Got a new unpopular Dillon press

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MartyK2500

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Was browsing X-reloads website and stumbled across this press i never heard of before.
Dillon BL 550 basic loader.
Like a dillon 550, without the powder dispenser and primer dispenser.
At 360$ i had to give it a try.

The specific use for this one will be 223 ammo.
I didn’t want to load that caliber on my 650 as i lose control over the powdering,
And was ready to single stage it but would be time consuming for the cartridges current accuracy objectives.

Having a powder through funnel die at top, means i can set it up next to my FX120 with auto throw/trickle and still have a decent tolerance with stick ammo (i will not use tweezers like i do for my target bolt 308 to add/substract 1 powder stick if needed, so am ready to live with +0.02/-0.02gn variances to speed things up).

Even youtube or the general web is dry when searching info on this one.
Anyone else gave it a try?
 
MartyK2500 said:
Was browsing X-reloads website and stumbled across this press i never heard of before.
Dillon BL 550 basic loader.
Like a dillon 550, without the powder dispenser and primer dispenser.
At 360$ i had to give it a try.

The specific use for this one will be 223 ammo.
I didn’t want to load that caliber on my 650 as i lose control over the powdering,
And was ready to single stage it but would be time consuming for the cartridges current accuracy objectives.

Having a powder through funnel die at top, means i can set it up next to my FX120 with auto throw/trickle and still have a decent tolerance with stick ammo (i will not use tweezers like i do for my target bolt 308 to add/substract 1 powder stick if needed, so am ready to live with +0.02/-0.02gn variances to speed things up).

Even youtube or the general web is dry when searching info on this one.
Anyone else gave it a try?
Click to expand...

How do you "loose powdering control" with a 650, You can "powder" any way you choose with a 650, manually or with the auto charger.
 
fingers284 said:
How do you "loose powdering control" with a 650, You can "powder" any way you choose with a 650, manually or with the auto charger.
Click to expand...

Stick powder does not meter well in hoppers.
At the same time, having my main press stay in 9mm for volume shooting, and have this little sidekick for calibers i want to spend more time with, makes more sense in my mind.

Love my 650 don’t get me wrong,
But i see this BL 550 as a somewhat single stage with some time improvements,
For this 223 objective is simply sub moa as it’s shot through an auto loading gun.
 
flange said:
A question for those who might know. Would this type of set up introduce more run out than a turret press ?
Click to expand...

I use my 550 to load precision rounds. Compared to the single stage there is a slight difference in runout, but not enough to make any difference in accuracy.

Powder charge variance will introduce more error than concentricity IMHO. It's all about the stacking of tolerances.

I do have a whidden toolhead for my 550 that works very well :)

A must have add on ensure your dies are 100% aligned.
 
In a reverse way - I have a RB 550 and I used to use the funnel die on top when loading accuracy loads.
 
scout said:
In a reverse way - I have a RB 550 and I used to use the funnel die on top when loading accuracy loads.
Click to expand...


That was my initial plan, but when i saw the BL 550s price i jumped on it.
If ever hand priming bothers me some day, you can order the parts to transform a BL 550 into a real 550.
It will be sitting between a 650 and a co-ax, and believe it will fill a role of its own.
Not necessary i admit, but i do like gadgets and tools in my reload room.
 
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Making the process a little faster helps with pre planning.

IE making 50 round batches.

save up 50 medicine bottles... then throw each trickled charge into the bottle. When time to charge cases, you are not wasting movement and time waiting for each charge to come up perfect... you simply dump the charge in the medicine bottle into the funnel.

Charge throwing is easily 25% faster this way.
 
Got Juice? said:
I use my 550 to load precision rounds. Compared to the single stage there is a slight difference in runout, but not enough to make any difference in accuracy.

Powder charge variance will introduce more error than concentricity IMHO. It's all about the stacking of tolerances.

I do have a whidden toolhead for my 550 that works very well :)

A must have add on ensure your dies are 100% aligned.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that. My 650 doesn't seem bad for run out but I'll check out that whidden head.
 
Bunch of stuff at ht tp://www.uniquetek.com/dillon-press-enhancements for the Dillon press (best single site I've come across - great service too). My start down the slippery slope was the toolhead clamp kit.
 
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