XL650 up and running...couple of questions...

jakfrost

jakfrost

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Started pulling the handle late this afternoon after a couple of hours of set-up, all going well with the exception of a couple of 'well installed primers', ha,ha. I'm getting used to the 'feel' of the 'upstroke insertion' for the primers, all good now.

However after loading a couple of hundred 147gr 9mm's I decided to finish up the 115's and wanted to adjust the powder charge. Looked on youtube and watched a guy remove the powder 'safety bar' and then while holding a case in place with his left hand and cycling the powder bar with his right hand, weigh the charge, repeat...until he had the correct charge.

Question 1: Is there another way to check the powder charge on the Dillon XL650? Just looking at it I can't see how, but its a bit of a pain to remove that safety bar every time...

Question2: Is there any way to stop a full primer tube from continuing to deposit a primer at every stroke of the handle? Like a pin or something to block the primer tube feed? I know I can collect them from the 'ski jump', ( or the floor, until my little 'bottle' modification arrives...) and then 'pick them up' again and re-deposit them in the primer feed tube, but a bit of a PITA no?

Question3: Ordered the 'Mini Mr. Bullet Feeder' from DAA and realized after that I'll lose my 'powder alarm'...unless I buy the after market 'seating/crimping' die. Would my Lee seater/crimper die work just as well?

Thanks for the help...
Jim
 
1. With an empty case feeder tube, place a case into station two and run it up to throw a charge. Remove case and weigh powder. Repeat as necessary.
2. Find yourself a properly sized washer or similar and place it under the primer disk arm hook (the one that advances the disk). That way the arm will be raised out of the way and won't advance the disk when you cycle the press. The washer or whatever just slides along on top of the disk. You'll need to play with the thickness and size of said washer.
3. Yes your Lee seater/crimper in station 5 will work just fine. It's not as good as having a separate crimping stage though but honestly I often wonder if it really matters.
 
1- insert a 9mm case between the press body and the gray flapper that drops the case. That way it takes 1 second and the case feeding is stopped without emptying anything. Then do powder tests.
2- i personally unscrew the 2 bolts holding the plastic slide that activates the primer arm. Its on the side of the press. Takes 10 seconds to remove and that way no primers are dispensed when doing test batches.
3- i dont run a powder die for 9mm. You can see the powder in the case when you load. If you cant, add a small flashlight. I use the midi feeder and look with a flashlight before seating.

Thats how i do it.
 
1. I usually unscrew the wing nut and remove the rod. I hold my weigh pan under the powder funnel and lift up. I found that if I weighed from a case that the powder would stick to the shell and be .2-.3 gr low.

3. I don't use a powder alarm, get an Inline fabrication skylight, they are really nice.
 
Flick the case with your finger. The powder will fall out.

You don't need to unscrew the wing nut to remove the rod. Just lower the handle a bit and you'll be able to slide the bottom out and then unhook the top. No readjustment necessary when you reinstall the rod.
 
I run a Mr Bullit feeder in station #3 on my XL 650 as well, and just used the standard seating die and crimp die in stations #4 and #5. I don't miss using the Dillon powder check, as I do a visual check of each round before I do the down stroke that places the bullet on the case. I do use a fairly "fluffy" powder though so it's easy to see the powder level in each case. Something dense like Titegroup may be tougher to spot.

If I need to change my powder setting in the middle of a run (eg working up a new load), I'll disconnect the fail safe rod as hend238 mentioned above and I'll leave it attached to the powder measure. After I've adjusted my powder bar, I'll throw 10 cases to settle the powder in the funnel and throw that powder back in the funnel. I'll then throw a charge and then weigh it to check I've got the desired weight.

Rather than pulling down on the lever to make the throws, I'll put a primed case under the powder die and push up, while at the same time pushing up on the fail safe rod. I find it's much easier this way because you are not indexing your shell plate, so you don't need to worry about dropping primers.
 
Thanks everyone for the tips...a sticky is a good idea! I like the idea of not removing the rod, just unhook it from the bottom and use the rod to activate the powder bar. Duh...and, since I use an 'old' beam scale for my powder weights, I'll use the powder tray instead of a primed case, no chance of any residual powder messing with my calibrations!

All good!
Jim
 
As I was doing my load development, I found I didn't always have a consistent increase in speed each time I incremented 0.2gr. I started weighing 10 throws at a time (eg if I wanted a 3.4gr charge, I would put 10 powder throws in the pan and target 34.0gr). It really helped me fine tune my powder throw adjustments.

jakfrost said:
Thanks everyone for the tips...a sticky is a good idea! I like the idea of not removing the rod, just unhook it from the bottom and use the rod to activate the powder bar. Duh...and, since I use an 'old' beam scale for my powder weights, I'll use the powder tray instead of a primed case, no chance of any residual powder messing with my calibrations!

All good!
Jim
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