[dandean316]

I am new to reloading and just got a Dillion 550B. Looks to be a great machine, but I have run into 2 problems:

1) On station one, the primer only seats half way in and will the not allow me to advance to station 2. I have to remove the shellplate to get the cartridge and hanging primer out. How do I adjust this so the primer seats properly?

2) I am not sure if this is a big deal or not, but on station 2 I am not sure if it is belling the case properly. At first adjusted it so it looked like the proper bell (according to the video), but then when I was adjusting, the video said you have to be careful not to overadjust the powder bar. The video said just to adjust the powder bar enough so it just hits the end. So I adjusted the powder bar like they did in the video, but now the bell on the case isn't as defined as the video. I did run a couple of practice rounds without a primer and powder and my bullets seem to sit in and crimp ok. Also the measurements seem to be fine according to my caliper.

I was going to call Dillon, but by the time I get home toinght, they will be closed. I did want to work on this later tonight, so any help is appreciated!

[Master Blaster]

1. the poor seating is due to the shell holder plate bolt being too loose, and hence the shell plate allows the case to move too much to seat the primer. Tighten the shell holder plate bolt down after loosening the brass tipped set screw, dont make it so tight it binds though, it should rotate and click at each station freely.

2. Only bell enough to seat the bullet on top of the case so it stays when you seat it. you will have problems with jacketed bullets not crimping tight if you bell more than just a little. For lead bullets just enough bell so no lead shaves. The more you bell the faster you will wear the brass out.
It sounds like you have the right amount of belling, if you can barely see it and the bullet seats smoothly.

[dandean316]

1. the poor seating is due to the shell holder plate bolt being too loose, and hence the shell plate allows the case to move too much to seat the primer. Tighten the shell holder plate bolt down after loosening the brass tipped set screw, dont make it so tight it binds though, it should rotate and click at each station freely.
Thanks for the reply. I did try this and used the big allen wrench to tighten the shellplate then backed off the tightening a little. The shellplate seemed tight, but did move freely. Any other suggestions on what it could be? I also made sure I didnt have the plate on wrong as stated in the manual.
It sounds like you have the right amount of belling, if you can barely see it and the bullet seats smoothly.
Well it sounds like I am ok here at least!

[Steve Smith]

On primer seating, is your press arm hitting the cartridge slide on its forward travel?

The video shows too much bell. Give it just enough to not shave lead.

[larryw]

With no case in the holder, push the handle forward like you're seating a primer. Does the black punch rise above the stationary base plate or is it even with the little silver ring? It should go about 1/16" above this plate. You can adjust the punch by, IIRC, loosening the allen screw on the end of the primer slide and raising/lowering the post until it seats the primers where you want them.

[Edward429451]

I did try this and used the big allen wrench to tighten the shellplate then backed off the tightening a little. The shellplate seemed tight, but did move freely. Any other suggestions on what it could be?

The other thing this could be is the primer cup itself. Pull the priming bar out of the machine, apply pressure to the cup against the bar with the palm of your hand, loosen the set screw to the cup, and retighten it while applying pressure to the cup to compress it a little while tightening.

There's a little sweet spot that the set screw has to engage into that holds it down enough. This happened to me once, set screw loosened and the spring pushed the cup up too far.

[Johnny Guest]

I recently did some loading with my 550B after a several-month hiatus. Couldn't get primers to seat properly, so I decided to tear down the WHOLE thing. Luckily I didn't get very far before finding two primers loose on the primer bar, and they kept the entire ram/shellplate from getting down far enough to seat properly.

Use a good, strong light and move around so you can see if there is ANYTHING impeding proper movement.

Best of luck - -
Johnny

[dandean316]

Thanks to all who responded! I adjusted the powder bar, removed the shellplate and reapplied and made sure I was cyclying all the way forward. I think I may have to readjust my ammo catcher basket so I cycle forward all the way.

I loaded up a few rounds and I will be off to my folks place (they are a little more rural than me), for some basic testing.

One kind of wierd thing though. My Dillon scale does not zero balance now. It weighs one ounce over. I had it balanced last night, didn't move it 3 feet, and now it "balances" at 1 oz. over. So my 4.4 grain load weighs on the scale at 5.4 grains. Even if the scale happened to be right I am still ok with being under the max load. Ever have this problem?

[dandean316]

Ok I got the scale to balance. In my sleep deprived state last night I guess I didnt know what I was doing. Again, thanks for all the replies.

[Edward429451]

One thing to remember with a spit em out so fast loader, is to continue to moniter the charges. I pull every ten to fifteenth case out to reweigh the charge, and rezero scale occasionally, checking it for accuracy against an object of known weight (pre weighed bullets 4 me).

It slows down the production rate a little, but you wont be pulling down 500 rounds to find the bad one as some have reported doing. And if you get tired... walk away from it, it just isn't worth it.

Good luck and happy shooting.