550 case feeder

[Bmans45]

I have been using the same 550’s for years with no trouble . I have one in small primer and one large primers . As long as I blow them off once in a while they run great . I started shooting limited this year and was looking at adding a case feeder to my small primer 550 for my 40 because my need has increased . I don’t want to spend the money and buy  a 650 and a case feeder for 1000 when I can spend 400 and keep loading . So anybody with a case feeder on a 550 let me n ow how you like it. 

Edited April 22, 2019 by Bmans45

[dillon]

How old is your 550? Machines made from the mid-1990s and earlier have some clearance issues. We use a die grinder to modify the frame for proper clearance, then use touchup paint.

 

[gusshuman]

like mine

[Ace38super]

I have 2 550B. I bought the 550 case feeder when it came out. I installed it on the machine I used to load .38 Super. It worked quite well. The only problem was once in a while a piece of tumbling media would get caught in the drop tube adapter and a case would get wedged in. No way to clear except take the whole drop tube off and push the case out. I found I was shooting more 9mm and now the case feeder is on the 550 that is dedicated to 9mm. The other machine is for Super and .223. The situation with the media jam still exists, although I recently changed to wet tumbling so I wont have that problem going forward. There is one new problem using 9mm. Every 100 to 200 rounds a case will go into the drop tube upside down. This never happened with .38 Super. This makes the case fail to feed into the size/deprine station and the case is usually flat on the slide and can be removed without problem. Thanks to the manual advance on the 550 it does not create too much issue. On the whole I would buy it again.

 

[Rugerglock]

I really like mine for loading 9mm

[eisenhow]

I was in a similar situation to you.  I wanted to load faster but didn't want to deal with selling my 550 and buying a 650 (didn't have room for both).  I could never get the 550 working with the case feeder reliably  for all calibers I loaded.  It worked but I was constantly fiddling with it (which slowed me down significantly).  The manual indexing was NOT an issue without the casefeeder but it definitely limits you with one.  I finally broke down and bought a 650, sold the 550, and used the casefeeder for my case pro.  The 550 is a great machine and if I had the room I would still have it but without the casefeeder.  If you want a casefeeder I'd recommend going for a 650 instead. 

[78Staff]

I also ran a case feeder on the 550 for a while - I posted a lengthy summary a couple years back - but to summarize - I have one of the older 550's with the clearance issues - Dillon send me a revised toolhead setup which worked fine, although it sounds like they no longer offer that option.  However, the whole affair was klunky, at best.  Clearly an afterthought, unlike the 650 which was designed from the get-go to run a case feeder.  While it worked, it was very complicated to install and setup, and imo the whole process was akin to an Octopus falling out of a tree.  The only instance in which I would recommend one is where you have a singular setup and don't change loads/calibers very often, or not all all.  Then it might be worthwhile.

 

Actually found my original post... - 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by 78Staff