Dillon RL 550B Press Porblem. HELP!!!

[laohuang]

This is my first time use RL 550b
i am hand loading 9mm

there is some problem with the powder die
here is the result as the pictures show

the problem occurs every other 4 or 5 rounds
who knows why and how to fix the problem?
thanks
Attach

[ojisan]

Why:
the edge of the case mouth is catching on the flat edge at the bottom of the die as the case moves up into the die.
How to fix:
Genuine Dillon dies seem to work best as they have a chamfer on their lower edges to reduce the chances of this happening.
If you are using another brand of dies, I leave the die lock ring snug but not tight so there is a little play / self alignment happening.

[laohuang]

thank you Ojisan
as you said it is not Dillon die
it is rcbs die

[Bastard]

No offense but you seem to be having all sorts of issues - perhaps it would be best if you take it all down and start a new

[stilly]

Yes I have noticed that when I go faster on my loadmaster, I have to be careful because the shells will sometimes catch the edge just like that... So I just slow down or reset the retainers to not let the shells move out as far and problem solved... But that was my loadmaster, not a Dillon... But funny too that the Dillon 9mm die I had for resizing kept getting shells jammed in it... I have not tried the new die they sent me yet.

[maxx03]

Try tightening down the shell plate as much as you can but can still index freely. I had the same issue until I stared tightening down the shell plate wich keeps the shell straight into the die. I'm still using RCBS dies with no issues.

[JDub]

The problem's happening at the powder station? Then the dies aren't the issue. If you're sure you're using the right shell holder and pins, Maxx03 gave you the best answer. The brass is bouncing around enough when you raise the ram that its catching on the edge of the powder funnel.

[tylenol9999]

thank you Ojisan
as you said it is not Dillon die
it is rcbs die

Are you sure it occurs on the powder station? If so why would you have no bullet at station #3? I suspect it's occurring at station 1 the resizing die. The reason it occurs is because of the wire that holds the shell. It should be pushing on the shell at the rim not where you have it positioned.

[stilly]

And THIS is why you should START on a single stage and not on a progressive!











hehehehehehehe. Oh damn I gotta go put some GC on my .358s...
Yes. I know what I just said and without knowing anything else I still said it for the LoLZ!

[Lead Waster]

Are the cases all being smooshed on the same side? From the pictures, it seems like the side facing the center of the shellplate.

[stranded1980]

I had something similar happen on the Dillon 650 I picked up second hand. Every 6 or so cases, I would get one that didn't align perfectly with the powder funnel and resulted in a similar looking damaged case.

The problem I determined, was that the entire platform was off just a smidgen. To explain in more detail: the platform is attached to the ram by 2 bolts (the shell plate attaches to the platform, it's what the shells ride on underneath the shell plate). The platform has the tiniest amount of adjustment available via the two bolts that attach it to the ram. Dillon has a special tool that is used to perfectly line up the platform with the dies, it's called the "Dillon Alignment Tool" and works the same on both the Dillon 650 and 550.

The alignment tool works by using the toolhead station 1 of the Dillon 550 and perfectly aligning it with the primer hole on the platform. Theoretically, you would think that if the primer punch lines up, it's aligned. I discovered that the primer punch would work even with the smidgen of being off, and result in the occasional case like you had. Also, you would think that if the platform was off just a little, the problem would occur every single round, but it didn't, only every 6 or so (can't remember exactly how often it crushed a case).

If you exhaust all of your other options in fixing this problem, than I would ask Dillon for their alignment tool as a last ditch effort to fix the problem before sending the press back to them.

In regards to the RCBS dies, I use other companies' dies all the time, and never discovered my problem to be in anyway related with the die.

Best of luck!

[NRAhighpowershooter]

When I load cast buwwets in my 650 in 9mmm
I have to use my RCBS die as the Dillon die undersizes the brass and when the bullet is seated it has a very bad hourglass shape that sometimes hinders chambering.

[randomBytes]

I've had the same happen on 550 - using dillon dies, used to be about 1/200
hasn't happened in a long time.

It is definitely the powder drop that does it - since I'm always looking at the case when it comes out of the resizing die to check for splits and other damage before wasting a primer.

This of course means that the powder drop station is out of sight, so have no idea why it happens, other than probably the case not indexed correctly.

[milotrain]

If the indexing shell plate is too tight (or too loose) it won't index exactly where it should. I tighten down the plate bolt until it doesn't move and back it off until the indexing is mushy, then back it off very very slightly until it just begins to have a snap to the indexing. That seems to be perfect.

[laohuang]

yes. exactly the same place as the picture shows

Are the cases all being smooshed on the same side? From the pictures, it seems like the side facing the center of the shellplate.