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Posted: 12/30/2011 6:57:21 PM EDT
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Does anyone here uses this on there 550B and if so how do you like it?
Does anyone know what size the bolt and thread insert is for the clamp kit? |
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A certain amount of play is intentionally built in, and it doesn't hurt anything. Since there can be variations in the measurements of the dies, what brand they are, how old the tools were that made the dies, etc, the play allows the cartridges to get into better alignment, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. |
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After using a Hornady progressive for a couple years before getting the Dillon I'm a firm believer the solid tool head is better, the case can move in the shell plate enough to center in the die and the tool head moving inconsistently each time the ram goes up isn't helping anything.
Besides if you running the tool head full of dies the die with the most force applied is going to be the one that controls which way and how much the tool head moves(meaning the seating die isn't going to self center if your sizing(or crimping) at the same time, the dies would have to float individually) and that also will be different with every case. The tool head being solid will be better, that I'm sure of after my limited use with it. Anything that keeps the dies from affecting one another will help and making the tool head solid is the best way to do that, with a solid tool head the forces of one die will have little affect on the other dies(except for sub plate flex). If I find the dies do need to float a little more to keep run-out down it will be better for the dies to float individually than together, if that's the case I will set the dies up with o-rings below the lock rings so they can self center better, kinda like the Hornady bushings do. |
I looked at these last year and before dropping down my cash to retrofit my 550 tool heads I took some brass shim stock and cut strips of brass and shimmed the tool head to make it rock solid I then readjusted all my dies and proceeded to crank out ammo, then I removed the shim stock and proceeded to do the same and compared accuracy side by side in a non formal experiment, the results side by side did not warrant the investment as my accuracy did not change, I am not saying that they are not worth it to you but for me the cost greatly outweighed the benefit and I would have lost the ability to just pull 2 pins and swap tool heads and be ready to go and that is one of the benefits of the Dillon design, there are things out there that always promise to do this and that but all of these come at a cost you have to decide if they are worth the investment. 
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Here's what I don't get. They market a toolhead clamp kit to prevent the toolhead from floating around and contributing to inconsistent resizing/seating.
They then market a floating die toolhead to allow everything to float to ensure concentric ammunition. Doesn't the one ensure the necessity of the other? Or to put it another way, if the stock dimensioned toolhead floats a bit, isn't that a good thing? Or does their combo allow every station to float independently (as much is needed) of other stations in the toolhead, wheras the stock toolhead will float the maximum needed by only one station, and that degree of float is imparted to the other three stations, whether needed or not?? |
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Quoted:
Here's what I don't get. They market a toolhead clamp kit to prevent the toolhead from floating around and contributing to inconsistent resizing/seating. They then market a floating die toolhead to allow everything to float to ensure concentric ammunition. Doesn't the one ensure the necessity of the other? Or to put it another way, if the stock dimensioned toolhead floats a bit, isn't that a good thing? Or does their combo allow every station to float independently (as much is needed) of other stations in the toolhead, wheras the stock toolhead will float the maximum needed by only one station, and that degree of float is imparted to the other three stations, whether needed or not?? It's like I said, the dies can't float in a tool head(unless your only using one die) because the die with the most force applied will dictate which way and how much the tool head moves which moves all the other dies the same way, the key is to have the dies float individually so no one die has any bearing on the other dies. The only way to do this is to have the tool head solid and the dies floating individually which is the ideal behind the floating "die" tool head. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Here's what I don't get. They market a toolhead clamp kit to prevent the toolhead from floating around and contributing to inconsistent resizing/seating. They then market a floating die toolhead to allow everything to float to ensure concentric ammunition. Doesn't the one ensure the necessity of the other? Or to put it another way, if the stock dimensioned toolhead floats a bit, isn't that a good thing? Or does their combo allow every station to float independently (as much is needed) of other stations in the toolhead, wheras the stock toolhead will float the maximum needed by only one station, and that degree of float is imparted to the other three stations, whether needed or not?? It's like I said, the dies can't float in a tool head(unless your only using one die) because the die with the most force applied will dictate which way and how much the tool head moves which moves all the other dies the same way, the key is to have the dies float individually so no one die has any bearing on the other dies. The only way to do this is to have the tool head solid and the dies floating individually which is the ideal behind the floating "die" tool head. OK, in theory I'll buy that. But when you look at their picture and you read their description, it appears to be the incorporation of split locking rings for the resizer and seater so they float independently of one another. Floating Toolhead What I still don't get is, if the toolhead is clamped /screwed solidly into the press' frame, how does a lock ring by itself allow float? The die station threads on the toolhead are fixed –– unless they're somehow milled into a bushing that floats within the toolhead, I don't see how locking rings would allow float. For that matter, there's about a $30 delta between the precision milled toolheads and the floating toolheads, and all I can figure is that by themselvest the floating toolheads include two split lockrings, and the clamp kit pre-installed in a precision milled toolhead. So the holes are threaded to accept screws instead of using the factory-supplied pins. Seems like a lot for a couple of lockrings and a couple of threaded holes, but maybe there's more to the floating toolhead that I don't understand. The other thing I don't get is a bit of an detour from this thread, but people bitch about Lee lockrings because they are sloppy and allow float. And the Forster SS press allows snap in and out die changes, and there's enough slop for the die to float. And that's billed as a feature. So why in one case is a product slammed because it allows float, another product designs it in and it's considered a feature, and a third aftermarket product goes out of the way to make evreything rigid, then adds a separate product to allow float. I guess I'm a bit confused if float is a good thing or a bad thing. |
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