Advice on Dillon and Rifle Reloading

[cuesandmore]

Although I have loaded thousands of rounds on my Dillon 550B, I have never loaded for rifles. A friend has aquired a 550B and wants to load for .223 and .204. Any hints I should know that are extra for bottleneck case loading on a Dillon?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Floppy_D]

You're going to want to trim and chamfer the cases. I load 223 on a Dillon by first depriming/resizing each piece, with just the sizer/deprimer die in place. I then trim/chamfer/deburr and clean primer pockets. Next step is remove sizing die and add powder dispenser, seater die and crimp die if you use it. Then simply load as you would anything else.

It isn't as straight forward as pistol due to the brass prep, but rifle brass length warrants a bit more attention.

 

[Maj Dad]

I do the same thing as Floppy D but I use one of my single stage presses to size/deprime before cranking up the 550. I use a Lee trimmer chucked in a cordless drill & chamfer/debur after cleaning the lube off (depending on how anal I am at the time I may debur the flash hole, too). After trimming I get at least one firing sometimes two before needing to trim again, but I always check. I would recommend using ball powder also; the stick powder causes problems metering & the ball is just as good. I use AA2460, 2520, 748 and H335, with 335 giving me best accuracy in my rifles with 55 gr FMJ/Spitzers.

 

[rjrivero]

It'll all depend on how much VOLUME you're loading.

I load .223 by the 5 gallon bucket full. It's way to tedious to use anything other than a Rapid Trim 1200 for that kind of volume.

Tumble the cases, lube them, load them in the hopper, size and trim on one toolhead. Then tumble them clean, then run through the brass and separate the ones that need swaging. (Military brass will require either swaging or cutting to remove the crimp from the primer pocket.)

Reload them into the hopper on your second toolhead with a lee universal depriming die in station one, and load as you normally would for handgun calibers.

If you're loading 55gr boat tails (in bulk) then there is no need to chamfer the mouth. They'll seat just fine.

It does cost more to get the Rapid Trim and Swager, but it's worth the investment, if you ask me.

However you decide to tackle the rifle reloading, be sure to get a case gauge. I highly recommend you get one for every caliber you load.

 

[taliv]

resizing bottleneck rifle cases is a lot less forgiving than pistol cases when you forget to lube them, or lube too much

watch out for crimped primer pockets on the 223

other than that, pretty much the same

 

[dmazur]

I reload .30-06 and .243 on a 550B.

You do have to lube, but the main differences I've read about are whether you trim each time or not.

Some trim below normal "trim-to" length and trim before resizing after the cases get long enough to warrant it.

I don't like this myself, but I'm not saying it is wrong. Just different.

I also don't mess with the dies in the toolhead. They're set and I like to leave them that way.

All you have to do is remove the case after resizing/depriming/repriming. Use the press like it's a single stage. The wire "finger" may have to be adjusted, but it can hold the case during resizing and still permit easy removal.

Then, after checking case length, clean off any excess lube, trim those cases that need it (and chamfer), and then resume progressive operations.

Because you don't want to resize again, just insert a case and index before pulling the handle so that you skip Station 1. (Station 2, 3 and 4 work as usual.)

Hints:

1. If you're loading cases with small neck diameters, excess lube can cause powder bridging at the case mouth. Powder does not enter the case, but it does a dandy job of messing up the press. You can load some reasonable grain sizes, but not if the neck isn't clean and dry.

2. Depending on the volume you load, you may want a powered trimmer. I like the Giraud because it does trim and chamfer simultaneously. Incredibly fast, and easy to change between calibers. (It handles any bottleneck cartridge, but due to the design indexing on the shoulder, it won't handle straight-walled cartridges like .45-70 or .444 Marlin.)

 

[Prion]

Get a single stage press for depriming/resizing. Then you can clean off the lube and do any other case prep work like trimming after they're sized. Then run them through your 550 with no die on the priming station.

My set-up is Rock Chucker and 550b side by side on the bench.

For semi's full length sizing every time, for bolts neck sizing only for a few firings then full-length once the cases start getting sticky in the chamber.

 

[cuesandmore]

Thanks for the info you all. Good hints here....... Printed for use.

 

[snuffy]

My 650 dillon loading .223 fully progressive. That's a Hornady case-activated linkage with an older Hornady measure.





The shells are checked before loading for case length. If they are too long, they get trimmed first, or set aside to be trimmed later. The lube is tumbled off after loading. No primer pocket cleaning, no crimp, so trim length is NOT critical. Powder used is surplus WC-844, a ball powder similar to H-335. Bullets are anything I have on hand, 60 grain V-max, 60 grain Hornady HP, 55 grain Winchester soft points. For my bushy 1-9 20" HB AR.

 

[WNTFW]

On the 550B you can get a tool head for about $20.00. You set up the sizer on toolhead 1 and the other 3 dies & powder measure remain on toolhead 2. This is very fast if you load any volume because you minimize you moves.

Another way is to have one toolhead and index twice so cases hit sizer and seater. Down sided is keeping count.

A third way is to get locking rings where the dies retain setting when removed.

 

[mboylan]

Get a single stage press for depriming/resizing. Then you can clean off the lube and do any other case prep work like trimming after they're sized. Then run them through your 550 with no die on the priming station.

My set-up is Rock Chucker and 550b side by side on the bench.

For semi's full length sizing every time, for bolts neck sizing only for a few firings then full-length once the cases start getting sticky in the chamber.

This is how you do it. Lube up. Size and deprime on a single stage. Do your case prep. Tumble off all of the lube, then load on your Dillon.