A Couple Problems With Primers, etc...

[MyDogNelson]

I just started reloading this past week with a Dillon 550R and have had my share of challenges trying to reload .45 cal auto. I think I have most of them figured out, but a couple that I haven't figured out are with primers as follows:

1) When depriming, for some reason about half the time when the machine spits out the old primer it misses the deprimer cup and goes wherever it falls. Sometimes it gets snagged up in the primer slide bar which causes it to jam up. Is that common?

2) The primer pick up tube is hit and miss. Primers get stuck and then I have to get them all out and start all over again. Since I'm reloading .45 cal, I am using the correct primer size (large) and the correct primer pickup tube, so the problem is not due to incorrect sizing.

3) I'm also having problems with the finished case size. The manual I'm using calls for 1.275". I have the die set for exactly that size and on all my test rounds, they are perfectly calibrated for that size. But my finished rounds are coming out about 1.280". Is that a problem? Even though they are longer than the manual indicates they should be, they are still shorter than the .45 ACP case gauge when measured that way.

Any advice will be appreciated.

[UW Mitch]

1. My 650 and SDB both miss the primer cup occasionally. I thought about tying a funnel with a rubber hose to the garbage can. Not sure about getting snagged on the primer slide bar - not familiar enough with the 550.

2. Look closely inside your tubes. Is there a little bur or something that they're hanging up on? I found a little burr in one of mine. Someone else posted recently that they had a box of primers that had a few that were out of spec - not quite perfectly round causing the problem you describe. When you get a stuck one, check it out - is it deformed?

3. When you make the calibrated one, is that running the machine with only 1 round through, then when you're making ammo, you're filling all the stations? I found that there's a small difference when I run one round through at a time versus when I'm actually loading (had to do with how I'm swinging the my arm/press and the stations being all loaded). I wouldn't worry too much about an 0.005" variation. BTW, my 45acp COL is 1.250".

Good luck!

~Mitch

[MyDogNelson]

Thanks, Mitch. I'll look inside the primer tube to see if there is anything inside they are getting hung up on. I'll take a good look at the primers, too, to see if they are odd shaped. I don't think that's causing my problem, though, because it's happening too often and from too many different sents of bister packs for that to likely be the case.

As for the sizing issue, yes, I was doing the test measurement with just one round and then finding the size discrepency when doing a progressive batch of four rounds. I'll try doint the test measurement with a bach next time, although it's good to know that the tiny difference should be a big deal.

Thank you for your help.

[chemepharmd]

More input just in case it helps.

1) I have both a 550 and a 650, and this is a common occurrence on both. However, I'd guess it only happens to 5 to 10% of mine at the very most. On a 550, make sure the metal funnel-shaped piece that drops the spent primer into the cup "flops" freely open and closed. Mine got stuck open one time and did exactly what you're describing. If it isn't working properly, the "funnel" and pin are fairly easy to bend until it works properly.

2) It is possible that the plastic piece at the bottom of your primer tube inside the primer assembly is too tight or possibly bent/broken. If I remember correctly, the bottom end of the primer tube on a 550 is plastic and may have to be changed out every now and then. I'd cycle all of my primers through and remove the tube to check it out.

3) I also don't think this should be a major problem. If the finished rounds fit and function in your case gauge, chamber, and mags, then you should be fine. Any problems in those areas, then shorten up the load a bit.

[Fast Shooter Wannabe]

2) Call Dillon on this one. If the tube is not functioning, it may be the pick up cap. If not, Dillon will make it right. They may just send you a new tube.

Jason

[chemepharmd]

Calling Dillon is good advice. Dillon has great technical support and customer service. If there is a question about any part, they will have it on your doorstep pronto at no charge.

Edited June 7, 2009 by chemepharmd

[kevin c]

Dillon advised me many moons ago (on my SDB) that all the stations on the shell plate need to be filled with cases, in whatever condition they're supposed to be in at each station, when adjusting OAL. Typically there's a 0.004 to 0.005 difference (on my SDB, at least).

[D. Manley]

Dillon advised me many moons ago (on my SDB) that all the stations on the shell plate need to be filled with cases, in whatever condition they're supposed to be in at each station, when adjusting OAL. Typically there's a 0.004 to 0.005 difference (on my SDB, at least).

Yep, mine varies a bit between full & empty...up to .007 or .008 with some bullets but usually a good deal less so.

Edited June 7, 2009 by D. Manley

[MyDogNelson]

Thanks to all for your help. To Chemepharmd, your suggestion to manipulate the funnel and pin at the opening point where the spent primer exits so that it opens and closes properly sounds like it might fix the problem. Something is happening that causes the old primers to flop around all over the place and it is really creating a mess. So I appreciate the advice from everybody.

[chemepharmd]

Hope it works out. Let us know if you have more problems.

[MyDogNelson]

Hope it works out. Let us know if you have more problems.

I just reloaded a couple hundred rounds and, after tweaking the spent primer funnel, just a handful of used primers missed the deprimer cup! That fixed the problem; huge difference. Before literally half or fewer were going in the cup. The rest were going everywhere and really screwing things up. Great advice! Thanks a million...