Dillon 650 primer question

[6bg6ga]

I loaded up some 9mm rounds and noticed the primer is a hair deeper than flush. They fire fine but I'm wondering if anyone has shimmed the primer pin assembly.

[gray wolf]

noticed the primer is a hair deeper than flush.

As they should be

[JRPVT]

Most primers will be seated to full depth below flush. Engineered that way to protect primer face. Actual depth will vary by case manufacturer and primer manufacturer. Per gray wolf "as they should be." Dave

[Moonie]

I was thinking the same thing, primers should be slightly below flush.

[flyingrhino]

If they are flush that's likely a sign of something wrong. I loaded a BUNCH of 9mm once. I forgot to change the primer seating stem from the large to the small when changing over from 45acp. I had misfires on most of the rounds because the primers were seated flush which left a small gap between the anvil and bottom of the pocket. It took 2 or 3 strikes of the firing pin before the primers would ignite.

[jmorris]

Remove the case from station 2 on the SD or 650 (station 1 on a 550) and push the handle like you are priming. you will see the seating stem come up very high, like touching the bottom (or would that be top) of the primer pocket. Like this, note the anvil is much higher than where the bottom of the case rests.



So that means the pressure you push back with on the handle is what controls the depth of the primer.

Because even when seated well, there is still lots of room to go. If your paying attention you can feel the difference in stroke length if a primer is not there to be seated, because the stroke is longer because there is a primer that stops the stem from moving higher than it can with no primer.




Below flush is how all of mine are.

[GARD72977]

If its an older press with out the primer punch that can be dissambled you. May have powder dust build up. My press is 20+ years old. The punch came up so much it was hitting the shell holder and binding up. Dillon will send you a new style.

[David2011]

Jmorris,

Outstanding post!

Somewhere in the back of my mind the figure .004" keeps coming up as a primer recess figure. Aluminum soft drink cans are about .004" thick as a reference.

David

[6bg6ga]

I guess I should have mentioned that I had someone saw that my primers were in deep. They asked if the loads worked ok and they did. I thought I might change the depth a hair but upon inspection the primers are fully seated, cause no problems so I believe I will just leave them alone. Yes, depth does vary with brand of casing. The 650 in my opinion needs to be operated so the primer fully seats instead of trying to not do a full seat. I had thought about changing the primer pin length but feel now like simply leaving it alone.

[jmorris]

Any primer should be fully seated, if they are not some of the impact force of the firing pin can be put to use seating the primer further vs setting it off, that gives you a "dud". If that happens and you can give it a 2nd try and it fires, you need to use more force to seat the primer, so it's fully seated.

The Dillon 1050 and Lee loadmaster are two exceptions, you set the seat depth with a wrench and from first to last, they are all the same depth as the both seat on the down stroke. It's especially nice to have the swage station that the Dillon has because seating the primer on the (handle) down stroke means you can't feel the primer seat, everything else is also being done, so if there is a problem like a crimped pocket on the Lee, you just mangle a primer.

In deep is better than flush or proud any day of the week. My 45 ACP shot loads use 308 family rifle cases as the parent case, even with the deeper LRP pocket I still seat the shorter LPP against the bottom of the pocket, despite being deeper than any of the pistol brass I load them into, they still go bang everytime.