Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles .223 + Dillon 550 = PITA

Geez... Ok, first off, max load using Varget coupled with 50 gr pills shows 27.5gr. That won't even fit in the case. I'm using 26.5gr and it leaves about 1/8" space to the case mouth..

But this is the first time I've used my Dillon 550 for rifle ammo and it may be the last.. These shells are for an AR-15, so I obtained the proper small base dies. The brass is once-fired from new. On the Dillon, I have to leave the button off from station two, remove the case for a quick, inside-case-mouth bevel, and re-insert before swiveling over to the seater die. If I don't do that, I've had cases crumple when the boolit refuses to slide in (Hornady V-Max BT)..

Can't do the case mouth trim before sizing because, as everybody knows, brass that was used in an AR can (and will) often have dented case mouths.. (GRR)

Therefore, I honestly think I can reload these faster using my old RCBS JR-3 - because I can do batch of brass through a single station at a time..

Am I the only one havin' this issue???

Nope, but then again I have never loaded rifle rounds on a progressive. Doesn't take me that long to load a 100 off the Rock chucker.

The only time I've loaded .223s on my Dillon, I was using 748, and those old Blitz bullets, without many issues, BUT, I'd used those cases before on the single stage, and they were all prepped beforehand. All I did was assemble them on the Dillon. It didn't save me much time, and I no longer bother with such things.

As usual though, "I know a guy" who uses his with the Dillon trimmer in the front station, then charges with 335, and without deburring or anydamnthingelse, just jams the bullets into the case. He's an idiot, of course, but saying that, it has worked for him and his boltgun. I'd not do that for an autoloader of any kind, though.
Some dumbazzes just skate thru life doing things that angels would fear to do. I'm no angel, but I'm not stupid, either.

I size on a rock chucked,trim,ream/chamfer,then onto the Dillon without a die in the first or last hole.
Basically, first position primes,second powder,third seat a bullet,forth is empty.
I ran 1000 once fires range pickups the other day,useing the Dillon isn't that much faster then the single stage press.

Brass prep sucks no matter what especially trimming. On the Dillon, I run everything through the sizer and then a possum hollow trimmer chucked up in a drill. Yeah, it sucks, but once it's done the time spent on the Dillon is pretty darn quick. Or a guy could buy a Giraud trimmer and be done even quicker.

I think just about everyone sizes, trims & chamfers as separate operations before loading in the Dillon (or any other progressive, for that matter).

You may be able to find a belling die if you just gotta do it all on a progressive.

Lyman M-die.

I load 223 on my dillon 650 with no problem, even use Varget as my main powder.

BUT I did some mod's on the powder funnel and the powder measure to make sure that 1) powder doesn't bridge as much if at all, 2) the powder flows more consistently in the measure.

Yeah, that's what I've always done before - just decided to try it on the 550. As others have said, it's just about as fast using a single-stage and that's what I'm going back to..

Pistol/revolver rounds on the Dillon's a piece of cake.. Rifles? Not so much..

Case prep is the biggest PITA in reloading. Once that's done, everything else is relatively fast. A Dillon will really hum through a 1,000 prepped cases.

Dillon 650:

Toolhead One:

Station One-Dillon carbide sizer
Station Three-Dillon electric trimmer
Station Five-Lyman M-die, this irons out any burrs inside the neck. Outside? I don't worry about it.

I use One-Shot on the cases layed on a cookie sheet.

The 650 will do 1000'rd/hr cruising. Cases are then tumbled to get the wax off.

Toolhead Two:

Station One- Decapping die to clear flashole
Station Two- Powder Measure-TAC
Station Three-Powder Check
Station Four-Seater
Station Five-Dillon taper crimp

If I had a 550B and a Rockchucker I'd get a case kicker for the RC and resize them all, tumble, trim with a WFT, and use a Case Prep center. Set up a 550 toolhead like I listed above, minus the powder check, and pick a powder that the Dillon measure likes, IE TAC, H -322, or similar.

You are kidding yourself if you think you can load it faster all on a Rockchucker.

I have loaded thousands of 223 on the Dillon 550B with no problems. This for bolt rifles. I trim and chamfer before resizing on a Gracey trimmer. I sent fired cases to Darrell and he made me special dies. I also load 22-250 and 17 Fireball and 270 without any problems. Been using the 550 for about 15 years and no complaints. Use RCBS Gold Medal Seating die.

The dillon works great for rifle rounds with new brass. I might start disliking it with once fired, but am loving it so far with N550 and 75s.

I must be doing something wrong with my 550. I've loaded about 500 once fired lake city cases without any problems. H335 and 69 gr Nosler Comp bullets. Accuracy is right at 1 MOA for 10 shot groups. Standard Colt 6920

Resize on Forster Coax using Redding small base dies. Feed resized brass to Giraud trimmer. Tumble to remove lube.

Feed processed cases to Dillon 550. Use Ramshot TAC powder it meters perfect in Dillon measure.

Works like a charm

Red, you don't HAVE to do all the steps each pass through a progressive.
In fact, if I have to FL size something, that is ALL I will do, just one station, lube everything wet, and run them all through for a deprimed/sized pile.
Then, if you have prep coming, do all that, then clean your cases pretty and set up to prime, powder and seat. I have found that doing FL separately gives everything else a smoother ride, and smooth is important for good powder dumping.
Knee and Spot both have good ideas, in fact, Spot borrowed me his reamer for the powder funnels and I'm glad he helped me out.

rdinak,

Have you ever figured out how many rounds you can load per hour with that technique?

I've loaded a lot of 223 on my 550. Things go smoother if you do the case prep as an extra step. They also go smoother if you develop a load using ball or flake powder. My fav 223 powder for the Dillon is BL-C2. The extra step with the case prep takes away from the progressive concept, but its still faster if you are doing several hundred or more.

I use something close to this method, and taking my time on a 650xl with the case feeder I can load 4-500 per hour.

Thanks for the info, though I wonder what the rate would be using a 550.