Loading issues.

[Blue]

Attempting to load 223 on my Dillon 550 is driving me nuts. I've loaded a few thousand 45acp's with very little problems. Loading 223 is a different story. I'm getting different powder charges, and there's gun powder on my shell plate. I can't see it leaking but it has to be sprinkling out when I lower the ram. I've measured out about 20 loads tonite, and it's within .4 grains of eachother. I'm getting different seating depths too, from 2.43-2.52 on 12 cartridges. Everything is tight. I'm using LC brass, AA2230 and Montana Gold projectiles.WTF am I doing wrong?

[draconianruler]

I've found the Dillon powder bar to not be accurate when loading .308 with IMR4895. I don't use the Dillion powder dispenser (removed) and now dispense and measure seperately and just use a funnel to drop the charge in.

Not sure why you are getting different seating depths. Do you have all stations full? The shell holder may shift if only working on 1 station at a time. Just a thought

[anyracoon]

I have not had that problem on my 550 but did on the 650. Polish the inside of your powder measure and wipe it down with a dryer static sheet. Also you can trim a quarter turn of the spring that holds the ball detent under the shell plate. That will take some of the snap out of the shell plate as it turns.

[Jicko]

Powder came out when you move your filled case from 2nd to 3rd station (from powder to seating).... so, put a bullet right after you lowered the ram and before you move it from 2 to 3.

And YES, with Dillon's you WILL get variable powder dispense,and variable seating depth...

Dillon's is OK for plinking rounds, it is NOT for serious precision loads.

That's just the way it is.... I worked VERY hard in researching and trying to fix that for at least a year... and I finally gave up...

[CSACANNONEER]

Powder came out when you move your filled case from 2nd to 3rd station (from powder to seating).... so, put a bullet right after you lowered the ram and before you move it from 2 to 3.

And YES, with Dillon's you WILL get variable powder dispense,and variable seating depth...

Dillon's is OK for plinking rounds, it is NOT for serious precision loads.

That's just the way it is.... I worked VERY hard in researching and trying to fix that for at least a year... and I finally gave up...

I've got some pretty good results with .223 plinking rounds from my 550. But, I agree, if you want match grade ammo, you should be using a single stage press.

[Blue]

I've got some pretty good results with .223 plinking rounds from my 550. But, I agree, if you want match grade ammo, you should be using a single stage press.

So is the difference safe? The different powder charges and seat depth trip me out.

[Gwenzilla]

...and seat depth trip me out.

Cases all trimmed to same length, right? If so.... very mysterious

[ar15barrels]

The powder on the shellplate is from indexing too fast and spilling it out of the case.
The variations in charge are mostly your technique.
The seating depth differences have to do with the actual bullets not all being the same length when measured from the ogive to the tip.

The Army Marksmanship Unit loads all it's ammo on Dillons.
If it's good enough for those guys shooting at Camp Perry, it's good enough for me.

[CSACANNONEER]

So is the difference safe? The different powder charges and seat depth trip me out.

I guess it depends on your loads. I've only loaded .223 with 2230C and IIRC, I didn't have issues with leaking powder. Try Randall's suggestion and go a little slower.

[Fjold]

Did you replace the 45 caliber powder through die (on the bottom of your powder dispenser) with a 22 caliber one?

[Blue]

Did you replace the 45 caliber powder through die (on the bottom of your powder dispenser) with a 22 caliber one?

Yep, whole different tool head and powder dispenser. I don't get how a slightly longer/shorter projectile will change the OAL, the space between the shell plate and die doesn't change

[jandmtv]

Yep, whole different tool head and powder dispenser. I don't get how a slightly longer/shorter projectile will change the OAL, the space between the shell plate and die doesn't change

belive it or not, it does. i measured 10 rounds that i loaded on my single stage press, and 10 on my dillon 650, all 20 rounds were different oal. but the variations were not a big deal, they ranged from 2.254" to 2.260"

[Jicko]

The powder on the shellplate is from indexing too fast and spilling it out of the case.
The variations in charge are mostly your technique.
The seating depth differences have to do with the actual bullets not all being the same length when measured from the ogive to the tip.

The Army Marksmanship Unit loads all it's ammo on Dillons.
If it's good enough for those guys shooting at Camp Perry, it's good enough for me.

Good for the AMU, too bad they don't have an instruction manual online that I can learn from them.... :-(

I would LOVED to load my precision ammo on my 550, but no matter how hard I worked on it, it just doesn't work....

I need a recipe, and a procedure..... too bad I don't have either one... :-(

Randall, if you have them, please school me, I am all ears... I had worked and researched very hard on this one.... before I gave up...

[ar15barrels]

Yep, whole different tool head and powder dispenser. I don't get how a slightly longer/shorter projectile will change the OAL, the space between the shell plate and die doesn't change

Think about how the bullet gets seated into the case.
The bullet seating stem contacts the bullet on the ogive.
The variation in bullet lengths is almost always at the tip of the bullet where the hollowpoint or softpoint is formed.
The distance between the seating stem and the press IS the same every time, therefore, the distance between the ogive and the base of the loaded cartridge should also be the same.
Where you will see more variation is in the OAL.
OAL consistency does not get you accuracy.
Accuracy comes from ogive to throat consistency.
The throat is part of the barrel so it's safe to say that the throat is always supposed to be the same distance from the boltface.

Therefore, what you want is a consistent length from the ogive to the cartridge's base across your whole batch of ammo.
Quit measuring OAL and get yourself a proper comparator to measure to ogives.

[ar15barrels]

Randall, if you have them, please school me, I am all ears... I had worked and researched very hard on this one.... before I gave up...

It's all in the powder charge consistency right?
Pick a powder that measures consistently.
Set the first 5-10 rounds aside from each time you start a loading session.
These will not be as consistent because the powder settles in the measure with time/vibration.
Don't have anything else running on your bench that will cause powder settling while you are loading.
Work on your consistency of charging by just throwing a bunch of charges and weighing them.
Try different methods like double bumping the press handle to settle the powder in the measure each time.
Try different measures.
Keep doing this work until you get your charge variations down as low as possible.