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Thread: Dillon RL 450 Auto Eject

  1. #1
    Boolit Grand Master Tatume's Avatar
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    Dillon RL 450 Auto Eject

    The auto eject feature is an add-on for my RL 450 machines. It is almost $90 w/ shipping per unit. If any of you have loaded with and without auto eject I would like to hear your opinions. Does it appreciably speed up production?

    I've been asking a lot of this type of questions. It is because I'm shooting about 15000 - 18000 rounds per year while working full time with significant (unpaid) overtime. Any time I can convert from the loading bench to the firing line is worthwhile to me.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master 243winxb's Avatar
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    Dillon RL-450 Speed.

    i dont see anything speeding up my RL-450.

    Maybe a new operator

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    Lets start with 16500 rounds per year. Say it takes you 2 seconds to remove a round from the shell plate. ((16500 x 2) / 60) / 60=9.1666 hours. 16500 pieces of brass times 2 seconds per piece, divided by 60 to get the total minutes, divided by 60 to get the total hours. Thats a lot of time spent removing rounds but not in the grand scheme of things.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I have two...well, I call them 500s because they started out as 450s and when I bought the 550 frames I kept the primer and powder manual rather then updating to the auto versions. I had done some loading on an early Square Deal and did not like the glitches caused by the feeds. I keep one each set up for small and large primers to avoid the hassle of switching them out. I eventually added the ejector, thumbwheel and chute to decrease wear & tear on my fingers, as that particular movement was aggravating my arthritis and carpal tunnel. Then I added the strong mounts, and discovered that the chute/bin bracket that comes with the ejector kit (the one you have to bolt to the bench) gets replaced with a different chute/bracket piece when you add the strong mount, and becomes surplus. Non-refundable surplus. So I did a little passive-aggressive slap at Big Blue by drilling one additional hole in the disused chute and bolting it to the left rear mount bolt of the press, and now I can hang a bin there on the flat that's meant for the loaded-round bin, rather than buying the irrationally high-priced blue bullet holder. I may saw the chute part off eventually, for looks, since all that gets used is the flat, but in the meantime it ain't hurtin nuffin. I haven't looked at the Dillon site lately to check whether they will combine the strong mount and it's dedicated bracket with the ram top with ejector wire, as a kit, but it might be worth checking or calling them. Of course if you don't want the strong mount then the simple kit bracket will work fine.
    Long story short, yeah, the thumbwheel and chute has saved me a tiny amount of time per round, but IME mostly it's made turning the shellplate easier on my digits and wrists.
    Ed <><

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    How much time auto eject would save may depend on how you have your bench / press set up .
    If you have bins for finished rounds as well as empty cases as close to the holder on the shell plate they will be removed from or added to you can save wasted motion/time . On some presses I have used a thump and 1st finger can hold an empty case and the middle finger can rake the loaded round from the shell plate into a bin and then the fresh case inserted in one movement . Takes a bit of experimenting to find out what will work.
    It all depends on how the equipment / workspace are setup the operator and what the individual is satisfied with.
    Even a system that wastes movement with a progressive is going to be much faster than a single stage.
    Auto eject eliminates one function that is performed manually that is good but does it matter $90.00 worth ?
    Only the guy doing it can decide

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy mister gizmo's Avatar
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    I made my own auto-eject on my 450 by milling the shell plate platform so that the finished round would have a place to get kicked out of the shell plate after being crimped. It was decades ago and I forget how I kicked the finished round out ... but it is possible.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master

    Kraschenbirn's Avatar
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    My RL-450 is an early model (circa 1982-83?) and came from the factory with the same 'auto-eject' feature as the RL-550 but the frame of the current version of the 450 is considerably different than the one on my bench. IIRC, production of the the original RL-450 was discontinued in 1985 upon the introduction of the first RL-550 and then the 'RL-450' designation returned as the label for an entry-level 'no frills' progressive just a few years back. Oh yeah, the total bill for my 450 was $346.55...and that included two sets of Dillon dies, three caliber conversions (shellplates, pins, and powder funnels) and two packages of extra primer tubes.

    Bill
    Last edited by Kraschenbirn; 01-21-2021 at 10:50 PM.
    "I'm not often right but I've never been wrong."

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
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LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check