I bought a 550 for Christmas this past year, a present to myself. I have been reloading .38 S&W and .38 Special as well as 9mm. Now I want to do a bunch of 44/40 and .45 ACP, which need large pistol primers.
I was told that I have to change the primer bar and adjust it to center the primers correctly and it takes 1/2 to 1 hour to change over.
How much of a hassle is this?

I had actually contemplated getting another 550B, one for small primers and one for large. I have the room on my bench, where I currently have a Lyman sizing press (really don't use it) the 550B and a Rock Chucker and a drill press. I would take off the sizer and move the drill press, the bench is about 5-6 feet long.

It shouldn't take that long at all; the adjustments are not that drastic. Dillon has superb customer support. Call them and they will walk you through it over the phone.

It takes about 3 minutes to change the primer bar after you do it a couple of times. It's very easy. I can go from .38 Special to .45 ACP in less than 10 minutes easy. It's all easy to get lined up and adjusted. It's easier to do than explain.

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AL
Pax Per Potens

Don't forget to change the Primer magazine...a tube that slips into the big black primer feed thing-a-ma-jig. Failure to do so will cause some primer misfeeds, a headache and roughly 3 oz of good Bourbon to fix. =)

Seriously though, changing over from small to large primer is really a 5 minute job at most.

Excellent, now you know who not to listen to.

Good luck.

ETA: It probably took me longer to type this post and get it right than it does to change over the primer size on a Dillon RL-550B. I just did this when changing to 45-70 LR primers.

Good luck.

Fantastic!
I have 3 sons, 2 of whom shoot, the oldest doesn't, and they can burn through ammo big time!
I have been collecting brass for a couple years and have a 5 gallon bucket of .38 special and tons of 45, well actually about 2,000 rounds brass, same with .40's

This weekend is out but next weekend I will set up for .45 and try it out!

Changing to large primers is a piece of cake compared to changing the shell plate and making a caliber conversion. Just make sure the tit on the primer magazine lines up and drops the magazine into place.

One good way to make sure the primer seating cup is centered in the primer hole in the shell plate carrier is to leave the two allen head mounting bolts for the primer assembly a little loose, then lower the ram so the primer cup press goes up into the hole in the shell plate carrier. Now, tighten up the bolts. The shell plate carrier will hold the priming assembly in the correct position while you tighten things up.

Even though I could readily change out the primer arm etc fairly easy, I found myself shooting the caliber set up in my 550B. I solved this by buying a used 550b. Now one is permantly set up for 45, the other see's 38's and 357's. I have a 40 caliber change kit but haven't set it up yet.

I like Fkimble's solution. If you have the room and the finances, this solves a whole bunch of problems. Never can tell when you might decide that you need to load up another couple hundert .45s or another K of .357s.
BTW, whoever told you that it takes an hour to change out from small to large has never done it or is just out right lying! I can change the primer only in less than 3 minutes and a complete caliber change in less than ten minutes.

EW

For me the aggravating part of changing primer sizes was the readjusting of the stop for the primer slide. I solved that by calling Dillon and ordering the parts necessary for a complete primer assembly. The central tube, primer slide, and mounting bolts came with the press. I needed the primer housing, blast tube, actuating arm, etc. Once I got those, assembled them, and made the adjustments all I have to do is take out 2 bolts, swap assemblies, and reinstert the two bolts, lower the ram so the shell plate is over the primer cup, and tighten the bolts down.

Sgt Preston here...
I also load a lot on a Dillon 550B...
And I have to switch back & forth from time to time...
Switching over is straight forward & fast...
But getting the adjustment perfect can take a little practice...
Here's what I do the make it perfect...
Obviously everything needs to be CLEAN before the changeover...
After I have it set where I think it's right...
I load 100 primers into the primer feeder...
Next without using any brass, bullets or feeding any powder...
I crank the handle down & back up once...
If the primer stop is set correctly...
A primer will be deposited into the primer slide..&..
And then moved to the primer insertion point & raised up...
At that point I pick the primer up with my fingers & set it aside...
Next I crank the handle & remove the next 99 primers...
If everything is set right there will be NO glitches...
When I'm sure it's 100% right, I add powder & brass & begin loading...
Hope this is helpful...

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NRA Life Member

I can do the changeover between primer sizes in about 5 minutes. Very simple.

+1 on a quick change, once you do it the first time you will wonder why you worried about it. Now...if you still feel the need to buy another press, well...I can send you my shipping address
That said, happy loading and don't forget the eye protection, be safe.