Dillion super swage 600 not so great?

[bigjake]

I happen to think IMHO, that the dillion SS 600 is way overrated. You have to have the same headstamps and even the same lot to get good results.

What do you all think?

[M-Tecs]

I've done maybe 30K of 5.56 and 308 without any issues except you can collapse the primer pocket on the 5.56 if you over do it. I love mine.

[bullet maker 57]

I've done thousands as well without a problem.

[JimB..]

Mine work well, ended up with one for small primers and one for large.

[Conditor22]

Love mine hooked a spring up to the rod that holds the brass and hund a towel over a box on that end.
I load the brass, push the rod & brass down to swage, when I start swaging My left hand is free to grab another piece of brass.
when I'm done swaging and return the handle to rest position the spring flips the brass off the rod and into the towel. Save me a bunch of time :)

[ShooterAZ]

Mine works perfectly and has for over 20 years. Tens of thousands of rounds with no complaints at all.

[Hossfly]

I went thru 7,000 range pick up with mine and not 1 hiccup. Rigged up a rubber slinger and every once in a while it would miss my deflector rig and one would hit the wall across the room. LOL

[rcslotcar]

OP what problem(s) did you have??

[Outpost75]

I have two, one for large, another for small primers. Also have the swage head and support rod for .50 BMG which I use occasionally to process brass for others, though I don't load .50 myself. Over the years I've probably done well over 100,000 rifle and pistol cases commercially and for state team as well as for personal use. Once you get past an initial learning curve and learn how to feel the correct resistance in a correct setup, it is easy to tweak the machine by caliber there are no serious issues. You do need to judge the correct amount of resistance by feel for the particular size case and web thickness, and adjust the rod setting, which is different for thinner web 9mm and .30 carbine brass than for 5.56mm, and similarly .45 ACP is different from 7.62 NATO and .30-'06.

[ioon44]

I had a dillion SS 600 and a RCBS swager, now I only have the RCBS. I agree that the Dillon is way overrated and not as easy to use as the RCBS.

[jmorris]

Have a number of different tools that cut or swage crimped pockets. The 1050’s are my favorite but the super Swage works well to, just slower.

If you don’t like it for one reason or another, they are easy to sell or return, if you just got it and lots of other stuff to pick from for your next try and if you can’t get any of them figured out, you can always buy processed brass and not have to mess with trimming either.

[Burnt Fingers]

I had a dillion SS 600 and a RCBS swager, now I only have the RCBS. I agree that the Dillon is way overrated and not as easy to use as the RCBS.

I have both also.

I found the Dillon to be much easier to use and IMHO it does a better job. I really need to get rid of the RCBS unit.

[bigjake]

I may have not given it a chance but, I got it set up and adjusted it on a 5.56 case and it seemed to do a nice job. so, I grabbed the bucket of mixed cases. I started putting them through and noticed how i was getting a different feel on different make cases. I then got my rcbs hand primer and proceeded to prime them and of course, some were loose, some tight, some good! unacceptable! Luckily I have an old South Bend benchtop lathe. I order two cutters from Hornady, one for sm primers one for lg. I just pop the case in the collet chuck and slide the tailstock with the cutters in the drill chuck and push it in for one or two seconds. every primer pocket is perfect, in alignment and tightness. It may take a little longer but not that much, and I guarantee the pockets are better sized than the dillion swaged ones or any other pocket swager.

[Dan Cash]

Jake, you are like a friend of mine who was getting started reloading in volume to support his IPSC shooting. He asked advice on a press and was told Dillon by me and his son and others. Being hard headed, he went green and had all kinds of trouble right out of the chute. That was ten years ago. Today, he is still tinkering with the machine and is thrilled with 200 rounds in an hour, sometimes.

I have the 600 and, like others, have processed multiple thousands of cases with no complaint. I don't have a lathe but if I did, I would not be fooling around reaming primer pockets with it. I want to shoot the stuff before I die of old age.

[M-Tecs]

I may have not given it a chance but, I got it set up and adjusted it on a 5.56 case and it seemed to do a nice job. so, I grabbed the bucket of mixed cases. I started putting them through and noticed how i was getting a different feel on different make cases. I then got my rcbs hand primer and proceeded to prime them and of course, some were loose, some tight, some good! unacceptable! Luckily I have an old South Bend benchtop lathe. I order two cutters from Hornady, one for sm primers one for lg. I just pop the case in the collet chuck and slide the tailstock with the cutters in the drill chuck and push it in for one or two seconds. every primer pocket is perfect, in alignment and tightness. It may take a little longer but not that much, and I guarantee the pockets are better sized than the dillion swaged ones or any other pocket swager.

Something is not right. The Dillon 600 even grossly over adjusted should not make primer pockets loose. The pockets were loose before or you have a out of spec swaging rod.

[bigjake]

OK OK I'll set that bugger up again and give it another shot. all you dudes cant be all that much wrong :veryconfu

oh. and the lathe system, its not slow. maybe not as fast as the guys that set the ss with the springs and all but i can do 200+ cases in an hr easily.

If i still dont like it, it will be for sale. its an older model. it has the steel handle.

[talon7825]

I just bought a SS for my Dillon 750. I have had it about 2 months and have ran more than a 5 gallon bucket through it. I have now loaded about 3k rounds with less than 1% problems. So yes I love it.

[LynC2]

I have both also.

I found the Dillon to be much easier to use and IMHO it does a better job. I really need to get rid of the RCBS unit.

Same here, I can't even guess how many 10's of thousands of brass I've processed with my Dillon. Even my neighbor that reloads has an RCBS swager, but borrows my Dillon when he needs to swage primer pockets.

[sigep1764]

Same results as many above. Love my Super Swage 600. Bought it used here. Had to adjust the depth of the swage rod, but once it was set, I've done over 5000 and all have been easy to prime with no issues. If your problems persist, pm me for a phone number and we can talk on the phone if that would be of any help. Glad to do it.

[GWS]

I have both also.

I found the Dillon to be much easier to use and IMHO it does a better job. I really need to get rid of the RCBS unit.

So Burnt Fingers, which RCBS unit are you trashing? The old press swager design created 40 years ago, or the newer Bench swager? Because the bench swager works the same way as Dillon's.....with the same positives and negatives, just with a shorter handle pulled sideways instead of vertical over the bench edge.

Below is that newer RCBS bench-mounted one which works great IME, and you can mount it behind your other tools without taking more bench space. The picture shows how I use it between my R.C. and my Trim Mate.....I first deprime my military brass on the R.C., pull the handle towards me to swage, then uniform the the pockets in the Trim Mate, it's then ready for my progressive. All without moving my soft cushy, swiveling drafting stool.;)
https://i.postimg.cc/Njybk8dS/IMG-1161.jpg

One of the positives of the Green unit is that the shorter handle makes it easy to feel the swaging. IOW's I no longer set the thing for to be cranked to the end of the stroke........which is indeed dependent on brass lots and brand (like Dillon's) .... to swage before the end of the stroke ...... I can feel it swage and I know how much is necessary to remove the crimps and round the edge slightly (to keep the pocket edge from catching a new primer's edge. Try it.....

[Burnt Fingers]

The RCBS bench unit.

For me it's nowhere near as fast as the Dillon unit to use.

[bigjake]

Does anyone swage mixed 5.56 brass on their SS 600? Nobody has mentioned what brand of brass they are swaging. or how they sort them.

[Hossfly]

Look at post #7. 7,000 range pick up, all type head stamps from out door range. Didn’t separate any thing just ran all thru Dillon Super Swage not one problem. You get a feel for the amount of pressure it takes.

[bigjake]

Look at post #7. 7,000 range pick up, all type head stamps from out door range. Didn’t separate any thing just ran all thru Dillon Super Swage not one problem. You get a feel for the amount of pressure it takes.

Hoss, You cant just push the handle all the way bottoming out? you have to know by feel when the right amout swaging is done?

[dragon813gt]

Does anyone swage mixed 5.56 brass on their SS 600? Nobody has mentioned what brand of brass they are swaging. or how they sort them.

Yes, large lots of government surplus brass. This runs the gamut of manufacturers they use. I don’t bother sorting. They are deprimed and run through the Dillon. No issues doing it this way.

The only tool that’s easier and faster to use is the Lee APP. But only when it’s running w/ no issues. Which is definitely not the case and I started a thread about it. I was hoping to sell my Dillon 600 but it’s dead nuts reliable.

[trebor44]

As others have stated; sorting is not necessary for either pistol or rifle brass. Just get to know the tool and its 'quirks' (anyone have better word?). I bought mine several decades ago and have no idea of how many of what brass I have swaged. But it has been a lot. There are lots of youtube 'enhancements' if you like or need them. Never used the RCBS but have done 'twist and shout' with the more manual tools!

[Burnt Fingers]

Does anyone swage mixed 5.56 brass on their SS 600? Nobody has mentioned what brand of brass they are swaging. or how they sort them.

All my 5.56 brass is mixed.

I do a small amount of sorting. But that's sorting out brass to be converted to 300 Blackout.

[onelight]

As others have stated; sorting is not necessary for either pistol or rifle brass. Just get to know the tool and its 'quirks' (anyone have better word?).
That's a good word this is a reloading casting forum most of us have heard that word used by people describing us :lol:

[JimB..]

Something is not right. The Dillon 600 even grossly over adjusted should not make primer pockets loose. The pockets were loose before or you have a out of spec swaging rod.

I’ll admit to inadvertently swaging “some” 556 brass with the large swaging rod. Those primer pockets were loose.