Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Progressive presses

I was at Sportsmans whorehouse yesterday, they have the Dillon RL550B for $310.00. My question, since I could not find a sales person that did not have a line in front of them, is:
I have a Redding, a RCBS JR and Rock Chucker, all of the dies + more stuff than I really need to do a decent job for all of the RIFLE calibers I have, 17, + many I no longer own. How much will it cost me per caliber to use it to load a specific caliber? What the hell are conversion plates or whatever they are? I went to the Dillon site & could not find the answer I was looking for... The main use would be for .223. Can it be used for something as small and persnickety as the .22 K Hornet? As big as the .338-378?

Thanks in advance for your answers, Pat

Pat,
The dillon is a great piece of equipment and well worth the investment. I use mine for .40, .223, 223AI, .308 and .35 whelen. Do not let anyone tell you a progressive will not produce match quality ammo. When working up loads for charge weight or overall length I load one at a time (move one case from station to station until I have a completed round) and its still faster than a single stage.

Regarding cost you will be using your regular dies. I have dillon carbide for the .40, regular dillon for the .223, .308 and .35 with Redding bushing dies for the .223 AI. The set up will include the small and large primer assemblies. The conversion plate is the shell holder for the turret. In the 550 there are four positions on the turret and the shell holder will hold everything in place as the rounds make their way through the loading process. I am not sure how many plates are available but similiar casehead sizes, ie. .308, 270 etc will use the same shellholder. I only need three for my setup.

I find that there is plenty of room around the turret when handling small or large cases. The smallest I have gone is the .19 calhoon for a friend and had no problems. Hope I didnt add to the confusion but the best bet is to call dillon. They will walk you through everything and will not try to add any unnecessary crap to your order, I have even had them do a mini equipment inventory on me to make sure I wasnt buying parts I didnt need.

Besides you cant beat the calenders they produce. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I'm curious -- if you feel that way about them, why bother going there?

I assume from your location you're talking about the Aurora store, where I've never gotten anything but good service.

Thanks for the info. I may call Dillon this week, I looked @ the Dillon site & the price from them direct is a little more than local. I would guess they will work with that but maybe not...

The reason I call them that is because evey time I go in there, it cost's me about $150.00, & I leave with that warm fuzzy feeling inside.
Then I want to go back as often as possible <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> I drive past the place every day, between them & CompUSA, it is a bad deal <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" />.

Pat

Useful accessories for the 550B are the strong mount and the bullet tray. Low powder sensor only if your position while loading keeps you from seeing the powder hopper. The standard handle is fine, so the roller handle isn't necessary.

The conversion kit consists of the shell plate, powder funnel, and locator buttons. The powder funnel is what Dillon calls the case/neck expander which expands the case/neck and activates the powder drop. (Powder will not drop unless there is a case at that station.)

The way the 550B is set up, one needs a sizing die, a seating die, and, ideally, a crimping die. When I load bottlenecked rifle cartridges on my 550B, I use the two standard dies (resizer in station one, seater in station three) plus the Lee Factory Crimp Die (station four). With straight cases, rifle or pistol, the expander die of a typical three-die set isn't used.

If you plan upon converting fairly often, the deluxe caliber quick change assembly is a very worthwhile addition. This consists of the toolhead, powder measure, powder die, and a toolhead stand. This enables very quick cartridge change overs.

Pat,

A 550B conversion kit consists of a shellplate, locator buttons, and a powder funnel. The shellplate is the equivalent of the shellholder used with your Rock Chucker, except it has four positions corresponding to each stage of the progressive press. The locator buttons are small pins that prevent the case from sliding out of position on the shellplate as it rotates from stage to stage. The powder funnel operates in conjunction with the powder die to activate the case-activated powder measure (more on the latter two in a bit).

A 550B conversion kit costs $38.95 from Dillon. Just like your Rocker Chucker�s shellholders, conversion kits can be used for more than one cartridge. For example the.221 Reminton Fireball, .222 Remington, .222 Remington Mag, and .223 Remington all use the same conversion kit. This will take some figuring on your part to determine which conversion kits you need.

The 550B�s interchangeable toolhead is located at the top of the press. The tool head has four stations that correspond to the four stages on the shellplate. The toolhead holds the dies, powder measure, powder checker, or whatever tooling you need for a specific cartridge.

The Dillon powder measure is case-activated, meaning it won�t drop a charge unless a case is present on the shellplate. The powder measure is installed on top of the powder die, and is activated by the powder funnel included in the conversion kit. When you raise the ram/shellplate during reloading, the case enters the powder die and lifts the powder funnel, which in turn activates the powder measure � the powder charge is dropped.

In all its glory, a full cartridge set-up would include:

Conversion Kit - $38.95 (some cartridges are more)
Shellplate
Powder Funnel
Locator Buttons

Quick-Change Assembly: 76.95
Toolhead
Powder Measure
Powder Die
Toolhead Stand (the stand gives you a place to store everything assembled)

So, for around $120 (not including dies) you would have all the tooling necessary to convert your press from one cartridge to another in about 2-minutes. Like I mentioned earlier, you might not need a separate conversion kit for each cartridge you load for.

While having complete set-ups is great, there are lots of options depending on your preferences and your bank balance. The powder measure is a spendy item, so lots of folks have complete set-ups except for one or two powder measures they switch from toolhead to toolhead. If you�re mainly reloading .223 Remington, order the press in that cartridge and add later depending on your needs.

The 550B will handle the K-hornet, but wildcats might require a call to Dillon. I�m guessing the .338-378 would need a .378 Weatherby shellplate and locator buttons with a .338 Winchester powder funnel.

A better option than Dillon for conversion kits and accessories is Chad Pengar at http://www.eguns.com/Dillon_Precision/dillon_precision.html
Hes just as knowledgable as the folks at Dillon and can save you a few $s too. Much faster to ship also.

Thanks again guys, I will make some calls this week...
Anyone on the Redding bandwagon? It got several nice reviews awhile back in the mags.(i think it was redding, now I have another mission to find the articles <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />)
I should not be too worried about the .338-378 I can only shoot it so much <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. I have a tendenacy to wait untill i only have about 50 rounds for any cartridge before I get to the bench, then load another 100-500 depending on the round. This seems like they way to go...
I have been looking @ the Dillon & others for several yrs. just now decided I really should have one after looking @ shelf & figuring I need about two weeks to catch up! I know the kids & wife aint' gonna' let that happen.
Is it that hard to re-set the dies or is the Quick Change that good?
Also I have noticed the "repair parts assortment" seems to be needed, do they wear or break? I understand the weak link theory, is that what it is?
I know I can ask these questions of the factory, but prefer the opinions of outsiders prior to $$$.

Thanks for the time, Pat

Pat, the only reason that you need the spare parts kit is so that you don't have to wait if you break something to put it on. They will replace anything that breaks. I thumb fingered a part or two setting up and having the spares on hand allowed me to keep going. I called and they sent replacements.
The quick changes are great. I use a 650 but the idea is the same, you have your load set and don't have to do much to get rolling again. You will probably end up buying a set of their dies for every caliber that you load for on it - you can clean them without messing up settings etc. . Regular dies work good, theirs work great. I strongly reccommend that you buy one of the Wilson Case guages for each rifle caliber that you load for, they are invaluable setting up the sizing dies.........DJ

I haven't gone to the Quickchange setups. Just have separate toolheads and powder dies for each die set you use. The dies stay locked into the toolhead,and its a couple seconds to slide the toolhead into the press and a minute or two to slap the powder measure on. The only time I'v used my spare parts kit was due to a misadjustment I'd made,breaking a LG primer anvil. Dillon re-placed the anvil,but without the kit,I'd have been dead in the water until the replacement arrived. As it was the second time I'd used the press,I'd have been a wee bit peeved. Well worth the $12-14 or whatever it was.
http://dillonprecision.com/template/p.cfm?maj=13&min=5&dyn=1&

Pat,

The minimum set-up for a cartridge loaded on the 550B should be a conversion kit, a toolhead ($13.95), and a powder die ($7.95). You save a few bucks on the latter two if you buy three at a time.

This allows you to save all your die settings between loading sessions, and a full throw on the powder measure (charge volume is a different adjustment on Dillon powder measures).

Re-setting dies is no different using a toolhead than on a Rock Chucker. Having dedicated toolheads just mean you won't have to re-set the die bodies at all. You'll still need to re-set seating stems if you change bullet profiles and the like.

The 550B's best attribute is speed - you can crank out a lot of ammo. The second best attribute is conveniance - owning the proper tooling makes switching cartridges a snap.

In the time it takes to re-set all the tooling for three different cartridges, a guy could have loaded hundreds of rounds on a 550B. It's a matter of how you want to spend your loading time...

Sounds like I will have the time Tuesday to make some calls & spend some $$$ <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.

The next "problem" I have is the wife, er, Mrs Clause just gave me 1K to buy a new AR clone... God I love that woman!!!
What a dilema! Which one? Off to the other forums. Thanks for the decision on the press, will let you know how I am doing when I get it!

Pat

O.K. Got the Dillon RL550B yesterday.
Started set up @ about 4:00PM, by 6:45 I had 150 loaded rounds of .22-250. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Nice simple machine!! Thanks for steering me to the Dillon. Finished off another 250 rounds tonight... I just ordered a three pac of powder dies & toolheads after swithching to the .22 KH Hornet. Spend MO MONEY!!

Thanks again guys, Pat

Pat -

I understand what you mean about CompUSA and Sportsman's. A lethal combination for the pocketbook!

Congrats on the 550B! They are a great machine. Have visited the Dillon factory twice. Good folks that stand behind their products.