Posted: 3/16/2008 7:10:44 PM EDT
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I am about to take the reloading plunge. I think a Dillon 550 it the way to go with the money that's left in the gun fund. I already have a Horniday tumbler with about 2k of 223 polished up and ready to go. I also read the latest Nostler reloading manual, so I think I will start with the 550 in single stage first then as I get comfortable with it move it to progressive. A few questions for those veteran reloaders. What hand primer to use? RCBS? I don't want to use the Dillon if the hand jobs  are more reliable. What case trimmers work best? And what do you trim to for ammo in the AR? What lube do you use before resizing? Thanks for the help and info. Did I miss anything ? |
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I have a LEE hand primer, and it works great. I haven't tried other brands as for trimming, you need to read this thread. www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=407 I bought a set, and it's the bee's knees. really inexpensive too, which is good. I use an RCBS aerosol case lube. it works pretty well, but I've also heard good things about the foam pads. ETA: get a SPEER reloading manual. IMO it's one of the best out there. then read it front to back. it has TONS of valuable information. |
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I've been reloading for a looooooooong time. Its addicting. You might consider a turret press instead of jumping right in to the Dillon (Dillon is nice, don't get me wrong). I picked up an RCBS turret begining of the month, and I can run about 300 rounds per hour on it, and its less than the Dillon. ETA: The Lee trimmer set up is the simplest way to go. I'm gonna upgrade to a Sinclair or Gracey later, but for about $12 total.....the Lee has done well for me so far. OneShot has worked good, just stand em up to make sure you get the inside of the necks. The Lee primer works, used it for probably 13K of .223 so far. My normal steps are tumble, size, tumble...trim if neccesary (if you use the Lee Factory Crimp die, you don't have to trim them all to the same length. As long as you're within the trim-max lengths), prime. I charge with the UniFlow, then with the turret I seat, then turn on spot and crimp with the FCD. |
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For priming I'm using the RCBS hand primer and it works good. I haven't found anything better anyways. For lubing the RCBS lube and pad works good. With a little practice its pretty quick. I'll tend to roll 10 rounds or so at a time. At home on my little single stage I use the Hornady Unique Case lube. It takes a little longer but makes things go smooth like butter. And it smells really good too. |
The 550 is not that hard to learn. You set one station at a time then move on. After all 4 stations are set, you are ready to go.
The priming system on the 550 works well. Sometimes the bolts holding the priming system loosen up or crud builds up and you have to disassemble the parts and clean with some solvent.
The Giraud is the best trimmer by far but the most expensive. The Gracies used to run around $200+ and do a good job from what I've heard. I use the Dillon trimmer which is fairly fast but it's a good idea to champfer and deburr afterword. Some people don't and have good results. Every time I've tried to take a short cut, it comes back to bite me in the end. My process using the Dillon is to Size/Deprime on Station #1 and trim on Station #3 to minimum lenght(i.e. 1.740"). Debur, champfer and remove the primer crimp if using LC, WCC, or PMC brass. On another toolhead, setup the RCBS X-Die and from now on, no more triming. Just size and deprime using the X-Die. 
I use the Dillon lube but you need to use minimum amount . Otherwise your brass will get dents in the shoulder after resizing. If you use too little, the brass gets stuck in the resizing die. It's somewhat of a delicate process. 
Hey man, we have got you covered. Let me know when you are in town next time and I'll give you a demo. Q-man also uses a 550. What are friends for?  Spambo |
I've been using a Lee Auto Prime for the last ten years. I also use the Lee trimmers. Once you spend the big bucks for the cutter (about $5.) the pilots and shell holders for each caliber are about $4. 223 trims to 1.75" I like the Hornady One Shot. It's a little more expensive than a lot of lubes, but it works well for me and doesn't really have to be removed after use. |
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The Lee trimmers work well. I use a rechargable screwdriver, so I don't have to hold a heavy drill. A Lee hand press is handy to have also. Allows you to reload at the range, when you ar working up a load. Also good when you want to blow through sizing/depriming some brass, but something is on the boob-tube that you want to watch. |
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I have a 550b and love it. Wish I would have gone with a 650. I wouldn't recomend it for someone just getting started. I spent a long time reloading on a Rock Chucker by RCBS. I still use it for extruded powders. I don't think the extruded powders meter well enough so I weigh every charge. Since it is for low volume ammo it doesn't matter so much. Ball powders work great for me so that is what I use for the AR. I use the priming feature on the Dillon and it works fine for me. At least I've never had a problem. My process is to lube (I use an RCBS pad and some RCBS caselube that belonged to my Dad) and resize on the Rockchucker(sometimes I tumble before). The RCBS caselube is some gummy stuff and I don't know how it compares. My dad had a huge amount that he got back in the 70's and I'm just about through it all. After resizing I dump the cartridges into VM&P Naptha and agitate for a couple minutes. Throw them on a towel and wipe the excess off. This gets rid of a lot of the grime and the caselube is completely taken care of. Then I tumble. The naptha bath really helps to extend the life of the polishing media and speeds the process significantly. Then I run them through the 550. I don't resize every time but I check case lengths. If I trim I do it after the tumbling. Don't know if that is right or wrong. I like to do it with real clean brass as I can see other deformities better. I have yet to aneal any of my brass. Some has been reloaded 8 times. I've had a few (as in less than 5 per 500) crack during resizing but nothing else. Does anyone anneal their .223 cases? Personally I think it's important to inspect the brass. I don't know just how important it is with .223 in the AR. I usually look them over as I pick them up at the range (check the primers for signs of pressure, bases and necks). I then sort my brass by manufacturer at home (because I'm too lazy to do it at the range) and that gives me another look at them. |
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I was thinking the 550 because I think you can single stage it or run it progressive if you want. I was talking at work today about it and one of the guys is bringing in boxes of his dads old stuff to give me for free. He said most of it is red and all oddball dies, 308 savage, 257 Roberts and so on. I will keep you posted and thanks for the help guys. |