tkheard Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 I loaded 500 minor PF 9mm today. It was fun and I learned a lot. Now to my observations: I loaded primers first. Of course! Turns out the first tube I loaded didn't have the clip on the blue end. Yes you guessed it, I flipped it over and suddenly had 100 primers in my lap and all over the place. Lesson learned! I'm having trouble getting my head around the idea that I never used that tube before in 5+ years of loading on my 550. I think I understand why the unused primer thingy is called a "ski jump". Because of case feeder issues (more later), I had about a dozen that went there. At least half of them went flying. The mod to collect them in a jar is now on the list of upgrades. The primer collection bucket missed more primers than I ever had on my 550. Another upgrade coming soon! The case feeder is so much better than the 550, but it has its own issues. Apparently, I don't get all of my cleaning media off, or at least not enough. I've got a good amount of corn cob In the bottom of the collator. This also extended to the case magazine that was covered in junk. It also made its way to the oscillating piece (I should have looked up the name of the part) and built up enough to obstruct it's free motion. Another lesson learned. Another thing to watch! I did have one upside down case that I actually caught before I did something stupid. Again, something to watch. All that notwithstanding, I love this machine! A significant improvement over the 550. I'm so glad I upgraded. BTW, the 550 has found a new home. I hope it's new owner enjoys it as much as I did. It's good to bleed blue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Sounds like you're well on the way up the learning curve ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 I haven't had too any wayward spent primers. They seem to drop in just fine. The ski jump is a thing of wonder. I can't understand why Dillon has not fixed that. Wouldn't take much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPGMD Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 I got a Dillon 650 about a month ago. I purchased the primer upgrades immediately, they actually arrived before the Dillon did to I've never used the press without them. It didn't require much of a learning curve at all to get it working. Other than getting a jam in the primer tube after trying to load too many primers my only recurring issue is the Mr. Bulletfeeder dropping upside down bullets every 100 or so rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 I got a Dillon 650 about a month ago. I purchased the primer upgrades immediately, they actually arrived before the Dillon did to I've never used the press without them. What "primer upgrades" are those ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayassa Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 I got a Dillon 650 about a month ago. I purchased the primer upgrades immediately, they actually arrived before the Dillon did to I've never used the press without them. What "primer upgrades" are those ? Look on ebay, also look up the ball upgrade under the shell plate. Don't waste your money on the bearing for the shell plate in really doesn't work well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimk60 Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 (edited) I got a Dillon 650 about a month ago. I purchased the primer upgrades immediately, they actually arrived before the Dillon did to I've never used the press without them. What "primer upgrades" are those ? Look on ebay, also look up the ball upgrade under the shell plate. Don't waste your money on the bearing for the shell plate in really doesn't work well. While the bearing ON the shell plate does not stop the jerk, it does reduce it. One other thing the bearing does is to allow you to tighten down the shell plat more than you can without it. This reduces shell plat flex when sizing, seating, crimping etc. Oh and OP, I loaded close to 10K rounds in the 3 years I've had my 650. Friday I forgot to replace the spring clip on the pickup tube before loading the with primers. So don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Spent primer attachment a must. I use a home made one ( 650 tips and tricks for ideas), that drops the spent primer down plastic tubing into a jar under my bench. Upside down cases and bullets from the MBF are mostly caused by excessive movement of the press when cycling rounds. Not only does your press have to be secured to the bench, but most 650 users secure the bench to the wall, and sometimes the floor as well. Good loading. Edited July 10, 2016 by Jimk60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman16 Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 An inlineFabrication.com "ERGO ROLLER HANDLE" is an improvement. It allows LESS DIPPING of your body on the down stroke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 I got a Dillon 650 about a month ago. I purchased the primer upgrades immediately, they actually arrived before the Dillon did to I've never used the press without them. What "primer upgrades" are those ? Look on ebay, also look up the ball upgrade under the shell plate. Don't waste your money on the bearing for the shell plate in really doesn't work well.I just made one of those faces that made my wife wonder out loud if I just read something funny. The bearing most certainly helps. I have mine set so tight it takes some effort to turn the plate by hand. That's what the bearing allows. Along with some tweaking of the indexing block there is virtually no snap in my press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkheard Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 A brief update: I saw a post (somewhere else) where a fellow used electrical tape and made a flexible extended rim around the spent primer bucket. I've done another 200 without a primer taking an excursion. Cheap and, thus far, effective. We'll see how it works over the long haul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayassa Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 (edited) I got a Dillon 650 about a month ago. I purchased the primer upgrades immediately, they actually arrived before the Dillon did to I've never used the press without them. I'll try your way and torque it down some more. What "primer upgrades" are those ? Look on ebay, also look up the ball upgrade under the shell plate. Don't waste your money on the bearing for the shell plate in really doesn't work well.I just made one of those faces that made my wife wonder out loud if I just read something funny.The bearing most certainly helps. I have mine set so tight it takes some effort to turn the plate by hand. That's what the bearing allows. Along with some tweaking of the indexing block there is virtually no snap in my press. I just made the same face, you must have got yours to work without having to mess with it all the time. Cutting the spring worked better. This guy started selling these - Tired of your 650XL roller bearing loosing up with use? http://www.ebay.com/itm/231807872018 This is the one I was using - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shellplate-Bearing-Kit-w-low-mass-detent-ball-for-Dillon-650/191271651675?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D2a609619b29c4a6db76daab3f19fb7bb%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D231807872018 Edited July 11, 2016 by mayassa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I have tried all the shell plate mods etc. what you have to realise is the very last part of the indexing has no relation to how fast or slow you move the handle, it's partially moved by the spring and partially by the detent ball snapping into it's hole on the underside of the shell plate. Since I load 38 super major for a very short, very ported open gun I was loading 10.4gn of 3N38 (basically a full case of a very fine powder - almost like dust!) and about 11gn or N105 (ball powder). What I found works (and I spent a lot of mixing and matching parts) is this: standard dillon spring with 1/2 a coil cut off (don't do this till you have a spare parts kit which has a spare spring in case you bugger it up) one of the light weight phenolic detent balls the roller bearing and ONE washer only (between bearing and bolt head). An index mark in white paint on the bolt head so you can monitor it's position (tension). You still need to spend a good while dialling it in. It's a very small amount of rotation to go from too loose to too tight. here's a video of how it runs when set right. watch the cases coming from station 2 into station 3 (they're full of powder). see how they come to a nice stop with no bounce/snap to them? if yours is not like that it can be improved. That is a very full case of powder and none gets spilled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMechanic Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 (edited) I run the bearing under the shellplate. Cures snapping shellplate 70% and cost $10. Worth it just to get more consistent ammo out of the wobble-free plate. Switch to cheaper crushed walnut for tumbling media. The vastly smaller particles won't jam your press and they sort out much more quickly when you use a tumble separator. Think sand instead of small gravel sized pieces. It's relatively cheaply found as lizard/reptile bedding from Petco, too. If you learn what you're doing you'll never, ever have a primer on the ski jump. I didn't even bother to install a fix for it. Tips for this: Keep a piece of wire long enough to use for a twist-tie handy. Clearing jams and such, tie the arm that ratchets a new primer up and out of the way really fast... so that up and down motions don't ratchet primers down the chute. I bent up a piece of coathanger and it lives on a magnet glued to the side of the press. Disabling the priming system on command is incredibly helpful. More commonly than full-on jams in a 650, you'll have crappy cases or 380s or whatever cause you to pitch a case. Now you have a prime and no piece of brass to put it into... staring at you in station 2. Before your next session, run 30 pieces of 9mm brass through the press at station 1 only pick it off the shellplate before you bell the case and obviously don't prime it. Toss that deprimed, resized brass in a box next to the press. Now you have something to put into station 2 whenever you reject a piece of brass or the sizing die crushes a case mouth... and you just keep going. Similarly, have some brass handy that hasn't been through station 1. Just cleaned brass meant for the casefeeder. You'll find you need a few of those too. Also, don't be afraid to play with the timing of the shellplate to priming situation: there are two bolts on the left side of the press down low that control exactly where the shellplate ratchets to. Adjust those anytime your press seems to frequently have a "hitch" as the primer first hits the bottom of the case pocket. Primers matter more in a 650: CCI and Federal go through mine like butter. Wolf and Winchester hung up on the troublesome foreign headstamps & WIN 9mm brass without beveled pocket shoulders much more often. I run CCI pretty much exclusively now, and use Federal SPP for big matches. My press eats both like candy, and we all know that a gun that lights off properly seated CCIs at all of your local matches will easily pop federal primers all day long when you get to a major. Edited July 11, 2016 by MemphisMechanic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPGMD Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I got a Dillon 650 about a month ago. I purchased the primer upgrades immediately, they actually arrived before the Dillon did to I've never used the press without them. What "primer upgrades" are those ? Uniquetek Spent Primer tube, and the Uniquetek replacement live primer ramp. You can see both on this picture: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMechanic Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 You're loading on a wheeled cart? After screwing my (already massive) reloading bench to the wall and seeing the night and day difference that made... I'm a bit skeptical of anything on casters that weighs less than about 2,000 pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxerglocker Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 (edited) I got a Dillon 650 about a month ago. I purchased the primer upgrades immediately, they actually arrived before the Dillon did to I've never used the press without them. What "primer upgrades" are those ? Look on ebay, also look up the ball upgrade under the shell plate. Don't waste your money on the bearing for the shell plate in really doesn't work well. If the bearing mod doesn't work well , you simply haven't done it right. I haven't had an issue after tuning the ejector spring had mine going on 8 years as is now... Edited July 11, 2016 by Boxerglocker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S. Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I smiled reading about the dropping the primers, only because it sounded like something I would do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PPGMD Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 (edited) You're loading on a wheeled cart? After screwing my (already massive) reloading bench to the wall and seeing the night and day difference that made... I'm a bit skeptical of anything on casters that weighs less than about 2,000 pounds. The cart is about 8-12' x 4', and is pretty solid. Right now my only issues are about a 1 in 100 upside down bullet rate from my MBF, the rare case not wanting to feed into the shell plate, and the even rarer military crimped primers I missed when I cull my brass. Edited July 11, 2016 by PPGMD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayassa Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 I load 38 super with VV 3N38, now all I do is spray some case lube on my brass, I de-prime and wet tumble. I'm not getting any more snap or tossing any more powder more than with the bearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handloader109 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 My mods for 9mm, yes, cut off one coil of spring, no joy. Bought cheap kit with plastic ball, and bearing. Used ball and after fooling with it for a while, one washer under bolt head and bearing between plate and washer. And it is a good bit of tweaking to get to move comfortably and not dump powder. Once you get it right, you can do it easier. And yes, you probably need to rebend the ejector wire down a bit to eject without hanging up round. Did a cheap spent primer tube with drilled out bullet case that will fit on bracket and cheap tube I already had. I have figured out when I'll have an extra primer and I too have a couple of extra deprimed cases in order to insert. Btw, I use a little L shaped bracket that has a small hole in one leg (about an eighth inch diameter) that I place under the primer feed bracket to stop it from advancing. Easy and works. I don't let ski jump build up.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelindsey Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I too bought off eBay both primer catchers. On new primers I chose the little bottle and like it. For the spent I got the hose to a small jar. Glad I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TANFARM Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Spent primer tube and bottle....a must have ....amazing when you empty a 2 quart bottle of spent primers.....holy smoke...that's were it all went..... Foam handle for ergo handle....great investment . Spare parts kit and 10 extra primer tubes....a must Long tweezers for case feeder jams ....several sizes...a must Magnetic LED sewing light from Amazon...perfect fit to light shell plate. Case feeder....absolute no brainier. Tons of powder, projectiles , primers and brass.....NEVER run low.... Great machine....totally satisfied with my 650 and Dillon service second to none..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxbat Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 (edited) Had several bearings - got rid of all of them. I just don't have an issue with the snap. Spent primer chute - yes, a no-brainer, yes... but on the ski jump - just a piece of plastic tube keeps the primers there. The one you buy looks awful to me, and it is... wrong color! On the cart - you will be amazed how much your feel and quality improve when you anchor your bench to the walls and to the floor. Rock-solid stability is a must. Edited July 19, 2016 by Foxbat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phlier Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 I have tried all the shell plate mods etc. what you have to realise is the very last part of the indexing has no relation to how fast or slow you move the handle, it's partially moved by the spring and partially by the detent ball snapping into it's hole on the underside of the shell plate. Since I load 38 super major for a very short, very ported open gun I was loading 10.4gn of 3N38 (basically a full case of a very fine powder - almost like dust!) and about 11gn or N105 (ball powder). What I found works (and I spent a lot of mixing and matching parts) is this: standard dillon spring with 1/2 a coil cut off (don't do this till you have a spare parts kit which has a spare spring in case you bugger it up) one of the light weight phenolic detent balls the roller bearing and ONE washer only (between bearing and bolt head). An index mark in white paint on the bolt head so you can monitor it's position (tension). You still need to spend a good while dialling it in. It's a very small amount of rotation to go from too loose to too tight. here's a video of how it runs when set right. watch the cases coming from station 2 into station 3 (they're full of powder). see how they come to a nice stop with no bounce/snap to them? if yours is not like that it can be improved. That is a very full case of powder and none gets spilled. Extremely helpful, thank you. I have a link to what looks like a good light weight detent ball, but I'm not quite sure which roller bearing and washer to use. Using the roller bearing and washer, did you need to bend the ejector rod? I'll be ordering my 650 next Monday, and am trying to learn all I can beforehand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelindsey Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 I too got all the upgrades from Amazon and EBay as soon as I got my 650. No more spills and got the light as well to keep up on powder charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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