 550 plate until it just binds and back it off a **** hair. It still has some wiggle but not much. I have found keeping it tight without binding produces the most consistant ammo for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBBB Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 I agree that just a touch looser than "too tight to index by hand" is about where you want to be. Perhaps not zero play but not a whole lot either. I also think if it is really hard to index then you should back off until you can comfortably index the press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiackid Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 I think I have it - it's actually just a little bit of extra tolerance in the size of the 4 indexing dots on the sprocket being a tad smaller than the holes they go into on the shell plate causing the sprocket to play back and forth a bit (no up/down movement though). Any more torque on the bolt causes the sprocket and shellplate to be pinched and not able to index. I'm sure like anything metal it will smooth out and break in a bit and need to be adjusted at some point. Now I'm off to trying to set up this powder measure without springs and rods and stuff shooting all over the place or dangling every time I yank the crank, haha. I'm off to the YouTube series because "I'm a visual learner." Kevin Sanders: Hah - although the filter caught it I knew exactly what unit of measurement you were using. I'm pretty sure it's in FM 1-02 Operational Terms & Graphics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiackid Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 Got it! - this thing is phenomenal ! It's incredibly easy to make adjustments to everything once you see how it all works together and it truly is a pretty genius piece of engineering. Loading .223 my COAL deviations were only around .007" which is very good considering this is bulk winchester 55gr FMJ, I'm using a run of the mill RCBS non-micrometer style seater and I was tinkering with the seater die here and there. Every round passed a JP .223 Wylde case gauge with no isses. I think the most impressive part (and the one I was worried about the most originally) was how accurate the powder charges were! 235 total grains was my target and the 10 round average was 236.4! I'll take an average .14 gr fluctuation any day for 3-gun ammo! I tried to "automate" the press by having the wife crank out a couple of rounds. She passed on the opportunity of course (I only just got her to fire her first pistol ever a couple of weeks ago - baby steps) so I guess I'm stuck running it manually myself I am now entering the 2nd phase of reloading where it costs you way more money because you're loading and shooting way more than you would have on a single stage. I can definitely see how BE does not recommend this as a first press unless you have someone who can show you how to set it up or do it for you. I think it would have taken me much, much longer to try and get everything up and running if I had no reloading knowledge prior. Aside from the shellplate/sprocket question at first the only other setup issues I ran into were a few of the metal powder funnel shavings and some crumpled cases (quickly realized that camming over was not what this press was designed to do and I had the powder die screwed down a hair too far). I was also questioning the primer seating depth, as it looked a hair too shallow but when I compared it to factory ammo it looked dead on. I think I had somehow just been seating them a bit deep when I was hand priming with the RCBS unit. Random thoughts rant over, haha. Now I just need to figure out how to empty the powder hopper without doing it throw by throw. I'd imagine I can just take the toolhead off and dump it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Yep, get a funnel and just take the whole tool head off and dump the powder. Then hold the hopper right side up over the funnel and cycle the system by hand. It will throw 5 or 6 more charges before running completely dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g56 Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Yep, just pull the two pins, remove the toolhead and pour it back into the powder container, using a funnel of course, then I put the toolhead back on and an empty case in the powder die position and crank it a couple of times to get the last of the powder out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiackid Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 They work! Cycled my first 30 through my weapon with absolutely no issues. Roughly 23.5gr of H335 under a 55gr FMJ kept me at a 2777fps avg with a SD of 52.1 on the 10 round chrono average. I was able to quickly engage 100m half-size steel silhouettes standing and kneeling without any issue when I did my part - plenty accurate and consistent for what I need at the matches here. Now it's off to load the 400 some cases I prepped while waiting for the 550 to arrive! I can see how this is going to get very, very expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alvarez Kelly Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 I'm always glad to see the feedback from new Dillon users. Congratulations... and yes... you are now going to be shooting a lot more! Have fun and be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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