| Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 02:11 AM |
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hardpressed
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just picked up my set of form a buddys dad :
dillon 550 pregressive press with 2 toolhead one set up with 9mm and one set up with 38sp/.357
tumbuler ,scale, a hole bunch of 38 brass and lead
picked up ever thing for 250 (good price?)
i dont have ether of the calbers because i just turn 21 and waiting for my permits to come threw (ya i no i love nj too )
hear are my questions
do i have to use dillon dyes or can i get othere brands ?
is the 550 good for rifle rounds ? aka .223 .308 30-06 7.62x54?
when cleaning brass how long do u leave the tumbeler on for ?
thanks in advance
sean
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| Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 02:24 AM |
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2nd Post |
fryboy
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if a 550b scroll down thru this page
http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/23594/catid/1/RL_550B
yes it will do rifle and pistol rounds both, the above page has a lil bit of info to help u with
the tumbler depends upon which brand ...
as for tumbling... that depends on ur cases and the media and whether or not u use a additive ,walnut hull with an additive usually does a decent job in a hour or two ,myself i tumble for about a hour with plain walnut then deprime, size trim or what not then polish with corncob with a additive ( that runs about 1-2 hours)and perhaps i'm a lil anal but then i like to give them a quickie 30 minute final finish in plain corncob to get any additive left on off ,usually the main thing is to get any dirt etc off before i stick them in my dies , the polish afterwards is personal preference
as to a good deal ....how much brass and lead ? lolz it doesnt matter it was a great deal ( unless the machine is broke or something and dillon has this way cool no bs warranty )
oh i almost forgot ( it's on that dillon page too btw ) but yes it can and does use standard dies
ur off to a great start amigo ! ( and alot of folks never had it so good ! )
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| Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 02:28 AM |
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Charley
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You got a pretty good deal, assumng everything is operable. Other dies will work fine, but you may need to be creative in your adjustments. You don't mention primerfeeds, did it come with the small feed (for 9x19, .38/.357) or does it have both?
The 550 can handle rifle cartridges easily.
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| Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 02:31 AM |
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hardpressed
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it all works fine came with bothe priming sizes too !
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| Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 05:00 AM |
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miestro_jerry
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Hardpressed,
I was going to say call Dillon, they CSRs are all people who have worked on the line and can talk most people thru any problems.
Plus you 550 is still under their no BS warranty.
Keep on loading,
Jerry
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| Posted: Tue Oct 20th, 2009 11:53 PM |
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kansas45
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Good deal?
HECK YEAH! 
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| Posted: Wed Oct 21st, 2009 01:55 AM |
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lynxpilot
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Make sure you get a manual to know the machine. Get a loading manual too (Lyman, Speer, whatever) and stay below maximum loads for powder used. Get a good generic book like "ABC's of Reloading" so you can find out all of the potential dangers of reloading in general. Ask questions and don't assume you know what you're doing.
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| Posted: Wed Oct 21st, 2009 02:13 AM |
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choppersdad
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lynxpilot wrote: Make sure you get a manual to know the machine. Get a loading manual too (Lyman, Speer, whatever) and stay below maximum loads for powder used. Get a good generic book like "ABC's of Reloading" so you can find out all of the potential dangers of reloading in general. Ask questions and don't assume you know what you're doing.
That manual can be downloaded from Dillon's web site and or they will send you one with a call to them. Dillon has absolutely the best, no bull warranty that I've ever experienced. I asked one of tech reps on the phone one day "How can you guys afford to warranty your stuff even to second or third owners"?
He said..."How can we afford not to"?
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| Posted: Sun Oct 25th, 2009 03:38 PM |
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GaCop
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Gotta love Dillon. I've been loading on my 550 since1989. It has never needed any parts replacement.
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Tom
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ragsflh
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good deal great machine.have one.i use rcbs dies in mine
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frankmako
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good deal. i got one in 1985 and it has been a hard worker for me. go to the dillon web site to get the instructions on how to set it up and see what parts you might need.
yes you can use any die brand in the 550. i don't have any dillon dies, but i heard they are well made. i use just about ever other brand made . some that were made back in the 70's with no problems. i even mix brands in some of my die heads. just think of the 550 as a single stage press when seting up each station.
i only reload pistol rounds in my 550. you can do rifle, but i don't. i do my rifle reloading on two single stage presses and a lee hand primer.
for cleaning brass i throw them in and let it rip. sometimes they go all night. sometime 1/2 day. i don't have a set time.
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OldStuffer
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hardpressed wrote: just picked up my set of form a buddys dad :
dillon 550 pregressive press with 2 toolhead one set up with 9mm and one set up with 38sp/.357
tumbuler ,scale, a hole bunch of 38 brass and lead
picked up ever thing for 250 (good price?)
i dont have ether of the calbers because i just turn 21 and waiting for my permits to come threw (ya i no i love nj too )
hear are my questions
do i have to use dillon dyes or can i get othere brands ?
is the 550 good for rifle rounds ? aka .223 .308 30-06 7.62x54?
when cleaning brass how long do u leave the tumbeler on for ?
thanks in advance
sean
Pretty much everything has been well covered.
You can NEVER have too much loading data, downloadable from all the powder maker's websites, as well as hard-paper available.
The great books like Lyman's, Lees, Hornady's, Handloader's Digest, Nosler, Sierra, and others, walk you through the whole process, with lots of "hows and whys" so you understand what all you are doing, and why, and how it can, and can be prevented, from going wrong.
Keep in mind cleaning media gets dirty, and cleans slower and slower the more it is used, it does work a long time tho.
I use the softer treated corncob media to clean with, the hard walnut shell stuff, treated with Rouge, for polishing.
To clean my pistol cases for reloading, I usually have acceptable results in 3 hours, overnights just works them to a satin sort-of finish shine.
I rarely polish any of my pistol brass. An overnight with good polishing media (the treated walnut) will put one really gorqeous shine on cases. cases slated for that do get perhaps an overnight in the cleaner, to make sure they are as clean as possible.
Dirty cases can scar dies, so do clean first.
Some people de-prime before cleaning, I don't, at least not my pistol ammo.
If you DO, make sure to check every primer flash hole in the cases, some WILL be blocked by a bit or 2 of media, I guarantee it, it just happens. Guaranteed mis-fire. No big deal, just a check/inspection item.
You can probably run those handgun sizes together if you wish without them "nesting" inside one another ( a real pain in the rear if a 9mm or .40S&W case, or 10, get in with my .45acp brass).
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rdm1962
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I use my 550 to reload 223 for my AR and 30-06 for my M-1. You will need a magnum powder charge bar for the powder measure, if you are going to do larger cases. I will resize on a single stage. I then tumble the brass and complete the process on the 550.
As far as the tumbler goes, I use treated corn cobb. I run them for about an hour, resize and then run until they shine. I have forgotten that I had the tumbler running and it ran overnight. I couldn't see any damage in them after running for more than 12 hours. Now that brass was clean.
Ralph
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Irish Bird Dog
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Only note about dies you should be aware of is that Older LEE dies are almost too short for the Dillon 550B die head, I think older is B4 1985 (maybe)....but they do work......newer LEE dies are threaded a bit longer and work fine. I use several brands of dies (that I have had for years) in mine cuz Dillon dies are pretty pricey. I even use LEE powder measures on my Dillon 550B but the better model of the 2 offered.......they just hold less powder......I mostly load pistol rounds on mine but I have one set up for .223 cuz it has the small primer arm installed always and that works fine too......just gotta get some spray lube on the brass cases so they don't stick in the sizing die.....I use the Hornady lube in red can.
I use a vibrating case cleaner (Midway brand) vs a rotating tumbler for case cleaning......same advice otherwise as advice from previous posts for cleaning media etc. somtimes a case cleaner can be added to polish the brass if you like it so......
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