ar10ar15man Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 (edited) ok...background. prior dillon dealer/sales first 2 550's in the mid 90's..one large one small primer. i load a lot, i buy primers 25- 50,000 at a time. sold those 2 after factory refurb's and bought 2 new 550's in 2011 or so. the new 550's BOTH collect primer debris under the slides. the old presses did not...i do not believe i cleaned either slide on either press in all the years i owned the presses... no primer feed issues. the new presses.....both suck compare to the old presses. today i had dillon send a full priming system because i could not get my small primer press to work.....i tried everything no luck, they sent the full kit, i installed and ran 100 primers/loads...no issues... happy camper.... loaded second tube of primers, and started getting a sticking slide..... in less than 200 rounds i have enough debis to stop the primer slide...... no way to load 500 an hour when you have to clean the slide every 25-50 rounds..... ( so i have a bandaid, but was,hoping someone had a fix.....) thanks Edited September 17, 2014 by ar10ar15man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dillon Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 Do you have any .060" thick steel shim plates underneath the primer slides on your machines? Black oxide finish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar10ar15man Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Do you have any .060" thick steel shim plates underneath the primer slides on your machines? Black oxide finish yep a brand new one courtesy of you guys.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmt Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Why is so much debris collecting under the slide? Where is it all coming from? It shouldn't be lubed, nothing should really stick to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar10ar15man Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 (edited) Why is so much debris collecting under the slide? Where is it all coming from? It shouldn't be lubed, nothing should really stick to it. primer "dust" from deprimming. everytime you press forward to prime you crush /compact this carbon based debris...it builds up on the shim/slide..it actually embedds in the soft aluminum of the slide. how much ?? enough to stop the return spring from pulling the slide closed....... what is chemically different in primers today and primers from late 90's/2000's ?? like i said old presses did not do this , only todays presses. i currently clean the slide on the small primer machine ATLEAST every 500 rounds...that is complete dissassemble, clean and re-install. i currently do about 5000 a month on the small and about 2000 a month on the large primer press.....doing a lot less (pistol) shooting now that i am semi retired. Edited September 17, 2014 by ar10ar15man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-Bros_JLR Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 It might not be the best thing to do, but I add some light lube to the primer slide every now and then to keep it from sticking. I ran into this problem recently and that was the quick and dirty solution to get my production back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar10ar15man Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 (edited) It might not be the best thing to do, but I add some light lube to the primer slide every now and then to keep it from sticking. I ran into this problem recently and that was the quick and dirty solution to get my production back up. ok....so bandaids as oppose to correction of the problem. when i ran into this when i first bought the presses, i took the slide and cut grooves in the bottom to reduce contact area, and hopefully scrape some debris out of the area. this does typically work for about 500 rounds then sticking occurs. during the 500, i will clean with a tooth brush what i can get at...top of the slide shim, bottom of the slide in the extended position. if i get sticking when i have a bunch of primers in the tube..i will add lube to bandaid till the tube is empty..... like i said...this NEVER occured in the first 15 years or so on the early presses...never. Edited September 17, 2014 by ar10ar15man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar10ar15man Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 for the record this is once fired indoor brass cleaned and polished. 380.9mm.38 spcl.40s&w.......plinking practice ammo, and 45 acp on the large primer press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmt Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 It sounds like cutting grooves in the bottom created a space for the the debris to collect. Do the grooves extend to the front of the slide? With nice flat sliding surfaces any debris that lands in front of the slide should be pushed out of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar10ar15man Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 It sounds like cutting grooves in the bottom created a space for the the debris to collect. Do the grooves extend to the front of the slide? With nice flat sliding surfaces any debris that lands in front of the slide should be pushed out of the way. sorry...but it is the other way around... brand new primer slide straight from dillon and it started sticking in less than 200 rounds.... with a grooved slide i can typically do 500, and then clean. theroy is the nice square slide on top of the flat shim should "sweep" it self clean. in practice the clearance between the slide/guide/shim allow debris under the slide where it is crushed, embedded and builds up till the slide sticks. my original guess was sloppier tolerance in the new press...leaving room for the debris build up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob DuBois Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Have an air compressor? If not get some caned air from an office supply store. Lube the primer slide with powdered graphite. Can't use any type of wet lube only makes the slide attract powder and trash. Purchase in the lock dept at Lowe's or Home Depot. Ace has a bigger bottle be using it for about ten years now. Clean and lube with graphite. Any pot marks on the bottom of the slide hit with a small flat file don't remove much metal just the raise areas. Starts to stick give it a blast of air and a dusting of graphite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David.Hylton Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 The screws may be too tight. I back mine off a little bit so they hold everything in place but are not super tight. I also use Teflon lube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safeactionjackson Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 (edited) Have an air compressor? If not get some caned air from an office supply store. Lube the primer slide with powdered graphite. Can't use any type of wet lube only makes the slide attract powder and trash. Purchase in the lock dept at Lowe's or Home Depot. Ace has a bigger bottle be using it for about ten years now. Clean and lube with graphite. Any pot marks on the bottom of the slide hit with a small flat file don't remove much metal just the raise areas. Starts to stick give it a blast of air and a dusting of graphite. ^the graphite really smoothed everything out on my 550b, I use a very small amount (one tube will probably last a lifetime) and clean it all off and re-lube whenever I switch calibers. I don't consider this a bandaid, but to each their own. I never run at 500rnds an hour, I do a steady 400rnd an hour with ease, and without rushing all the time. If I need higher per hour output.... I simply reload on the s1050! ~g Edited September 18, 2014 by safeactionjackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar10ar15man Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 i'll give the graphite a try..i have a one pound can ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar10ar15man Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 so i tried graphite on the slide... at round 90 of 100 the slide began sticking...... no one else has this issue ??? only me ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Rod Posted September 18, 2014 Share Posted September 18, 2014 How tight are you setting the screws for the primer assembly? If I make them really tight I get what you are getting. If I just make them snug I get 800-1000 before the slide needs to be cleaned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar10ar15man Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 How tight are you setting the screws for the primer assembly? If I make them really tight I get what you are getting. If I just make them snug I get 800-1000 before the slide needs to be cleaned. ok..i'll try looser... but no more ammo for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Wow. I feel so lucky now...I think I have taken the primer assembly out of my 550 once in 30k rounds? I wipe the sides down with alcohol on a rag once in a while, a little graphite once in a while...but my 550 is old...I think...I bought it used 8 years ago...how old it was when I got it, I have no clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar10ar15man Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 Wow. I feel so lucky now...I think I have taken the primer assembly out of my 550 once in 30k rounds? I wipe the sides down with alcohol on a rag once in a while, a little graphite once in a while...but my 550 is old...I think...I bought it used 8 years ago...how old it was when I got it, I have no clue. my exact point..i think the newer once have some diference from the old one's i had no issues with my old one's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmt Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 My 550 is 10yrs old. I don't know if that's considered old or new. I clean it once a year. Never had a problem with the primer feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackJones Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 I bought my 550B this year and have loaded at least 5000 rounds on it and I've yet to have any problems with primers feeding. The only problem I have is I seem to be going through powder much faster these days . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikethor Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 I had similar problem and had to clean slide every three hundred rds or so due to debris from primer etc. The reason I had so much debris accumulating however was because my primer chute was jammed shut......which I later fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 so i tried graphite on the slide... at round 90 of 100 the slide began sticking...... no one else has this issue ??? only me ??? I've had similar issues. If you search here and maybe on youtube, you should find a thread/video where someone explains and shows off his "redesigned" primer slide bearing. It's longer, has a channel in it for the primer slide return spring post, and supports the slide better when it's back picking up a primer. I eventually had a friend much handier than I make me a copy. I've been using it for probably a couple thousand rounds, and not had any trouble. Since it doesn't have the slick coating Dillon puts on theirs, I do put a tiny amount of powdered graphite on it. Here...I found it for you. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=181925&hl=%2Bbearing#entry2007333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tires2burn Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 I found if you tighten the screws to much the screw hole will expand and rub on the primer slide . Run a fine file on the inside where the slide rides and you can see high spots on the alum. Worked for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolton916 Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 I found if you tighten the screws to much the screw hole will expand and rub on the primer slide . Run a fine file on the inside where the slide rides and you can see high spots on the alum. Worked for me. Same here, let my oldest use the press to load some SD .45's and she did this changing the primer bar. I just filed it flat and it was fine. I always clean and wipe the slide and plate with a Hoppes wipe every changeover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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