Dillon 550 priming question...help, please.

[UKWildcatFan]

Just bought a new 550, set it up for .223Rem and I'm having a bit of an issue with the priming of some of these cases. All Remington brass. Some of the primers aren't being fully seated. There's no adjustment for seating these, is there? I'm used to hand priming, so the feel isn't there yet.

 

[frankmako]

could be your brass. check the primer hole. i have two dillon's 550 and i only use for pistol. i do the rifle reloading on a single stage press. when i have a problem with my dillon's it is the primers part. all other parts work well.

 

[bobinoregon]

My only thought would be if maybe your shellplate was really loose and I don't know if even that would cause it. I've never had a problem with either of mine seating rifle or pistol primers.

 

[theslasher]

There's an Allen screw on the side of the slide that holds the priming punch.. Remington brass is usually easy to prime.. Is it every piece you try to prime?

 

[UKWildcatFan]

No, about a 30% fail rate. On those the primer is about 75% seated.

 

[gahunter12]

First make sure your shell plate is tight enough. To adjust the shell plate I always insert a case in every station, and tighten the shell plate bolt as tight as I can, and the shell plate still rotate freely without any binding. This will keep the upward movement of the shell plate to a minimum with priming. You will still have a little movement/flex on your first, and second case, but once there's a case in station 3, or in all stations you should be good to go! I usually get a seating depth of .007-.009" on .223/.556 brass when loading on my RL550b. On the other hand my pistol cases are usually .002-.003" below.

 

[UKWildcatFan]

Ok, I just tightened it up. Still got a few, though.

 

[Kp321]

Do you have the steel shim under the priming slide? It runs without it but the priming punch is .050" low. Could be your problem.

 

[Robert]

I just finished loading a couple hundred 223 and a hundred 308 on my 550. I'd be willing to bet the primer pockets in some of the brass is not cut right. Pick up a little hand tool to square up and clean up the priming pockets and I bet it goes away.

My biggest issue is when I don't catch crimped primers...

 

[redneck2]

on some brands of cases, CCI's are difficult to get seated. I assume in that case the pockets are somewhat undersized and the cup on CCI's is hard. If you use Federal, they will most likely seat.

Downside is that you are more likely to get a slam fire with Federal. Had it happen to one of my friends when he released the bolt catch on a loose round, not stripped from the mag.

As noted, make sure the shell plate is snug. You'll get used to the feel of seating primers. On my 550, I can feel whether they're seating correctly.

Make sure the primer housing is centered correctly. Throw away the goofy tool they send. Loosen the two set screws on the primer housing, then stroke the handle all the way to center the plunger. Tighten the screws while the plunger is all the way up.

 

[UKWildcatFan]

Ok guys I think it was just me a bit tentative to push the handle all the way forward. I was a scaredy cat. They're fine now, even Federal.

Thx, guys.