Dillon RT1500 issues?

Dirt Nap · Dec 14, 2024

Purchased a rt1500 to eventually trim about 30k of LC military 5.56 brass. I have a giraud but thought this would be quite a bit quicker. I’ll be reloading on my rl1100 but planning to do the case prep on my xl650.
Anyways, set it up properly and all the brass comes out really rough and not consistent. Switched the blade around and same problem. I live 20min from Dillon so I stopped by a few times and had them check it out. They said everything looks good and gave me a new blade. Tried it again and everything was still a rough cut. Finally took it in today and set it up in front of them. The only way to get a clean, square cut was to run it through the trimmer twice. After the second time, everything looks great. Dillon didn’t have a solution.
Are the stock blades too weak? Seems strange that guys use these for 300blk conversion but I can’t take a few thousandths off of 5.56 brass.

vh20 · Dec 14, 2024

Are those steel cases??

Dirt Nap · Dec 14, 2024

vh20 said:
Are those steel cases??

No, they are brass LC. Just bad lighting

6.5SH · Dec 14, 2024

Some of that looks like what happens when it does the "bird nesting" thing. The manifold is kind of a shitty design.
I know there is a post or three here about modifying them to improve airflow.

If you have a 3D printer you can make an improved one:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4801414

Someone on eBay sells them as well:

Dillon RT 1200 RT 1500 Trimmer Manifold | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Dillon RT 1200 RT 1500 Trimmer Manifold at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

vh20 · Dec 14, 2024

Dirt Nap said:
No, they are brass LC. Just bad lighting

Did you edit the lighting in the OP photo? Before, I swear they were nearly black, and the trimmed area was bright silver. (I did see the part in the OP that stated "LC brass", but the photo sure didn't look like it, so that's why I asked). Anyway, they look more like brass now.

Threadcutter308 · Dec 14, 2024

I have and use a Bosch router with a 1/2" collet in it. I am not familiar with the Dillon (or it's cutter).

I use a 1/2" four flute carbide end mill in mine and the results are great. Could you run the same 1/2" carbide end mill in your Dillon ?

99mpower · Dec 14, 2024

Threadcutter308 said:
I have and use a Bosch router with a 1/2" collet in it. I am not familiar with the Dillon (or it's cutter).

I use a 1/2" four flute carbide end mill in mine and the results are great. Could you run the same 1/2" carbide end mill in your Dillon ?

no.. RT1500 the shaft it fixed.. all you can do is switch blades

padom · Dec 14, 2024

I've been using my RT1500 for many many years. I've trimmed 100s of thousands of LC 5.56 and I've converted 10s of thousands of LC5.56 to 300blk.

Few things.. I replaced the Dillon cutting blade on mine many many years ago with a carbide cutting blade. Much nicer cut.

If you google there are a few places selling them. It's been so many years I don't remember where I bought mine.

Improved Carbide Turning Insert for RT1500 [IA15BLADES] - $30.00 : Immortobot, Come Get Loaded

Immortobot Improved Carbide Turning Insert for RT1500 [IA15BLADES] - These are replacement blades for the Dillon RT1500 case trimmer. The blades are tungsten carbide (Grade C3/C4). They are PVD coated with TiB2. The TiB2 coating is harder than TiN and TiAlN coatings and has an extremely smooth...

immortobot.com

Dillon Carbide Replacement Cutting Blade for Rapid Trim 1200 and 1500

ballistictools.com

Now, if you are used to trimming brass with a device or machine that cuts/chamfers/deburs.. then your going to be disappointed because the RT1500 ONLY cuts. You'll need to chamfer/debur in a additional op or...

I've tested and played with different steps to not have to handle 5.56 brass again that's been trimmed with my RT1500...

I run 2 toolheads for every caliber. Brass prep toolhead and loading toolhead..

My 5.56 brass prep Dillon 1050 toolhead is setup with a Decapper in 2, hold down die over swage station in 3.. then MA Gold FL sizing die (no expander ball) in 4 that sizes brass 95% of the way, then rt1500 FL size/trim die in 5 thst finishes sizing to 100% and trims to length, then 21st Century TiN mandrel in 7 thst opens case mouth back up to final neck tension and knocks some bur off then M die in 8 that knocks almost resst of bur off and slightly flares mouth.

I then SS wet tumble with the SS chips, not the pins after running a batch of 5.56 brass through my 1050 dedicated brass prep toolhead..

The chips make the tumbling time much shorter and the case mouths look WAY better after. It knocks off or rounds off any remaining bur.

This process is strictly for 5.56 brass processing to be loaded in large qty on my automated 1050 to pump out 5.56 55 fmj or 62gr SS109...

This process was tested and perfected to produce case mouths that didnt cause bullets to fall off when dropped from Mr.Bulletfeeder on my loading toolhead and not to scrape copper from bullets when being seated.

I no longer have those problems with the above process.

My precision rounds get trimmed on my Henderson....

Hope this helps.

padom · Dec 14, 2024

Also, to elaborate more about running 2 sizing dies.

If you run a FL sizing die set to bump shoulder all or 90-95% of your final bump in a step BEFORE the RT1500 size/trim die you:

a) cases go into the trim die much easier/smoother

b) you get much more consistent trim length from case to case because it's not fighting to get up into that size/trim die..

My cases are all dead on in length from case to case with this process.

I also ALWAYS run the mandrel AFTER the RT1500 because that damn size/trim die is machined to give WAYYYY too much neck tension. I understand why because it's meant to work with all different brands of brass but it's way too much. Mandrel also pushes inconsistency to the outside and rounds out any dings/dents in the mouth giving you WAY more concentric necks.

See for yourself with your LC. Measure a fired LC case neck.. then size/trim that case in your size/trim die and measure neck again, then seat a bullet and measure your neck again

99mpower · Dec 14, 2024

as another note... the trim die is meant to size, to hold the brass from spinning. Ive never run a size die before, but interesting concept. I need the trim die to hold the brass snug to cut properly.. maybe something to try. also i cement mixer tumble brass after processing. This "cleans up, deburrs" all the necks, so i dont have to worry about chamfer/deburr. If Im trimming for precision, thats happening on a giruard or henderson anyways, so dont need to worry about it

Dirt Nap · Dec 14, 2024

vh20 said:
Did you edit the lighting in the OP photo? Before, I swear they were nearly black, and the trimmed area was bright silver. (I did see the part in the OP that stated "LC brass", but the photo sure didn't look like it, so that's why I asked). Anyway, they look more like brass now.

Yes I did! It was a crap pic.

Dirt Nap · Dec 14, 2024

So I started almost double stroking it (that’s what she said) and everything is perfect now. When I drop the handle, it sizes and cuts, I raise it a few inches and drop the handle again. All the brass comes out perfectly cut.

That tells me it’s a Dillon blade issue, correct?

Maybe try another aftermarket blade?

padom · Dec 14, 2024

99mpower said:
as another note... the trim die is meant to size, to hold the brass from spinning. Ive never run a size die before, but interesting concept. I need the trim die to hold the brass snug to cut properly.. maybe something to try. also i cement mixer tumble brass after processing. This "cleans up, deburrs" all the necks, so i dont have to worry about chamfer/deburr. If Im trimming for precision, thats happening on a giruard or henderson anyways, so dont need to worry about it

The Dillon size/trim die squeezes the neck down so excessively compared to other FL sizing dies that case is snug and not spinning at all.

My case trim length is consistent from case to case.

RegionRat · Dec 14, 2024

Dirt Nap said:
... so I stopped by a few times and had them check it out. They said everything looks good and gave me a new blade. Tried it again and everything was still a rough cut. Finally took it in today and set it up in front of them. The only way to get a clean, square cut was to run it through the trimmer twice. After the second time, everything looks great. Dillon didn’t have a solution.

Not the usual outcome from Dillon.

The power trim units are very popular and this result isn't normal at all. It would take a lot to dull a new tool. Having one bad right from the start is possible, but swapping to a good tool would cure this instantly.

Add to the results with the idea that they didn't just swap out all of your stuff and demonstrate good results is a little surprising.

Even if the folks on hand didn't know how to debug, swapping out the whole mess would have been easy enough and since they have many machines set up and running so it should have been easy to demonstrate your toolhead running successfully on one of their machines.

Do you feel any endplay on your trimmer shaft when cold, when warmed up? Are you giving the case enough time to be cut at the top of the stroke? I assume we have the correct die and the case is in fact being held properly?

When in their shop, did their units sound the same as yours? If your motor rotor was spinning the wrong speed or there was something defective about the shaft it should sound different. A dull blade or defective motor will usually sound wrong in terms of the "note" and vibration it makes compared to a healthy one.

If a press were stroked to the top and held, even the time it takes for the cutting load to drop as the work is done has a normal sound that contrasts to an abnormal one. This takes an experienced technician/operator to spot it, but it isn't difficult to demonstrate.

If the cutting bit tool holder on your trimmer is defective and it holds the cutting bit wrong, an experienced tech should spot it and hand you a new one.

Aside from the idea that even the good result is a square cut that doesn't have a chamfer, like many other folks here I have run enough volume on their machines for many years to say you must have had a defect in parts, set-up, or your press operation speed was way off.

It sounds like you are a warranty case and would have to press the issue with someone else at Dillon unless you uncover something on your own.

Dirt Nap · Dec 14, 2024

RegionRat said:
Not the usual outcome from Dillon.

The power trim units are very popular and this result isn't normal at all. It would take a lot to dull a new tool. Having one bad right from the start is possible, but swapping to a good tool would cure this instantly.

Add to the results with the idea that they didn't just swap out all of your stuff and demonstrate good results is a little surprising.

Even if the folks on hand didn't know how to debug, swapping out the whole mess would have been easy enough and since they have many machines set up and running so it should have been easy to demonstrate your toolhead running successfully on one of their machines.

Do you feel any endplay on your trimmer shaft when cold, when warmed up? Are you giving the case enough time to be cut at the top of the stroke? I assume we have the correct die and the case is in fact being held properly?

When in their shop, did their units sound the same as yours? If your motor rotor was spinning the wrong speed or there was something defective about the shaft it should sound different. A dull blade or defective motor will usually sound wrong in terms of the "note" and vibration it makes compared to a healthy one.

If a press were stroked to the top and held, even the time it takes for the cutting load to drop as the work is done has a normal sound that contrasts to an abnormal one. This takes an experienced technician/operator to spot it, but it isn't difficult to demonstrate.

If the cutting bit tool holder on your trimmer is defective and it holds the cutting bit wrong, an experienced tech should spot it and hand you a new one.

Aside from the idea that even the good result is a square cut that doesn't have a chamfer, like many other folks here I have run enough volume on their machines for many years to say you must have had a defect in parts, set-up, or your press operation speed was way off.

It sounds like you are a warranty case and would have to press the issue with someone else at Dillon unless you uncover something on your own.

Yeah, they gave me a new die on Friday and asked me to try that. They did check it and said everything sounded good and was rotating the proper way.

I’ve tried holding it longer at the top, slower at the top, everything. Still comes out super rough and inconsistent.

Brass comes out perfect when I run it through the trimmer twice. Most of my brass is in the 1.765+ range. I have it set for 1.750. When I run it twice, it all comes out at 1.750.

I found a few pieces in the 1.755 range and when I trimmed it, I only had to do it once and I came out better

padom · Dec 15, 2024

Dirt Nap said:
Yeah, they gave me a new die on Friday and asked me to try that. They did check it and said everything sounded good and was rotating the proper way.

I’ve tried holding it longer at the top, slower at the top, everything. Still comes out super rough and inconsistent.

Brass comes out perfect when I run it through the trimmer twice. Most of my brass is in the 1.765+ range. I have it set for 1.750. When I run it twice, it all comes out at 1.750.

I found a few pieces in the 1.755 range and when I trimmed it, I only had to do it once and I came out better

What is your chip extraction setup? Shop vac of some sort on the chip extraction hose adapter with lots of suction?

Sounds like the birds nest issue and your not getting it cleared and this double stroke/cut you speak of is helping clear out debris...

PatMiles · Dec 15, 2024

Return it to Dillon and use your Giraud...problem solved.

padom · Dec 15, 2024

PatMiles said:
Return it to Dillon and buy a Giraud...problem solved.

Lolol. Did you even read the OP??

He has a Giraud.. he's looking to process 30k LC 5.56 on a Dillon. Has nothing to do with a Giraud...

Dirt Nap · Dec 15, 2024

padom said:
What is your chip extraction setup? Shop vac of some sort on the chip extraction hose adapter with lots of suction?

Sounds like the birds nest issue and your not getting it cleared and this double stroke/cut you speak of is helping clear out debris...

Yeah I have a powerful shop vac attachment. Haven’t had issues with the birds nest. This happens on the first case of 5.56

PatMiles · Dec 15, 2024

PatMiles said:
Return it to Dillon and use your Giraud...problem solved.

padom said:
Lolol. Did you even read the OP??

He has a Giraud.. he's looking to process 30k LC 5.56 on a Dillon. Has nothing to do with a Giraud...

Fixed it for ya!

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