Dillon RL 550B

[Jessie James]

Greetings All;

Anyone using the 550 to reload 45 Auto? I love this press but keeping a consistent COL is driving me nuts, all other adjustments are rock solid. As an example I was loading a batch of 45 to COL of 1.255, adjusted the press until I had 1.254 and a half. When I do the quality check at the end of the run the COL ranges between 1.253 and 1.258. I expect the inconstancy is just the operator and a little different pull each time, what do ya think?

JJ

 

[Quigley]

When you measure...make sure you have all 4 stations full...

There is quite a bit of flex in the shell plate of the 550...and it will flex more when not all stations are being used.

 

[Obtunded]

It is not the press.

This is an issue with the consistency of the bullets. The die does not push on the bullet tip to seat the bullets, it pushes near the "ogive" which is closer to the area that engages the rifling.

If you have or use a bullet comparator, you will see that bullets vary considerably in length between the ogive and the tip. Bearing surface and ogive measurements are what count.

Unless you are having an issue with fitting your mag, don't worry about it.

 

[Jessie James]

Never thought of that!

Well, both replies make sense to me. In fact as I am using a hard case projectile, I bet I could correlate the variance by measuring the bullet and then the COL. As the differences in COL are less than 10 one thousandths of an inch I am certain there is no performance implications.

I will make a final check of the station 3 setting with the all stations filled just to ensure the shell plate flex is not the major issue. I am really nit picking on this, its the only issue I have every had with the 550.

JJ

 

[Mikeyman]

I just set up and ran my first 400 through the new dillon. I had the COL set up 1.235 and couldn't figure out why they were coming out at 1.250 but now it make sense to set the length with all the stages full.

 

[tjhaile]

An extreme spread of .005" in OAL is trivial, particularly for pistol ammo. The Lyman reloading manual advises that "Dependent upon the bullet and equipment used, the finished overall cartridge length may vary by plus or minus [italics mine] .005," which would be a .010" extreme spread. Your seating depth is fine if the cartridges fit the chamber and feed properly.