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I have a old Dillon RL 450 press from a old dear friend of mine that pass away. My question is how do you adjust the powder charge. I used it about 20 years went he had it. I would like to buy a star that helps to turn the shells I notice ebay sells them and do they work good. I also understand a lot of 550 parts will interchange with the 450. This one is set-up with 38 dies in time i would like to get the shell plate for 45 acp and 9mm does 550 shell holder work with the 450
the 550 shell holders/plates are the same as the 450's.
on the old push-pull 450 powder measure there is a screw [bolt head] you turn on the back of the housing away from the black knob.
in=more, out=less weight.
you can buy the parts and upgrade the ram's head to a 550's then you can add the new style powder measure and do the auto primer upgrade.
you have to upgrade the whole frame if you want the changeable die heads.
R5R explained it well. A call to Dillon will get you the parts you need. I like my 450 just as much as the 550B that gets a lot of use.
Call Dillon to tell them what you have and that you want to change it into a Dillon RL550C. I believe if you ship it to them They go over everything to change it to a 550 that at last I read about $100. Please remember that you will need to purchase the items for the 550 to change between caliper and you can use any previous dies. I suggest looking at the Hornady nitrile die sets for each caliper and the Dillon parts for caliper changeover. We can tell you that you will be better with the 550.Quote:
Originally Posted by bouncer50
I can tell you that you will need a different shell plates for the 550.
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actually my shellplates bought with my Rl300, work with my 450. Dillon states the same plate works on 450, 550, 550B and 550C.
With the bolt opposite the knob on the powder bar.Quote:
My question is how do you adjust the powder charge.
The 450's were good press's and were a constant progression of changes along the way. Just because its a 450 don't assume parts from another 450 will fit, chances are good they won't. To adjust the powder charge use a box end or open end wrench and turn the bolt heard on the back of the sliding powder bar in or out, it should turn easy unless powder left in the measure corroded it. The early 450's did not have the thumb wheel to advance the shell plate, you pinched the case on the platform and turned it that way. You also had to pull the loaded round off manually. The auto eject kit with the thumb wheel is still available from Dillon for the 450. It was with the introduction of the 450B that the thumb wheel & auto eject were standard, a very nice feature I might add. I hope you got all the pieces and parts the press came with originally as you won't get them from Dillon if you need them. If it was my press I would clean it lube it and use it, appreciate for the great press it is. I'm not positive but I'm thinking the frame between the 550 & 550C is different. If you need some older parts shoot Alvarez Kelly a message. He knows older Dillon's better than the guys currently working on Dillon's call desk. Good luck with a fine piece of history.
I had a 450 years ago and change it over to a 550.
I do have lots of odd ball Dillon parts. I even have an extra star wheel somewhere... Lol
Several years ago, I bought a like new 450 stripped frame at a very cheap price with the thought of buying parts to make a new 450. Hah! I found out in a hurry that although there were parts for the 4550 out there, you had better know what you are buying or they will not fit. Kelly answered my inquiry and offered good advice, cheaper to buy a 550 than try to build a 450 from scratch. Dillon told me the same thing and were very up front about them trying to build a 450 from a frame using 550 parts. The representative told me the last one they did for a customer ended up costing him over a hundred dollars more than he would have paid for a 550 as the parts do not all "drop in" and have to be hand fitted. I still have the frame but gave up the effort of trying to rebuild it. I really like the 450 much better than the 550 and I have owned at one time 2 of the 550's and 3 of the 450's. Right now I don't own a progressive and I doubt if I will ever own another. I have no need for speed now as at 75+ years of age, my competition days are over. Besides, I really enjoy the reloading process and single stage presses work just fine for me. The Dillon's are very fine machines and the service is second to none and I certainly can recommend them to anyone wanting a progressive. my experience anyway, james
I have delt with Mr Kelly many times on the Brian Enos forums, I always have had great results.