Dillon RL 450, Should I? Pictures Added

[James57]

I have owned both the 450 and 550 model Dillon's and they were mounted side by side on the loading bench. I prefer the 450 to the 550 if you add the new priming system, new powder measure, and the kick out and thumb index pieces to the 450. I would rather change dies and have them lock down dead solidas on the 450 than change heads that don't lock down completely solid as on the 550 but that's justs me. When I'm reloading, I like everything to lock down as solid as I can make it. I use a RCBS Rockchuck press for my rifle loading anyway. I handweigh on a electronic scale all my rifle powder charges because I don't completely trust Powder measure when I get over 45000 lbs of pressure in front of my face. Just my preferences and I suspect there are many who don't see things as I do and that's ok. James

 

[DesertFox]

James is right here too. I tend to load pistol calibers progressively while I split up rifle stages. There's a lot going on with larger capacity, necked shell casings. At a minimum, I resize, deprime on the first station, then trim all that brass, clean primer pocket, inspect, etc. Then hand prime most of the time but have used the primer feed on the 550 - I just like hand priming cause I learned that way. At that point, I can crank through the other three stations to charge, seat and crimp.

And yes, the 450 feels more solid due to the lack of interchangeable toolheads. My 550B has done me just fine for 19 years and a gazillion rounds...

 

[Joed49]

Go for the 450. You can use it as a single stage to start out with the advantage that it is as good as a turret press.

Do you live close to your father or someone that can help you on setup? That would be a hugh benefit.

 

[dirty gary]

I've loaded with every Dillon up to the 1050, have always had my 550 set up - however, I dislike the priming system so much that I prep and prime all my brass on a trusty Rock Chucker. While this may sound time consuming, it really isn't. I load a LOT of calibers, from 32 S&W to 50 AE, and the 550 works fine. If you're serious, get a bunch of toolheads so you can set each caliber up and swap them quickly

 

[m657]

That very press is what I first learned my first lesson on reloading. I had never considered reloading, and started with the 450.

It is a great place to begin!!! Once you master the tricks of more than one step happening at once--then you could upgrade like I did.

It is a magnificent learning tool. I'm glad that's what I started with circa 1980.

Read your instruction manuals, learn what the various manuals have to say about the basics, start with one straight walled case and load in small batches.

You'll catch on very rapidly.

 

[oberon]

good advice

The purists will scream, but I'll take a contrary view here.
Dillons are great machines, but not the best with which to learn the science of reloading.
There is a lot more to the process than just pulling the lever and cranking 'em out.
Cases abound where novice reloaders have produced faulty rounds (most often double-charged or not charged) with unhappy results. Often, there's a progressive press in that equation.

-my $0.03 YMMV

This is good, heads-up advice. Do your research & development in the single stage mode. Learn all about what it is, then fire up the progressive. I load beaucoup rounds on single stage equipment, usually less than 100 rds. in a batch. The cowboy shooters and competetive guys around these parts need about 600 rds. per gun per man per weekend, or somewhere around that. They have progressives set up for each and spend a few weeknite hrs., cranking out enough fodder for the weekend. To my way of thinkin', that is the true purpose of progressive loading.
Jes' sayin'....

 

[03Fatboy]

Thanks for all the input. Here are a couple pictures of the 450. At this point I'm going to send to Dillon to be refurbished and likely hold on the upgrades? I'm only interested in the primer and powder upgrade for possibly the future, I might have them do them now and using after I'm comfortable, to take advantage of only shipping once? This thing is solid and heavy, I'm impressed and happy I got it.
To use this as a SS what are some additional tools or things I'll need to get started, I have an idea from reading but look to your input as well. Thanks

 

[Chuck Jones]

Oh man that brings back memories, I learned to reload on one of those. It's been upgraded twice to a 550B. It's still my main press and only progressive.

You can't beat a Dillion!

/c

 

[Skip Sackett]

I like my RL450. You will not go wrong getting the two upgrades now, while they have the press.

There are a few things missing in the photos. One is the retaining pins for the cartridges. They are brass and go in the small holes on the outside of the ram.

Also, there is an indexing star that needs to be installed. It goes between the bolt and the shell plate. It makes it easier to turn the shell plate.

Looks good though! Having that will be a real blessing! Nothing special needed to use it as a single stage. Just put one case in at a time. Use the setup procedures for your die set and you will be fine. The powder die is a bit of a challenge to set sometimes. It is in that station that you get the bell put on too. Getting that adjusted can be a bit frustrating. Learn the process first.

Go to Lee's website and watch the setup videos for their dies. Should work pretty close for other manufacturer's stuff too.


Let us know if you need help!

 

[03Fatboy]

I noticed the indexing star was missing and no where to be found as shown in your photo. I think the brass pins are in the bag in the photo below? I do have two shell plates, one installed with a number 1 stamped into it and the other in the bag with a 2 stamped on it, why 2 and I think it's called a shell plate, maybe not?

 

[ko41]

The index star is part of the Auto Eject upgrade, it is not standard on the 450.
The powder measure has been upgraded to case activated auto drop, but lacks the failsafe mechanism.

KO

 

[Lou_NC]

The shell plates are designed to grab your cartridges by the rim, aligning them with the dies, and preventing them from tipping during the reloading process. It's a precise fit.

You'll need a shell plate that matches the head of each cartridge you intend to reload. Some are usable for several calibers that share the same case head dimensions (example includes .45ACP and .308win which have the same case head dimensions).

Dillon provides a table on their website that you can use to identify the plates you have, and you can figure out all the calibers that they will work for.

The brass pins are also matched to the shell plates, so that they will provide the correct tolerance for retaining the cartridges as they turn around the press. I'm not familiar with documentation that describes the numbering of the pins, but I'm sure you can figure out which pins go with which shell plate since you have only two plates.

Lou

I noticed the indexing star was missing and no where to be found as shown in your photo. I think the brass pins are in the bag in the photo below? I do have two shell plates, one installed with a number 1 stamped into it and the other in the bag with a 2 stamped on it, why 2 and I think it's called a shell plate, maybe not?

 

[FTG-05]

As stated above, the 450/550 machines are an excellent way to learn how to reload. Instead of constantly being interrupted changing dies or whatever, you can focus on the mechanics of reloading at each step, moving at your own pace. It's the way I learned and it was great.

I got a single stage later, for free. If I had started with that thing I would have never gone into reloading, what a pain in the butt!

Good luck.

 

[03Fatboy]

I'm missing the manual for the 450. I have been searching for one, but to no avail yet. Does anyone know where I can get one or does someone have it in .pdf format for email?

 

[03Fatboy]

Can you tell me what the failsafe mechanism does? How important is it and can I get the components needed?

The index star is part of the Auto Eject upgrade, it is not standard on the 450.
The powder measure has been upgraded to case activated auto drop, but lacks the failsafe mechanism.

KO

 

[Skip Sackett]

The failsafe rod is for the powder measure. It makes sure that the slide is pulled all of the way to the rear when the press is opened. When the press is closed, the powder measure slide goes forward and dumps powder. The rod makes sure that the slide is physically pulled back to its starting position so it can get refilled with powder.

Get the manual for the RL550 from the Dillon website. Disregard the stuff about the removable tool head and the other parts you don't have. Basically, setup and running them are exactly the same.

FWIW

 

[Skip Sackett]

p.s. If you do download that manual, look at the parts breakdown. # 97000 is the failsafe rod.

 

[03Fatboy]

Thanks Skip, I'll download the manual and get familiar with the fail safe system.

 

[Skip Sackett]

Long Beach, huh, small world! I used to visit my Uncle Max there when I was a wee tad! We lived in the San Fernando Valley then although I was born in Oceanside.

Glad to be "from" The People's Republic of Kalifornia though and not still a resident!

 

[03Fatboy]

Any input on whether or not I should add the fail safe mechanism to the powder measure? Pros and cons to be considered? It's only about $24 bucks to add from Dillon.