550 dropping spent primers on floor

[motosapiens]

Not just on the floor, but they seem to shoot off in various directions. About 20% of spent primers never make it into the primer chute. I searched a bit and I seem to be the only person who has ever had this problem, but I have it with 45 (not as frequently) and with 9 pretty consistently. The little primer catcher gizmo is operating fine, it's just that the primers are frequently bouncing around and over it.

ideas?

[2MoreChains]

You might check how much of your decapping pin is extruding below your sizing die. I found that too much pin can cause what you're describing. But even so, periodically one or two will end up not falling into the cup.

[Sarge]

Dillon die? If so the primers are sticking to the pin and when the spring pops it flings the primer. Either smooth the edges or put a bevel on the pin like I did.

This is a very common problem that has been talked about before

[motosapiens]

it's a lee die, not a dillon. should have mentioned that up front. not unreasonable to think the same thing could be going on tho. i'll try to dress it up a bit with a file and see what happens. thanks for the suggestion sarge.

Edited November 30, 2015 by motosapiens

[GrumpyOne]

Dillon die? If so the primers are sticking to the pin and when the spring pops it flings the primer. Either smooth the edges or put a bevel on the pin like I did.

This is a very common problem that has been talked about before

+ 1

[Jay870]

Dillon die? If so the primers are sticking to the pin and when the spring pops it flings the primer. Either smooth the edges or put a bevel on the pin like I did.

This is a very common problem that has been talked about before

Yes, this.

Every time I replace the de-capping pin I am baffled by the mess of primers until I remember I need to ease the edges of the new pin.

[Sarge]

it's a lee die, not a dillon. should have mentioned that up front. not unreasonable to think the same thing could be going on tho. i'll try to dress it up a bit with a file and see what happens. thanks for the suggestion sarge.

It helps a ton on any die . Other than that put a safety pin or finish bail in place of the cotter pin on the flapper thingy of the primer cup. It sticks also and allows enough room for primers to sneak through

[Terlingueno]

Dillon die? If so the primers are sticking to the pin and when the spring pops it flings the primer. Either smooth the edges or put a bevel on the pin like I did.

This is a very common problem that has been talked about before

A bevel all around the tip?

[Dirty Rod]

I had the same issue, especially with 9, but my problem was that the primers were bouncing off the back top edge of the primer cup and ending up on the floor or bench. After beveling the decaping pin didn't get them to fall straight down I created a little shroud to solve the problem.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Dirty Rod

[Sarge]

Dillon die? If so the primers are sticking to the pin and when the spring pops it flings the primer. Either smooth the edges or put a bevel on the pin like I did.

This is a very common problem that has been talked about before

A bevel all around the tip?

I did mine like a hypodermic needle. I worked one side down so it almost made a point on the other. Then just make sure the whole end had no burrs

[motosapiens]

i put a slight bevel all the way around (about 3 seconds on the grinder), and it appears to have solved the problem. Thanks again for the great suggestion. Not sure how I missed previous discussions when I searched.

[Terlingueno]

I did the bevel thing, no primers on the floor. Yay! On December 29th, I will have been loading on this 550B I bought from Brian for a year. Before making a decision on which progressive press, I read this forum and others about reloaders, then tried out an LNL, an RCBS, a 550B, and a Lee. The Dillon ran the smoothest, to me. Glad I made the choice I did. Thanks to all who answered my noob questions this last year.