550 observations and questions

[Chewy]

Hello!

 

Thanks to the many helpful people on this forum I loaded my first 500 or so rounds with my new 550c.   Varying bullet weights and powder charges, ready to chrono.  

 

There was a couple things that I observed.  Nothing crazy bad, just annoying sometimes.  Was wondering if there was anyone else who ran into these issues and how they fixed it.

 

1)  When de-priming, the old primer / dust isn't all collected by the metal "claw" underneath.   Sometimes I see them shoot out the spaces on the sides onto the table, right next to the piston,  under the strong mount, on the floor, everywhere really.  Seems like 1 out of every 50 or so decide to go rogue and find those spaces.   Anyone know how to fix this?   As long as they go into the metal "claw" then the rest is taken care of from my extended spent primer tube I got (one of the best accessories, great recommendation!).

 

2)  In station 2, if the case is not completely upright when I pull the handle, sometimes it will crush / fold a small portion of the casing (approx 3mm) while its belling the case.   I realize that sometimes it doesn't line up quite right to the power drop.  As long as I'm watching it and making sure its lined up it has no problem.  I've had to toss a couple of primed bent cases like that when I focused on other stuff (like powder drop before I place a bullet in station 3).... The only thing I can think of that may be causing this is perhaps when setting up the shell plate I didn't go far enough down.  My concern is that I didn't want the turning mechanism to bind when rotating.  

 

3)  after crimping and turning the shell plate, the finished round sometimes hits the guide and  falls "in between" the ejection ramp and the shell plate.  There is a gap there that is just big enough for the cartridge to lay almost on its side.  Usually when i pull the handle the next round it lifts up the plate a bit, and that round then falls down the ramp.  Minor annoyance. 

 

Other than that, my reloading experience so far has been great and its quite fun. 

 

I got the Dillon Carbide dies, and they were decently easy to set up.  Was a little worried after the crimp die made a slight hourglass figure of the cartridges, but I read multiple places that this is normal and by design.  Another minor annoyance is when adjusting COL, you have to un-tighten the lock ring and tighten every time after small adjustments.   I saw a video where someone adjusted his COL with just small knob at the top of the die (forgot the brand, but it looked like that was much easier to make adjustments to COL).  

 

Thanks for everyone's help so far.

 

Hopefully i'm not crazy and the problems above are easily fixable. 

 

Cheers.

 

  

[m700]

For part 1 there are a couple ways to defeat this. You can look up a magnet trick that I hear most people do. Before I looked up the fix I greased it up. Not inside but where the 2 pieces of metal slide by each other.

For part 2 check to make sure your shellplate is tight enough. Push down on left and right side it shouldn't rock too much. Try tightening it up a bit more as long as it turns it should be fine. This will keep your shells from rocking

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[m700]

For part 3 that wire piece may require a little twerking. To get it a bit lower. Or higher depending on where it's at

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Edited June 25, 2019 by m700

[Chewy]

Thanks!