Dillon 500B & Primer drops

[mugsie]

Guys, I've been loading CCI 500 (small pistol) primers on a Dillon 550B and ocasionally I have a primer fail to drop into the cup. I've learned to watch each time the primer cup moves forward and end up holding the press in mid stroke while manually moving the cup back to pick up a primer. This is a whole lot easier than finding out I now have a case with no primer inserted.

I've heard that the Dillon favors Winchester primers over the CCI for some reason or other. Is there any truth to this? Should I be loading up Winchester primers instead of CCI?

If the primer dropped reliably 100% of the time I would be able to load 200 - 300 rounds per hour but as it is I probable only reach 150 - 200 now.

I checked all the settings and even removed the primer assembly to check on the amount of engagement for the cup with respect to alignment under the tube, and it's all virtually perfect. Should I be chamfering the primer drop tube a little?

Any ideas?

 

[sugarbritches]

primer drop

I have this problem with remington 2 1/2 , winchester ,cci , large or small makes no difference they will sometimes fail to drop, and then work great for several hundred rounds ? hope somebody has the answer!

 

[mc223]

I added a little weight to the primer follower. About a 1/4 ounce. Have'nt had a single problem since with any primer. As far as recommendations of what to use or not, the only unconfirmed rumor was not to use Federal Primers in the Dillon Progressives, due to their extra sensitivity.
Maybe someone with actual experiance with the Federals can be of assistance

 

[Sheldon]

The concentricity of the primers or lack of can cause that problem. The off shaped primers can get hung up in the tube. A little extra weight on the follower rod can help that.

There is also a little spring loaded rod that holds the primers in the feeder tube. If the adjustment for the rearward travel of the primer slide is not correct it won't push that sping loaded rod back eough to let a primer drop into the little pickup.

 

[Chris Rhines]

I use nothing but Federal primers in my XL650, and in my 550 before. Probably reloaded 4000 rounds with them in the past year. I've never had a problem, and I've crunched a few primers and seated a few sideways. I think the sensitivity of Federal primers is an urban myth.

- Chris

 

[redneck2]

As above, I add weight to the plastic rod that follows the primers. I found a brass pipe fitting that just slides over the knob on the end. Min'es pretty heavy and it helped a bunch

As noted, make sure the slide can come back far enough. Also, the plastic end on the primer tube should be replaced from time to time. You should have a repair parts kit and some extra ends for the primer pick up tubes and primer feed tube on hand.

 

[KIMBER45TLE]

Sheldon

What Sheldon discusses about the little spring has a lot to do with it. I have experienced simular situations twice. One thing I did was to take the primer system apart then hit all the moving parts with a very fine Arkansas white stone. The two hex head screws that hold your primer system in place should not be torked down hard, only firm I've discovered. I have also discovered that it helps to take the primer system down and clean it every 1k rounds of reloading. When my primer system starts acting up now, I do that and any problems I've been having disappear. One of the Dillon reps also told me that using grafite dry lube is OK. Your decission on that one. The primer system is one of the dirtiest pieces of the machine and even a minute piece of grit can cause problems.

As far as brands of primers and having problems, I've used Federals and Winchester without problems. CCI's however, have given me headaches.

Hope this helps.

 

[mc223]

Thanks, to all for the good word on the Federals.

 

[BigDog(RE)]

I had the same issue until I put an empty 45 ACP case on the end of the primer rod. That gave it just enough extra weight to get the job done.

 

[P0832177]

I stick with Fed 150's for 45 and 100's for 9mm. I do not use CCI in the Dillon, CCI is well known to have a slightly larger primer. And, there have been others that mention that too. I picked up on putting a empty 45ACP case over the primer follower as a tad of insurance.

 

[robertbank]

+1 on the Federal primers, I have detected no difference in loads over my chrono using any of the popular primers. I agree...urban myth.

CCI primers are a PITA frankly and I have had more problems with them than any other primer. My favourites based upon which ever I can get the ceapest price on are Win, Rem & Fed. I dislike the Federal packaging, takes up way to much room in my reloading area.

Take Care

 

[FJC]

I've run into a similar problem a few times. The primer pickup bar goes back, but is just a fraction of an inch short of picking up a new primer from the tube. If I pull back on the bar just slightly, it'll pick one up.

The solution in my case - remove the primer pickup bar and clean the gunk out from under it. Each time just enough sludge has built up under that bar that it retards the movement just enough. Clean off the bottom of the bar, and the little black plate it rides on, and it all works smoothly again.

 

[SASS#23149]

What FJC said

I find that just cleaning everything up regularly so that the primer bar will make full travel eliminates any non-drop problems.
I"ve used thousands of Federal primers with no ill effect,but I"d sure hate for a tube full to go off. YIKES. Which brings up a point to remmeber.Alwasy put the cover back on the powder so that if they go off and bounce off of the ceiling they won't fall into the powder.

 

[444]

I had a problem with the priming on one of my Dillion 550s. I took it apart, got new parts, switched out parts etc. Couldn't figure out what the problem was. I had a second 550 on a different bench that worked fine.

Then I read a post on this board where a guy explained my problem. The press wasn't mounted solid enough. The table top allowed a little bit of flex. This sounded logical to me because the other identical press that worked fine was mounted on a much more substantial table, so I was willing to try it.
I took the table top off, glued two big thick pieces of pressed board together making a table top like 3" thick and bolted the press to it.
End of problem.

 

[mugsie]

Thanks guys

Thanks for all the info. I found the rail which holds the primer cup doesn't always come back full throw and when that happens it fails to pick up a primer. I cleaned the thing up and it worked fine for a while, till it got all gunked up again after a few hundred rounds. Tomorrow I'll try to lap everything into alignment and maybe add a little dry graphite, which should help. Otherwise the press works great.

 

[444]

That doesn't sound right to me.
In the last month or two I have probably loaded close to ten thousand 9mms and never once took the priming system apart to clean it. I have also never lubricated the priming system in either one of my presses; ever.
If yours quits working after a few hundred rounds there is something wrong IMO.
Occasionally I have a spent primer fall down into the priming system and it will prevent the sliding part from going all the way back to get a primer. When this happens I notice that the case was not primed by a different feel. I then partially raise the shell plate and look to see why it didn't pick up a primer. It is always because a spent primer fell down behind it.
I would call Dillon and talk to them about it.

 

[TonyT]

I believe that CCI primers were at one time reputed to have greater dimensioinal variation than any others. I routinely use Winchester, Remington and Federal large and small pistol primers in the Dillon 550 without any problems.

 

[redneck2]

I also had more problem with CCI's than anything else. I use Federal or Winchester now. When I used CCi's, they'd sometimes shave off very small brass slivers from the primer pockets

If you have a case spill over with powder, it may cause binding if it gets under the slide. Rifle cases that are filled close to the top may jiggle enough to spill a fw grains.

Any dry lube (like Pam, dry teflon, etc) should help

 

[loadedround]

I run two 550B loaders and have never had a problem with W-W or CCI primers feeding since I put several metal washers on my primer follower rod similar to what some of the other guys of done. Sorry but I have never run any Remington or Federal primers thru my 550's even though I have used them in a single stage press.

 

[vzwnnj]

Big Dog has it right...the simplest fix is to place a spent 45acp cartridge at the top of the rod...sounds too simple, but it works

 

[1911user]

Another vote for a 45 case on top of the primer rod. You can put a ball bearing inside the case for even more weight, but I'd suspect other problems if that much weight was required for reliable primer feeding.

The downside to weighting the rod (and why dillon doesn't do it stock) is dropping the rod from the top with only a few primers in the mag. tube. It would gain speed as it fell down the tube and could act as a firing pin when it hit the primer anvil. pow!

CCI has been my primer of choice since the early 90's. I've used a few boxes of each of the other major brands and some old remington primers were the only ones that have caused any primer sticking issues.