I am about to order another set of dies for my 550, and wondered what some of you are doing for a caliber change-over.

Should I order a complete quick-change assembly that contains the toolhead, powder measure, toolhead stand, and powder die? This allows me to pull two pins, slip the old one out, new one in, and in 2 minutes, be reloading.

On the other hand, I can order 3 toolheads and 3 powder dies for $33.42, and the only thing I will have to do between changes is recalibrate the powder charge.

This means I can change between 4 calibers for only $33.42, with the hassle of powder calibration on each change, or pay $230.85 for the same 4 calibers, with no hassle between changes.

What (would) do you do?

TIA!

F6

"On the other hand, I can order 3 toolheads and 3 powder dies for $33.42, and the only thing I will have to do between changes is recalibrate the powder charge."

This is what I did as I am retired and money is tight. I did buy one more powder measure and keep that with the large powder kit installed for rifles.

You need to ask yourself "How much convenience can I afford?".
I have a 650 and have found that when I load I tend to buy up a pretty large lot of components and then load a thousand or two of whichever calier and then not reload it again for a little while. That would seem to tend towards going towards the lower expense since I don't change back and forth all that much but so far I have liked the idea of not having to mess with any adjustments when I get them the way I want and bought quick-changes for 5 calibers. Of course that's one of the reasons I'm broke at the moment..... .....DJ

Complete tool head set up. Life is too short.
Every time I just have to pull two pins and exchange tool heads I look to heaven and say "Thank you God".

lawndart

PS DJ and I both know that good guns (and reloading gear) will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no good guns.

Something I do, is keep multiple powder charge bars. You can get them on e-bay, they are inexpensive, and they swap out of the powder measure easily, so you can keep your settings, without buying a new measure. Also, if you go down to home depot you can get plastic thumb screw heads that will slip over the adjusting nut on the charge bar so you can adjust your powder charge without having to use a wrench.

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Originally posted by JeffPhillips:
Something I do, is keep multiple powder charge bars. You can get them on e-bay, they are inexpensive, and they swap out of the powder measure easily, so you can keep your settings, without buying a new measure. Also, if you go down to home depot you can get plastic thumb screw heads that will slip over the adjusting nut on the charge bar so you can adjust your powder charge without having to use a wrench.

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EXCELLENT idea, Jeff!! Fleabay, here I come!!!!!