BDH Posted December 20, 2002 Share Posted December 20, 2002 I'm curious what others experiences are with the Dillon Auto Primer Filler machine. While I can not say enough about my XL650, any of the other Dillon stuff I own, or their customer service, I am neutral at best on their Auto Primer Filler. There seem to be a couple of things that happen.... 1) a certain number of primers get through upside down, which means they load in the brass upside down, and you have to tear apart the load and recover the components. 2) the machine seems to jamb up more than it should. Normally, if it jambs, I have to un-screw the four bolts on the safety cover to get at the problem, which it time-consuming and a pain in the butt. Is it just me, or is there maybe one piece of Dillon equipment that may not really be 'ready for prime time?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted December 20, 2002 Share Posted December 20, 2002 I love my auto primer filler. It's the best thing I've ever bought for my productivity. You just need to do some tweaking, or find a different brand of primers that's more consistent. The major problem I've found is inconsistent overall height of the primers. I use the blue box Winchesters and found I had to the plastic plate with the larger gap ("B"). Don't expect to be able seamlessly switch between brands or sizes of primers without a bit of adjustment. Vibe bowls can be a little fussy, especially with parts that are very symmetric like primers. There's nothing "wrong" with the way Dillon's Primer Filler is designed or constructed. It's just another day in Vibe Bowl Land. It just takes a little patience and some tuning and everything will be fine. If that fails, call Dillon and tell them what primers you're using and they'll have an answer. They've done it all and will know immediately how to fix it. FWIW, Dillon's vibe bowls are some of the better constructed I've seen. You wouldn't believe the crap I've seen with a $5000+ price tag on it. It's a freakin' miracle that Dillon only sells theirs for less than $250. E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Posted December 21, 2002 Share Posted December 21, 2002 Quote: from EricW on 4:36 pm on Dec. 20, 2002 FWIW, Dillon's vibe bowls are some of the better constructed I've seen. You wouldn't believe the crap I've seen with a $5000+ price tag on it. It's a freakin' miracle that Dillon only sells theirs for less than $250. No Kidding! I cannot believe some of the junk I've seen used in surface mount IC handlers. I've thought about going into business adapting Dillon Primer fillers to a certain crappy cheap surface mount IC handler and selling it at $5K. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted December 21, 2002 Share Posted December 21, 2002 I would go back to my square deal from my 1050 before giving up my primer filler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted December 21, 2002 Share Posted December 21, 2002 First of all, it's got to be on a level, hard surface. If not perfectly level, preferably oriented tube-low. I had rare problems with primers hanging up at that last plastic piece in the path before they drop in the tube. After "fixing" it I had lots of problems. After readjustment, I now have very rare problems. I have gotten maybe one or two upside down primers in thousands of rounds, and they may have been flipped somewhere in the press, not in the filler. The upside down primers are supposed to be taken care of at one of the first two "stations" in the path before the tube. IIRC, the first one's arm attempts to right them and the second station rejects them if they aren't upright. I've watched troublesome primers circulate forever, not flipping at #1 but always getting returned at #2. I'd call Dillon if I were you. This is the kind of thing where a slight manufacturing flaw (is that a sand cast tray the primers ride on?) can cause major headaches. FWIW, I use Winchester SP and SR exclusively. The troublesome primers (1 in 1K?) seem to be too tall for the final station but not too tall for anything else, including my firing pins. When a tall one hangs up there (and all of its buddies line up behind it) I just reach a small screwdriver up from below and raise the final station's plastic roof a bit and let it in. BTW, mine is way more reliable than my 650 casefeeder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Bagoly Posted December 21, 2002 Share Posted December 21, 2002 At this years A8race, I overheard Doug Koenig talking to JJ about a misfire he had. Koenig said that he has seen primers come thru without anvils, and that might have been the cause. I use the flip tray, look at every primer, and have not yet got a bad one. I can see loading buckets of practice ammo with the auto filler, but Major Match Ammo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted December 21, 2002 Share Posted December 21, 2002 You could always use the flip tray to examine 'em all, then dump the tray into the RF100. When mine's misadjusted and sticking primers right before the drop tube, I poke up under the shield with a small tool and lift the plastic plate just a tad. You can also tap the plate edge a bit to tune the entry as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAL Posted December 21, 2002 Share Posted December 21, 2002 Or did you mean that maybe the pimer machine is damaging the primers while sorting them, Knocking a anvil loose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Schwab Posted December 21, 2002 Share Posted December 21, 2002 BDH, My Primer Tube Filler (the RF100) loves Winchester primers and can digest them continuously without any problems. But if you feed in Federal primers it constantly chokes on them; what happens is they hang up right before they drop into the tube thus requiring me to shut the machine off and clear the jam. I have yet to "tune" this machine though, and ya know, that may be a great winter activity since things are so slow. One more thing, don't waste the time to tear down a round of ammo to recover the components. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDH Posted December 21, 2002 Author Share Posted December 21, 2002 All, Thanks for the great feedback!! Like I said in the original post, I love all my Dillon gear, and I'm glad to hear that maybe with a little tweaking, I can get my primer filler working as good as everything else. I almost exclusively use WSR and WLP (I've got some CCI's hanging around, but I'm trying to use them up, so I only care about the Winchester's). I will occassionally get a high primer that jambs the machine, but my biggest problem seems to be upside down primers (probably five - eight per hundred). My secondary problem is that sometimes the primers will vibrate right up to the opening, but then they fail to drop down the tube. Usually, whacking machine solves that problem. I will get a lot of practice this Winter, as I have a ton of once-fired brass to load. I'll give Dillon a call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDH Posted December 21, 2002 Author Share Posted December 21, 2002 Eric Warren, I forgot to add that my 650 casefeeder runs flawless. If I can get my primer filler running like my casefeeder, I will be really cranking out the ammo!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted December 24, 2002 Share Posted December 24, 2002 I'm pretty much ditto on EriK Warren's last post. That's a nice "lift-up" trick. I mod I did that helps the final tweeking on a particular brand of primers - drilled two very small holes in the top of the shield. One lets me get an allen wrench in there so I can loosen that little plastic thingy that's right before they drop down the tube. The other hole lets me stick a small, sharp metal mechanics pick down there so I can tweek the aforementioned thingy around. And, I always do a visual scan for anvils and priming compound (before pouring them in) if I care if it goes bang. And then scan the loaded rounds for correct directionally-oriented primers. The The Great One and I do this scan when we load the ammo in the mags at the match. Smarter folks do this when they load their ammo in an ammo box before going to the match. The reason I mentioned The Great One was that I remember him clicking on a round with an upside-down primer in a match somewhere... be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDH Posted December 24, 2002 Author Share Posted December 24, 2002 be, Drill my Dillon gear??? After I get over that..... what a great idea!! Give access without having to pull the top off. It makes total sense..... You're da man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2alpha Posted December 24, 2002 Share Posted December 24, 2002 It'll work without the top, no need to drill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted December 29, 2002 Share Posted December 29, 2002 eeek. After having one primer go off unexpectedly in the seating station, I'm not going to run my RF-100 with the top off for any length of time. I don't think Dillon put 1/4" of polycarbonate on there for show. I've considered drilling and tapping the shield for a couple of small nylon bolts to bear on and allow external micro-adjustments to the plastic plate. That would be cool, especially with a 'lift' option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TONY BARONE Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 JUST PUT A NEW RF 100 THAT PAUL AT DILLON SET UP FOR ME. IT WORKS FLAWLESS WITH OUT ANY ASSITANCE FROM ME.I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT TO ANY ONE WHO NEEDS HIGH VOLUME LOADING OR JUST WANTS ALL THE TOYS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2alpha Posted January 1, 2003 Share Posted January 1, 2003 THANKS TONY, YOU DON'T HAPPEN TO STILL BE WEARING YOUR EARMUFFS DO YA? Shred, I cut the tags off my mattress too!! And I went out without my rubbers on in the rain!!! LOL Just kiddn to each his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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