550b shopping list and questions.

While saving my pennies to send the 550b in for rebuilding I'm looking at what else I need/want to do with this press.
I want to load 9mm, 38/357 and 10mm/.40 for sure. Right now the press is set for 9mm, I have two powder measure's, an extra tool head and powder die. Researching Brian Enos' sight I need the 38/.357 conversion and a "W" powder funnel, another tool head and powder die to be able to leave things mostly set up for the hangun rounds. I'll still have to swap and adjust powder measures for the time being. Is this correct so far?
Next, I'm considering doing rifle rounds on this, this will be the bulk of my dumb questions.
Is it worth the cost for a conversion, tool head etc., for a moderate shooter, say 100-200rds of 308 and 50-100rds of .243? The nice thing is I'd be doing 308, 30-06 and .243, just change the dies. Would I be able to just buy one powder funnel to load all three? I can't find a reference to this anywhere!
Im already set up with a Redding Boss to load all three, but mostly have just been doing development loads so far. But may or may not load more in the future. Just trying to get bang for buck like most of us.
Thanks in advance.

The powder funnel will come with the caliber change kit. Tool heads are cheap, the cost comes in if you want a dedicated powder drop for each. But it is up to you, if you don't mind adjusting dies just get one. Personally I have a complete quick change for almost every caliber, takes me all of 3 minutes to change calibers if running the same size primer.

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243 and 308 use different funnels but you can just order the funnel.

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Originally Posted by Reddirt62

243 and 308 use different funnels but you can just order the funnel.

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But me, being the cheap and curious type, what is the difference and why wouldn't one of the two work for all three with adjustments?

Had 7 progressives at one time and never used one for rifle ammo. It can be done, but IMHO, for the amount you shoot it would be silly.

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Originally Posted by dverna

Had 7 progressives at one time and never used one for rifle ammo. It can be done, but IMHO, for the amount you shoot it would be silly.

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Thank you for the honesty!

I really like my SDB for the pistol calibers you're planning to load. At least think about swapping what you've got for a SDB and keep the Redding for rifle.

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Originally Posted by sawinredneck

But me, being the cheap and curious type, what is the difference and why wouldn't one of the two work for all three with adjustments?

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It may, but then again you may get a lot of spillage.....I have never owned a 243. Just get the 308/3006 and try it. 😊

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Originally Posted by JimB..

I really like my SDB for the pistol calibers you're planning to load. At least think about swapping what you've got for a SDB and keep the Redding for rifle.

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For what I'm into the 550b I'd rather keep it. I've looked at the SDB videos and I really appreciate the extra room for loading boolits etc. It would also cost me considerably more to set up the SDB as I already have the dies for these calibers.
But a decent idea for sure.

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Originally Posted by Reddirt62

It may, but then again you may get a lot of spillage.....I have never owned a 243. Just get the 308/3006 and try it. 

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What could go wrong! Lol!

Get extra primer filler tubes for the handgun calibers, you won't regret it.


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Definitely more primer tubes like sukivel said. You can buy the tubing off of grainger.com. It comes in 6 ft sections, you get 5 tubes out of one length. I like to have 10-15 loaded when I do a pistol reloading session.

550s are great presses but aren't designed for load development in my opinion. I'm not sure that the amount of rifle ammo you intend to load justifies setting up for the rifle calibers even though​ they would all use the same shell holder. If you were to set up for rifle calibers, I would suggest getting a tool head for each and​the powder die and powder funnel so all you would have to do is transfer the powder measure. Once the dies are set up on the toolhead, setting up for a different caliber is minimal.

The only truly dedicated tool head with powder measure is 223 with the Dillon carbide dies. The amount of 223 we load justifies the expense. The balance of tool heads use a transferred powder measure. I have several powder measures with different powder bars so I don't need to change powder bars to transfer between rifle calibers and pistol calibers.

The most recent upgrade that I have done is acquire another 550 so I have one for large primers and one for small primers. This is for convenience only. I can change from one size to another in short order but having the second press allows the convenience of converting calibers without the need to change the priming system.

I'd stick with loading your rifle calibers on your Redding press for now and consider changing when your volume increases. As a side note, I have noticed that I have acquired a second set of most of the rifle calibers that I have set up on tool heads so that I can load development loads and small runs of other loads.


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This helps w/ finding out what you need: http://gunwiki.net/apps/calconversion/index.asp

As for rifle rounds, that's a personal decision. I have multiple tool heads but only use one. I load a lot on a LCT. So I just transfer the dies over, set up, and load away. It doesn't take that long to set up the dies. I realize the point of the toolheads is to prevent having to set up the dies every time. But in reality it doesn't take long.

The only rifle round I load on the 550 is 223. I have the pieces to load others. But it's easier to load them on a single stage.

I'm going to jump onboard about loading rifle cartridges on a 550B. I have to agree with the others, you can certainly load rifle cartridges on a 550B (or other progressive press) but it probably isn't worth the effort unless you load a LOT of rifle cartridges.

I've loaded tens upon tens of thousands of handgun cartridges on a 550B and it's a GREAT pistol cartridge press. I still load rifle cartridges on a single stage press. It's a personal choice and you can do as you see fit. I rarely load more than 100 rifle cartridges at a time and usually more like 20-40 at a time. It just isn't worth the time and expense, to me; to set up a progressive press for that low volume. I also load rifle cartridges with an eye on the best possible consistency. That means weighing every charge, lots of case preparation, the use of competition seating dies, etc. It's activity just better suited for a single stage press.

NOW, for handgun loads - the 550 is tough to beat. I actually prefer it over the 650.
I keep complete tool heads for the cartridges that I load the most so the conversions take just a few minutes. The biggest pain is changing from small primers to large primers. (and even that isn't a big deal :smile: ). I usually keep the press set up for small primers and if I convert it to large primers I run a big batch so I don't have to convert back and forth as often. In a perfect world I would have two 550's and have one set up for each primer size.

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Originally Posted by sawinredneck

But me, being the cheap and curious type, what is the difference and why wouldn't one of the two work for all three with adjustments?

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I'm no expert, but as I understand it, the powder funnel bells the case mouth. So for most of the .30's, you could use the B funnel, but the .243 would need a smaller funnel (I), for it's smaller case mouth. That's why you need a different one for each caliber.

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Originally Posted by obssd1958

I'm no expert, but as I understand it, the powder funnel bells the case mouth. So for most of the .30's, you could use the B funnel, but the .243 would need a smaller funnel (I), for it's smaller case mouth. That's why you need a different one for each caliber.

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It only bells pistol cases (and 30 carbine).

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Originally Posted by obssd1958

I'm no expert, but as I understand it, the powder funnel bells the case mouth.

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Not for rifle with Dillon funnels... they are "female" funnels; the case neck inserts into the funnel and the fit is close enough that the powder hole always aligns properly on the case. If you put a 243 neck in an oversize funnel, you may loose that alignment... The exception, as noted above, is the 30 Carbine funnel (also used for 300 BlackOut) which still inserts into the case...

Fair enough and thanks all! Sorry, I'm doing load development on the Redding now, but once I got things sorted I'd considered moving them to the 550b. But as I figured, it's probably not worth it unless I start shooting a lot more. Which I wouldn't mind, but time, money, finding a place and so on....
So handgun it is for now.

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Originally Posted by StratsMan

Not for rifle with Dillon funnels... they are "female" funnels; the case neck inserts into the funnel and the fit is close enough that the powder hole always aligns properly on the case. If you put a 243 neck in an oversize funnel, you may loose that alignment... The exception, as noted above, is the 30 Carbine funnel (also used for 300 BlackOut) which still inserts into the case...

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Dillon offers an m style flaring die for 30 cal, I bought one the other day.


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I stand corrected. Learn something every day!

An alternative to additional powder measures is to buy a charge bar for the extra cartridge. That eliminates adjusting for each change if you label them.

My threshold for single stage vs. progressive is not based on rifle/pistol but number of rounds to load. If less than 100 (it's usually well under 100) it's not worth setting up a progressive.

Like others I load SOME rifle on a Dillon but typically only .223 and .30-'06 for my Garand.

David