Dillon Super Swage 600 setup questions

[Ground Loop]

I recently received my Super Swage 600 to help recycle a bucket of crimped .223 brass.

The setup was simple enough, but I'm puzzled by a few things.

First, the brass doesn't seem to "align" itself with the swaging punch. The ram will often come hit the brass on the side of the head, rather than the primer pocket.

Looking at it, there doesn't seem to be any part designed to center the case over the swage rod.. it just floats in there and is free to move side-to-side on the holder rod. I have to center it by hand, which slows down the "hole operation". The support block below the head is not even flat, it's canted off to one side from the set screw! This hardly helps matters, as it encourages the brass to slide to the low side. Why is this block flat on top, rather than "V" shaped to center the brass? Anyone try modifying it? Seems like a "too obvious" fix -- hit that thing with a dremel to create a "U" dent in the center and set the height accordingly.

Second, how do I determine how to set the depth of the swage? I have the rod screwed in pretty far, to where it's below flush with the nut on the back end. Is this normal depth? At this setting, it just starts making some force on the primer pocket.

If I swage too much, the primers will likely be loose. If I don't swage enough, I won't know until I start crushing primers again. Is there a more deterministic way to set the depth? I'd hate to ruin a bunch of cases by overswaging.

Thanks for any pointers! I have every confidence this will be much easier than grinding away the crimp, once I get it dialed in.

[Flexmoney]

GL, I moved your question down to the Dillon Forum...where it might get some more eyeballs on it.

- Admin.

[benos]

Ground Loop,

I've never fielded an questions on the Swager - but I bet Gary (dillon) will see this.

Or, they Dillon really enjoys tech calls.

800 223.4570

be

[steel1212]

I'm not dillon but maybe I can help on one of your questions. For setup I think the manul says its a little trial and error. Basically you just want to swage the pocket enough to set the primer easy. I got some range pick ups that I don't see how the primer stayed in there they where swaged so much and I'm far from that.

On the brass not centering up right, is the nut tight that holds the rod the brass goes on? Other than that and if you have the brass block set to the right spot the only thing I can think of is that your swaging rod is bent a little?

[Ground Loop]

Thanks for the tips!

I swaged a few hundred shells over the weekend and found that the correct setting for .223 appears to be "All in!" That is, with the rod screwed as far to the Ram as I can get it. If it's swaging enough, then it's hard to get the brass into place. I have to push or pound it down in front of the deflector plate.

I suspect my "ram" just doesn't have enough travel. If it would extend further, then I could dial the support rod back a bit to get the brass in easier. I'm puzzled, since I figured .223 would be a popular purpose for this device.

The detent ball bearing seems to fall off the spring if the hex screw backs out (from the underside) and binds up the whole works. Then I get to unbolt the swager from the bench, drop the hex screw, position the ball and spring, and put it back together. Hopefully I have enough loctite on there now to keep the thing in place. Not sure why the "hole" is so much larger than the detent ball bearing.

Last, it's a very real problem that the brass ends up "left or right" of the ram piston rod. So I smash the side of the case if I go faster than I can center them. I'm really going to have to build some shims for the sides of the swager to center the head in the right place. Again, I feel like I'm coercing a .308 swager into .223 duty.

All in all, I expected better from Dillon.

[benos]

I mentioned this to my Dillon rep today. He said the trick was that you learn to do swage operation in sort of two-step process. You have a loose grip on the case at the beginning, right as the tip of the swage die is contacting the primer pocket, so you can maybe even jiggle it slightly if you have to, to allow the case/primer pocket to center itself against the swage die. Then once the case is squared up, you can give the handle a nice, firm push. Or as I might put it, it's a matter of getting the feel for it.

[sargenv]

I noticed that my swager was set a little too deep, you can back off the ram part a bit to get the feel of having to swage it. I'm not sure how clear this description is, but it took me about 100 pieces of brass and some configuration to get mine to work right. Once you get it, you'll feel it go right in. Sometimes specific cases just won't get lined up and you'll mess those cases up. I think I probably ruined about 100 pieces out of 6000 or so.. There is some adjustment to it, backing off the ram part of it (where the case goes) made it easier to figure out where it should be when swaging.

[anm2_man]

I recently received my Super Swage 600 to help recycle a bucket of crimped .223 brass.

The setup was simple enough, but I'm puzzled by a few things.

First, the brass doesn't seem to "align" itself with the swaging punch. The ram will often come hit the brass on the side of the head, rather than the primer pocket.

Looking at it, there doesn't seem to be any part designed to center the case over the swage rod.. it just floats in there and is free to move side-to-side on the holder rod. I have to center it by hand, which slows down the "hole operation". The support block below the head is not even flat, it's canted off to one side from the set screw! This hardly helps matters, as it encourages the brass to slide to the low side. Why is this block flat on top, rather than "V" shaped to center the brass? Anyone try modifying it? Seems like a "too obvious" fix -- hit that thing with a dremel to create a "U" dent in the center and set the height accordingly.

Second, how do I determine how to set the depth of the swage? I have the rod screwed in pretty far, to where it's below flush with the nut on the back end. Is this normal depth? At this setting, it just starts making some force on the primer pocket.

If I swage too much, the primers will likely be loose. If I don't swage enough, I won't know until I start crushing primers again. Is there a more deterministic way to set the depth? I'd hate to ruin a bunch of cases by overswaging.

Thanks for any pointers! I have every confidence this will be much easier than grinding away the crimp, once I get it dialed in.

Ground Loop

Also make sure that the vertical anvil is set correctly. I have noticed that it can loosen and when it isn't set correctly, the case doesn't want to center correctly. The anvil is adjusted by placing a case in the swage, swage the pocket, but don't release it. Then with a small allen wrench (Don't know what size it is), there is a allen screw on the right hand side of the tool. Loosen the screw up (Its spring loaded and will pop up against the case) and then tighten. The swage should work better now.

[Ground Loop]

Also make sure that the vertical anvil is set correctly. I have noticed that it can loosen and when it isn't set correctly, the case doesn't want to center correctly. The anvil is adjusted by placing a case in the swage, swage the pocket, but don't release it. Then with a small allen wrench (Don't know what size it is), there is a allen screw on the right hand side of the tool. Loosen the screw up (Its spring loaded and will pop up against the case) and then tighten. The swage should work better now.

Thanks! Quite right.. that anvil is critical to getting the vertical alignment. I reset it a few times, and found I have to be careful not to get it 'cocked' at a a slope.. the set screw pinches it over and it can get non-horizontal.

Having the anvil set correctly gets my vertical alignment right-on every time. I wish there was a horizontal equivalent... that is, something to center the brass left-to-right. It just flops around on the end of the shaft.

I still wonder if a "V" shaped notch in the top of the anvil would help center the brass in both axis. Then it would just be a matter of slamming the rim down into the anvil and cycling the arm, rather than setting it down, and 'feeling' my way onto the arm.

I'm eyeing my dremel tool again..

[anm2_man]

Also make sure that the vertical anvil is set correctly. I have noticed that it can loosen and when it isn't set correctly, the case doesn't want to center correctly. The anvil is adjusted by placing a case in the swage, swage the pocket, but don't release it. Then with a small allen wrench (Don't know what size it is), there is a allen screw on the right hand side of the tool. Loosen the screw up (Its spring loaded and will pop up against the case) and then tighten. The swage should work better now.

Thanks! Quite right.. that anvil is critical to getting the vertical alignment. I reset it a few times, and found I have to be careful not to get it 'cocked' at a a slope.. the set screw pinches it over and it can get non-horizontal.

Having the anvil set correctly gets my vertical alignment right-on every time. I wish there was a horizontal equivalent... that is, something to center the brass left-to-right. It just flops around on the end of the shaft.

I still wonder if a "V" shaped notch in the top of the anvil would help center the brass in both axis. Then it would just be a matter of slamming the rim down into the anvil and cycling the arm, rather than setting it down, and 'feeling' my way onto the arm.

I'm eyeing my dremel tool again..

Ground Loop

I don't think a V would work. Sometime the brass is not quite on center. If the brass has some really heavy crimps, It becomes a hunt and seek thing. I swage 5k rounds a year and have found that some of them are difficult to center. A little bit of movement usually gets the de-crimp rod moving without destroying the brass.