Question on RL 550B Deluxe Quick Change Assembly

[luckey]

Hi Gurus,

Final shopping question for Dillon 550B. How many of you have the quick change kit for each caliber you reload, not sure if I understand this kit correctly.

I am shooting 9/40S&W/45ACP now and will shoot 38Spl/357Mag/44Spl/44Mag. So, I would like to reload them all and switch calibers on the press with as little efforts as possible. So, I definitely need to buy a few caliber conversion kits to cover all the calibers and 3-die sets. totally 5 sets as I counted, 9mm, 40s&w/10mm, 38spl/357mag, 44spl/44mag and 45ACP.

Station 2(powder and belling) is kind of pain in the neck because if to cover all the calibers I will be reloading with least amount of efforts, I will have to buy 6 Quick Change kit which will cost close to $US800 alone because the belling setting is specific to the brass length.

Or, I should just buy 4 extra toolhead and powder dies(the machine comes with 1 toolhead and power measure with powder die?) to match the conversion kits/die sets.
Then I would only need to adjust the settings between 38spl/357 and 44spl/44mag with a much lower cost?

or 7 3-die sets(2x38/357, 2x44sp/44mag) with 6 extra toolhead and 6 powder dies, and share the same powder measure. this will have fix settings for all 7 calibers. the powder has to changed anyway among them.

If that the correct understanding? Or I still go crazily overboard? How do you guys doing it? Thanks.

 

[Alex McK]

It is not necessary for you to purchase complete conversion kits (tool heads and die sets), from Dillon. All you need are the extra tool heads. Any standard 7/8 X 14 reloading dies, such as Lee, will work just fine, in the RL550B. I have most of my similar calibers, ie: 38/357, set up so that each tool head is complete with mounted and adjusted dies, plus powder hopper. In this case Lee, with adjustable charge bar. Changing from one caliber to the next takes less than five minutes. Including swapping out shell plates, where necessary. Plus verifying powder settings. It wasn't all that expensive, either. A lot less than $800. I do have some Dillon dies and one powder hopper, though. On some of the tool heads I have both Dillon and Lee dies mounted. Been running my 550 this way since the mid-1980's without any issues. In the long run, you may find this to be the easiest alternative.

You can choose to go with just the 4 extra tool heads. Then readjust the dies and powder settings each time. That is a much cheaper alternative. The downside of this is, each time you switch, say from 38 to 357, you are essentially setting up from scratch. Not only will the case mouth bell need readjusting, but also the powder settings(unless you get lucky and both use the same powder charge). Plus, the bullet seating and crimp dies. Only the resizing, decapping die will remain the same. This can become time consuming. Plus tedious. I did it this way for years. Until I got sick of it and purchased the extra gear.

Anyway, though I might have raised more questions than answers, hope this helps.

 

[luckey]

Hi Alex,

Thanks a lot! This does help and just saved me money, of course, it also leads to more questions.
my thoughts now:
1. on conversion kit. based on the dillon part numbers, i could buy individual parts, like powder funnels, locator buttons and shell plates. however, it only will save around US$40. So, I think it's just easier to buy all the 5 conversion kits which comes out just one extra plate and a few buttons I think.
2. For the die sets. what you said means I could just buy 6 extra dillon toolhead and then 7 LEE carbide 4-die sets which will save almost $US200 compared to the dillon dies.
And questions,

1. you mentioned you used mixed dillon and lee dies. any specific reasons/advantages dillon vs lee that maybe I should do the same for some of the dies?
2. some online posts mentioned that we should swap out the die locking ring with the ones from LEE to save the real estate on the toolhead. did you do that?

It is not necessary for you to purchase complete conversion kits (tool heads and die sets), from Dillon. All you need are the extra tool heads. Any standard 7/8 X 14 reloading dies, such as Lee, will work just fine, in the RL550B. I have most of my similar calibers, ie: 38/357, set up so that each tool head is complete with mounted and adjusted dies, plus powder hopper. In this case Lee, with adjustable charge bar. Changing from one caliber to the next takes less than five minutes. Including swapping out shell plates, where necessary. Plus verifying powder settings. It wasn't all that expensive, either. A lot less than $800. I do have some Dillon dies and one powder hopper, though. On some of the tool heads I have both Dillon and Lee dies mounted. Been running my 550 this way since the mid-1980's without any issues. In the long run, you may find this to be the easiest alternative.

You can choose to go with just the 4 extra tool heads. Then readjust the dies and powder settings each time. That is a much cheaper alternative. The downside of this is, each time you switch, say from 38 to 357, you are essentially setting up from scratch. Not only will the case mouth bell need readjusting, but also the powder settings(unless you get lucky and both use the same powder charge). Plus, the bullet seating and crimp dies. Only the resizing, decapping die will remain the same. This can become time consuming. Plus tedious. I did it this way for years. Until I got sick of it and purchased the extra gear.

Anyway, though I might have raised more questions than answers, hope this helps.

 

[mrspeel]

You certainly plan to shoot a variety of calibers. I am configured to load 303 308 44 mag and 45 acp. To load all of these calibers I purchased a 303 conversion a 45 acp conversion and the dillon powder funnel for 44 mag. Rather than purchasing all those quick change kits perhaps consider these strategies:

Make sure you invest in enough brass to avoid having to constantly change the settings and kits. 40 and 9 is cheap so load up several thousand each and then leave the press set up for lower volume runs of 44 etc

Standardize powders across the 9 40 45 and the 357/44 mag. You can leave the powder in the hopper and then simply adjust the charges when you change calibers. You can also find the sweet spot across grains calibers and bullet sizes. For example I am using 5 grains of 700-x in 45 acp with a 200 grain bullet. I can use the same 5 grains with a 155 bullet in the 40. For the 9mm I would have to be in the 4 grain range. In that case determine how many revolutions of the screw is required to get to 4 and always check it against a beam.

I am using the large powder bar for 23 grains of h110 in 44 mag. As your list of calibers doesn't include rifle you can leave that bar as it is. As I shoot a lot of 44 mag I purchased another large powder bar for rifle so I can leave the one dedicated for 44 mag.

I read a tip online where one guy was using calipers to record his preferred powder bar setting. To change calibers and charges he simply adjusts the bar to his measurement and then validates against a beam when the bar is in the powder hopper. I plan to use this strategy with the rifle loads and an extra large powder bar I purchased for 20 bucks (used) after a run of pistol reloading as I would have to take the small powder bar out anyway and replace it with the large powder bar.

In my case I recently found a cheap used powder die for 5 bucks and I did pay retail on another tool head. So I have two heads dedicated to 45 and 44 with a third for rifle or for brass prep. As with Alex I do find that the extra tool heads and powder dies are a real time saver so I made the investment there.

The final strategy is to sequence the reloading according to shell plate to help improve switch over time. As the 303 and 44 share the same shell plate and pins I reload those in pairs. The same holds true for the 308 and 45 acp. I assume you would reload your 38's and 357's the same way

 

[LouF]

I use the same powder hopper for all my pistol loads just change the tool heads.Like Mrspeel said try and keep the powder drop simple between calibers and use the same powder.I'm using W231 powder and drop 4.3 grains into my .357 cases with 125 grain bullets for nice mellow target rounds then take the powder hopper off that tool head and place it on my .9mm head for the same 4.3 grains under 121 gr. bullets for good IDPA loads.When I do my .45 ACP loads I take the powder hopper off my .9mm toolhead and put it on my .45 set-up,crank the screw on the powder hopper in a bit to get 5.1 grains,then load a boatload of .45's.For my rifle loads I use the 550 as a single stage press,resizing,priming then I pour all my powder in a block of 20,then seat and crimp one at a time like a single stage press.But my rifle dies have their own tool head set-up so I just change out heads when I change calibers...lotsa fun!

 

[hunter64]

I will just echo what everyone else has said and give you my 2 cents. I am cheap by nature and so any angle I could come up with to save money I did and the fact that I was a young father means I had little to no money to spend on extra's .

First thing I did was figure out all the calibers I wanted to reload and then checked which buttons, shell plates etc. I needed for each of the calibers. There is a lot of interchanging with each and sometimes you could buy a change kit and then all you had to buy was the correct button size to do another caliber. I made up a chart that I keep in a fishing tackle plastic box and so when I change calibers I simply look at the chart and pull out what I need. Why buy a bunch of change kits and have some of the parts duplicated.

Buy a quick change head for each caliber and mount the dies on them and then it is a simple task of changing the head, the buttons and shell plate as well as dropping in the powder funnel.

As far as the powder measure goes I just run one for pistols and one for rifles. It takes about an extra 5 minutes to dial in the measure and check the setting. You could buy a powder measure for each caliber but then you still have to make sure the measure is set right for the powder used so really you are not saving that much time. For 3 years I just ran with one powder measure and just changed the charge bars when needed but I found a used one for 20 bucks so I bought a second one so I didn't have to change the bars.

It is a work horse and really the only parts I have ever needed was primer tube plastic ends because I would accidently drop them on the cement. I called up Dillon and they sent me some free of charge.

I made up a quick change mounting plate that holds 8 tool heads. I now have two of these and one slot left on the second open for a grand total of 15 different calibers.

 

[Alex McK]

To answer your questions.
#1: You can take that option, and purchase complete conversion kits, if you wish. That will simplify setup. One question: is this the most cost effective way of going? Remember, you may still need to buy powder, primers, bullets and brass. It all adds up.

#2: Yes, you could simply buy 6 tool heads, plus whatever shell plates you may need. Plus a few extra buttons. Then, purchase 7 Lee carbide die sets to complete the set. You might also purchase a separate Lee powder hopper for each one. But, a far simpler and cheaper alternative is to buy one, or possibly two hoppers, each with an adjustable powder measure. Then, record the settings on the measure for each powder charge and each cartridge caliber. When switching from one tool head to another, adjust the measure to the appropriate setting, then throw several charges to verify the settings, and adjust accordingly, if necessary. A simple way to access this info quickly, is to write the setting numbers on a piece of tape and stick it onto the side of the measure.

I switch between Lee and Dillon dies all the time. Plus several other brands. Though the Dillon dies are excellent quality, there is no real advantage that I've found, for using them on the 550, versus Lee or any other dies. I ended up with some of each, so just swap them around as needed. When setting up for a new cartridge caliber now though, I usually just purchase the tool head, shell plate and whichever Lee dies I need. Saves me a lot of money over the long term and still get good reloads. I have switched over to using the Lee powder drop dies and hopper for most loading tasks though. as I find it quicker and easier to make powder adjustments, using the calibration numbers on the powder measure. I do use my Dillon powder hopper and measure for some jobs on some tool heads, though. Because they're set up that way. It is just a matter of which is handiest at the time.

To answer your question regarding locking rings. Yes....that is a good idea. I was going to mention this in my first post, but didn't want to make it too long. I have swapped out all the Lee locking rings on my tool heads with steel locking rings. These are dirt cheap and will lock the dies very securely onto the tool head. You might have to check them now and then, as they might loosen over time due to press vibration, but that's about it.

I see I am not alone, as several other fellas have also adopted similar methods for their RL550B's. All of the advice is good. Hope this helps.

 

[tjhaile]

Get the Uniquetek micrometer for your powder bars instead of buying extra powder measures. You can use the provided spreadsheet to develop a curve for each powder type so that it can calculate the right micrometer setting for the charge you want to throw.

Changing between magnum and special cases with the same die set can be done fairly simply. Make up a dummy round for each case/bullet combination and use it to set your seating die. For the powder/expander and crimp dies, there are two options:

1. Backing the dies out 1-3/4 turns from the correct adjustment for the special cases will get you pretty close for the magnum cases. It shouldn't be to difficult to "fine tune" from there.
2. Use lock rings with set screws in conjunction with a suitably sized 1/8" thick washer. Take the washer out for the short cases and put it in for the long cases.

 

[luckey]

thanks again Alex! this is incredibly helpful information!. for the conversion kit, as I calculated, with my caliber combinations, buy individual to save that US$40 is not as good as keep things simple by buying all the complete kit to save one step(check which one to use for every switch), the conversion kit has the shell plate, buttons and power funnel already. So, just toolheads from dillon and 4-die sets @ US$42/each @ brownells. so much cheaper. wonderful setup. can't wait to set them up.

To answer your questions.
#1: You can take that option, and purchase complete conversion kits, if you wish. That will simplify setup. One question: is this the most cost effective way of going? Remember, you may still need to buy powder, primers, bullets and brass. It all adds up.

#2: Yes, you could simply buy 6 tool heads, plus whatever shell plates you may need. Plus a few extra buttons. Then, purchase 7 Lee carbide die sets to complete the set. You might also purchase a separate Lee powder hopper for each one. But, a far simpler and cheaper alternative is to buy one, or possibly two hoppers, each with an adjustable powder measure. Then, record the settings on the measure for each powder charge and each cartridge caliber. When switching from one tool head to another, adjust the measure to the appropriate setting, then throw several charges to verify the settings, and adjust accordingly, if necessary. A simple way to access this info quickly, is to write the setting numbers on a piece of tape and stick it onto the side of the measure.

I switch between Lee and Dillon dies all the time. Plus several other brands. Though the Dillon dies are excellent quality, there is no real advantage that I've found, for using them on the 550, versus Lee or any other dies. I ended up with some of each, so just swap them around as needed. When setting up for a new cartridge caliber now though, I usually just purchase the tool head, shell plate and whichever Lee dies I need. Saves me a lot of money over the long term and still get good reloads. I have switched over to using the Lee powder drop dies and hopper for most loading tasks though. as I find it quicker and easier to make powder adjustments, using the calibration numbers on the powder measure. I do use my Dillon powder hopper and measure for some jobs on some tool heads, though. Because they're set up that way. It is just a matter of which is handiest at the time.

To answer your question regarding locking rings. Yes....that is a good idea. I was going to mention this in my first post, but didn't want to make it too long. I have swapped out all the Lee locking rings on my tool heads with steel locking rings. These are dirt cheap and will lock the dies very securely onto the tool head. You might have to check them now and then, as they might loosen over time due to press vibration, but that's about it.

I see I am not alone, as several other fellas have also adopted similar methods for their RL550B's. All of the advice is good. Hope this helps.