Looking for feedback from Dillon owners (esp if you load precision rifle)

[Franko]

When I got into reloading earlier this year I purchased a single stage because I thought it would meet my needs and I was unsure of jumping directly into using a progressive. I am now on track to load 4K+ precision rifle rounds a year and want to make the jump to a Dillon 550C because I'd rather be shooting than reloading.

I am looking for advice from you all on what extras I should be purchasing to make the press produce better ammunition and be easier to use (essentially those extras that you wish you would have purchased in the beginning when you got your Dillon).

I expect to purchase the press along with the extras Dillon suggests on their website. I also will be purchasing a few Whidden floating tool heads. So what else should I be purchasing?

Thank you.

 

[diablodawg]

-Multiple auto tricklers- I use RCBS x2.
-Area 419 makes a good funnel.
-Good lighting system to make sure everything is going as it should.
You may think about the 650 vice 550 since the 550 cannot feed rifle brass. It would be much less handling for a bit more money.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I just converted back over after the advice of @padom and @Sixfivesavage from them loading on Dillons.

I had issues before and I think it was from the Whidden toolheads. I went with the Uniquetek clamped heads this time around based on recommendations which are Whidden floating heads that they install their clamp kits on. No issues with runout or seating consistency or runout like I had before that made me stick to single stage. I'm a happy camper.

I'm running the 650 because I like the auto index and I can still to single stage stuff on it just fine if I need to, I actually do that for load development. I'm running the original toolhead with the mighty armory decapping die to deprime all my brass before SS tumbling and then I have two toolhead per caliber for loading. One toolhead has a sizer with no expander in station 1 then station 4 has a sinclair expander. After that it's trimmed on a Giraud and goes back into the tumbler for another 5 minutes to remove the lube. Toolhead #2 has a sinclair mandrel on station 1 that I only use for new brass, AT500 powder die on 3 and seater on 4.

Some use one toolhead and do it all but my OCD is too bad too do all that. Definitely get yourself a AT500 powder die per caliber to speed up change time since those do take a few minutes to set up. Also if you load a lot of stuff thats the same size you can save yourself a lot of money by just buying the powder funnels only and not the entire conversion kit. If you load 308, 6.5x47, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6 Creedmoor, and so forth they use the same stuff except the funnels so you don't need to buy full conversions for each one.

Definitely get the roller handle, I like the inline fab over the Dillon but its preference. I'd also highly recommend inline fabs mount too and their lighting system. They also make a really nice wall mount rail system to organize stuff and they have the toolhead holders for it. The Area 419 funnel and adaptor is also the way to go there too.

 

[SnkBit]

Get yourself a JDS Quick-Measure with their progressive adapter. It’s the best addition I’ve made to my 550 for precision rifle loads.

 

[Soulezoo]

I have a Dillon 550 and reload 5.56, 10mm, .308. Those are my high volume shooters. I used to reload 9mm, but the cost and availability of factory makes reloading not worth it.

I can appreciate the volume you are going through but I don't do precision reloading on it due to the inaccuracies of the powder bar. Especially with stick powder. (Ball works best imo)

Where I am trickling down to one kernel, you can be on every throw +/- .1 grain and with stick powders more than that on the Dillon.

Now if you overcome that issue, then the 550 is fine. But if you are throwing and measuring offline anyway, you just defeated the main advantage of the progressive press and you are back to a single stage.

That's been my experience, someone else may have better ideas.

 

[Soulezoo]

I see while I was writing, others already gave you those better ideas.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Now if you overcome that issue, then the 550 is fine. But if you are throwing and measuring offline anyway, you just defeated the main advantage of the progressive press and you are back to a single stage.

Not at all, it's still WAAAAY faster.

Before I was depriming on a T7 with the inline fabrication case ejector which is way faster than a normal single stage, and I dumping my brass in the hopper of the 650 and cranking the handle is still faster and easier.

Before I was doing all my other loading on a Forster Co-Ax which I loved but it would take two processes on it to do what I do in one on the 650. Size, and run the expander. Both processes I'd also have to manually insert and remove each case from the press. With the 650 I dump the tumbled and lubed brass in the hopper (after I wipe it down from the dirty brass of course) and crank the handle and it spits out brass ready to trim on the Giraud.

Even priming, throwing charges, and seating bullets with process brass is faster. Dump it in the hopper with a full primer tube and each time the ram goes up I dump the charge that my autothrow setup has thrown and trickled into the funnel on top of station 3, and when it goes down I set a bullet on top of the case on station 4.

The 650 is extremely fast even when weighing charges since most of us now are using autotlrow or prometheus setups, or charge masters (at the very least). My autothrow easily keeps up with the press and any down time that I spend dumping the charge manually in the funnel takes no longer than manually adding a fresh case on a 550.

 

[tlsmith22]

I load 9mm, 40, 45acp, 223,308,6.5 and 300 wm all on a 550. I do single stage most of the precision stuff but it still saves lots of time. If i am using ball powder for rifle, I will load it progressive but all stick powders I load single stage. I size and deprime and seat with he Dillon on those and load the powder with a chargemaster. I have zero complaints from my Dillon and I have probably loaded 100k rds of 9mm back in my IDPA/IPSC days. They have excellent customer service that I have only ever needed for small plastic parts that basically wear out and break.

 

[mrobles3808]

I load precision on my 550. Basically for the convenience of having my dies set in a toolhead. Although, all of my sizing is done in the Forster coax. The Dillon gets the powder through die (individual charges via the fx120i) into the case, index, seat bullet, and charge the next case....repeat. It’s not the quickest, but this produces super good results and is a clean and efficient method.

 

[Franko]

Thanks for all the replies so far. Just for clarification;

1. If I buy the floating Whidden tool heads with the pre-installed clamp kit from Uniquetek; do I need anything more?
2. I intend to measure rifle powder off the press with a Chargemaster Lite. Perhaps a second Chargemaster is in my future. For pistol I expected to use the Dillon powder measure, is the JDS that much better?
3. Will I need an Area 419 Dillon Powder die funnel head for the AT500 that will be in each tool head I use for bullet seating?
4. I was planning on bringing my spent brass home from the range, spraying it with lanolin lube, then running it through a prep toolhead that removed the primer, fully body sized and bumped back the shoulder with a Redding body die, and then set the neck tension with a Lee neck collet die, then throwing the processed cases into my ultrasonic cleaner. Cleaned cases would be trimmed and chamfered on a Giraud, then I was planning on using a seperate die to prime the cases, powder, and seat the bullets. Does this make sense?
5. How precise is the Dillon primer seating ability? Right now I use an RCBS Auto Prime; is the Dillon as good or better? Do people separately prime off the press with other tools for better accuracy on primer seating depth?

I was leaning towards the 550 because it appeared to be less fiddley; (a lot less going on, I was under the impression that the priming system on the 650 was less forgiving, and caliber changes were a lot easier). Am I blowing it out of proportion? I can afford the 650 with the bells and whistles (I'm still single after all...). Right now I expect to load around 4-6K rifle precision rifle rounds a year and maybe 2K pistol. Is it worth buying once and crying once?

Thanks again.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Thanks for all the replies so far. Just for clarification;

1. If I buy the floating Whidden tool heads with the pre-installed clamp kit from Uniquetek; do I need anything more?
2. I intend to measure rifle powder off the press with a Chargemaster Lite. Perhaps a second Chargemaster is in my future. For pistol I expected to use the Dillon powder measure, is the JDS that much better?
3. Will I need an Area 419 Dillon Powder die funnel head for the AT500 that will be in each tool head I use for bullet seating?
4. I was planning on bringing my spent brass home from the range, spraying it with lanolin lube, then running it through a prep toolhead that removed the primer, fully body sized and bumped back the shoulder with a Redding body die, and then set the neck tension with a Lee neck collet die, then throwing the processed cases into my ultrasonic cleaner. Cleaned cases would be trimmed and chamfered on a Giraud, then I was planning on using a seperate die to prime the cases, powder, and seat the bullets. Does this make sense?
5. How precise is the Dillon primer seating ability? Right now I use an RCBS Auto Prime; is the Dillon as good or better? Do people separately prime off the press with other tools for better accuracy on primer seating depth?

I was leaning towards the 550 because it appeared to be less fiddley; (a lot less going on, I was under the impression that the priming system on the 650 was less forgiving, and caliber changes were a lot easier). Am I blowing it out of proportion? I can afford the 650 with the bells and whistles (I'm still single after all...). Right now I expect to load around 4-6K rifle precision rifle rounds a year and maybe 2K pistol. Is it worth buying once and crying once?

Thanks again.

1. That's all you need. It comes with the bolts and everything.

2. I haven't used the JDS but there's others that are similar, it's basically and enhancement on the dillon powder dispenser which will be fine for ball powders but for precision rifle ammo with stick powders you'll want to stick to the AT500 die and do charges off the press.

3. You'll only need one funnel and adaptor. You just pop it on the powder die for each toolhead you're running. You'll want a AT500 die for each different head along with the corresponding funnel to make changes easier and quicker though.

4. I don't like putting dirty brass into my dies, I deprime and then SS tumble before sizing.

5. I've had no problem with seating depths and that was one of my concerns as well.

 

[Baer45]

When I got into reloading earlier this year I purchased a single stage because I thought it would meet my needs and I was unsure of jumping directly into using a progressive. I am now on track to load 4K+ precision rifle rounds a year and want to make the jump to a Dillon 550C because I'd rather be shooting than reloading.

I am looking for advice from you all on what extras I should be purchasing to make the press produce better ammunition and be easier to use (essentially those extras that you wish you would have purchased in the beginning when you got your Dillon).

I expect to purchase the press along with the extras Dillon suggests on their website. I also will be purchasing a few Whidden floating tool heads. So what else should I be purchasing?

Thank you.

Go to the 6.5 Guys web site (http://www.65guys.com/precision-from-a-progressive-reloader/) and they give you step by step on how to load precision on a 550C. They have found what works and keep it simple. I load all my precision on a 550 and love the interchangeable heads. Buy Dillon powder funnel so you can weigh your loads....don’t chase the latest, fancy add one...just put O rings under dies for float, nothing wrong with Dillon case heads...I learned the hard way...PS I don’t like the primer feed system on the 650. I have 2 1050s and load volume ammo on those...can get precision there also, but it’s over killl...

PS . The time savings and efficiency for me are only having to set up tool heads once. I blew a bunch of $$ on buying the latest add ons. Other then theDILLON ADD ONS TO INCLUDE THE ROLLING HANDLE I would suggest putting your money here and you can drop powder dead on and in a hurry. Far better then rcbs not mention 2 of them. It drops my powder dead on in 10 secs;;;I use an electric toothbrush to settle the powder....to me, Otis money better spent...http://www.65guys.com/weekly-gear-update-auto-trickler-auto-throw-combo-with-area-419-billet-base/

 

[PowerstrokeOBX]

I use the original Dillon heads with oringed dies. I have 3 tool heads for one for 223ai that sixes on stage 1, charges on two, and seats on 3. I use the powder drop with xbr.
For creedmoor; decap on 1 size on 2 mandrel on three; tumble then use the other tool head with at500 powder die and seating. I always measure powder on chargemaster.

 

[Danattherock]

Not using my 550 for precision rifle aside from 223 load with 75 eld's. SS everything else, mainly due to stick powder. But thought about changing varget to 8208 and trying Dasher on 550.

Few quick thoughts, tumble brass well before sizing, assume you just forgot to type it. Buy inline fabrication mount, roller handle, and light that goes in center of toolhead. I've used two step Redding body and Lee with great success, but favor bushing dies now. I don't use mandrels and SD is 3-5 consistently in several calibers. If you use a full size bushing, drop mandrel, you might find way to load on Dillon in one pass.

That's the only way I will use mine personally, not to knock what works for others. But my streamlined SS method can't be beat by progressive if I'm dropping charges one by one and running two toolheads. If you pick caliber that can use ball powder, 8208 flows like a dream, you can likely use a progressive press to quickly make quality ammo. Stick powders are what gives me pause after testing it myself.

 

[Sheldon N]

Right now I expect to load around 4-6K rifle precision rifle rounds a year and maybe 2K pistol. Is it worth buying once and crying once?

I do all my precision rifle match loads on the Dillon 550, and am competing and shooting roughly the same amount of rounds per year. FWIW, here's how I've got my setup running. This is mostly taken from the 6.5 Guys article linked above, be sure to read the Scott Harris pdf that's linked in the article as well.

Starting with dirty fired brass: Corn cob tumble (fine cob blasting media that doesn't stick in flash holes), rotary sifter, anneal, alcohol/lanolin lube, first pass on Dillon 550. Toolhead is #1 depriming die (check out Mighty Armory for this), #2 Full length non-bushing die (FL die vs bushing die will give better concentricity. Ideally use a FL die with a neck diameter that does not size too much, look into neck honed dies) #3 Sinclair expander mandrel (prefer either carbide or 21st Century TiN coated mandrels). Then tumble lube off and rotary sift again, and do final brass prep such as Giraud trimmer or Lyman case prep center for primer pocket clean, chamfer deburr, etc. End result is a big pile of "ready to load" brass that I will work through and not process again until it has all been shot, usually do 300-400 cases at a time.

Loading on the Dillon 550 is a separate toolhead, #1 prime case, #2 powder funnel for precision weighed charges (look into Area 419 for the funnel, and also check out their auto-tricker full A&D setup if you want to get crazy), #3 micrometer seating die.

Must haves IMO are a strong mount or Inline Fabrication mount, roller handle, LED light kit, bullet tray. Agree with Whidden toolheads, though I'm just running the flat machined toolheads and not their full floating die kit. I float the dies with O-rings instead, and I like the ability to make small quick adjustments to control how much shoulder bump I get.

 

[OLD308]

Any of you precision rifle loaders on a Dillon 550 interested in posting a sticky of your methods and how too? I for one would be interested in an in-depth look at the process. I have a copy of the paper written by Scott Harris, more information and would be appreciated. How specific am I looking for? Talk to me like I'm an idiot jut politely please. Thanks in advance.

 

[Franko]

Any of you precision rifle loaders on a Dillon 550 interested in posting a sticky of your methods and how too? I for one would be interested in an in-depth look at the process. I have a copy of the paper written by Scott Harris, more information and would be appreciated. How specific am I looking for? Talk to me like I'm an idiot jut politely please. Thanks in advance.

I'm new to the 550C as a precision platform but here goes:

1. Bring dirty brass home from range
2. Use a universal decapper (mighty armory) mounted in the toolhead that came with the press
3. Clean brass with ultrasonic cleaner and dry with a cheap food dehydrator
4. Spray brass with spray on lube (10 parts 99% alcohol 1 part lanolin) and let dry
5. Run though clampable toolhead #1 (Whidden or Armanov); stage 1 is full length sizer (either Forester or Redding type S with a bushing; expander ball is removed from both) which knocks the shoulder back 2 to 3 thou; stage 2 is empty; stage 3 is a turning mandrel (either 21 century Titanium Nitride or Sinclair Carbide)); stage 4 is empty
6. The cases go back into the ultrasonic to get the lube off and are dried in the food dryer
7. All cases are trimmed with a Giraud Power Trimmer
8. Cases go back to the clampable toolhead #2; First stage is empty and used to prime; second stage has a powder die and an Area 419 universal powder funnel (I measure powder off press with a Chargemaster Lite); third stage the bullet is seated with a Forster or Redding Micrometer Seater; fourth stage is empty
9. Loaded ammo is ready to go back to range

Hope this helps.

 

[OLD308]

Ok so two tool heads?

One tool head. Station 1 de primed brass will be FL sized bumping shoulder back 2 thousands (Whidden custom die). Station 2 Sinclair Mandrel. Station 3 powder. Station 4 seater (Whidden custom die.

Priming, trimming will be done by hand after station 1. Powder will be manually measured and added via auto trickle.

Why do I need 2 tool heads?

Thank you.

 

[Franko]

Because I want to accomplish the maximum amount of actions with a minimum of effort. The only thing I want my right hand to do is put the brass into the press and pull the handle, the only thing I want my left hand to do is index the press and put a bullet into the case to be seated. I gain economy of motion and it makes me less likely to screw something up. I can't do this with one toolhead and meet all my loading criteria. So I spend extra cash and go with two preset toolheads per rifle caliber.

The appeal of a progressive press is that you get more actions per lever pull (the more things you can make happen on each lever pull the better). Your workflow is not working that way. Its almost like your trying to turn your progressive press into some kind of weird turret press.

 

[OLD308]

Thanks for your reply. Don’t really understand your rational. Press gets here next week, so I’ll keep it in mind. Since you have one it’s likely I’ll agree with you. As it stands, just theorizing, I don’t get it. 2 heads for what 1 will do. I have had a 650, and used a 1050 a lot in the past. There is a economy of motion, or motor pattern to develop for optimal results. Should be interesting.

 

[Airw4ves]

I use one toolhead, but find it works for me so that what Im sticking to. I dont use Whidden, but I do use the Dillon Billet Alum toolheads and used the Uniquetek clamping toolhead kit to retrofit them all. O-Rings used for floating. Only change from the others is I do not dump powder through the Powder die. I tried this but one screw up and its a ton of cleanup. Not saying its bad to do it on the press, but I found it to be a step I prefer doing off press.
I too use the Inline Ultramount, Light, Side Bins, Handle, and Bullet Tray. I've also added the Turbo Bearing kit, and Primer Support Bar.
All worthwhile upgrades that make the Dillon 550C my one stop shop for reloading.

As far as my steps go, I choose to do as follows.

1) Deprime on separate Depriming Toolhead (Mighty Armory, same toolhead/die used for every caliber I shoot)
2) Tumble Brass (I use Corn Cob)
3) Anneal on Benchsource
4) Lube with Lanolin Spray
5) #1 Resize in with Redding Type S Bushing Die
6) #2 Sinclair expander mandrel (Carbide)
7) Tumble for 30min to remove Lube
8) Trim/Chamfer/Deburr on Giraud
9) Primer Pocket Cleaner on electric screwdriver (ignore if SS tumbling)
10) Prime either on Press or with FA Precision hand Primer.
11) Store until ready to load (I dont store brass primed for long, but if the brass may sit for a long time, I'll leave it unprimed.)
12) Throw charge with Chargemaster Lite, and charge all required cases.
13) Remove locator pin from Stn 3
14) #3 Seat bullets
15) Shoot

Step 1) is optional and can be done post tumble, but I like them out prior to tumbling, in hopes it reduces the amount of crud in my media.

Step 14) I find only having one task to focus on (seating) helps me focus on maintaining consistent force, and reduces seating depth variances.

Hope this helps

 

[Jake the dog]

For you guys that do it all on a progressive, what bullets are you running and how close can you hold CBTO. I seat long, measure each round and adjust to hold the ogive to +/- .001. Some bullets vary by .010(140 ELD-M), some by .002(142 SMK), but none seem to be perfectly consistant.

 

[Airw4ves]

For you guys that do it all on a progressive, what bullets are you running and how close can you hold CBTO. I seat long, measure each round and adjust to hold the ogive to +/- .001. Some bullets vary by .010(140 ELD-M), some by .002(142 SMK), but none seem to be perfectly consistant.

I run ELD-M’s and do not bullet sort. I can get my loads within .003 (.001 over and under target CBTO). For me, this is fine. If I bullet sorted and cared to have all my loads exactly the same Id do as you do and seat long and adjust for each length.

 

[OLD308]

Finally, The Dillon 550C is in. Most of the other parts are in as well. I have thousands of casings and bullets for my M1As, so I'll be starting with them to find the optimal process. Parts on hand and inbound listed below.

Dillon 550C
Dillon cover
Strong mount
308 caliber conversion with LR primer
Inline Fab handel
Inline Fab light
Unique Clamping and floating tool head
Unique primer support bar
Unique Turbo bearing upgrade
RL 450 powder die for manual powder fill
Sinclar mandrel die body
Sinclar 30 cal carbide mandrel


The new Auto Trickler V3 is still a few weeks out, so I've got a little bit of time. Having the Unique clamping/floating tool head modified to take a third floating locking ring for the Mandrel.

I understand the 2 tool head approach now. Not saying Im sold on it, but it does seam be be much more fluid. My worry is that all that variations will induce runout even with the clamping/floating tool heads. Will see. As always, any and all suggestions welcomed.

 

[SnkBit]

There’s a JDS powder drop in the reloading section for sale. Add that to your 550 and you’ll be happy. Mine is incredibly accurate.