550 Case Feeder Operation?

[jkrispies]

Hi all!

I've been playing with the idea of getting a case feeder for my 550 for awhile now, especially since I'm battling tennis elbow in my right arm, and reducing the movement on that side while reloading is looking more and more attractive. Anyway, I have a couple concerns, and I'm hoping some folks with experience could assist.

1. How easy is it to convert from one caliber to another, particularly when going from the "large" kit to a "small" kit? (I'll start with using it for a "large" .45acp, but will eventually want a "small" .223 conversion for sure, and probably a 9mm as well.)

2. I'll also want to reload other rounds than those that fit the case feeder. Does it swing out of the way when not in use, or would it be an impediment? For instance, I reload .38/.357 on my 550, but not enough to warrant the expense of getting a case feeder conversion for it-- what do I do with the case feeder when reloading this round? A photo of it disabled for use with other calibers would be appreciated to help me understand the situation.

3. Finally, of course, how well does it work? I think there were some gripes about it being finicky when it was first released, but then Dillon did some upgrades?

Thanks,

John

PS: Not to be snide, but if your response is going to be "just get a 650/1050" for something like that, please save that for a different thread...

[Scythe]

Tag for my future upgrade

[tkheard]

Just put one on my 550B.

1. Changing the primer is the same. Less space because of the plunger assembly. Change the calibre specific color coded tube and the ramp insert. No big deal.

2. It doesn't swing away. You change the platform out to install the case feeder bits. You would have to hand insert the cases and it's kind of cramped but can be done. A strong rubber band, a zip tie, or other method can be used to lock the plunger back. The case feed conversion is pretty cheap, too.

3. Setting it up properly takes a bit of fiddling, but once done it seems pretty reliable.

[ZackJones]

I have one on my 550B and it was money well spent, especially because I was able to find a used one . Setting it up properly is critical so take your time and follow the steps. When you first start using it go slow and see how everything works. I do have two complaints about mine (1) while you're loading the case feeder will turn on and off as needed to add more brass to the feeder. It will drop one or two pieces of brass at a time. It would be nice if there was some way that the feeder could wait and then add, say 10 cases at a time instead of one or two. For the most part I ignore it but sometimes it does get annoying hearing it switch on and off like it does and (2) I would have to have a way to lock it back so that new cases aren't fed one every stroke. This gets annoying when trying to adjust either the powder charge or the seating die. If I need to make an adjustment to either I make sure to turn it off and then empty the tube of all brass before making the adjustments. Even with my minor gripes I'm happy that I bought it and will have one on any future Dillon presses I buy in the future.

[jkrispies]

Brian does mention in his Dillon FAQ's that there's issues with the 550b case feeder (http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillonfaqs.html#550case) in as much as it doesn't feed .223 (I think there's a workaround for this though?) and it's hard to manually feed around it when not using the case feeder for a particular round due to the close quarters that the feeder forces on the fingers. Might be a deal breaker. I'm wondering if anybody could provide photos? Thanks, John

[pmt]

I have one on my 550B and it was money well spent, especially because I was able to find a used one . Setting it up properly is critical so take your time and follow the steps. When you first start using it go slow and see how everything works. I do have two complaints about mine (1) while you're loading the case feeder will turn on and off as needed to add more brass to the feeder. It will drop one or two pieces of brass at a time. It would be nice if there was some way that the feeder could wait and then add, say 10 cases at a time instead of one or two. For the most part I ignore it but sometimes it does get annoying hearing it switch on and off like it does and (2) I would have to have a way to lock it back so that new cases aren't fed one every stroke. This gets annoying when trying to adjust either the powder charge or the seating die. If I need to make an adjustment to either I make sure to turn it off and then empty the tube of all brass before making the adjustments. Even with my minor gripes I'm happy that I bought it and will have one on any future Dillon presses I buy in the future.

Brian does mention in his Dillon FAQ's that there's issues with the 550b case feeder (http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillonfaqs.html#550case) in as much as it doesn't feed .223 (I think there's a workaround for this though?) and it's hard to manually feed around it when not using the case feeder for a particular round due to the close quarters that the feeder forces on the fingers. Might be a deal breaker. I'm wondering if anybody could provide photos? Thanks, John

If you do a search on 550 casefeeder threads you will find solutions to locking back the plunger for adjustments, and how to load 223 with a casefeeder.

[Walnut]

I loaded 223 on my 559, I had to make adjustments to the cam timing, but it worked quite well, even when I had to run slower than I do with pistol, it worked pretty good for a homemade conversion. It wasn't perfect, but worked well enough that I never manually feed brass in my other non casefeed 550. Just search around here, you'll find tons of good info on how to do it.

JW

[Leadpilot]

I really like the 550 case feeder. I use it to process pistol brass and I've had zero issues. You can still load brass by hand from the left side like the red and green presses if you had to.

[Tino2212]

You can lockback the plunger and when you remove the ejector wire you can flip the completed round out with your finger .

And then put in a new case before you rotate it to station 1 that way the casefeeder is not in the way so you dont have to remove it .

This is what i do if i am loading calibers where i dont have conversion kits for ( or where there are no conversion kits for ) for example 308 .

[Tino2212]

Picture of locked plunger and removed wire .

Edited September 22, 2015 by Tino2212

[jkrispies]

You can lockback the plunger and when you remove the ejector wire you can flip the completed round out with your finger .

And then put in a new case before you rotate it to station 1 that way the casefeeder is not in the way so you dont have to remove it .

This is what i do if i am loading calibers where i dont have conversion kits for ( or where there are no conversion kits for ) for example 308 .

Interesting and smart! Will bear that in mind.

[eisenhow]

A few years ago I had a 550b that I was using. I was setup for 4 or 5 calibers and actively reloading 3 of those. I wanted to load faster and contemplated adding a case feeder to the 550b or getting a 650. I added up the costs and decided to keep the 550b and add the case feeder. I thought of selling the 550b and buying 650 since I could get most of my money back due to the high resale value. I didn't want to deal with the hassle of selling and or parting out all the caliber conversions. After about a year I finally bit the bullet and bought the 650. I ended up selling the 550b. If I had more space I would have kept it for lower volume calibers.

The 550b is a great well balanced machine. I loaded thousands of rounds on mine, with and without a case feeder. The lack of auto index is not a limiting factor without a case feeder. When you add the casefeeder your left hand has to do a lot more work than the right. AssUMe'ing you can get the 550 case feeder to work correctly, I never could, your right hand never leaves the handle. Your left has to advance the shell plate, grab a bullet, and place a bullet. I had all kinds of problem getting the machine to feed cases reliably.