Let's Talk RL550 Fine Tuning & Quirks

[Lovegasoline]

After my recent post and now acheiving reliable function from my RL550, I want to discuss some of the finer points of 550 reloading.

The only issue my press has now are minor, pet peeves (unless I'm misinformed) rather than glaring flaws.

I gave the press (used, RL550, not 'B' model, maybe 10-20 +/- years old???) a once over when I got it. I prematurely started to clean the small POWDER CHARGE BAR...I thought the surface had powder residue impacted on it. Nup, it was teflon (little did know, but I had suspicions so I stopped midway...and then confirmed my error by reading back-posts on this forum....eagerness got the best of me)! In any case I successfully polished 50% of the teflon off the bar with Flitz polish . Nevertheless, the bar seems to slide without any major hang-ups....perhaps when I'm flush with cash & in a spendin' mood I'll replace the powder bar with a new one....unless I begin to detect inaccuracies in powder metering.

BTW, what sort of powder drop repeatability + grain/- grain can be expected from a stock 550 correctly set up?

Furthermore, when running more than one POWDER MEASURE, do you go with Dillon, or is there a more accurate measure on the market that will drop in place?

Two other niggling areas concerning the powder measure. My powder measure NEVER gets tight on top of the belling/powder die. After I tighten the BODY COLLAR CLAMP until it bottoms out (the part with 2 hex/allen head screws that secures the powder measure and allows its removal/mounting)...the powder measure will still wobble a bit, jiggle, and easily rotate...it isn't ever 'clamped tight'. I called DIllon and they said it was normal for it to be jiggly. Seems a little sketchy/sloppy to me, but if it is desirable, and works, then it works. Is the Powder Masure on your press solidly fixed in place after tightening, with no rotation or wobble?

My powder measure is the older style without the Fail-Safe system. The Stripper Wing Nut which goes on the end of the rod seems to always rapidly unloosen on its own (a handful of rounds) & I need to keep a constant eye on it. I had called Dillon and mentioned the ROD SPRING (part #14033) looked a bit beat-out, they sent me a new one....however, I received a PRIMER SEATING CUP SPRING (part #14033) it seems stouter, was this a snafu or are they essentially the same part...or does it even matter?

My press came with a CARTRIDGE COUNTER, a little metered dial assembly, and when I have my crimp die set correctly, the clamp/bracket on the counter assembly seems too tall to fit over the threads of the die, where it needs to seat. It's as if it needs another 1/8" or so, and would demand raising the die further. I had tried out the counter for a dry dummy run when I first assembled the press (without adjusting the dies) , and I noticed that the actuating arm of the counter was pushing the bullet down further into the case...it was seating the bullet further...it seemed to be engaging the bullet before the latter was crimped (likely it needed finer tuning, which I did not perform...again I was just curious and playing with it). I may play around with the counter further or just sell it as was my original intention. A call to Dillon received a response that it is no longer sold and was a design that was a great idea but that the implementation was never realized successfully...so it was dropped from their product line.

What the heck is the PLASTIC PLUG (part #13921) on the Powder Measure assembly for?

I may get a Vibra-Prime from Frankford Arsenal to load the primer tubes as I've read raving reviews of it on other forums.

The only areas I haven't really explored is complete disassembly of the linkage arms to grease the pins they rotate on. My press does not have the lube holes so to get that area greased means dissassembly. I squirted some 3-in-1 Oil and also some FP-10 oil in there, but I would feel better knowing there was some grease lathered in there....I do not know how long the press was in operation (older RL550, not the 'B' model) and with no lube holes it was probably never dissassembled and lubed..at least I have to go on that assumption. I suppose if I get it apart and get ambitious I can even drill/tap it for zerk fittings. Anyone do the full disassembly? Is it a bitch? Not to bad?

What sort of tolerances do you get with the other dies, the seating die for instance? What is the repeatability +/-?

No significant primer woes to report (I did get a couple upside down primers the other day, but it could of been my error in loadig the pickup tubes?).

As I wrote @ the beginnng of the post, nothing here is a glaring problem (or neccesarily a problem @ all), I'm just entering the larger terrain of press fine tuning and discovery of the machine's quirks.

And yes, I do love my Dillon!

Thanks a bunch for any insight or comments you can offer.

[ErikW]

550 tricks & tips FAQ

[Hank Ellis]

Powder Measure Accuracy

I weigh my charges this way. Run ten charges into the scale pan and weigh it. Divide by ten and that's my charge. I typically set it up so that throwing ten charges will net me 41.3gr. After the first 50 or so rounds the powder settles in the measure and will maintain between 41.0 and 41.5gr. I check the charge every 200 rounds for practice stuff and every 100 rounds for match stuff. The first 100 rounds no matter what will be practice due to the measure settling in. When making a charge change throw 10 charges and dump it back into the hopper. Throw another 10 and weigh it.

A bit anal? Sure. I got that way after not paying close attention and almost went minor at a major match.

[Guest Larry Cazes]

BTW, what sort of powder drop repeatability + grain/- grain can be expected from a stock 550 correctly set up?

I've found that MOST of the Inaccuracy/non-repeatability of these presses and measures is due to inconsistency in the stroke and rhythm while you are loading. With a consistant technique, The measures themselves are very repeatable.