XL650 Tips and Tricks

[n2299]

I taped a couple of .45acp casings under the holes and clean them out after each reloading session.

Edited June 1, 2006 by n2299

[JFD]

The only "problem" I've had was the media dropping all over my bench.

I took a couple of sized .223 cases, cut the bases off, attached tubing to the cases, then stuck the cases in the holes in the case feeder. The pair of tubes were attached to the casefeeder frame with a cable tie. I cable tied the tubing wherever I wanted it to go, leading finally to an akro-bin mounted on the side of my bench. Very similar to the primer drop tube already described.

I attribute the total lack of problems with this press to having it mounted super solid on my super solid bench + I make sure to cycle the handle completely. I have yet to crush a case using a .40 "U" die.

Someone mentioned the casefeeder "shaking". I've got to believe the press is mounted poorly or else the bench is shaky.

After 6000 rounds, I noticed 3 primers on the floor.

The only problem I had with .40 brass being upside down was quickly solved by not overfilling the casefeeder. Same problem/fix for .45 brass.

[DMH]

Maybe a new idea for the dropped primers.

Remove the spring clip that holds the primer cup, and build up the lips of the cup with JB weld, epoxy, or whatever you have. I did this a while back to mine and it works great.

[SteveHarris]

XL650 TWEAK

With my Dillon XL650, I've always had trouble with the case sometimes stopping the shell plate from advancing either for a moment or requiring rocking the handle to clear and finish the stoke. The problem was the case binding with the heavy ejector wire over the shell plate. The sudden bind also caused the shell plate to jump and bounce powder out of the cases and it also broke a few of the plastic index cam rings as well. My easy solution has withstood a 1,000 round test run without a single other hang-up malfunction.

I took the heavy ejection wire (that the case pushes against the case to eject) and bent an angle outward to the edge of shell plate countersink for the die. It was also necessary to bend out the looped end to fit back over the allen bolt head that holds down the shell plate. This defiantly works with 9mm and 40 but although it looks good for 45 I haven't function tested it for 45s. If a 45 was too big then a slight reduction in the bend would adjust the gap to be large enough for a 45.

Attached is a PDF scan of a top view of the wire. If you have Abode 7.0, or higher, you can print the scan of the bent wire to full scale and use the print as a template to make your bends match.

Steve

For anyone who needs a free copy of the Adobe Reader 7.0.8 for XP see: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

ToScaleBends.pdf

Edited August 7, 2006 by benos

[penman53]

Has anyone ever changed the ring indexer on the XL650? If so how difficult is it and where does the long spring hook to? Exploded views drive me crazy, I must be dislexic.

Thanks, Mark

[SteveHarris]

Has anyone ever changed the ring indexer on the XL650? If so how difficult is it and where does the long spring hook to? Exploded views drive me crazy, I must be dislexic.

Thanks, Mark

Mark.

Being dyslexic might be an advantage There is a little post underneath the area of the crimp die location with a grooved end. First connect the spring to the indexer and them pull it round and over the grove in the post with a pair of needle nose pliers.

The most common cause of breaking the indexer is a round that doesn’t eject cleanly and binds putting an overload on the indexer. The bent wire message just before your message explains how to fix that problem. Dillon now offers their own version of new configuration for free but I think you will find the one I show is more reliable.

Steve

[Jimini]

Anyone know how to adjust the amount of case insertion into station 1 of the 650 w/ casefeeder? I followed Dillon's rule for this w/ the primed case, but can't find how to adjust station 1 for not over-inserting or under-inserting a case. Also, when I seat my primers, right as the roller handle/arm get to the top, the last little bit of push (I thought I needed to seat the primer all the way) causes my shellplate to "dip" or "tilt" toward the right side. Any suggestions?

-----

Kevin/IPSC Supercop

What do you guys think?

Use the Lee Factory crimp die. Available for about 12 bucks. Does a full case crimp.

For folks reloading 38 super (or any shell that is nearly full of powder), I discovered that moving the seater die to the powder check die position saved a lot of powder. With a nealy full case the powder check die is not necessary as you can look as you set the bullet and see that the case is nearly full.

By moving the seater die over you get the bullet seated quicker avoiding spills that occur by the clicking of the detent ball.

[nhglyn]

I came up with a variation of some of the ideas listed here for collecting spent primers before they hit your floor. Easy to set up and 100% reliable. See thread here:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42137

[Piney Woods]

And here's my solution to the "Spent Primer Scattering Syndrome" on the Dillon XL650.

Materials: 1" wide brass shim stock, .03" to .06" thick; one fired .30-30 cartridge case (I'm sure a .308 or similar case would work fine, too); a few feet of 1/2" OD x 3/8" ID clear vinyl tubing; about 5" of 12-14ga wire; a can, bottle, bucket, or other receptacle of your choice to catch the primers.

Since my press is on a Strong Mount, I had to drill a 1" hole in the bench to run the tube thru. This hole is directly below, and slightly behind, the hole in the press where the spent primers drop thru. If your press is mounted directly to your bench, that's not necessary, but if your bench is really thick, you may have to cut a relief in it so the tube doesn't get pinched.

First, remove the spent primer catcher and its bracket. Use the bracket as a template to mark mounting hole locations on the brass. After cutting the brass to a convenient length - just a bit longer than the distance between the two holes - and rounding off the corners, mount it in place of the bracket. Remove the 650 shellholder plate and use a sharp scribe to mark the brass plate where the spent primer hole goes down thru the body of the press. Remove the brass piece and drill a .3594" (23/64") hole in it, centered on the scribed mark. Sand both faces flat to remove any burrs around the hole.

Cut about 1/4" off of the base of a .30-30 case, sand it flat, center it on the hole, and solder it to the brass piece. Use a small round file to clean up the inside of the hole where it meets the case, sand the brass face flat, and reattach it to the press.

Loosen up the front right mounting bolt and wrap the wire around it, between the washer and the strong mount, make a loop and run the other end loosely around the same bolt. Running the tube thru this wire loop helps to keep the tube from kinking.

The only thing left to do is to run the tube up from your primer catch container (mine is a slightly rusty 30 cal ammo can - I imagine it'll hold about 50,000 spent primers before I have to empty it) - thru the hole in the bench, thru the wire loop, and onto the .30-30 case. The fit on the case is sufficiently tight that no clamp is required. When you trim the tube to the length you need, be sure to allow enough excess for the press stroke.

Edited December 20, 2006 by Piney Woods

[Skydiver]

If you are not doing a full caliber conversion, but rather just changing power measure settings, or bullet types and weights and, of course, the corresponding changes in OAL, here's a couple things I learned after the initial frustration of live primers doing their Olympic record attempts and having to hand remove each case that automatically gets fed. Note some of this was also motivated by my unwillingness to remove the primer system to empty out the primers already in the system so I came up with these steps.

Make sure that you have your case(s) for measuring your powder drops.

Also make sure that you are wearing your safety glasses. You won't be handling any live primers, but do remember that there are still live primers in the system.

0) Turn off the casefeeder, if you haven't done so yet. (Duh!)

1) Remove the primer cam (#25 on page 50 of the manual, part number 13670), and set aside for reinstallation later.

Now you can pull the lever full cycle without driving the priming system forward and so no more live primer ski-jumpers.

2) Remove the brass waiting in the casefeed tube. Either keep cycling the machine and as each case gets to station 2, pull them out of the shellplate. Or remove the casefeed tube and casefeed adapter to remove the majority of the waiting cases, and hand cycle the casefeed arm to get the last few stragglers.

3) Adjust your powder measure to your new target settings. (I'm still looking for knobs at Home Depot.) BTW, I second BE's recommendations to take 4 charges and comparing to 4x target weight. I think somebody on another thread was taking this to the next level and doing 10 charges and comparing against 10x target weight. Whatever floats your boat.

If you don't have to adjust the seating die and crimp, go ahead and jump to step 7.

4) If you don't have the Redding Competition Seating Die (I've currently got one on backorder), take your calipers and use the depth gauge function to determine the distance between the toolhead and the top of the seating die. Write this down into your reloading logbook (you do keep records, right?) to ease going back to this setup later. If you know you'll be adjusting your crimp, might as well measure this now as well.

5) Adjust your seating die to the appropriate bullet shape and depth. (Might as well record your die's new height above the toolhead now.)

6) Adjust your crimping die if needed. (Also record your die's new height above the toolhead.)

Almost done:

7) Reinstall the primer cam.

And you're done!

[ Send feedback if you think or feel this procedure is dangerous so that beginners are appropriately warned. Remember that I do jump out of perfectly good airplanes as my primary hobby. ]

Edit: Looking back at the long history of this thread, it looks like Shred posted this same tip as a one liner back in 2002.

Edited January 31, 2007 by Skydiver

[Skydiver]

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.

The new Allen wrenches that came with my 650 were magnetic.

[Skydiver]

Oh and I thought my primer catch was just an unusually bad fit. I used wide packing tape to fill up the gaps. What a lame fix for a lame problem. But it is a good match for the cable tie that pulls the finished cartridge ramp wall away from the turret so the turret can move up.

How about what to do about W748 spilling everywhere? It's not spilling out of cases, it's leaking from around the powder drop.

Instead of packing tape, I did the following:

1) Tear off cardboard front of an empty primer sleeve. I just took advantage of the the perforations.

2) Fold in half.

3) Cut along the fold line.

4) Using one of the halves, fold in half again, and reopen to an L shape.

5) Invert the L shaped piece of cardboard so that one leg covers the top of the cup, and part of the other leg covers the front of the cup.

6) Tape the front leg to the cup.

That was the quick approach without having to get up off the bench.

The downside of using the cardboard is not having the ability to peek in anymore to see how full the cup is. So the next time you have about 10 minutes, and you come home from the store with a package that is in one of those plastic clamshell things (e.g. Uncle Mike's kydex holsters, power strips from Costco, etc.) you can do the following:

Using the cardboard piece from above as a template, cut a section of clear plastic. If you're smart, plan to have the L's corner where the plastic is already creased/bent. Don't despair if all you have is a flat piece. You can always lightly score the plastic with an blade or knife on the side which will be the outside of corner.

[SSDriver]

When starting a new load sesion and everything is set up. You then have to wait like 5-6 cycles to get the first primer ready to seat. Here's how to fast cycle the primer system.

1. Have an empty case is station one(sizing/decaping station) Lower the handle about half way so the shellplate/press is half way up the stroke.

2. Use your finger and cycle the larger lever (primer indexing arm) on the primer system 7 times. This will cycle the primers in the disk. At this point you will NOT see a primer in the shell plate.

3. lower the handle all the way, your first case is now sized.

4. Raise the handle to bring the press/shell plate all the way down. There should now be a primer ready to prime in your already sized case.

This just makes it quicker and more easy to get the first primer ready to seat. Note this is for large primer's. I don't load anythig with small primers so I'm not sure if the small primer disk takes more cycles to get the primer in position.

-William

Edited February 2, 2007 by SSDriver

[JFD]

Sure! Just press the primer indexing arm until the primers are where you want.

[SSDriver]

lol , just figured it out and fixed my post before I noticed your response. New to progressive presses as of last week.

[mmm3]

Is anyone using the Redding Competition Bullet Seating Die in their 650? I'm wondering if it works well. I get a few rounds with bulges and would like to eliminate that.

[lowlands]

lol , just figured it out and fixed my post before I noticed your response. New to progressive presses as of last week.

Works like a charm! Even if you don't change bullet types often it's worth it. The die is spring loaded and helps seat bullets nicely.

[Oddballmkg]

I’m new to the forum but I’ve what did to fix the spent primer holder on my 650 was to make a lid out of duct tape then leaving a small channel where the primers fall into the tray. I also made a small wall around the opening with the tape, so that upper edge of the tape sets up against the lower surface of the spent primer tray. What I found was that the primers where actually bouncing out of the tray though the open top all over the floor. I did this on my 650 ten years ago and 98,000 rounds later, it’s worked perfectly.

[born-in-45]

Yesterday I replaced one of my 550's with a 650 (just couldn't justify the price difference for the 1050, with KISS unit of course, for my level of shooting). But I am impressed with the 650, quite a difference in speed from the 550. Thanks to the forum, I was able to make a couple "enhancements" immediately. The first time I loaded a shell and advanced the shell plate I noticed the "bang and clang" advance that tends to spill powder. So, I go to the forum and presto the very first entry under the 650 Tips is the fix (cut spring half coil). Of course I read the rest of the tips and think, surely by now Dillon has fixed the primer spillage problem. Nope - I had the same problem and used the tips on the forum to "fix" it.

The only other problem I encountered in my first run of 500 was a few primers being crushed on one side as they were being seated or not seating at all. It seemed the primer disc wasn't quite centered in the shell plate thus the shell's primer hole and the primer were not quite aligned. A little reading didn't show a way to advance the disc a few thousands to center it. I adjusted the Primer Station Locator Tab but it didn't resolve the problem, so I bent the tab to create a slight bit more angle and viola, the problem is fixed. Last 300 rounds loaded without a single hiccup - no spilled powder, no primers on the floor, and no crushed/fail to seat primers.

Think I am addicted now, got to sign off and go load another 1000.

Thanks guys for the tips.

[Q3131A]

Thanks all. My 650 is supposed to arrive on Saturday! I'm upgrading from a 550.

[maineshootah]

And here's my solution to the "Spent Primer Scattering Syndrome" on the Dillon XL650.

Since my press is on a Strong Mount, I had to drill a 1" hole in the bench to run the tube thru. This hole is directly below, and slightly behind, the hole in the press where the spent primers drop thru. If your press is mounted directly to your bench, that's not necessary, but if your bench is really thick, you may have to cut a relief in it so the tube doesn't get pinched.

This thread is great.

I did a similar install, only taking the .45 case and installed it right with the exsisting primer cup plate. I installed the hole through my bench on AN ANGLE, (oh.. so slick) so that the vinyl tubing slides easier with each up and down stroke of the press. Tubing leads down to an old 8 lb. powder container under the bench.

No more primers all over the floor.. and they are already packaged to go to the recycling center.

I might have to do this on my SDB as well.

Cutting 1/2 a coil on the shell plate spring was a great change, now no more spilled powder with my major 9 rounds, or needing to drag my finger on the shell plate.

[g10mm]

Good stuff here

[readr1]

A USGI dufflebag makes a perfect cover for the casefeeder and press with the roller handle and bullet tray.

[fastshooter03]

I'm going to machine up some prototypes for the 650 Primer drop can problems. It'll be aluminum or delrin. Don't know if I should make it 1 pc or have it threaded 1/8" pipe tap to screw in a nipple for a drop tube. We don't have the primers flying all over the place but it's a pain to empty so it's going to get done.

Anybody have suggestions? Threaded plate for brass nipple or 1 pc with built in hose nipple? Aluminum or delrin?

I'll post some pictures if it turns out well.

Nick

[CO Steve]

Primer Cup Issue:

I solved the primer cup problem with a simple length of black electrical tape. The 'fix' has lasted 2 years and 11K rounds. Best of all the fix is easy and free.

Take length of tape and fold over 1/3 of it's width on itself then attach it to the rim of the primer cup. It acts like a rubber boot to keep the primers where they belong.

I also added some of the same tape to the 'ski jump' to keep the primers in place.

Dillon Trimmer Mods

I can't leave well enough alone so I decided that the switch box on the trimmer should live on an open space on the back of my XL 650 press (between the 2 rear mounting bolts) where it would be easy to reach and up off the bench. In addition, I shortened the power cable to pair it with the casefeed cable run to my outlet.

A better view showing my fabricated mounting bracket with it between the 2 rear mounting bolts. It is solid as a rock and worked out really well.

After mounting and adjusting the trimmer (straightforward), I cut a 2½" long piece of old shop vac wand and after rasping out one end, pushed it on the Dillon chip collar. Fits tight and makes attaching the vacuum a cinch. The red box highlights a wood 'collar stay' I made and will discuss below.

I fired it up and started trimming. After a bit I noticed that the Dillon collar (Blue plastic collar that the vacuum hose attaches to) would ride up from the weight of the cantilevered vacuum hose attachment. This would let the brass shavings escape from the trimmer head. I noticed this when a brass sliver bounced off my glasses. A quick once over and I realized that the collar needed to be held down for proper and safe operation so I took a piece of scrap plywood and cut a circular 'collar stay' and slipped it on. Works like a charm.