Help! Dillon 550B Problem

04 July 2002, 18:00

HenryC470

I'm sure I'm doing something wrong here. The primers (Federal No. 200 Magum Spall Pistol) are supposed to sit down inside this litle shuttle thing that carries them from the primer tube to the sizing/depriming/priming station. The thing is, the little priming ram that is in the center of the shuttle seems to be a little too high. The primer sits above the base plate of the press, so a case can't be slid into the sizing/depriming station. I'm pretty sure the primer should sit down inside the shuttle body near flush with the top edge of the shuttle body. I'm sure the correct shuttle is being used. The hole in the large pistol/large rifle shuttle is much bigger than these small pistol primers (and in fact, a large rifle primer sits down inside the shuttle, near flush with the top of the shuttle body.

Any idea what I'm doing wrong? I'd call Dillon, but it's late, and they will be closed tomorrow (July 4), as far as I know.

H. C.

05 July 2002, 02:42

<Gunner>

Check to make sure there's no spilled powder, dirt, etc on the primer ram - if so, it can elevate the primer high enough to cause the problem. Also check the ram for high spots, burrs, etc. If it's level, smooth and clean, try a different brand of primers to see if they work. If that doesn't work, you probably need a replacement part from Dillon...

05 July 2002, 10:41

HenryC470

quote:
Originally posted by Gunner:
Check to make sure there's no spilled powder, dirt, etc on the primer ram - if so, it can elevate the primer high enough to cause the problem. Also check the ram for high spots, burrs, etc. If it's level, smooth and clean, try a different brand of primers to see if they work. If that doesn't work, you probably need a replacement part from Dillon...

Yep, I checked all that. I'm going shootin' I found a few hundred of the load I wanted to make, so I'm good to go for a match this weekend. I'll see what Dillon tells me. (my guess is the same old Dillon answer: "there's one on the way, and you should receive it in 3-5 business days"). Fine with me.

H. C.

05 July 2002, 11:42

BigEd

I may have had the same problem and a call to Dillon cured the matter. They did a better job of explaining than I will but here goes. To lower the primer punch, first you remove the primer slide and loosen the set screw holding down the primer punch. Then place the primer punch upside down on a block of wood and re-tighten the set screw while applying pressure on the bottom of the primer slide. These may be the world's worst directions but the whole idea is to reinstall the primer punch deeper into the primer slide. Hope this helps. Ed

05 July 2002, 14:25

Pecos41

You can't go wrong with calling Dillon. Unless their customer support has gone to hell like most companies over the past couple of years, Dillon will fix you up pronto. Call em. [Smile]

05 July 2002, 19:15

HenryC470

Hey Big Ed,

That was it exactly. Thanks alot. I'm back up and running. Accuratereloading.com has even better service than Dillon Precision. Now that's saying something.

H. C.

[ 07-05-2002, 10:16: Message edited by: HenryC470 ]