I may get a second 550B tool head/dies/powder funnel/powder measure for 45A

[KeithB78]

That way i can leave my main set for 45ACP alone, and have a second head set up for experimentation with different powders, bullets ect.

I want to experiment, but then don't cause I hate to have to get it all back to the recipe i use 99% of the time for target shotting. This way i can set my main tool head setup aside and play. Make sense?

Anyone else do this?

[lomaxanderson]

just get extra powder bar and switch out and leave one set...cheaper than powder measure

[WSM MAGNUM]

For experimenting I use my Rockchucker and load 10 -20 rounds. If I find the best load for a particular cal., I then set my Dillon equipment for that load. For each caliber I load with on my Dillon, I have the tool head setup with the dies and powder measure set, and they sit on the tool head stands ready for quick changing to different calibers.

[Grandpa Shooter]

I have a Lee 3 hole turret press I use for rifle and for working up new pistol loads. When I find one I like I can set the Dillon up for that and keep it that way.

[caz223]

Don't mind the mess. Was in process of drywalling the ceiling when the pic was taken.
Left 550 is set up for small primer, right 550 is set up for large primer.
10 quick change kits on the bench. (More kits, just not all on bench.)
There are many good things about this setup.
1. Way less changeovers.
2. Quicker changeovers, when you do them.
3. Never any confusion over what powder charge you were using for x caliber.
Many others, including much easier to teach someone to reload, etc.
The loadmaster on far left is for prepping brass.
Yes, I have all sorts of silly configs like one complete toolhead+dies+complete powder measure for .38, and another for .357 mag. Same for .40 and 10mm and 357SIG and 9mm.
I prolly also have 3 sets of dies for each caliber I load, a library of manuals, etc.
It literally takes 10 seconds to switch from 9mm/.40/357SIG, as they all take the same shellplate. To switch to 10mm, I just step right 4 feet.
The bench is really flat and level, the sag in the middle is a function of the lens I was using. I are photographeer. My artistic liscense was revoked for nonuse. Poor use of cheap camera.




It's a hobby, I have far more $$$ invested in guns.

[KeithB78]

I may play with different powders, so may get a extra powder measure only

[tom234]

Unless you're loaded with $$ why duplicate everything ? Just load up a gold pile of your standard .45 ACP load then play around with other powders, etc. It's not that big a deal to change bullet and power for the same caliber.....

[38 Super Auto]

The thing I find about the 550B is the primer bar gets gunked up. I take the primer tower down about every 1000 or 1500 rounds to clean it. When I change to LP or SP, I spend a few minutes cleaning it all up. It does take a few minutes to change over, but in the big scheme of things, 10 minutes to switch primer size doesn't put me behind schedule.

I think the removable toolheads are a must, but I don't find it difficult to adjust the measure. If you use a nut driver with a reference mark, you find that the small charge bar increments about 1 grain per 360 deg rotation. I can dial it in pretty quickly.

[caz223]

I use the loadmaster for deprime/resize, then run my brass through an ultrasonic cleaner.
When I run the brass through one of my 550s, it's spotless and the primer bars don't get gunked up. Also no chance of tumbler media in flash holes, since I don't use solid media. Inspecting and checking cases for cases for powder is a lot faster when it's spotless.
A quick spritz of hornady oneshot every so often and the cases run through the 550s as smooth as you please, it's also no effort as the cases have already been resized once.
It may seem like it's a lot of unnecessary steps, but when you figure that it runs with ZERO stoppages and almost no effort, it's actually a little faster doing it this way.
I look at it as a way to insure that nothing contaminates the feel of the press while it's running, and that insures I make good ammo.

[Unclenick]

Caz223,

I like the magnum case trimmer on the left side of your picture. I've also been a long-time separate decapper. I keep a little Lee Challenger set up with their Universal Decapping Die just for the purpose, then tumble the brass afterward. I used to use a 2.5 gallon Bransonic I have to clean brass, but found I could get impatient about the drying. I also wasn't all that pleased by the cleaner I was using. Is there anything especially effective you found? I've noticed a pre-dip in the old NRA vinegar solution will help fizz off the carbonates in the primer residue, but because of the staining it leaves during drying, I wind up tumbling it afterward anyway.


KeithB78,

What are your objectives, really? If load experimentation is the main thrust of it, my approach would not be to mess with the Dillons at all. For load development, especially if it is powder experimentation with pistol loads, you need to buy a big plastic tool box. Populate the box with a Lee Hand Tool and a priming tool (I like K&E's Markel tool best, but for pistol a Lee Autoprime is perfectly adequate), any make of Chinese dial or digital caliper (keep spare batteries if you go digital) from Harbor Freight or other cheap source, and a portable scale. I prefer the CED Pocket Scale (spare batteries, again) to any other in the portable category, though it will cost you more than the rest of the kit. A Lee scale and their Perfect powder measure (bring a C-clamp to hold it to the bench) are both inexpensive, and the scale can be operated down in the box for wind screening. Put a $5 Wally World calculator in there, and a notebook and pen or pencil from the same source. Over time I've provided the box with its own OAL gage, a Midway powder funnel and drop tube kit, a small brass hammer with screwdrivers in its handle, an inexpensive O.D. thimble micrometer, spare chronograph batteries and printer paper and all other manner of odd and ends.

The whole box goes with me to the range. I put the dies I need for the day in the box along with powder and bullets and primers. I do full load work-up at the bench with my chronograph and sometimes my Pressure Trace and laptop present. After finding something I like, I set up the measure for a trial run for grouping and function testing.

You can skip the scale all together and just use the measure if you prefer. The Perfect measure is graduated in cc's, so you just throw ten 1 cc charges and weight them to get the average working bulk density for the powder as that scale throws it. That lets you calculate the setting for a starting load and load increments to increase charges by. I find that measure works significantly better with a separate powder baffle added. See my PDF powder baffle making templates and instructions here.

[ShootingNut]

What's the Chop Saw on the left in your pic. I'll bet that's what you use to trim your casing length's, right?
You don't have short fingers as a result do you?
SN

[Unclenick]

Always love an echo.

[caz223]

The key to a good clean with an ultrasonic is to run it HOT, I crank the heater up to 85-90c with the 50/50 vinegar water with a bit of dish soap (good.) or murpy's oil soap (Better.).
If you don't have a heater in your ultrasonic, preheat your solution to near boiling.
Then I do a hot rinse with the basket over the sink. I got a crest 690HT 2.75 gallon with the nice stainless basket. As long as you don't overload it, it works great.
Then I dry the cases out on a towel on a cookie sheet, either in front of a dehumidifier or in front of a squirrel cage fan, they're dry in an hour.
If they're really dirty first I do a mild alkaline wash using a small amount of drain cleaner (Sodium hydroxide as a main ingredient.) and auto dishwashing detergent, again hot and quick. I don't let the cases sit long in acid or alkaline solutions. After the solution is done attacking the dirt and grime, it will start on the cases.
If you don't decap first, it will weld the primers in place and some of the cases will be wrecked.
If the cases are hot when they start drying, they will dry much faster. Best I've found is a hot rinse, shake in towel, dump on a dry towel in front of dehumidifier in a dry room. My dehumidifier drinks the electricity, though. I suppose a heat gun or hair dryer would cut drying times, but I usually have a 5 gallon pail of prepped matching headstamp brass all set to go before I try loading anything.
Ahh, the basement. My wood shop/reloading benches/ammo storage/tool storage/get away from the world area.

Oh, the point of my pic is to say get what you want, as long as you'll use it. That's why they make stuff like that. If you have 1 toolhead and 1 powder measure, you might as well have a dillon 450.