no1boogie Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 OK I've read some of the threads on loading for the 223 on a dillon 550 but I still have a few questions. (needless to say loading for a rifle on a progressive press is a new one for me). I will probably set up a small base RCBS sizing die on my lyman turret press, size the cases wipe off the lube then trim with a little crow trimmer cause thats what i have and money is an issue. Then load as usual on the 550. My question is; is this the best way or simply one of many that works? If i use the resizing die on the dillon, at what point do i remove the lube? i've heard different answers ranging from size the case pull it out of the press wipe it down put it back in and rotate as normal all the way to load the round all the through the stages then tumble the loaded rounds to remove the lube. (not sure about tumbling loaded rounds tho) Any help would be appreciated. I load over 80 calibers a lot of which are obsolete to keep old guns up and running (32 remington anyone?) But this rifle progressive thing has me scratching my head. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Welcome to the forum. My biggest issue is crimped primers. I have a single stage Lee press that I size and deprime. I then swage and trim. . I run them through a quick vibrating cleaning in crushed walnut. The brass is now GTG. I keep station one die hole empty and run through as normal, priming only in station one. You don't have to tumble loaded rounds. BTW it's OK to vibrate loaded rounds. YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmt Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Not only do i load .223 on my 550, I do it with the casefeeder attachment. All brass gets a 1 hour tumble to remove dirt. I size/deprime on my Rock Chucker then tumble for an hour to remove the sizing lube. Cases are trimmed & chamfered & primer pockets reamed on a Frankford Arsenal machine. The Lee reamer will screw onto the Frankford in place of the the pocket cleaner. The casefeed hopper has the small rifle plate. The bottom of the tube has a green (9mm) casefeed adapter that has been dremeled to allow the .223 case to pass through. You can also buy a .223 adapter (white) I use a .38supercomp locator plate for station #1. There is no die in station #1. Powder drop in station #2, a seating die in station #3 and a Lee factory crimp die in station #4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no1boogie Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 ok excellent answers guys! thank you so much. I think I will stay with my plan to use my lyman to size and deprime then either leave station one empty or remove the stem from the die to help align the case. But will probably leave it empty as this is easier.Dillon tumbler to remove lube and I am all set! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjacobs Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 leave station 1 completely empty. Prep on your other machine like you are thinking. Most 550 guys I know have 2 tool heads: 1 prep, 1 loading. You are basically doing this just one a different machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSPCRX Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 My order of ops 1) Tumble brass 2) lube brass 3) Size and decap on RCBS single stage 4) tumble to remove lube 5) Trim and work primer pockets 6) The rest is on the 550 (prime, powder and seat). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iowa Fox Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Deprime on a single stage not a sizing die wash in Lemi shine & dry inspect each case & trim if needed lube with Dillon spray lube I use all three Dillon dies carefully check powder level on station three before setting each bullet wipe loaded rounds off with a rag as I take them from the ejection bin to box them I like to wash cases in liquid as it gets all the grit out and off the cases before loading. When I tumbled in media the cases were clean but when the primer was punched out a lot of burnt priming grit dust still fell out on the machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raydee38 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 (edited) Not only do i load .223 on my 550, I do it with the casefeeder attachment. All brass gets a 1 hour tumble to remove dirt. I size/deprime on my Rock Chucker then tumble for an hour to remove the sizing lube. Cases are trimmed & chamfered & primer pockets reamed on a Frankford Arsenal machine. The Lee reamer will screw onto the Frankford in place of the the pocket cleaner. The casefeed hopper has the small rifle plate. The bottom of the tube has a green (9mm) casefeed adapter that has been dremeled to allow the .223 case to pass through. You can also buy a .223 adapter (white) I use a .38supercomp locator plate for station #1. There is no die in station #1. Powder drop in station #2, a seating die in station #3 and a Lee factory crimp die in station #4. Can you buy each of those parts separately?I tried to price everything i need to convert my 550 to casefeed 223 and it works out to about $335. I am not real sure that is worth the effort or not. Edited January 2, 2015 by Raydee38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmt Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Not only do i load .223 on my 550, I do it with the casefeeder attachment. All brass gets a 1 hour tumble to remove dirt. I size/deprime on my Rock Chucker then tumble for an hour to remove the sizing lube. Cases are trimmed & chamfered & primer pockets reamed on a Frankford Arsenal machine. The Lee reamer will screw onto the Frankford in place of the the pocket cleaner. The casefeed hopper has the small rifle plate. The bottom of the tube has a green (9mm) casefeed adapter that has been dremeled to allow the .223 case to pass through. You can also buy a .223 adapter (white) I use a .38supercomp locator plate for station #1. There is no die in station #1. Powder drop in station #2, a seating die in station #3 and a Lee factory crimp die in station #4. Can you buy each of those parts separately?I tried to price everything i need to convert my 550 to casefeed 223 and it works out to about $335. I am not real sure that is worth the effort or not. Yes, everything can be purchased separately. I've had the casefeeder for many years on the 550. Just started loading .223 on it last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raydee38 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Ok so if I want to order each part separately will I have to order directly from Dillon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDA Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Ok so if I want to order each part separately will I have to order directly from Dillon? Or Brian Enos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I'd suggest a universal decaping die in station #1 if you tumble the brass in corn cob / walnut after sizing & trimming. It clears out the flash hole. If you are wet tumbling, I suppose it is not needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwhpfan Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) I don't remove the lube. de cap and resize, trim, remove crimp. * I have tumbled at this point but I noticed bits of walnut in the flash hole that I've had to remove by hand. Then I run them through my 550 with the decap/size die empty until complete. This is ammo I shoot in an AR for 3 gun and related practice. Edited January 3, 2015 by nwhpfan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danattherock Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I read all the stuff when I got started. Oddly enough, first thing I loaded when I got into reloading last year was 223 on a 550B. I use once fired PMC brass. WFT as well, great trimmer for $75. I do it all on the 550, with one toolhead. Station one deprimes, sizes, and primes. Dillon dies are small base as I understand it. Loaded a 1000 flawless rounds at any rate. Station two drops powder. Station three gets my 55 gr Hornady budget plinking bullet. Four crimps slightly. Afterwards I put all rounds on a towel and wipe off case lube. I roll my cases on rcbs case lube pad after one shot left a case stuck. I only use one shot on pistol cases now. That's it. Simple and quick 1.25-1.5 MOA ammo. Loading 223 on a 550 can be simple or complicated. So far, I see no benefit in making it complicated. My sub MOA target 69 SMK are made on Rock chucker, weight sorted Lapua brass, individually weighed charges of Varget on Rcbs chargemaster. But for high volume plinking ammo on a 550?? I will keep it simple. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekratman Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I am flirting with the idea of placing a Dillon trimmer on a my 550 along with the CS swage tool. I could have a toolhead to size, deprime, swage and trim. Then I would have another to load. It looks like Dillon is making a 1500 trimmer to allow for 300 blackout. I may just grab a 1200 trimmer on ebay or the classifieds if I can find one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dauntedfuture Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 For years I loaded most everything on a 550. I now have a 550. It is faster to install a tool head on the 550 and just run a single sizing die then it will be to use a single stage press. The reason its faster is that all you will have to do is insert the brass into the press and rotate as opposed to insert and take out; its a more efficient motion. Also, the Dillon press is fairly stout as compared to several others so you don't loose anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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