Repairs to my Dillon 550B reloading press

[Homer]

G'Day Fella's,

Here is a thread I posted on the Nosler Forum.
http://forum.nosler.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 13#p353513

I hope that may be of some assistance to some of you!

Doh!
Homer

[brett1868]

Great work Homer, Woohoo Nice to know how to fix something before it breaks. I have the Dillon 650 and considering buying a 2nd one. One setup for the small primer and the other for large as swapping that over seems to take the longest and is a good bit of a pain when 45ACP brass has both sizes of primer when buy the once fired stuff.

[Homer]

G'Day Fella's,

Brett1868, that is what caused this problem (swapping between Small and Large primers)!
A second press is the best solution but this should rectify this issue for me!!!

Doh!
Homer

[brett1868]

G'Day Fella's,

Brett1868, that is what caused this problem (swapping between Small and Large primers)!
A second press is the best solution but this should rectify this issue for me!!!

Doh!
Homer

More a time issue for me as I tend to reload 3-4 calibres in a session and having to swap the primer tube, feed disk & punch adds time. I have 8 tool heads so adding a second press is fairly cheap as most of the cost is in the tool heads. I use the Hornady LnL projectile feeder for loading JHP's which vastly improves throughput and allows me to load singled handed so I can swap at 100 The press is averaging a couple thousand rounds a week at the moment and hasn't missed a beat, What lube do you use for the ram? Not sure if I should use a light grease or a thick oil or maybe buy the maintenance kit. I did buy the spares kit as an insurance policy against breakage but haven't needed it yet. I love this press, might even go for the 1050 as business picks up and I'm having to load larger quantities of single calibre's..

[Chickenhawk]

Is it just me or do the Dillon presses not often work well straight out of the box?

[brett1868]

Is it just me or do the Dillon presses not often work well straight out of the box?

What issues did you have and which model? curious if there's something I need to lookout or be prepared for. Before buying mine I watched all the instruction videos they have online along with several reviews and points to pay attention to. Took me a while to get mine setup compared to say the Lee Pro 1000 but when done paying "Careful" attention to the instructions all went smoothly. The only issue I had was that when loading 8Gr of AP100 into 38Super cases was that powder would flick out as the shell plate indexed. Simple enough fix was to cut 1.5 coils from the detent ball spring and adjust the tension on the shell plate according to the instructions.
So far >20k loaded rounds and the I've had only 4 rejected rounds due to primer seated sideways. My carbide .223 dies turned up yesterday so there'll be another 1500 rounds punched through it by the weekend. I love the thing and cant speak highly enough of the product, yes they are on the pricey side. To me time is money and this press saves me time so well worth the initial upfront costs.

I'll make an open offer....if anyone in Sydney who's been an active member on here for a while and not been a total ass is welcome to come over to my place and punch some loads through it. BYO powder / Projectiles / Primers or I can supply at cost the powder / primers. Calibers available are 9mm, 38Super, 38/357, 44Mag, 45ACP, ..204 Ruger, 223 as that's all I've got the shell holder plates for.

Disclaimer...I'm not now or ever have been an employee of Dillon or its agents