Cleaned a Press Yesterday

[Archie]

Yesterday, I disassembled my Dillon AT 500 and cleaned out all the gunk.

This press is a stripped down 550, and for awhile was advertised (it may still be available); I think of it as Dillion's version of a turret press. It is just about perfect for test ammo and small runs of most rifle ammo.

The main ram was rather 'draggy'. It did work, but required more effort. So I took off the shell plate 'foundation' (there's a name for it, but I don't remember) disconnected the mail ram from the linkage and took it out. Cleaned all the gunk from the ram and press race and lightly re-oiled it with 30 weight motor oil. Then wiped out all the loose powder granules - which probably doesn't affect any one else and reassembled the press.

Much easily to use now and didn't take nearly as long as I feared. The Allen head wrenches (set) from Dillon is about all that is needed. I thought I would need a .75 inch wrench to disassemble the linkage for the ram, but it wan't needed.

Just to encourage folk.

 

[rfwobbly]

While you have the ram removed for cleaning, let me encourage you to drill a 5/64 hole (which will match the other oil hole sizes from Dillon) in the front center, half way up the portion that supports the Main Shaft.



Then you can purchase an inexpensive "needle nozzle grease gun" from Amazon (such as this one), filled with bulk grease. When grease is injected into the ram, it really smooths out the operation of any 550.

Similar modifications can be made to the yoke of the Crank while the Main Shaft Pivot Pin is removed.



Mobil also makes a nice general purpose grease that's blue in color, which cannot readily be seen if excess happens to work its way out.

I've made similar mods to several Dillon 550 and 650 machines with gratifying results.

Hope this helps.