Old Dillon 550 conversion plates

[3gunnah]

I just picked up what I thought was a 44 mag conversion for my 550. When I went to set it up I found the shell plate actually had 4 diffrent size shell holders built in. How old is this setup? It only allows for single stage loading. But is kind of cool!! Thanks for info.

[A. D.]

3gunnah

that is the shell plate that is / was standard for the AT500 press.

the at500 was a starter press that you can add a primer system and

all of the other bells and whistles to it..... apparently the shell plate

was so you can load four different calibers in a single stage setting....

if this doesn't make sense - call dillon....

merry christmas

ad

Edited December 15, 2009 by A. D.

[1911user]

AD is right. That shellplate is from a Dillon AT500 press. It allowed the AT500 press to work as a turret press before you started upgrading it to a full 550B setup. It's not really that old; maybe 10-15 years at most. I forget when the AT500s were produced. They were designed as a way to get a full 550B press but spread out the up-front purchase costs by doing upgrades to the basic AT500 press.

The standard shellplate that came with the AT500 covered the 380acp/223, 9mm, 38sp/357mag, and 45acp/30-06 caseheads.

A Cowboy shellplate was available that loaded 44-40, .444 Marlin, .45 Colt, .25-20, .32-20, .44 Russian, .44 Colt, and .44 Special/Magnum. You likely have this one.

A 3rd plate was available, the Accessory Rifle shellplate, which loaded: .30-30, .38-55, .25-35, .32-40, 7.62x39, 6mm PPC, .22 PPC, Std Belted Magnums, 45-70, and 7.62x54R.

Edited December 16, 2009 by 1911user

[3gunnah]

Thanks guys. I will tuck this away until one of my buddys needs some odd ammo I don't load on a regular basis. Guess it's time to call Dillon for a 44 mag shell plate.