Advice needed!!!!!

[Mikhail2400]

For those who dont know im very new to reloading so all of this is new to me.I have a Dillon 550 and I had a few problems with priming. Every now and then a primer gets flipped upside down and pressed in that way. Also the primer slide bar will sometimes fail to align with the hole in the shell-plate platform stopping it from being able to rise up and press home the primer
1 Can I safely decap a live upside down primer?
A couple of times no primer was installed and the bullet was finished before I realised this. Fortunately there were only two of these so
2; Whats the best way to take a bullet apart?
I have one of the bullet puller hammers but surely theres a better way than that aggravating, parts disappearing m*&^%$f(^#@%&

I have a Lee handheld primer tool and I ordered the shell holder pack for it in case I keep having problems on the 550 Im hoping someone can give me a tip on how I can get the Dillon priming system to run better.

 

[.38 Special]

Just a note on semantics, before you get jumped on - the "bullet" is the part which sits in the case. The completed "bullet" should actually be called a "cartridge", so that we all know what you are talking about.

Live primers can be gently decapped. Wear glasses.

Bullet pulling collets are available. These fit into your press and the cartridge is raised into it. Then the collet is tightened around the bullet, the loading ram lowered, and hopefully the bullet comes out. (It will be ruined either way.)

In a pinch, I have actually used a pair of pliers in the same way. Take care not to damage the threads in the press.

 

[film495]

go slower, always wear good safety glasses when reloading

I've debated a bullet puller, but for now - have made due with putting the cartridge into the shell holder and just wiggling it out with a pair of plyers. discard bullet - and the case seems to not be damaged, so - it just goes into the pile for prep to start over and size again etc.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Do you have a follower rod on top of the primers in the tube? The extra weight helps them feed better.
One thing you have to do also is keep the primer shuttle area cleaned out. When you de-prime on the press the grit gets in there.

 

[bullseye308]

Check the primer trough for any rough spots or flashing left over from manufacturing, if there is any you can sand it with some fine sandpaper.
I safely deprime sideways and upside down primers with 0 issues and have done at least 100 over the years without setting one off yet. Sometimes I use a single stage press, sometimes I use a Lee decapper and base. If it was just upside down I’ll reuse it. If it was sideways, it goes into a container with other like it for eventual disposal.
Nowadays I hand prime everything and maybe have 1 in 1000 goof up.

 

[Soonerpesek]

Do you have a follower rod on top of the primers in the tube? The extra weight helps them feed better.

^^^^This^^^^^
and:
1) make sure to have the correct primer cup/plunger installed
2) make sure that the priming assembly is tightened snuggly- this will help in alignment.

 

[Mikhail2400]

Do you have a follower rod on top of the primers in the tube? The extra weight helps them feed better.
One thing you have to do also is keep the primer shuttle area cleaned out. When you de-prime on the press the grit gets in there.

No follower rod, dont have one yet. I ordered Dillons primer early warning kit on 02 Jan 2021, the package left Phoenix on the 8th of Jan and says package is in transit and will be later than expected. I contacted Dillon on Jan 24th and asked them at what point is the package considered lost and this was their response;
The package is still in transit and on its way. Please be patient, it is not a lost package
To be honest I was surprised by the response as Dillon has always went above and beyond to ensure my satisfaction. So now I wait till the 8th when I will again contact them and ask for them to either reship my parts or refund me.

The completed "bullet" should actually be called a "cartridge",

Thanks for the heads-up and I will be sure to remember that

Thanks for the tips on the priming system and especially on removing live primers. Ill be sure to were my PPE when performing these actions

 

[Howland937]

The hammer-type puller is probably the easiest to use without causing damage or waste. Just make sure there's no residual powder to get mixed together and you can save your bullet and the powder.

It took me a while to get used to priming on my LNL AP. After my whole reloading life on single stage, hand priming everything....getting used to pushing the handle forward before pulling was a chore. I think I had about 8 of my first 100 loaded rounds finished without primers. They all had powder though, and none got double-charged, so that's a plus.

 

[wcwhitey]

Do you have a follower rod on top of the primers in the tube? The extra weight helps them feed better.
One thing you have to do also is keep the primer shuttle area cleaned out. When you de-prime on the press the grit gets in there.

Not the 550 but Square Deal B, the follower helps quite a bit.

 

[Catpop]

I align my 550 primer assy by gently fully raising the primer ram into the shellplate hole before tightening in primer housing.
Doing this I rarely experience any priming issues on my 550.
Jmtcw

 

[lbs]

I get large primers upside down more than small.I think they flip on the freefall down the machines primer tube.
You'll soon get a feel for a missing primer. But the sideways ones are the real pain.

 

[jlee91w]

I love that everyone said to do it! I thought we would have at least 1 “better safe than sorry.” The first time I was def nervous and left a leather glove over to catch any shrapnel. Now I just put on the glasses and pop it out. I have had 1 primer go off while reloading on a Hornady lock n load that the primer popped out and the slider/holder sprung forward and hit it just right. No damage, no shrapnel just a little shrapnel in my underwear.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

When you push them out just push them out slowly, it takes an impact to set them off. If you push them slow they will come right out so you can use them over.
You'll find out the follower rod makes a big difference. My Hornady won't flip them over but it will miss prime, if I forget to put the rod back in.

 

[blue32]

Try loading from the 8 o'clock position of the press. You should be able to see the primer bar cup moving back from the tube magazine each time you lower the ram.

 

[jmorris]

I am going to assume this is not a new machine since you don’t have all the parts that come with them. First thing I would do is download the manual and read it a couple times. I don’t know what 550 you have but will guess the B
https://dilloncdn.com/manuals/dillon-rl550b-manual-english.pdf

If it’s a BL or C they can be found here.
https://www.dillonprecision.com/manuals.html

What are you loading for?

As for the priming system, if the press is new to you, the first thing I would do is make sure the anvil/cup is fully seated into the slide. Doing so like this ensures they are all the way down.



Make sure they and the feed tube are the right size for what you are loading a large tube, with a large cup/anvil or even small cup/anvil used with small primers is going to be a disaster.

Once we know they won’t crash into a new orifice tip, I’d replace it with a new one.

If the shell plate is not aligned, I would want to know why the defend ball pushed by the spring is not doing its job. Someone could have messed with those parts or it could be that the shell plate bolt is too tight and creating too much friction for them to do their job correctly.