New machine appeared at my house.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Well,,,, I was sitting here one day and an old friend of mine called me up and told me how he had heard that I was loading lots of .223's for my SU16CA. I told him that I was infact working on 1000 rounds of completely processed and primed brass I had bought from Turners Outdoorsman.

He asked how I was actually loading this brass and I told him I was using a PW Metalmatic II which was pretty painless, but rather slow.

Then he asked if I would like to have a Dillon 550 to make things go faster?

When I got to his house he pulled out this machine which had been in a cabinet in his garage for decades, along with tool heads for .308, 9mm,.45ACP, and 38-357, along with a case trimmer and pocket swager. All pretty blue color. Several extra tool heads and changeover kits for .223 and .44's. I asked him what he wanted for the whole mess and he said he wanted me to put it to use! Apparently he had bought the whole mess from a garage sale in the 80's and had come home and put it away never to be thought of again until he thought of me.

This is a 550, not a 550B The manual has the price at $139.95, with the Swager at $39.95! Obviously those prices have changed.

Needless to say I will load any and all ammo for him that he could ever want, as he is still an avid hunter and goes every year despite his 82 years.

I just finished a mount for this machine using my normal aluminum plate mounting system.

It pays to have good friends, and this is not the first time this one has helped me out, well beyond my dreams! I'm definately better off for knowing him and I hope he feels the same about me.

Here's a pic.

Randy

[Alvarez Kelly]

It has the first failsafe linkage and the low primer alarm. It is, technically, a RL550B.

Great friend!

[Chilmonty]

Thats awesome!! And get ready to start making and selling that Very nice aluminum mount! :)

[W.R.Buchanan]

About 15 years ago I designed a CNC router for a company. I went so far as to produce some of the parts for 10-12 machines.

They flaked out! and I was stuck with all these parts. I managed to sell one complete machine which covered all my material costs but ended up with a bunch of cut to size pieces of Aluminum tooling plate which were not good for a whole lot. This box of cut to size chunks of aluminum tooling plate is my go to source for material anytime I need to build a fixture or piece of tooling for a jobs that come in.

The pieces you see on that machine mount are the Main Z Axis plate, (@8 x 21) two blank router split clamp pieces,(3x8) and another 5 x 8" piece.

If you look at earlier posts of mine you will see that I mount all of my machines to these plates for modularity. Then they get clamped to a table top when used,and put on a shelf with a plastic trash bag over them when not in use..

If I had not had these pieces of aluminum laying around the machines would have been bolted to pieces of plywood.

The 8x21 bottom plates cost me about $45 each when I had them cut. Since they are already drilled and have 25 holes in them they aren't good for anything else, so this use is a good use. Plus I've had them laying in my shop for nearly 20 years so finding a use for them was better than scrapping them out. I've got 3 or 4 left.

It looks real nice but I doubt anyone would be willing to pay what I'd have to have to make it worth while to make them. I've got about 5 hours in that stand, plus the material costs.

Pics were posted more to disseminate the idea so others can concoct their own systems. 3/4 birch plywood would work just as well as the aluminum plate, and cost a lot less.

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

Brian: does the current 550B have "550B" cast into the side of the press frame? or does it just have "550?"

Randy

[Alvarez Kelly]

Brian: does the current 550B have "550B" cast into the side of the press frame? or does it just have "550?"

Randy

No Dillon press has "RL550B" on the side. All versions of the 550 have RL550 cast into the frame. The frame castings have not changed, but there have been a few minor machining differences over the years. Specifically, the finished height of the primer mounting flange. Some presses use a "bearing" (actually just a spacer) under the primer housing to compensate for the thickness of the failsafe bracket, while the newer presses don't need the spacer. The frame is machined so it is not needed.

[Liberty'sSon]

It's good to have friends like that.

[Mayhem]

You sir are a lucky man to have such good friends and luckier still having one with good taste in reloading equipment.

[ph4570]

You must be a good man to have a good friend like that -- that's the way it is.

[41 mag fan]

You must be a good man to have a good friend like that -- that's the way it is.

Guess I'm not a good man, as I don't have a friend like that!!!

[gamedog53]

Very Nice set up! You are very lucky to have a firend like that.

[NewbieDave007]

Congrats! Nice!

[ph4570]

Guess I'm not a good man, as I don't have a friend like that!!!

Ah, but not ALL good men have good friends like that.

[LUBEDUDE]

Hey, great story Randy, Congrats! I know you will put than machine to good use.

Enjoy!

[seagiant]

Hi Randy,
Nice! Did you go out and buy a lotto ticket???? Yes! The plate is $$$,I use a single piece so I can move machines around and clamp where I please! Not cheap though!