Thanks Brian!

[gahunter12]

Just got my new RL550b today! Thanks for the great service! I just got it set up on my bench this evening. I do have a few questions. 1st. Whats the best way to set the flair/powder die for 40 S&W, and how much flair should I see when I run a case thru it? I am measuring .424 in the body of the case and .428 at the mouth. Is that too much, not enough, or correct. I searched for the answer in all my manuals, but could not find the numbers. All I can say is this is a Class "A" machine!

[Skydiver]

I read somewhere that their rule of thumb to go for twice the case wall width. So if your case wall was 0.005, and the diameter was 0.424, the belling would be 0.434. Although the manual doesn't have exact measurements, it does show a picture of too much, too little, and just right amount of belling in diagram form.

Me personally, I just go big enough so that the bullet doesn't fall off or fall over on my 650 as it indexes, or when the press goes up.

Oh yeah: Congratulations on the press, BTW! I'm quite sure it will serve you well over the years. And welcome to the forums.

Edited January 10, 2012 by Skydiver

[benos]

I'm pretty sure Dillon's advice on setting the flare is to bell the case a total of .010" more than the case's diameter. Personally, I never measured that dimension; I experimented - alternating back and forth between too little flare and too much flare, until I got it "just right." The goal of just right being - when I set the bullet on the case, it would have the least tendency to tip over a bit.

be

[Undrpsi]

I'm at work..so I can't be 100% sure..but..

On the 550b DVD...when the guy is doing his set up he measures the case and talk about the flare should be XX...then states "adjust flare for minimum resize, bullet should barely fit without falling over". If I remember right..the Lee presses state the same thing. They further state that the less you resize the brass, the longer it will last.

I don't measure the wall thickness, case mouth OD, etc...I flare it just enough so the bullet clears...just my .02

Undrpsi

[gahunter12]

Thanks for the replies. I have been playing with it some. I have a fellow hand loader that also uses a RL550b coming over to go over the machine with me. I have always learned better by watching and doing than reading. LOL.

[A63111]

If I am not mistaken the 550 manual calls for.020. Like everyone else I never measure just increase until the bullets sits nice. If the case mouth looks like a bugle your going too far.