550B Maintenance

[Jayhawker]

Hello:
I've used a 550B for 4-5 years and have probably made-up at least a 100,000 rounds with it in that time. I keep it as clean as possible and oiled regulary. What I'm wondering from from members who have had more experience than me is whether they periodically disassemble the whole thing for more cleaning than just routine maintenace.

Thank you.
Pete

 

[mattjoe]

disassemble it!?
I've got rust on mine, i occasionally spray it with wd40, and it keeps right on chugging along. Sometimes i have primer feed problems, (rarely) but that is usually remedied by taking the primer assembly apart as if i was going to switch to large primers and cleaning that area off of little bits of crud and cleaning media.
Other than that, nothing comes off except when it's time to change the caliber conversions.
There is really no reason to pull it all apart, I wouldn't even consider it.

Now the square deal.... thats another story.

 

[larryw]

I wouldn't tear it apart more than what one does when changing calibers or primers. If it takes more than that, well, that's where Dillon's lifetime warranty comes into play.

 

[MoNsTeR]

I recently had to tear mine all the way down to get the linkage un-seized. It's not something I'd do "recreationally" so to speak. If it's working fine, don't mess with it.

 

[dewey]

I have a retired friend who has had his for so long Dillon has had to send him 2 handles,a powder unit and worn out 2 primer slides. He quesstamates close to a million loaded. All he has ever done is lube a couple of times a year. Best device ever made by man....dewey

 

[kmays]

I've loaded about 30,000 rounds on mine over the past 5 years or so. Apart from keeping it oiled and cleaning it occasionally, I haven't had to replace one part, not even the teeny tiny little plastic ones. I bought the spare parts kit when I installed but haven't needed to use anything out of it. For the most part it isn't prone to rust, but when it does (mostly the primer tube and the handle) a quick wipedown with CLP will keep rust away for another 6 months or so.

If you really want to do some PM on the press, buy Dillon's spare parts kit (circa 10 bucks) and replace your stock parts with the spares. This will keep it working well and you still have functional spares to use in case something breaks.

Mine is getting to where I sometimes need to jiggle the shellplate a little to keep the primers from going in off center and shaving bits of metal from the edge of the primer. I'm thinking about replacing the detent ball and spring.