Dear Gander - Dillon for 223?

[Ganderite]

Thank you very much for intro course at Borden. Looking forward to sometime you may hold a reloading seminar.

Until then, wondering if you could help me with initial equipment.

I have a Dillon 550B that I use for 9mm. After some initial reading, I realize it's not the only equipment I need or want. I'm not interested in high volume loading for 223, save that for 9mm. Is it worthwhile using some of the stations individually instead of as a true progressive?

example...
Use the deprime and resize station.

trim the cases (looking at manual trimmers, any suggestions? Favourite? What to avoid?)

primer insert

Weigh powder and charge. Manually, not using Dillon powder drop.

Seat bullet and crimp on Dillon station's 3 and 4.


Answer:

At my main loading bench I have a Dillon 550 and a single stage press. Most of my loading is done on these two presses.

The single stage is used for loading precision rifle ammo. I size-deprime (or neck size) them tumble clean. Then the primers are installed with a hand tool and the powder charges weighed with a ChargeMaster. Then I come back to the press to seat bullets.

You did not mention what kind of 223 ammo you were loading. For precision ammo with extruded powders, you would need to weigh each charge. A RCBS ChargeMaster Lite is what I use. Very pleased with it.

However, 223 ammo accurate to 300 yards (you were shooting it at the Clinic) can be made on a Dillon, by using a ball powder like BLC2 or 748. The Dillon will throw perfectly accurate powder charges with ball powder.

For the Dillon you would need to buy a set of 223 dies. I use Lee. And a tool head and a shell plate. I crank out about 400 an hour with mine.

If you are having to size buckets of 223 or 9mm brass, it is imperative that you lube the 223 cases and a little lube on 9mm makes things easier. This is how I do it:

 

[Hmatt]

I lube my brass with Lyman spray and a big ziplock bag and the same motions. Works great.

 

[toxic]

When I was reloading a lot of .223 with my Dillon, I also invested in a trimmer. The Giraud was a great tool, although I would have went with a Dillon trimmer had I invested in a 650 (750 now) instead of the 550. Sadly my AR now sits unfed, cowering in the corner of the safe.

 

[old303]

A progressive press makes the most sense if you're going to actually trust each of its steps to do the right thing. (Ok, "trust but verify" as some politician said!)

A single-stage fits a manual process better, eg deprime-size with the first die, then manually prime, charge, then go back to the press to seat bullets and crimp. But a progressive could possibly be used there to insert manually primed/charged rounds at station 3 to seat a bullet, then carry on through crimping at station 4.

 

[dan belisle]

I watched a YouTube video a little while ago where a guy had two 650's. One set up just for case prep. Had some tools in the stations I hadn't seen before, it was an interesting watch. - dan

 

[Scotty454]

I watched a YouTube video a little while ago where a guy had two 650's. One set up just for case prep. Had some tools in the stations I hadn't seen before, it was an interesting watch. - dan

That's sort of my plan when I get around to loading rifle cartridges. Set up a tool head for prep (Deprime/size, swage primer pocket, trim to length), then maybe load in a single stage. The progressive press and case feeder should make that process fairly painless. Hopefully. Factory ammo has been cheap enough that I didn't bother (I've had the components for years), but that's not really the case anymore. When I get through my stash of factory .223/.308 I'll probably finally get set up to load them.

 

[fingers284]

A progressive press makes the most sense if you're going to actually trust each of its steps to do the right thing. (Ok, "trust but verify" as some politician said!)

A single-stage fits a manual process better, eg deprime-size with the first die, then manually prime, charge, then go back to the press to seat bullets and crimp. But a progressive could possibly be used there to insert manually primed/charged rounds at station 3 to seat a bullet, then carry on through crimping at station 4.

Actually , I disagree with that statement, progressive presses are manufactured & set up to do every station repeatably & accurately, it is the operator that throws a monkey wrench into the pattern from time to time....the same operator that is using the single stage

 

[old303]

Actually , I disagree with that statement, progressive presses are manufactured & set up to do every station repeatably & accurately, it is the operator that throws a monkey wrench into the pattern from time to time....the same operator that is using the single stage

How is that a disagreement? By "manual process" I mean hand-priming and using a separate powder measure, both processes that happen off the press itself, and then a single-stage is easier to integrate with that. If I'm using my Dillon then I'm running it the Dillon way with its powder measure and all.

Certainly with either kind of press, or a bolt-action rifle or a manual-transmission car, working that handle confidently and consistently and with experience leads to best results.

 

[pmt]

I reload bulk 223 on my Dillon 550 with a casefeeder. It's all range brass for monthly 3gun matches. This is my process, usually in batches of 500 or 1000.
As I'm retired this done over a few days to a week
All brass tumbled in walnut with a little bit of Nu Finish car polish for 2 hours.
Using a 12:1 mix of 99% alcohol with liquid lanolin sprayed into a ziplock bag of brass and dumped into the case hopper.
Toolhead #1 has a Lee universal decapping die in station 1 and the Dillon trimmer in station 3. The trimmer has a vacuum hose attached to a small shop-vac in the loading room closet, to keep the noise down.
All brass then goes to the Dillon Super Swage set up with the spring mod to speed up the process, then back in the tumbler for 15 min to remove the lube
I'll load up 10 primer tubes.
Toolhead #2 has a Lyman Neck Expander die in station 1 and the case gets primed. Powder in station 2, seat the bullet in station 3, and crimp in station 4.

Yes, you can load 223 on a 550 with a casefeeder, using the white 223 casefeed adapter from a 650 and the station 1 case guide #3 for 38supercomp. I've been using the 550 casefeeder since its release in 2006 for 9mm 40S&W and 45ACP. I've been loading 223 since 2014.