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Posted: 1/4/2014 1:56:20 PM EDT
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I just upgraded to a progressive reloader after learning the ropes on a single stage.
A buddy who was in financial trouble sold me his barely used Dillon XL650 and today while doing a batch of .300 Blackout the ring indexer snapped in half. I don't have a very accurate round count from my buddy, although he states he barely used the press before selling it, but it seems odd that this piece which indexes and rotates the shell plate would be made of plastic, and very brittle plastic at that, and would break after so little use. Why would this piece break like it did? Did I make some kind of mistake when I was setting up the machine? All moving parts are well greased and the main bolt that holds the shell plate in place was not over tightened. Dillon came to the rescue and is sending me a new indexer. I'd just rather not go through this a second time if it can be prevented. |
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Who knows why it snapped? I have over 10K 9mm reloaded on my Dillon 650 plus another 5K .38 wadcutter and 5K .38 semi-wad along with a bunch of .41 mag and my indexer is just fine. Sometimes parts break.
You've already called Dillon and are taking advantage of their no BS warranty so you're good to go. |
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Quoted:
I just upgraded to a progressive reloader after learning the ropes on a single stage. A buddy who was in financial trouble sold me his barely used Dillon XL650 and today while doing a batch of .300 Blackout the ring indexer snapped in half. I don't have a very accurate round count from my buddy, although he states he barely used the press before selling it, but it seems odd that this piece which indexes and rotates the shell plate would be made of plastic, and very brittle plastic at that, and would break after so little use. Why would this piece break like it did? Did I make some kind of mistake when I was setting up the machine? All moving parts are well greased and the main bolt that holds the shell plate in place was not over tightened. Dillon came to the rescue and is sending me a new indexer. I'd just rather not go through this a second time if it can be prevented. Do you mean the grey triangle shaped piece? If so, I found far too much drag on mine as well when I first got it. I bought it used from somebody that didn't seem to know what they were doing. I had to loosen the two screws holding the black index tab in place, and shift it over until it felt right. It has some adjustment. There could also be a tight bind elsewhere too. Perhaps the shell plate is too snug, and it had too much pressure on the indexer. |
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That piece is a commonly broken - it was designed to break to protect the other parts in the assembly. Never force the handle - if it gets suddenly hard to push, back off and figure out what's wrong. A lot of times, it's a case not seated correctly or a primer hung up, but the most common culprit is not having the setscrew that holds the main shoulder bolt (the one that holds down the shellplate) tightened. That shoulder bolt should not be tight - it should be just snug enough to keep the shell plate from wobbling, but not creating too much drag. The setscrew is what holds the shoulder bolt in place, as opposed to snugging the shoulder bolt up.
I keep a few extra ring indexers handy, just in case. 
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It is often caused by a primer that was not fully pushed out of the pocket, and binds the shellplate when it starts to index- Or the axis bolt may have been too tight.
You have to remove and replace the shellplate and aluminum platform. The trick is replacing the indexing return spring- Some people use a piece of string or dental floss to pull the spring into position. |
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Quoted:
It is often caused by a primer that was not fully pushed out of the pocket, and binds the shellplate when it starts to index- Or the axis bolt may have been too tight. You have to remove and replace the shellplate and aluminum platform. The trick is replacing the indexing return spring- Some people use a piece of string or dental floss to pull the spring into position. Yeah, I forced my 650 probably about a year and a half to two years ago and that part broke. I have a 650 spare parts kit, so when I finally got around to repairing it last month, I had that part. I used a dental pick to re-attach that spring. It took about 5 tries, but I finally got it. I make it a point to clean the underside of the shell plate and that casting that sits on top of the ram. Watch that little ball bearing. That likes to fall right down into the center. Or fall to the floor and drop through one of the registers in the floor. 
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The replacement indexer came in the mail today.
I won't have a chance to install it and reassemble the machine because I head up to Vegas tomorrow afternoon for an NRA instructor workshop and then I'm attending the SHOT show. I'll put the thing together when I get back and report on my success. |
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