Alternative powder measures for Dillon 550?

[Cortland]

Alright, find some rope and a tree because I'm going to say it: I think the Dillon powder measure sucks. I've had no problems with accuracy, but it's a royal PITA to move from toolhead to toolhead, and a royal PITA to adjust. The lack of repeatability on the adjustment screw (I shoot a lot of different powders and loads) and the nuisance of the failsafe rod have done it for me. Clearly the idea is to buy a powder measure for each toolhead (and/or loading), but at this point that'd cost me close to $400.

SOOO.... I've heard some people talk about using Hornady's LNL measure on the 550. I like the LNL measure's micrometer adjustment and linkage. Now, I shoot lead bullets almost exclusively, so belling is a must. I take it one would install an expander die in the second station, the Hornady LNL w/ case-activated linkage at the third station, and a traditional seat & crimp die at station 4?

I'd like to hear from people who have done this. Does placing the bullet at station 4 instead of 3 disrupt the rythm of the press? How critical is the LNL powder die adjustment? Is it easy to move and adjust from toolhead to toolhead just by unscrewing it, or do you get the Hornady powder dies for each toolhead? How easy is it to move with separate powder dies?

Also, I have an RCBS Uniflow and already have the pistol drum for it. I see RCBS sells a case-activated linkage for it too, so I suppose that could work. But I can't find where RCBS sells powder dies separately... Do they?

Or do I need to suck it up and buy more Dillon measures?

Thanks

 

[uglymofo]

OWW!! the blue bloods are gonna kill you with all kinds of 'tweak it' suggestions. You better find a bunker.

I use an LNL AP. It comes with the powder measure you're asking about, of course. There's a way to adapt a Lyman case mouth expander so it'll expand and drop powder at the same station. (I'll try and find my instructions later and post them here.)

I dunno what you mean by "How critical is the ...adjustment?" I use the generic $6 powder meters. There are specific pistol and rifle meters that are touted to be much more accurate (and they're made by Hornady and intended for competition loads) but I've never needed to go that far. I bought the rifle meter and never used it (it didn't seem to do any better for my purposes; the generic seems to drop extruded powders as good as can be expected (IMR 4064 and RL-15---4064's a mofo to meter). Even Harrell's doesn't guarantee any better than I'm getting with the generic meter, so I skipped it and sold the rifle meter.

I dunno what a 550 looks like, and can't help you on the convenience of
switching.

Cortland,

Please check your PM. I couldn't find the instructions, but I found my source. You can try emailing him.

 

[g56]

You sound like a good candidate for the Mr Dial conversion for the Dillon powder measure.

Mr Dial

 

[Gewehr98]

For a while there...

G. David Tubb was using a Prometheus autoscale mounted on top of a Dillon for his match loads. Considering the last time I saw a Prometheus advertised in Precision Shooting, it was going for over $600.00. I don't know if they're even made anymore.

 

[Cortland]

The adjustment I was talking about was for the powder measure die. That is, is it difficult to readjust the die on which the measure sits when changing calibers? I want to know if I would need to get separate Hornady powder dies for each toolhead.

I've seen the "Mr. Dial," but from what I can tell it's just a bigger nut with lines on the outside. It's not like a micrometer that lets you dial in a particular number, record it, then easily go back to it, right? Looks hokey.

I'd love to hear about powder-thru-expansion with the Lyman dies. I'm really leaning towards gettings an LNL measure, but that means I'll have to get expander dies and traditional seat/crimp dies for some of my calibers (as I'm using Dillon dies now).

Thanks again.

 

[8ring]

I use an RCBS Uniflow on my Dillon AT 500. Dillon sells powder dies just for other powder measures like the Uniflow. Loosen one Phillips screw and it can be placed on your other toolhead in a few seconds.

Good luck.

Chris

 

[Cortland]

I'm not sure about the AT-500 powder die. It's nice that it takes Dillon powder funnels and allows for powder-thru-expanding die functionality, but do you know if it works with the RCBS case-activated linkage?

 

[JohnK]

The adjustment I was talking about was for the powder measure die.

Everyone I know with a Dillon press spent the $6 / die to have a seperate powder die and tool head for each caliber. Adjusting it every time you change the caliber would be a royal pain, it's well worth the money to buy spares for each caliber.

 

[Cortland]

Everyone I know with a Dillon press spent the $6 / die to have a seperate powder die and tool head for each caliber. Adjusting it every time you change the caliber would be a royal pain, it's well worth the money to buy spares for each caliber.

I too do this. My question related to the Hornady powder die for the Hornady LNL measure. I figure since the LNL doesn't do any belling the powder die adjustment might be less critical.

 

[Mikul]

Cortland,

If you have a separate powder die and toolhead for each caliber, there is no need to adjust the die... ever.

I load 3 calibers and a lot of different loads for one of them. The seating die gets adjust all the time. Even the crimp die is adjust SOMEtimes, but never powder or sizing dies.

 

[Cortland]

Ehhhh.....

This thread's going nowhere fast, but for the record my questions relate *only* to the Hornady LNL powder measure. I'm very well acquainted with the use and function of the Dillon powder measure and all related accessories (including powder dies).

Thanks

 

[Steve Smith]

Cortland, my understanding is that it is very easy to use a Hornady measure in the Dillon, and Dillon makes the conversion unit...you can still expand in that die, if I understand it well...call Dillon and ask.


You shouldn't have to move your measure to the thrid station , but if you did, I can answer the question about seating in the fourth station. I use a check die in my 550 so I seat in the 4th station...it is a little weird, but it's not so bad that I would complain...it is easy enough.

 

[MoNsTeR]

To make a non-belling powder measure work, you'd have to bell in station 2 and charge in station 3, which means you'd have to seat AND crimp in station 4. I'd buy a press for each caliber before I went back to combining seat & crimp.

There is one measure that can be made to work without consuming an extra station, the Lee Disk series. The disks give you less granularity of adjustment, but 100% perfect repeatability. They require Lee expander dies, but that's no more expensive than getting a bunch of powder dies.

Just a thought.

 

[g56]

Alright, find some rope and a tree because I'm going to say it: I think the Dillon powder measure sucks. I've had no problems with accuracy, but it's a royal PITA to move from toolhead to toolhead, and a royal PITA to adjust. The lack of repeatability on the adjustment screw (I shoot a lot of different powders and loads) and the nuisance of the failsafe rod have done it for me. Clearly the idea is to buy a powder measure for each toolhead (and/or loading), but at this point that'd cost me close to $400....snip!.....Or do I need to suck it up and buy more Dillon measures?

It's difficult to understand why you don't like the Dillon powder measure, it takes all of 2 minutes to move it to another tool head, and only needs to be adjusted the first time, after that it's all preset. Loosen 2 allen screws, move to another tool head, and tighten the same 2 screws, after that all you have to do is change the powder charge setting. If you have the return springs on your powder measure, you don't even need the fail-safe rod, I used one for years before the rod came out, it worked fine without it. If you have the model without the springs, you can buy the springs separately.

 

[Cortland]

I found the information regarding getting the Hornady LNL measure to do powder-through-expansion on another board:

On the Hornady, you don't have to make a bushing nor do you need a lathe or access to one. You simply use the #2 Powder sleeve provided with your Hornady case activated powder drop (comes with the press) and the hollow expanders that come with a Lyman Multi Expand/Powder Charge Die system (Lyman #776790, $20.75 at Lock, Stock and Barrel, comes with 7 hollow expanders)

Clamp it in a vise and drill a 0.317 inch hole through the sleeve. You are not really drilling a hole, more like enlarging the one already there.

Next, tap the hole you drilled. MAKE SURE you tap the correct end. If you look at the insert one side has a long gentle sloping funnel towards a smaller hole and the other side has a very abrupt taper to the hole. The side you want to tap is the side with the very abrupt taper.

You'll need a tap the same size as the threads on the Lyman hollow expanders you want to use, so take it with you to the store if you don't own that size die and need to buy one.

The Lyman Multi Expand/Powder Charge die System comes with hollow expanders for the following calibres: .32, 9MM, .40, .38/357, .41, .44 and .45. This covers most all the pistol cartridges and while I haven't tested it yet, most likely you could use the .32 for .30 carbine if you were careful setting up. (most folks would be anyway, I suspect) Because rifle cartridges only use 2 dies, the expander is a non-issue for them.

So using this setup, you have the benefits of the Hornady case activated powder drop and the "power through expander" for no more cost than it costs to buy a powder through expander die, a drill bit and a tap. (this of course, assumes you do own a drill and a clamp or vise and don't own the drill bit or tap, I owned both, so was out no more money than the die itself)

And thanks for the tip on using return springs instead of the failsafe rod. I'll have to look into that. (If I don't just get an LNL AP that is )

 

[44and45]

Cortland, the blue bloods ain't gonna hang you, but tar and feathers isn't out of the question.

Check the attachment picture.

One Hornady powder measure furtherest away and rest are RCBS Uniflow powder measures with Hornady auto drop linkages.

Jim

 

[SDC]

I'm with Monster on this one; I use Auto-Disks in a couple of my handgun toolheads, and the drops are very consistent.

 

[BluesBear]

44and45 could you please post a closeup picture of the RCBS with the autodrop?

Thanks.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

i have a bunch of powder bars that i keep set with powder and load written on them i keep one for odd stuff

 

[44and45]

BluesBear, here you go on the close up of Uniflow and Hornady powder drop system.

The Hornady Case Activated Powder Drop unit is item #050065, sells for a little over $35.00...but shop around at the different catalog outlets for best price. This unit consist of everything you see attached to and below the powder measure.

Note: the brass electrical conection I used for a nifty spacer asthetic look, this is shimmed to height with some die lock rings and large washers in some cases.

( I forgot to mention I did a little lathe work on the brass electrical connection, just to remove some of the inner diameter down hole, the brass threading is 7/8 X 14 tpi same as all standard reloading dies)

You have to get everything adjusted to the height of lever actuating arm working properly...just keep experimenting until you get it right.

Let me know if you have problems, will try to help more if I can.

Jim

 

[g56]

I might add this on the Dillon loader and adding springs, if you have the latest model that doesn't have the springs, you need to tie down the second cam so it doesn't interfere with the springs. If you aren't sure what I'm talking about the first time you use it with the springs you'll see, to test this you can put a rubber band around it to work like the springs for testing.

Part number
14036 Powder bar return sping, about $2 each.

This is the old style spring, the newer ones are smaller.

 

[BluesBear]

Thanks for the photo 44and45.

I have a RCBD with the micrometer adjustment and I am looking at a Dillon 650 at a local dealer.

I like the idea of the RCBS on the Dillon. Where did you find the blue ones?

 

[44and45]

BluesBear, I found the blue ones from a can of paint I got from the local hardware store...heh heh.

Jim

 

[SC_shooter]

G56,

I too am baffled about the Dillon powder measure??? It takes at least 30 seconds to move from one toolhead to another, and that's if I have to look for the allen wrench.

Paul

 

[C1PNR]

Preset Powder Bars

Lloyd Smale,

I'm with you Lloyd. I have a cigar box next to the press with a potful of marked powder bars.

It takes a really long time to move the powder measure and change out the powder bar, like maybe 30 seconds!