Wow! I got my Dillon 650 set up on Sunday and the headaches began shortly thereafter! Those who seemed like naysayers in my thread about finding powder were SPOT ON! I was definitely in over my head. Erroneously, I thought that this press would be a machine and it will work the same way every time you pull the handle with the only difficulty being carefully measuring your components. I was WRONG! I happen to be the type who will obsess, research, and analyze something until I get it right though. I think I finally have a working setup after more than 20 hours invested.
I carefully followed the instructions and checked and rechecked at every step. Initially I had NO issues with establishing a proper crimp and maintaining a consistent oal. I plunk tested 5 different dummy rounds. Powder charge was easy enough and some playing with the primer feeder showed it to be easy enough. The case feeder worked like a charm and the powder check station setup was easy. So far so good. I decided to try cycling the press and loading some rounds. That’s where it fell apart. Problem list: cases jamming at the top of the case feed assembly funnel, cases not feeding down into the casefeed arm, cases hanging up and jamming in the station 1 locator, cases not fully seated into station 1 and smashing, primers flipping in the pickup tube and getting stuck, primers loading improperly, primers incomplete seating, gradual oal variances, crimp die shifting and creating case bulges. I destroyed about 20 cases over the last few days and have about 20 cartridges I need to bullet pull.
I actually took to operating the press essentially completely manually, not using the case feed and placing a case by hand in station 1, taking out the cartridge and placing a primer under the cartridge in 2, visually watching every step and checking powder weights on every round, oal and crimp on EVERY round. One by one, starting at the case feed, I tackled the issues. Most were easy. I spent about 10 hours on this.
The casefeed issue is one of two that I have not fully figured out. The tube was slightly misaligned and angling the cases enough that they were hanging up. I had to adjust the cam to cycle the arm back farther. Problems persisted with the case feed though. Only last night was it working properly and I think it might have simply been the tube not being perfectly vertical to allow the cases to drop and sit flush on the station 1 locator..? the station 1 locator seems awfully loose, but I couldn’t figure out how to tighten it despite reviewing the manual and taking that assembly entirely apart.
The primer issues seem to mostly be caused by the primer pickup tubes allowing primers to spin and flip over. This seems to be minimized by fully loading the primer pickup tubes, so that the primers hold each other in check. I had one improperly seated primer yesterday in 200 rounds. I don’t know what else to do?
When I was manually operating the press and diagnosing, correcting issues… I loaded about 175 rounds of loads using Hornady new brass, WLP primers, Titegroup, and Sierra TM 230 grain FMJ RN. I checked and triple checked EVERY damn step. It took forever! I loaded a spectrum of charges and OALSs. I loaded at 1.255 OAL with both 4.5 and 4.7 grains of powder and then loaded at 1.65 OAL with 4.5 and 4.7 grains again. Sierras manual listed the oal as 1.270, but Wilson recommends 1.250-1.260 for feeding. Sierras manual also lists the max load as 5.2 grains of TG and I think 4.4 was the beginning load. I just picked 4.5 and 4.7 thinking either should be safe. I put calipers on EVERY one of the cartridges, plunk tested them in my 1911 and used a case gauge. I was pretty confident.
I took them to the range yesterday. My intent was to try all of them in my HK 45 and then, if things seemed safe enough, my 1911. I began by shooting American Eagle 230 FMJ for comparison. Again, I had 4 different cartridges, 2 lengths and 2 charges. I had ZERO problems feeding or firing any of the loads in my HK 45t. I had no problems firing either length in my 1911 at the 4.5 TG charge. BUT, my Shok Buff got shredded by the 4.7 grain loads, after about 6 rounds, and began causing failures to return to battery. It was not a new shock buff, so it may have been on it’s last leg. I did not disassemble and get the 1911 going again, as I don’t want to shoot anymore of the 4.7 grain out of it until I have chrono data. I am now questioning if the shok buff sacrifices reliability for decreased wear on the firearm..?
My shooting observations were interesting. The 4.5 loads seemed softer in recoil than the American Eagle as one might expect, but I preferred the 4.7 out of the HK. They were snappier in recoil and I felt like the gun just rocked back on target faster than with the factory ammo or the 4.5 grain reloads. I also shot better groups with the 4.7 loads than the AM Eagle. That being said, I am not shooting any more of the 4.7 out of my 1911 until I can be sure what it is doing.
I left the range and headed home to my press. I set it up to run a batch of Sierra TM 230 grain FMJ RN, Starline new brass, WLP primers, 1.255 OAL, .469 crimp, 4.5 grains TG. I was then able to get the whole press running the way it should after quadruple checking powder throws. EVERYTHING was in sync and I was able to carefully load 150 rounds in about 15 minutes. I decided to pick up the pace a little and see what I could do. I loaded another 50 rounds in about 5 minutes. NO PROBLEMS. Everything seemed consistent. I checked OAL and used the case gauge. All good with the exception of 1 twisted primer. It was miraculous once it was finally operating per my expectations. In the long run, it will be worth it, but in the short run, for the time and the money, I could have done a lot more shooting of factory ammunition instead.
Shwew. So, if you read all of this, I was hoping you may have tips or ideas to help. If nothing else, I thought one might enjoy reading about a guy who y underestimated how difficult reloading can be. Thanks.
I carefully followed the instructions and checked and rechecked at every step. Initially I had NO issues with establishing a proper crimp and maintaining a consistent oal. I plunk tested 5 different dummy rounds. Powder charge was easy enough and some playing with the primer feeder showed it to be easy enough. The case feeder worked like a charm and the powder check station setup was easy. So far so good. I decided to try cycling the press and loading some rounds. That’s where it fell apart. Problem list: cases jamming at the top of the case feed assembly funnel, cases not feeding down into the casefeed arm, cases hanging up and jamming in the station 1 locator, cases not fully seated into station 1 and smashing, primers flipping in the pickup tube and getting stuck, primers loading improperly, primers incomplete seating, gradual oal variances, crimp die shifting and creating case bulges. I destroyed about 20 cases over the last few days and have about 20 cartridges I need to bullet pull.
I actually took to operating the press essentially completely manually, not using the case feed and placing a case by hand in station 1, taking out the cartridge and placing a primer under the cartridge in 2, visually watching every step and checking powder weights on every round, oal and crimp on EVERY round. One by one, starting at the case feed, I tackled the issues. Most were easy. I spent about 10 hours on this.
The casefeed issue is one of two that I have not fully figured out. The tube was slightly misaligned and angling the cases enough that they were hanging up. I had to adjust the cam to cycle the arm back farther. Problems persisted with the case feed though. Only last night was it working properly and I think it might have simply been the tube not being perfectly vertical to allow the cases to drop and sit flush on the station 1 locator..? the station 1 locator seems awfully loose, but I couldn’t figure out how to tighten it despite reviewing the manual and taking that assembly entirely apart.
The primer issues seem to mostly be caused by the primer pickup tubes allowing primers to spin and flip over. This seems to be minimized by fully loading the primer pickup tubes, so that the primers hold each other in check. I had one improperly seated primer yesterday in 200 rounds. I don’t know what else to do?
When I was manually operating the press and diagnosing, correcting issues… I loaded about 175 rounds of loads using Hornady new brass, WLP primers, Titegroup, and Sierra TM 230 grain FMJ RN. I checked and triple checked EVERY damn step. It took forever! I loaded a spectrum of charges and OALSs. I loaded at 1.255 OAL with both 4.5 and 4.7 grains of powder and then loaded at 1.65 OAL with 4.5 and 4.7 grains again. Sierras manual listed the oal as 1.270, but Wilson recommends 1.250-1.260 for feeding. Sierras manual also lists the max load as 5.2 grains of TG and I think 4.4 was the beginning load. I just picked 4.5 and 4.7 thinking either should be safe. I put calipers on EVERY one of the cartridges, plunk tested them in my 1911 and used a case gauge. I was pretty confident.
I took them to the range yesterday. My intent was to try all of them in my HK 45 and then, if things seemed safe enough, my 1911. I began by shooting American Eagle 230 FMJ for comparison. Again, I had 4 different cartridges, 2 lengths and 2 charges. I had ZERO problems feeding or firing any of the loads in my HK 45t. I had no problems firing either length in my 1911 at the 4.5 TG charge. BUT, my Shok Buff got shredded by the 4.7 grain loads, after about 6 rounds, and began causing failures to return to battery. It was not a new shock buff, so it may have been on it’s last leg. I did not disassemble and get the 1911 going again, as I don’t want to shoot anymore of the 4.7 grain out of it until I have chrono data. I am now questioning if the shok buff sacrifices reliability for decreased wear on the firearm..?
My shooting observations were interesting. The 4.5 loads seemed softer in recoil than the American Eagle as one might expect, but I preferred the 4.7 out of the HK. They were snappier in recoil and I felt like the gun just rocked back on target faster than with the factory ammo or the 4.5 grain reloads. I also shot better groups with the 4.7 loads than the AM Eagle. That being said, I am not shooting any more of the 4.7 out of my 1911 until I can be sure what it is doing.
I left the range and headed home to my press. I set it up to run a batch of Sierra TM 230 grain FMJ RN, Starline new brass, WLP primers, 1.255 OAL, .469 crimp, 4.5 grains TG. I was then able to get the whole press running the way it should after quadruple checking powder throws. EVERYTHING was in sync and I was able to carefully load 150 rounds in about 15 minutes. I decided to pick up the pace a little and see what I could do. I loaded another 50 rounds in about 5 minutes. NO PROBLEMS. Everything seemed consistent. I checked OAL and used the case gauge. All good with the exception of 1 twisted primer. It was miraculous once it was finally operating per my expectations. In the long run, it will be worth it, but in the short run, for the time and the money, I could have done a lot more shooting of factory ammunition instead.
Shwew. So, if you read all of this, I was hoping you may have tips or ideas to help. If nothing else, I thought one might enjoy reading about a guy who y underestimated how difficult reloading can be. Thanks.