Crushing brass on reloading...

[NiteQwill]

I have a Dillon 550 and I'm trying to troubleshoot an issue...

About 1 out of 10 cases end up getting crushed on station #2 (powder + bell). I've tried everything: adjusting, case lube (which I do anyway), etc.

This happens on factory new brass, once used, etc.

The press is fairly new... maybe 2-3k rounds...

Any ideas?

[joelogic]

Not sure on a 550 but the 650 has a spring swing arm at station 2 that needs to be adjusted so that the case is firmly pressed against the shell plate.

[Bill Steele]

When you say it is crushing it, is it getting crushed with the nose of the belling die inside the case or with the case off center so the nose contacts the case on the edge of the mouth?

[Rock6.3]

I believe your powder drop is too close to the die.

[JSolie]

Any chance of posting some photos? I've got a 550 and the only time I've crushed brass was with a persnickety RCBS .357 seat/crimp die (since replaced with Dillon dies). Are you loading pistol or rifle rounds?

[IntoForever]

Are the cases similar in length?

[bohoki]

it happens to the taller cartridges like 38,357,44spl magnum 45 colt if it is one of those there is not much you can do other than be careful and slow down


i still shank a 9 but i havent crushed a 45acp in years do you have adequate plate tension

[ojisan]

Is it possible the belling piece (duhhh...what's it called?) that activates the powder drop is getting stuck and not freely sliding up and down like it should?

[damndave]

OMG! I thought only Hornady and Lee presses had problems!

j/k Sounds like the shell plate needs adjusting? A Hornady guy had to chime in and say something. Hope you get it figured out.

[NiteQwill]

I'll have to take a picture. The problem is really boggling me. I have to manually put inward pressure on the case to prevent it from being crushed.

Basically, the shell raises up off-center. There are no issues with seating the bullet and crimping it at all. All the cases are of correct length last time I checked. The powder drop freely moves and has no issues.

I should have mentioned that this happens with .45 ACP.

[pisarski]

i've never had that problem with my lee loadmaster
hope you get it fixed

[Sheldon]

Possibly the primers are not seated flush in the cases, or maybe the wrong size locator pins or powder funnel, or maybe too loose a shellplate.....just my guesses.

[Bill Steele]

I'll have to take a picture. The problem is really boggling me. I have to manually put inward pressure on the case to prevent it from being crushed.

Basically, the shell raises up off-center. There are no issues with seating the bullet and crimping it at all. All the cases are of correct length last time I checked. The powder drop freely moves and has no issues.

I should have mentioned that this happens with .45 ACP.

So, if I am reading you right, occasionally a case goes up canted and catches the case mouth on the flat part of the belling die and crushes the case, right?

I am sure you have checked this, but just in case: The locator buttons are number "1", the shell plate is number "1" and the belling die is "E".

Next, is the shellplate tightened down enough? There should be very little up and down wobble when the shellplate is tightened properly.

Things that can effect not being able to tighten your shellplate enough before you get too much drag when indexing is a burr on the inside of the indexing star where the flange of the bolt rides. You can take some fine sand paper and the correct sized socket and turn it around until this inside surface of the star is smooth, also a little slide glide or similar grease will also make the index star smoother and allow you to tighten the shellplate enough to eliminate looseness. Another thing that can cause you to need to leave the sheel plate too loose is if the ram support plate (the flat plate the shell plate rides on), has a burr somewhere. Again, this can cause you to have to leave the shell plate too loose, allowing some wobble in the case.

The above are the only things I can think of that can cause this problem. If you have tried all of the above, then a call to Brian Enos or Dillon is next. Maybe you got a mismarked belling die, shellplate or locator buttons.

Good luck, have fun.

[Trash]

Check to see if you have the correct size locating pins in place. The wrong size pin will allow the case to get off center and get crushed.

[bruce381]

look for gunk or old walnut shell stuck in the shellplate "grove' where the case slides into sometimes I have a similar problem on station 1 on a 650. When i take a dental pick and clean out the case rim grove the problem goes away.