Double Powder Charge with a Dillon 550

[1911user]

Have you ever accidentally double powder charged a case with a Dillon 550 reloading press? This is not about a friend or someone you read about on the internet, only your reloading experience.

The reason for this poll is I see the "danger" from manual indexing a 550 brought up over and over in discussions. I'm curious about the actual reality of this "problem".

 

[HSMITH]

Never double charged one, and have exactly one round without powder. I run two 550B's and have loaded somewhere over 100,000 rounds on them.

 

[BigSlick]

I place the bullet in position two, after the powder drop and bell, BEFORE I index the shellplate.

This way, a quick look at the round in position three will tell me if the case in position two has been charged.

If the bullet in position three is seated, then there is powder in position two. If the round in position three has not been seated, the case in position two is empty.

I also use a magnetic mount flexible LED light with the beam foucsed directly from above the case in position two. After a few rounds, you get a sense of what level looks right. It's pretty easy to spot a double, should one occur.

I have loaded one round without powder. I used it as a dummy to set belling and seating depth then crimp (to remove the bell). I got everything set to the correct measurements and proceeded to load.

Upon inspection of loaded rounds, I noticed one without a fresh primer. It didn't have any powder in it either. It all leaked out thru the primer pocket. Felt like an ignoramous, but was happy I caught it.

One thing that can't be stressed enough when reloading, is to check, check and recheck everything. Sooner or later Murphy pays everyone a visit, but being judicious about case prep/rejection, and doing a thorough post load inspection helps a lot.

I've got about 70,000 rounds on my 550B

BigSlick

 

[HSMITH]

Avoiding a double charge is really easy, if you operate the handle you MUST index it OR take station two round out and empty the powder from the case before going on. If the handle goes down you must index. Pretty simple and easy to remember.

 

[DJW]

I get into a rhythm which includes sounds as well as sights. If I don't hear a finished round drop into the tray or if I don't see a primer coming back into position(right side up) or any other "extra" or "missing" input then I immediately STOP and check every station...........that may be part of the reason why I have no double charges, no squibs, but load only about 200 rounds per hour on my Dillon 550B. Being a person who started on a single stage press and only having changed over about 25 years ago makes me pretty cautious when it comes to dealing with loading something which can potentially be dangerous if carelessly done. It is just not worth the risk to hurry up or get sloppy doing something I enjoy. Having said all that, nothing is FOOLproof.
DJW

 

[Rockstar]

What parameters have you set for data compiled in this poll as being relevant?

 

[nbkky71]

I did it once & only once and I'm nearing 9,000 rounds of .45ACP out of my Dillon 550B. The .45ACP case will easily hold a 2x charge so be very careful and visually check each time powder is dropped. I like BigSlick's suggestion of a small LED light.

Here's what the result was when I pulled the trigger on my Colt Govt model with that overcharged round.
http://home.carolina.rr.com/nbkky71/images/kaboom.jpg

It was no fault on the part of the Dillon. I simply wasn't paying attention.

Remember...you are responsible for quality control when reloading.

 

[RugerGuy]

I was very happy when I caught it in time. When I first got my 550 I was pretty green to reloading. I was having a hard time depriming some of my once fired brass. Still to this day not sure if my depriming die was not adjusted properly or it was just hard depriming brass. Because I use TiteGroup it leaves alot of empty space in the case after I pull the lever. Because I was new I was stopping every 10 rounds to check my OAL and powder drops. One I measured was double. I pulled apart every load I had in my bin. Only 5 or so but I wanted to be sure. They were all fine. I only messed up that one probably because I was paying attention to my depriming problem. Every once in a while I come across a piece of once fired brass that will NOT deprime. I send it to brass heaven ASAP. Next week I'm ordering my second 550 B for a Large Primer set up in .45 . It pays to pay attention.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Don't have a dillon 550...But I have never double charged and seated a bullet. Have I ever doubled charged a case...? Yes, but caught it before it had a bullet inserted.

 

[SASS#23149]

so far so good..no KABOOMS.

after ten years on my 550b.I don't rush my loading time,and I stop at the slightest hint of something not feeling right.If I think I've bobbled i'll pull all the cases out and get back to square 1.To me it's worth the extra time.

 

[1911user]

I am surprised that roughly 1/3 of the responses so far have had a double charge of some form.
I didn't expect it to be that high, but I'll watch where the data goes.
I'm keeping my 550 no matter what the results show

 

[Don of Kalifornia]

Never double charged here, but some powedrs like Win 231 feel like they don't drop even ammount. Some rounds will at times fire much softer than the rest in a reloading batch. When i switched to Hogdon Titegroup this problem went away.

 

[Nnobby45]

I use W231 a lot in my 550B. I've had squib loads (no powder), but never fired a double charge. I always have a light on both sides of the machine and sit up high enough to see any dbl charge when I set the bullet into the case. I've tested it, and a double charge jumps right out at you!

Remember that the machine will never double charge. It's always due to the actions of the loader. If I have to leave the machine, then, when I return, I know that if the bullet has been seated, the case under the powder station has also been charged and I immediately advance it. It's backing up to correct mistakes that usually cause problems. Be careful. Once you get rolling, and don't have to stop, things go very smooth.

Incidentally, my Dillon 550B, that's been around over 15years now, drops W231 very accurately. Except the time I spilled (without knowing) spent primers in my can of 231 (after foolishly setting it down below the machine and leaving the lid off!) and they were clogging up the charge bar, creating some rather inconsistent powder charges. But I don't like to talk about that.

 

[Grump]

I place the bullet in position two, after the powder drop and bell, BEFORE I index the shellplate.

Me too.

I get into a rhythm which includes sounds as well as sights.

Me too again.

My missed primers (most common), missed powder drops (bottleneck rifle ctgs before I moved my lighting), and the four or five double charges (all discovered b/c spillovers are pretty obvious--but I LOOK before putting the bullet on anyway) always, ALWAYS happen right after an interruption or problem of some sort like the 9mm brass that was sometimes getting stuck in my Lee carbide sizing die.

The danger is in the breaks in rhythm, so that's were we must be extra vigilant.

BTW, 231 meters just fine out of my Dillon powder measure (and the Ideal and the RCBS Uniflow and the RCBS Little Dandy, for that matter). My last WW-231 reloads in 9mm had an ES of a bit less than 30 fps and an SD of only 7 fps, at 1120 or so FPS with a 115-gr JHP from a 4.4 inch tube. That was with both new and old 231. The steel can vintage stuff was a tad less dense (the measure threw 5.1 grainsof newer 231, and at the same volume threw 4.1-5.05 gr of older stuff) and was about 30 fps slower on the same day from the same gun. Those were loaded a bit long and showed perfect pressure signs compared to WWB ammo (same cases and primers!) from the same gun.

IIRC, my total number of incidents, excluding missed primers (!embarassing!), is maybe 10 times in something more than 6,000 rounds, including .38 Specials and .357 Magnums, which *will* hold a double charge with most powders. That's five duds and four or five double charges. To get a true handle on the risks and incidence of events, go by number of rounds, not number of people experiencing it. Someone else with only 1,000 rounds loaded could have zero events at the rate it's happened to me. Any my incidence is going down. None in the last 1,000 rounds.

 

[Bronson7]

HSmith is dead on. Get into the habit of stopping at the same place always, so you don't loose track of where you are. If you drop something, knock something over, have to answer a phone call etc, stop at the same place. Have that permanently etched in your mind. Recheck your stations before starting back up.
Bronson7

 

[caz223]

I use powders that fill up the case over 1/2 way, so I see spilled powder, I STOP.
I double charged once, noticed it immediately, cleaned up the spilled powder, pulled everything out, and went to bed.

 

[g56]

No double charges or uncharged cases in 20 years of using a Dillon 550.

 

[Valkman]

The reason for this poll is I see the "danger" from manual indexing a 550 brought up over and over in discussions. I'm curious about the actual reality of this "problem".

Manual indexing causing double charges is a myth. If you can't be safe enough to reload you shouldn't be doing it - too many stories of guys who doubled charged cases and it turns out they were watching TV or arguing with the wife while loading. The last thing that caused their problem was the type of indexing.

2 550's, no double charges here.