XL650 Tips and Tricks

[David Benzick]

I finally got fed up with old primers bouncing around the room and put together the primer catcher.  At first I jammed the case mouth too far in and the shell plate wouldn't turn, but now it works like a charm.

Thanks for the tip.

[shred]

Another tip: If you're adjusting the powder measure and have primers in the feeder, pull the black plastic angle part that advances the primer feed off the machine-- it's one hex bolt to remove and install, and it doesn't need to be adjusted.

[Hispeed]

Okay! Short of sending the XL650 back to Dillon, WHY am I having MASSIVE amount of case feeding problems. Glock brass just does not want to feed into the aluminum insert from the feed arm? gets stuck every time.

Also, approx. 5% of reloads end up in the bullet puller because primers are sideways. why? Operator error?

[Bret Heidkamp]

Hispeed,

The primer sideways thing is often related to the press being mounted where it can jiggle around.  Is the bench super sturdy, bolted to the wall, etc.?  If it moves the primers can get bounced - also be smooth with the action of the press.  5% is really high.

as for the feeding issue, again if the bench is wiggly that would cause it.  other than that, is the big plastic triangle-shaped actuator using the pistol side or rifle side?

You can always call Dillon, they are pretty good at troubleshooting over the phone.

Bret

[shred]

Primers getting turned-- check to be sure the primer punch is screwed in tight (and is the correct size).  If it gets a bit loose, all kinds of hinky stuff can happen.

Check for a burr on the feed insert too.

[Hispeed]

Thank you for the input. But I called Dillon 6 mos ago and they sent me a new aluminum insert for .40 cal.

I got frustrated after the continuing prob and dremeled the top portion of the insert and the plastic insert on the arm. Still same probs. Glock brass and any slightly bulged brass will just not feed properly. In fact, some brass just fired from my SV (in good cond) will not smoothly drop down to the loading chute. There are no burrs in or on the chute/insert/anywhere.

The loading bench is not secured to the wall. It is a little wobbly. (very little). I will secure it and see if that corrects the primer prob.

Is there a different primer pin and can it be tightened any more? for .40 cal?

Thanks

[shred]

Hmm.. I may be a bit confused here.. Are you talking about the casefeed arm and casefeed bushing? (those parts move back and forth and cases drop down through them-- P52 in the online 650 manual).   I get troubles there when the big triangular piece (case insert slide and cam, P54)  isn't set right, or there's a bunch of cleaning-media chunks in with the brass clogging stuff up.

[Bret Heidkamp]

If the cases aren't dropping, double check everything is aligned.  Take off the casefeed tube and look straight down into the casefeed arm (where the plastic bushing sits) - when the press handle is at the bottom of it's stroke those parts should be 100% lined up.  They can lose adjustment through wear.

Hope that helps.

Bret

[ErikW]

Perhaps you mean the colored plastic casefeed adapter? (One level above the moving arm with its plastic bushing, which itself is above the chrome-looking-plastic, um, funnel(?) which screws in from the bottom.)

Your cases aren't dropping from the adapter into the arm?

I used to get Super cases stuck in the Super adapter (green?) all the time, then I used the .40 adapter (purple?). I sometimes get bulged .40 cases sticking in it. It can get a little gummed up with case lube, so keep it clean.

I suggest reaming out your adapter or getting the next larger adapter (.41?).

[Hispeed]

Erik,

Actually, it is the transition from the red plastice piece in the arm to the chrome-looking-plastic, um, funnel(?) which screws in from the bottom.)

I also have a problem with this chrome-looking-plastic, um, funnel(?) which screws in from the bottom.) with Glock/bulged cases actually getting stuck inside it.

2 problems, so-to-speak, maybe? or one FUBAR

[Jerome Poiret]

Hispeed,

When that happens (to me, at least), I always find a piece of cleaning media - a grain of rice in my case) in the funnel. This is the only cause of such a jam I had so far.

[gm iprod]

Hi speed.

That chrome looking thingy is alluminium. You can have the medium size one for 40. Small is sometimes too small. It is called the case feed body bushing. That will sometimes get gummed up with lube if you use to much and will collect pieces of media. Always double sift / seperate media from cases.

I think the most likely solution is the alignment of the case arm bushing (red plastic) and the body bushing, as previously suggested. Check carefully, do not rush, see if somebody who actually has a 650 lives nearby and call him/her over and see what they find.

[shred]

Also check the case-insert-slide-cam (the big black pyramid part that operates the case feed) is in the right adjustment and in good shape.. Mine got cracked by the attachment bolt and moved around a bit, which caused all sorts of trouble.  If it doesn't push the case over quite far enough, it's jam-city.

[Remy]

While changing the shellplate I managed to drop the index ball down the shellplate bolt hole. I called Dillon for help they told me to ether use a magnet or unbolt the machine and turn it upside down. I didn’t have a magnet so I called a buddy over so we could stand and stare at the dilemma together for a while. Finally my friend suggested shooting compressed air (small can used for cleaning computers & electronics) down the hole. The ball popped right out.

[shred]

Good one Remy-- just don't do that with Gun Scrubber (been there, did that, had to run to the shower while almost completely blind to wash my eyes out)

On the live-primer-ski-jump topic, I'm not completely happy with this, but it seems better than the alternative--  I unbolted and removed the ski-jump part, then took a plastic lid from a Pringles can, flipped it rim-side up, chopped it down so it covers underneath the exposed parts of the primer disc and bolted it on.

The idea is to make a little catcher for the live primers (I get very few, due to the previously discussed techniques).  When I get one, I can flip the plastic down a bit and retrieve it.  I wanted the ski jump out of there so I can get to the primer punch easily.

[Adding a picture of the contraption]

(Edited by shred at 6:42 pm on July 10, 2002)

(Edited by shred at 6:43 pm on July 10, 2002)

[Hispeed]

Thanks for the info. I'll try aligning everything again. and if that doesn't work, I'll take a hammer to it, or send it back to Dillon. Depending on my mood.

[shred]

Ok, here's another $5 special from the Midnight Engineering Labs..

an XL650 odometer (or as some might call it, a round counter)

The counter is $4.99 from Harbor Freight. Rotating the arm about 45 degrees (upwards in this picture) causes the counter to increment by one.

The bracket is a right-angle piece of sheet metal attached to the 1/4" bolt that holds the casefeeder support.

In place of the as-delivered spring and screw on the end of the arm, I turned in a wooden matchstick and added a drop of superglue-- if it does jam up the works, it'll break easily before anything else does.

How it works is I adjusted the angle of the actuator arm until the rising shellplate pushes the matchstick just enough to increment the counter as it gets to the top of it's travel.

The downsides are (and I'm hoping one of you clever folks can think of a better solutions):

- it counts every cycle of the shellplate. I'd prefer it counted loaded rounds, but I couldn't figure out a good simple way to do that (the old Dillon counter used a shaft running up through the crimp die-- Lee FCD's have a closed top, so that method won't work for me).

- It cuts down on the finger room a bit. Due to a minor installation error, I have to loosen the mounting to get it out of the way when changing toolheads.

Other than that, it works well and I'm pretty happy with it. Check it out if you have round-counting needs.

[esheato]

---

Quote: from Remy on 10:01 am on July 8, 2002

While changing the shellplate I managed to drop the index ball down the shellplate bolt hole. I called Dillon for help they told me to ether use a magnet or unbolt the machine and turn it upside down. I didn’t have a magnet so I called a buddy over so we could stand and stare at the dilemma together for a while. Finally my friend suggested shooting compressed air (small can used for cleaning computers & electronics) down the hole. The ball popped right out.

---

another way to get the index ball out is to take one of those larger than average straws (like mcdonalds has) but with a flexible top and put it in the bolt hole and suck on it..the index ball is stuck to the end of the straw via the sucking power of the guy that put it in there in the first place.  it's saved my butt a few times

esheato...

[Jerome Poiret]

or put a chewing gum (used obviously ) at one end of a pencil, and go fishing  ...

[Nik Habicht]

I usually count rounds by the number of empty primer tubes strewn across the bench ---- of course that leaves me counting in increments of 100.

[shred]

Yeah.. in mass-production-mode, it's easy to count in 100's or 1000's. What I discovered was an unexpected side-effect of getting a RF-100-- I now do many more 'small batches' of this or that, only dumping in a few rows of primers, cause it's sooo easy..

[ErikW]

I recently loaded a whole bunch of Supers and I became enraged at the case feeder. Even though it was once- and twice-fired brass (through my tight chamber), they were hanging up in the green plastic adapter. (You know what happens then.) No matter if I cleaned it, or lubed it with silicone spray, they'd continue to hang up. Finally, at the breaking point, I replaced the green .38 Super/9mm adapter with the purple .40 S&W/10mm adapter. It works great!

Oh yeah, and on the whole assembly that pushes the case in the shellholder... That thing was always giving me trouble, especially with Supers. It didn't want to fully seat them; it ran out of spring pressure. Cleaning and lubing the bearing surfaces with silicone spray did the trick.

[shred]

Erik, I had trouble with the slide-insert-cam assembly occasionally not putting a case fully into the resizing station and making a big mess of things.  

After lots of lubing and fiddling, I finally gave up and got a new spring from Dillon-- and discovered the old spring in there was about 1/2" shorter than a new one.  

Replacing that fixed it good.

[foxriver6]

Just checked out this thread for first time and would love to see one on the 550. Just took delivery of one and am still in setting up process. Anyone know whether the 550 has been updated since instructional video was made? Mine seems to be a little different! This is my first time posting so please advise if I mess up protocol.

[DogmaDog]

Foxriver6,

I just recently got my 550.  I've loaded about 300 rounds on it so far.  I haven't seen the instructional video, but I did get mine working, so maybe I can help if you have a specific question.

Stupid newbie tip for the 550b:  When it says to screw down the crimp die until it just touches the case rim, it means the rim of the case MOUTH, not the rim that the extractor pulls on.  (See my earlier ignorance in the "Crimp" thread).

Another stupid newbie tip:  Don't readjust dies or powder volumes based only on one measured round!  I throw 10 powder charges and average them, and then readjust the powder measure.  Crimp seems to be pretty uniform.  I get variation of +/- .003" in OAL out of the seating die.