Finally Made the Upgrade: RL550B

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Congrats on a great purchase !!

In 4 (or is it 5?) years I've only added one accessory to my 550B and that's one of these plastic powder knobs. I found these on Ebay 2/$5, but there must be other sellers as well. These will save you from the wrench when it's time to tweak the powder. Takes less than 10 seconds to install.

IMG_4278.jpg


Adding the plus and minus marks doesn't hurt either.

;)
 
rfwobbly said:
Congrats on a great purchase !!

In 4 (or is it 5?) years I've only added one accessory to my 550B and that's one of these plastic powder knobs. I found these on Ebay 2/$5, but there must be other sellers as well. These will save you from the wrench when it's time to tweak the powder. Takes less than 10 seconds to install.

IMG_4278.jpg


Adding the plus and minus marks doesn't hurt either.

;)
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I did some searching on Google but could not find any of these adjustment knobs. Anyone know where to get them? And Wobbly, what is that spring over your powder bar? Mine did not come with that and I have 3 powder measures. Is that aftermarket?

Thanks,
Wooly
 
i got my first dillon in 1985. it was a 550. still got it and it runs just a good as day one. pickup a used one several years ago and it runs just as good. but i still use my 1970 single stage texas star press for rifle.
 
frankmako said:
i got my first dillon in 1985. it was a 550. still got it and it runs just a good as day one. pickup a used one several years ago and it runs just as good. but i still use my 1970 single stage texas star press for rifle.
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I hear you man. I used think that my Lee Classic Turret was the greatest thing on earth, and it is a good press. But not even in the same league as the RL550B.

Parked my old RockChucker a few years back for a Forster Co-Ax. Used with their bushing bump dies, I am making the most accurate rifle loads I ever have.
 
Just want to saay thanks to wooly cause he sold me his LCT and I cant wait to get it and set it up :D
 
Woolecox said:
What is a Bulge Buster? Is that the die that corrects Glock fired cases? I have an after market modified Lee sizer die that does that. However, the first 1000 round of 9mm I just finished loading, only 3 did not pass the chamber gage check.

All of this brass was range brass. A lot of it mine and a lot that I scrounged. A lot of it (probably 50%) bore the striker mark of a Glock.

So, I think the Dillon dies are taking care of the majority of "unsupported" Glock brass. I also heard that Glock is no longer making their barrels that way. I have a Gen III Glock 22 (40 cal), a Gen IV Glock 34 (9mm). The G22 has a Barsto barrel and getting ready to put one in the G34. But I have never had a problem running Glock brass through any of my other guns. The Lee mod die I have way overworks the brass.

Shot 50 rounds today from my new 550B. Some target loads with 124 Montana Gold's and some 115 Barnes Tac XP. No failures. Excellent accuracy. Happy :)

Wooly
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Quoting myself here for an update. I am about 300 rounds into a 1300 round 40S&W session. Out of the first 300, I have found 26 that will not chamber due to the "Glock Bulge". Some are so bad that they look like they have a magnum belt around the bottom!

So, I will pull those and run them through a Redding GRx die once it arrives along with the rest of my 40S&W cases. 26 failed rounds per 300 is just too high of a failure rate. I can't afford to have one or more not chamber during a match or God forbid a defensive situation.

I have heard that Glock 40 barrels have more of a lowered (unsupported chamber) feed ramp than others to ensure reliability for military and law enforcement. I can tell you for sure that I only had 3 out of 1000 rounds of 9mm that did not pass the chamber check. All of it was range brass too.

I have two Glock pistols and both barrels have been replaced with Bar-Sto Precision barrels. They are fully supported and fairly tight. No way they are going to eat this bulged brass. Hopefully, the GRx will do the trick.

Here is a picture of my 40S&W belted magnum loads:

IMG_0446.gif
 
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^^^ I wouldn't shoot that round. That's a KB waiting to happen. The edge you see is a major weak spot. I have loaded well over 50,000 rounds of 40s&w over the last 3.5-4yrs with "0" issues. Most of my brass that I pick up comes from the LE range. I will admit that I inspect every single 40s&w case after I tumble.
 
I hope this question does not drift the thread too far, if so I will start a new one. I like the D-550 but what scares me is the possibility of a double powder charge, I guess that is the single feature that I like the most about the D650 or any progressive press for that matter.

Is it a valid concern?
 
I hope this question does not drift the thread too far, if so I will start a new one. I like the D-550 but what scares me is the possibility of a double powder charge, I guess that is the single feature that I like the most about the D650 or any progressive press for that matter.

Is it a valid concern?
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Yes and No! First off yes it could be easy to double charge a case if you forget to index. With only 4 stations it's hard to use a powder cop without seating, and crimping in one stage. You also need a good LED light over your powder or seating station. As long as you have a good light shining in, and you look in each case after charging, and before indexing you will be fine.

Second.... The reason I said no is explained above. With good reloading practices you will be fine. I like the ability of controlling the entire process, and indexing when I am ready. The nice thing about manual index is if you do have a mistake, or a jam you can easily back up. Always clear the press when doing this to prevent a double charge, or squib.
 
I just got a 550b recently as well, but I haven't had time to set it up yet. I have a question, if I prime off press can I use station 1 to drop the powder instead of station two? Or am I stuck with a dead station one?
 
I just got a 550b recently as well, but I haven't had time to set it up yet. I have a question, if I prime off press can I use station 1 to drop the powder instead of station two? Or am I stuck with a dead station one?
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No. Even if you do your priming by hand, you will still need to resize, and deprime in station #1. Besides the press is built to use Station #2 for charging. The fails safe bracket that hold the powder fail safe rod in place is on the front left side (St #2).
 
gahunter12 said:
No. Even if you do your priming by hand, you will still need to resize, and deprime in station #1. Besides the press is built to use Station #2 for charging. The fails safe bracket that hold the powder fail safe rod in place is on the front left side (St #2).
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Thanks for the reply. I have a bajillion .45 shells that I've already primed, I was hoping to be able to dive right in to the 550B, but I guess it will have to wait a while longer.
 
Can't you remove the decapping pin or the resize die all together?

I don't have a 550 so if the press can't function unless there is a die in the first station please don't shoot me.
 
You can easily bypass station 1 on the 550 with your already sized and primed brass.

The cycle when loading would be:

Set bullet at station three
Cycle handle
Place primed brass in station 1
Index shellplate

and repeat. This skips the resize/decap/prime operations at station one; the fresh
case proceeds directly to the belling and powder drop at station two.

If desired, you can remove the size/decap die from station one. As a matter of fact, you can also remove the priming mechanism completely and the press will still
function normally on the remaining three stations.

I picked up batches of once fired military 5.56 and 7.62 brass; I did the resize/decap operations in stage one and then swaged the primer pockets, trimmed, and chamfer/deburred. Now I've got prepped brass for which the next step will be priming.
Again, easy with the RL550.
 
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I would go ahead and setup your 550, and just leave the sizing die out until you have loaded all of your sized/primed brass. Then you can still load the shellplate in station 1, but you would not be resizing, or priming.
ST1 - Empty
ST2 - Powder Charge
ST3 - Seat bullet
ST4 - Crimp
 
stompah said:
Can't you remove the decapping pin or the resize die all together?

I don't have a 550 so if the press can't function unless there is a die in the first station please don't shoot me.
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I have 500 rounds of 45ACP (Remington) brass that I bought new that is already primed. I bought it during the shortage and was the first brass that became available.

I plan on removing the de-cap rod from station 1 and the primer feed mech. This, I believe will produce a more uniform sized cases for my 1911's. If the brass is factory primed, I would have to believe that it has been sized too. So the die could be left off station one altogether (as others have stated above). You can still feed through station one as always and it would only cost you one additional stroke per session, the first one.

Hopefully the new brass won't be too sticky in the dies. But if it is, I will just wipe a little lube on the outside.
 
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gahunter12 said:
^^^ I wouldn't shoot that round. That's a KB waiting to happen. The edge you see is a major weak spot. I have loaded well over 50,000 rounds of 40s&w over the last 3.5-4yrs with "0" issues. Most of my brass that I pick up comes from the LE range. I will admit that I inspect every single 40s&w case after I tumble.
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Hunter,

What is your process for reloading 40S&W from step one? How do you detect bulged cases after tumbling? I run all my completed rounds through a case gage. That is how I caught the bulged cases.
 
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Woolecox said:
I have 500 rounds of 45ACP (Remington) brass that I bought new that is already primed. I bought it during the shortage and was the first brass that became available.

I plan on removing the de-cap rod from station 1 and the primer feed mech. This, I believe will produce a more uniform sized cases for my 1911's. If the brass is factory primed, I would have to believe that it has been sized too. So the die could be left off station one altogether (as others have stated above). You can still feed through station one as always and it would only cost you one additional stroke per session, the first one.

Hopefully the new brass won't be too sticky in the dies. But if it is, I will just wipe a little lube on the outside.
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Quoting myself here again for a correction:

I set my 550 up as I mentioned above to load the 500 cases of Remington factory primed 45 ACP brass. I quickly learned that the press will not index with the primer mechanism removed. The ram/shell plate drops down too low with it off and the index star contacts the ejection chute.

No big deal. I just set it up for large primers and went to work with the de-capping pin removed from station 1 and no primers in the tube. I have loaded about 350 out of 500 so far. No issues.

Wouldn't you know it, about the time I had everything converted from 40S&W to 45ACP, the UPS man shows up with my 40 cal Redding GRx bulge buster!

But, this is how I am handling large quantities of pre-primed brass. I guess one little benny from this Remington pre-primed brass is that the primers are sealed.

Cheers,
Wooly
IMG_0449.jpg
 
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For anyone who cares and is comtemplating a Dillon RL550B, I shot 100 of my reloads today at the range. 50 each of 9mm and 45 ACP. Everything shot well and grouped well. I shot from 7 to 25 yards, standing, off hand.

Everything went bang. Everything ejected. I had one failure to feed on a 45 in my STI Gaurdian. That was a Ranier 230 plated round nose. I had those loaded a little on the long side and that mag is a little tight. No other issues.

The Dillon setup makes ammo as accurate and dependable as any I have ever shot. I had the same experience last week with 100 rounds of 9mm shot from 3 different pistols. I wont have any reservations about stepping onto the range on Wednesday's IDPA shoot with this ammo.

Good stuff.
 
Woolecox said:
What is your process for reloading 40S&W from step one? How do you detect bulged cases after tumbling? I run all my completed rounds through a case gage. That is how I caught the bulged cases.
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If you want to ensure you are working with "within" spec resized cases:

- Tumble cases to clean
- Deprime/Resize case
- Barrel drop test deprimed/resized case in the tightest chamber barrel (toss/recycle cases that do not freely drop in the chamber with a "plonk")
- Reload as usual
 
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