Cases not aligning with die on station 2

[scribble]

I am using a xl650 with Dillon 3 die set and an EGW U die. I have the press setup as follows:

1. dillon decap and size

2 egw u-die

3 powder die

4 dillon seating

5. dillon crimp

The problem i am running into is cases are catching in the edge of the U-die on the upstroke. If i push on the case a bit when it catches it tilts it inline with the die. I never had this problem with 45 acp or 45 colt but this is with 40.

[yoshidaex]

is this a new setup or has it worked before but is giving you issues now?

is that arm on the prime station adjusted properly?

[scribble]

is this a new setup or has it worked before but is giving you issues now?

is that arm on the prime station adjusted properly?

I have never loaded 40 before and just set it up. I have not adjusted the spring arm on #2 as it worked correctly with my 45's

[buddy_fuentes]

I had problems with the EGW forty die, too. I had it in the first station and every few rounds it would catch the lip of the case. I finally set up a "C" press with the EGW die and everything that comes into my shop the first time gets run through it. After that it is run through the regular Dillon die.

It sure has helped my temperament and loads.

Buddy

[ChuckS]

is this a new setup or has it worked before but is giving you issues now?

is that arm on the prime station adjusted properly?

I have never loaded 40 before and just set it up. I have not adjusted the spring arm on #2 as it worked correctly with my 45's

We are talking a 650, right? If you just changed the primer wheel to convert to small primers, then the spring arm is still probably adjusted to fit a .45 case. It will have to be adjusted slightly inward to adapt to the smaller diameter .40 case. I used this very same set up for a few years and had very little problems at station 2. But, I change the entire primer thingie when I change calibers.

Later,

Chuck

[Paul Burtchell]

I know this won't really help but I have the same issue with .40S &W with the EGW Undersize die lining up on my 550. Is yours like mine that you have to push the top of the case back towards you to get it to line up?? To me it's just a little annoying, but I sure have not had any feeding issue since switching to the undersize die. I like it.

[scribble]

I know this won't really help but I have the same issue with .40S &W with the EGW Undersize die lining up on my 550. Is yours like mine that you have to push the top of the case back towards you to get it to line up?? To me it's just a little annoying, but I sure have not had any feeding issue since switching to the undersize die. I like it.

Yeah that about sums the problem up of having to tilt the top of the case towards myself. I have not adjusted the arm on station 2 since switching over. I did look at it but I don't think it could get much more pressure on the cases. I will look and see.

[buddy_fuentes]

I may be mistaken, but I think it is the EGW die that is causing you a problem, not an adjustment. The die has been milled down to make the case go deeper into the die. That is what removes the "belly" from the cases. The milling reduces the funnel effect of the die and the cases that aren't setting perfect...catch on the rim of the die.

I had this happening in station one for several years and many thousands of rounds. A progressive press has more "play" than a single stage press. I had many cases crushed when I got to going too fast. I decided to use the "C" press and add the additional step. It has worked very well and I will continue with it.

Buddy

[JThompson]

I'd put the Dillon die in that bad boy and see if the cases gage okay... if they do than you're done.

[ChuckS]

I may be mistaken, but I think it is the EGW die that is causing you a problem, not an adjustment. The die has been milled down to make the case go deeper into the die. That is what removes the "belly" from the cases. The milling reduces the funnel effect of the die and the cases that aren't setting perfect...catch on the rim of the die.

I had this happening in station one for several years and many thousands of rounds. A progressive press has more "play" than a single stage press. I had many cases crushed when I got to going too fast. I decided to use the "C" press and add the additional step. It has worked very well and I will continue with it.

Buddy

You hit the cause right on the head. Tweaking the arm will help reduce but not eliminate the "problem". At least that was my experience on my 650. I first tried the U die in station 1 but had way too many of the mis-aligned cases and crushed cases that were just too messed up to go into the die. I switched to using the dillon sizer in 1 to pre-size the cases and U in two and it worked very well. I stopped using the U die when I got my KISS

Later,

Chuck

[scribble]

I may be mistaken, but I think it is the EGW die that is causing you a problem, not an adjustment. The die has been milled down to make the case go deeper into the die. That is what removes the "belly" from the cases. The milling reduces the funnel effect of the die and the cases that aren't setting perfect...catch on the rim of the die.

I had this happening in station one for several years and many thousands of rounds. A progressive press has more "play" than a single stage press. I had many cases crushed when I got to going too fast. I decided to use the "C" press and add the additional step. It has worked very well and I will continue with it.

Buddy

You hit the cause right on the head. Tweaking the arm will help reduce but not eliminate the "problem". At least that was my experience on my 650. I first tried the U die in station 1 but had way too many of the mis-aligned cases and crushed cases that were just too messed up to go into the die. I switched to using the dillon sizer in 1 to pre-size the cases and U in two and it worked very well. I stopped using the U die when I got my KISS

Later,

Chuck

I did tweak the arm a slight but this morning and ran about 30 cases through the 2 stations and it did not catch but the real test will be actually loading with all stations filled.

[HSMITH]

I run the U-die in station 2 of my 650 with 40 and two 9mm toolheads, I don't have any problems.

The other thing you want to do is not tighten the die down until you have the shellplate FULL and the ram fully UP.

[scribble]

I run the U-die in station 2 of my 650 with 40 and two 9mm toolheads, I don't have any problems.

The other thing you want to do is not tighten the die down until you have the shellplate FULL and the ram fully UP.

Howard I will adjust the die tonight and run 100 through and see how that goes.

[fastshooter03]

If you sre still having problems I think I have 1 of my prototype billet dieheads left. It moves the die out farther so it will align better on some presses than the stock Dillon die head.

I haven't done a production run yet due to lack of interest but I'll get to it someday.

Nick

[scribble]

If you sre still having problems I think I have 1 of my prototype billet dieheads left. It moves the die out farther so it will align better on some presses than the stock Dillon die head.

I haven't done a production run yet due to lack of interest but I'll get to it someday.

Nick

Nick I appreciate the offer, I have heard that your tool heads are definetly more square than the original. I am going to try Howards suggestion and if that doesn't work I will get in touch with you.

[adweisbe]

I run the U-die in station 2 of my 650 with 40 and two 9mm toolheads, I don't have any problems.

The other thing you want to do is not tighten the die down until you have the shellplate FULL and the ram fully UP.

Does how you tighten the lock ring effect the position of the die inside the toolhead? I am not following how that will help with feeding the case in the die.

[HSMITH]

adw, yes, it does affect the positioning. The dies can move around in the threads as much as .020" and can affect the case alignment, concentricity of the loaded ammo, etc. Nick is making toolheads that are held to very tight tolerances to correct this very issue as well as position the die closer to the center of the case.

[scribble]

adw, yes, it does affect the positioning. The dies can move around in the threads as much as .020" and can affect the case alignment, concentricity of the loaded ammo, etc. Nick is making toolheads that are held to very tight tolerances to correct this very issue as well as position the die closer to the center of the case.

Howard have you tried one yet?

[HSMITH]

No, but I have seen them and Darryl is using at least one. It has helped Darryl out a lot. I guess I got lucky with my 650. It wouldn't make 3 rounds in a row when I bought it (used, very lightly but used all the same). I eyeballed it a minute, saw that the entire shellplate assembly was not lined up with ANYTHING else so I adjusted it by eye. The primer assembly was then off a LOT, so I adjusted it by eye. I fired it off after the adjustments and it runs like a swiss watch. I only have 4 toolheads running on it, but they all run great. I never had any issues with my 550's either, and I have had 4 of them.

[fastshooter03]

The instructions in the Dillon manual say to run up brass on all your used stations with the lock rings loose so the dies will align to the brass, Then tighten all the rings. This procedure may or may not fix your problem depending on the dimensions of your factory diehead. If you have another diehead you might want to try it out if the first one is not working with that caliber. I have seen variations in the die locations on the factory dieheads and they are all too far inward compared to the shellplate locations.

If you're good with math you can figure out what your diehead is with your calipers. Just make sure your calipers are tight(the head shouldn't rock up and down on the frame) and make sure you're not on a burr or irregularity.

The shellplate should be 1.185" to the brass groove cutout. AKA-the furthest inward the brass can go.

To figure out what your diehead is--ADD(half the center hole diameter + half the thread hole diameter + the inner distance between the two edge to edge).

Nick

[scribble]

The instructions in the Dillon manual say to run up brass on all your used stations with the lock rings loose so the dies will align to the brass, Then tighten all the rings. This procedure may or may not fix your problem depending on the dimensions of your factory diehead. If you have another diehead you might want to try it out if the first one is not working with that caliber. I have seen variations in the die locations on the factory dieheads and they are all too far inward compared to the shellplate locations.

If you're good with math you can figure out what your diehead is with your calipers. Just make sure your calipers are tight(the head shouldn't rock up and down on the frame) and make sure you're not on a burr or irregularity.

The shellplate should be 1.185" to the brass groove cutout. AKA-the furthest inward the brass can go.

To figure out what your diehead is--ADD(half the center hole diameter + half the thread hole diameter + the inner distance between the two edge to edge).

Nick

I rest all the dies with cases in each station and then ran 100 rounds through. I think I had 3-4 that just barely caught the edge of the die, however they also bent the brass enough to not be noticed until the seating die. Then they are junk rounds from there.

[HSMITH]

Loosen your shell plate up just a bit, if you have it too tight this will happen too. Might not have anything to do with it but it is worth a shot.