Just got an RL550B - How do you use yours for size/deprime?

Some of you guys are harsh, lol. I'll probably never load more than 2 or 3 hundred in a sitting so I don't need "max volume". My first rounds are .50 beowulf and after a couple of hours of reading the manual and setting up each station to as perfect as I can get, I loaded 50 rounds of wulf. Unfortunately they were already sized, tumbled, and primed, so I just removed that station altogether. I put brass in one, rotated to 2, and then started the motions (minus the primer push). I did 50 rounds in very short time.

Before officially starting loaded rounds, I ran 10 powder loads through after adjusting to make sure I was consistent and measured each on a balance. I was using Lil' Gun and being a small powder, it measured quite well. +-.1 grains not a problem. Once I was sure on that, I ran 10 test rounds on old brass without powder/primer for proper seating depth and crimp. Satisfied I had everything adjusted, I got to work for real.

I measured every single round coming out for OAL and visually checked every case for powder level. I stopped the process and measured the powder charge every fifth round to make sure it wasn't off. In the end everything was quite good and I have a box of 50. Normally I'd make 10 and go shoot to be sure but I measured everything against my single-stage press loads and all checks out so I can't imagine there will be a problem.

My next attempt will be 50 spent rounds that have not been touched. I'm going to polish only and try the whole process without cleaning the primer pocket and making this a 2-step process. I'll come back and report on those when I'm done but it'll be a couple of days.

So far I'm fairly impressed with the 550B given the price point. I'll be loading 9MM, .45ACP, .38spl, .308, .45-70, and .50 Beowulf. For now. I may start on .223 since I can use the same BLC(2) I use in .308 and I've got 1000's of brass.

do your bottleneck rifle case prep off the 550 then run them through from the primer forward.
this allows you to size/deprime and clean the cases.
then load them.
the cases that have a carbide die work better when the cases are a little dirty.
if you want shiny them a pin tumble followed by a dry tumble with a wax to coat the cases this makes the press run a lot smoother.

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Originally Posted by LAH

What do you mean by junk Mr Wolf? You have my interest.

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You know, it took me a minute to get it. I meant the crud when you deprime :drinks:

Pistol brass I run through from deprime all the way to loaded round.

Rifle I do all prep off the press, and only use the seating and crimping stations. My Dillon measure leaks with BLC-2.

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Originally Posted by B. Lumpkin

Pistol brass I run through from deprime all the way to loaded round.

Rifle I do all prep off the press, and only use the seating and crimping stations. My Dillon measure leaks with BLC-2.

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Have you tried a different powder bar?
I have 5 measures and lots of extra bars but have a few powder bars that fit a little more snug.
Most will leak powder like 2400 but the tighter ones won't drop a single granule.
I also read about putting a strip of tape on the inside contact surface of the measure to act like a gasket and tighten things up. Might help you out.

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Originally Posted by MrWolf

You know, it took me a minute to get it. I meant the crud when you deprime :drinks:

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That's what I figured. I keep a paint brush handy because that crud does happen. Thanks.

I use a toothbrush to clean out my deprime crud. Then, when I want to clean out my tooth crud, I have to look for my brush.

First world problems, I guess.

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Originally Posted by Nueces

I use a toothbrush to clean out my deprime crud. Then, when I want to clean out my tooth crud, I have to look for my brush.

First world problems, I guess.

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Only in Texas. [smilie=1:

I went with a 5 position press so that I would have the option to do the 5 stages you mentioned. I couldn't see any way to get those (all critical in my view) steps all-in-one on a four station press and thought it would result in me wishing I had two toolheads for each chambering which seemed to ruin the point of a progressive press.

The only way around this that I found would be a custom powder-through-expander M die like NOE offers, but their selection is limited so that wasn't a workable solution to me.

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Originally Posted by waco

This!^^^^^^^^^^^^!!!!!!!!

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+1 for pistols and for rifle I size on a single stage press.

Alright, well, I got to run about 75 through that were "cradle to grave". I soaked my unprocessed brass in citric acid water like I usually do and then dried it well. Following that, I tumbled it in walnut media for a handful of hours until it was 24 karat. I then put those in a stand up tray and very lightly sprayed the openings with hornady one-shot as these .50 beowulf cases stick like glue to the funnel/expander. I ran all 75 through and things were smooth for the most part but occasional mistakes make me have to stop the process and then manually check the next 5 to be sure I was back in a rhythm. The dillon powder measure seems very sensitive to even slight changes in procedure and/or user stroke. I.e. if I "run out" the press dry (don't continue to feed brass but run remaining brass through to the end) and then start a fresh set, the mere "shaking" of the overall unit, even though the powder throw wasn't operating for 3 or 4 strokes, would cause the first couple of charges to be off by quite a bit. So... every time I made a mistake, which was several, I had to pull the brass pin on the powder station and check each throw then funnel back into the casing to continue without changing my "mechanical interactions" with the machine. As long as I kept the same stroke speed, it was throwing lil' gun at no worse than +- .1 consistently.

Improvements I need to make: powder baffle (ordered), polish the funnel as powder is sticking to it, and a roller handle to improve consistency of motion. In the end, it's a great tool, but the user needs to be careful to not make mistakes and have to backtrack as that gets the user out of the groove and causes inconsistency. The inconsistency breeds more inconsistency and it can get frustrating to get back on track.

So here's another question. There are a few companies that sell anodized aluminum toolheads (not dillon make) in different colors. Anyone use these instead of the silver anodized aluminum dillon brand? It's clear I'm going to have to have a toolhead and powder die for each one I make as I don't want to micro-adjust that (especially the powder die) every time.

I just write on the silver ones with a marker.

I like clean brass. I deprime on a cheap Lee C press with a universal decapping die. I don't want all the primer smutz on the 550. I SS pin wash, dry, then put the clean brass up. Then I run the 550 as normal with the clean brass.

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Originally Posted by dudel

I like clean brass. I deprime on a cheap Lee C press with a universal decapping die. I don't want all the primer smutz on the 550. I SS pin wash, dry, then put the clean brass up. Then I run the 550 as normal with the clean brass.

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Same here. I deprime on a single stage press. Used to use a Lee Challenger, now I use a Forster Co-Ax. Then I wet tumble. Keeps the Dillons clean. Furthermore, I have little kids, and I'd rather that lead dust go down the drain, rather than in the air.

However, after the brass is dry, I'll still dry tumble in corn cob, mineral spirits, and Nufinish. It keeps my brass from getting dull. The corn cob media lasts a lot longer with already cleaned brass.

Also, I moved from stainless steel pins to the stainless steel chips. I like them better for cleaning. Never more than a 1/2 hour in the tumbler, and everything is good enough clean.

I have to disagree with Green frog. The way the press gets used is a reflection of the versitility inherent to the design. You only buy one press. It loads progressive, turret or single stage depending on the owners needs. Exactly how that process is used is directly related to the user.

Round three... I bought a couple of extra anodized toolheads (blue and red) and set up my .45-70 dies on the red. I had some already shiny and primed brass so I left station one open. My load is 45 grains of H4198 under a 300 grain hornady for about 1800 fps -- well under max listed at Hodgdon and in Lyman book...

The H4198 being a stick powder is obviously not going to work as well but the sticks are pretty small. It was throwing mostly +-.1 grain but occasionally would go +- .2 and rarely +- .3 grains. Given how far under max I am, that's not a big deal but if I was trying for match quality, that isn't great.

I need to pull off the funnel and polish it. My baffle isn't here yet. And I'll probably get a micrometer screw head for the powder bar so I can dial to close to my settings. As much as I'd love to have a toolhead and powder throw combo for every caliber, that's EXPENSIVE. I'll have to move the throw and dial it in each time. Over time maybe I'll get a second one -- one for small and one for large powder bar and micrometer both of them. That'll get me real close, real quick as long as I have powder dies and toolheads for each caliber so the dies can stay attached/adjusted.

I used the lee auto disk for several calibers on my Dillon RL550B.

I load on my 550 in a couple of different ways.

If I'm loading for something with a crimped primer (9mm, 45, 223 or 308), I resize on another press. I'll tumble, resize, do the case prep and prime and then I'll run these thru the 550 without a sizing die. The main reason for this is the crimp. It seems like none of the crimp removal methods are perfect and difficult priming causes you so break your rhythm, not a good thing on any progressive press.

If I'm loading for a caliber that was never crimped, I'll tumble the brass and run it thru the 550 in the way it was designed to be run, sizing on station one. If its a caliber that does not use carbide dies I'll lay the loaded rounds out on a towel and give them a shot of brake cleaner to degrease them.

If I had the space I would have a 1050, but if a frog had wings----

I, too, like the look of highly polished pistol brass. But I also don't feel the need to polish the primer pockets.

If I feel like taking the extra effort, here's what I recommend.... Keep in mind that a fellow once said, "Give the laziest man the hardest job and he'll find the easiest way to do it." I do believe they were looking at me as they said it. :)

The following is, IMO, the fastest, least effort involved way to still keep your primer pockets cleaned, and your press used (mostly) as intended. Get a Harvey universal hand depriming tool. Deprime all your brass before you wet tumble it. The Harvey is fast and easy. After wet tumbling, run your cases start to finish through your 550B the way Mr. Dillon intended. Well, except for the depriming.

But as I said, I don't often worry about primer pockets. So wet tumble, dry, then run them through the press as designed. Works great on my 550B and my 1050.

Edit to add: There is one drawback to wet tumbling when using a 550. Often times the wet tumbling process cleans the brass *so* well, that you'll have brass sticking to the powder through expander neck. Using Armor All Car Wash (the kind that comes with a dash of Carnauba wax in it) in the wet tumbler will leave just enough lube behind that you won't have any cases sticking to the powder through expander.

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Originally Posted by dragon813gt

Cases are tumbled in crushed walnut w/ primers intact. Then the cases are run through the whole process on the 550B and a loaded round comes out at the end. It's a progressive press. Performing any process off press defeats the purpose of it. Say what you will but this is a fact. The point of a progressive is to take an empty case at the beginning and produce a loaded round at the end.

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Yep

Unless loading cases with crimped primers - but that should be obvious. BTW "dirty primer pockets" have never caused any issues with pistol ammo.

I load so little rifle ammo that it is all done on a single stage and I get anal about case prep. It is all target quality stuff.

If I was loading bulk rifle ammo, I would use the 550 and load it like pistol ammo. I am not expecting MOA out of bulk ammo.

You will not be convinced about primer pocket cleanliness until you shoot a few thousand and see for yourself. Take one hundred nickel cases and load them multiple times without cleaning the primer pockets. If you are OCD, keep doing what you are doing if it works for you.

Don Verna