Need help with Dillon 550 & 9mm issue

[tj1371x]

So I just switched out caliber sets today from .38 to 9mm and I'm having an issue at the second station where the case bell is developed and the powder charge is dropped.

I was having about one out of every five bullets seat improperly, which I then realized came from chips in the case mouth at station 2.

View attachment 117520
View attachment 117521
View attachment 117522
View attachment 117523
View attachment 117524

I came to realize that about one out of every five or so casings aren't lining up properly with the powder drop at stage two, as depicted in these pictures where I stopped the lever upon meeting resistance:

View attachment 117525
View attachment 117526

I tried everything I could think of to remediate this problem with no luck. I re-calibrated the dies, I verified to make sure I changed out the caliber conversion plate and those little things that hold the cases against the plate. There seems to be a little bit of wiggle room for the casing to shake between these retaining screws and the plate edges. Not sure how that could be the cause, but I figured it was worth mentioning.

I'm using an assortment of brass, so I'm wondering if cartridge dimensions would be a factor? I didn't think it would be, but I'll ask the crowd here.

Also, on the cartridges that loaded fine, I was noticing that the middle of the cartridge seemed a bit thinner than the rest of the cartridge, like there was a bulge at the bottom of the case and also where the bullet was seated to. You can kind of make it out in this picture. I verified the difference with my caliper.

View attachment 117527
View attachment 117528
View attachment 117529

I referenced the manuals I have on hand (Speer and Lyman's), but couldn't find anything that referenced these problems. I also checked my Dillon manual for the 550, and couldn't find anything. I have a new Dan Wesson Pointman 9 coming in that I'm loading for, and I don't want to use these loads if there's anything unsafe about them. They were loaded using CCI 500 primers, assorted 9mm brass, 3.9 grains of bullseye (starting charge is 3.8-3.9), 124gr Berry's TMJ, and the OAL was 1.145. These were previously loaded and fired from either my Glock 19 or 26, and I've heard about case bulging being an issue with some Glocks due to lack of chamber support? Heard about this mostly for the Glock 20 regarding hot 10mm hand loads, but not sure if that would apply to 9mm Glocks that aren't loaded very hot at all (mouse fart ammo honestly). I remember the ejection patterns being pretty weak.

It's my first year reloading so I'm asking for any advice or help anyone can offer me on this. Obviously I'm not to experienced. Thanks if you've read this far an can offer up any solutions!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tj1371x]

Sorry, the pictures didn't load right, here they are again:












Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tj1371x]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[OKFC05]

Don't quite follow what your problem is, but if some of your cartridges are not being sufficiently belled on station two and the bullets are hanging up, then you need more bell. With brass of various lengths, you need to bell so the shortest cartridge in the batch is open enough to accept the bullet.

Need more info to guess more than that.

P.S. The wasp waist on the loaded cartridge is normal.

 

[tj1371x]

The case is going up into the powder die at a bad angle and the casing mouth is getting chipped off. I resized the bell and it's fine, but every five or so casings get hung up on the powder die at station two. I double checked the plate and the pins to make sure they were the right ones.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bkreutz]

From the pictures, I'd say that you either have the wrong shell plate, or it is mislabeled (which would still make it the wrong shell plate). I guess it could be the buttons, can you manually push the cases farther into the shell plate? If you can't figure it out, call Dillon on Monday and they'll figure it out. As was said before, the "coke bottle" appearance of the brass is normal. The part that makes no sense is that it doesn't do it with every case. Are you tightening the dies with a case in the die? (this centers the die, it's in the setup instructions)

 

[OKFC05]

Be sure the bolt in the shell plate is tight, and that everything is in right after the caliber swap. Sure sounds like an adjustment or part switchover problem. Missing or wrong pin or plate will do that.

 

[Aticus]

let's take a shot at this.

First make sure you have a no. 5 shell plate, no. 3 pins, and a no. F powder funnel. Now when every thing is installed on the press make sure there is no up and down play in the shell plate. The shell plate should turn smoothly but have no slop.

When you're sure every thing is adjusted correctly run a couple cases through slowly and see how it works. I ruined half a box of 38-55 cases because of too much vertical play in the shell plate. If that doesn't solve the problem Dillon has great customer service. We're too far apart for me to do a hands on but that's what your problem sounds like.

Just rechecked a couple of your pictures. Looks like you've got a classic case of loose shell plate.

 

[tj1371x]

Maybe the plate isn't tight enough then. I'll give that a shot. I usually tighten it down all the way and then back it off until it cycles smoothly. Maybe I backed it off too much...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tj1371x]

let's take a shot at this.

First make sure you have a no. 5 shell plate, no. 3 pins, and a no. F powder funnel. Now when every thing is installed on the press make sure there is no up and down play in the shell plate. The shell plate should turn smoothly but have no slop.

When you're sure every thing is adjusted correctly run a couple cases through slowly and see how it works. I ruined half a box of 38-55 cases because of too much vertical play in the shell plate. If that doesn't solve the problem Dillon has great customer service. We're too far apart for me to do a hands on but that's what your problem sounds like.

Just rechecked a couple of your pictures. Looks like you've got a classic case of loose shell plate.

You were right on the money! After I tightened down the shell plate the first time I backed it off too far and it was a little too loose. I tightened it back up and went through about 30 cases, all of which mated up with the powder die without any issues. I checked the pin, plate, and powder die again just to be safe and they were the right ones. Glad to hear that the skinny case thing is normal too.

Thanks for the help everyone!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[H Richard]

You may have a problem with inconsistent case length. If the case is too long it will bell excessively and possibly be too large and hang up inside the die. Do you check for case length? If you use any range pick up brass it will be numerous brands and some foreign brass is not consistent with US brass dimensions. Try setting up and trimming a batch of brass, then going through your reloading sequence and see if you have the same problems. (And watch for any 38 super brass that gets mixed up with your 9mm, as well as 9 Largo, etc.)

 

[dentkimterry]

Shell plate not tight enough. Lets cases sit at an angle.

 

[smokindog]

As soon as I saw the pics I recognized the results from one of my own faux pas!

I've got a Hornady LNL AP but an improperly tightened plate allowed the retainer spring to under cut a bit and I got the same results on the cases.

let's take a shot at this.

First make sure you have a no. 5 shell plate, no. 3 pins, and a no. F powder funnel. Now when every thing is installed on the press make sure there is no up and down play in the shell plate. The shell plate should turn smoothly but have no slop.

When you're sure every thing is adjusted correctly run a couple cases through slowly and see how it works. I ruined half a box of 38-55 cases because of too much vertical play in the shell plate. If that doesn't solve the problem Dillon has great customer service. We're too far apart for me to do a hands on but that's what your problem sounds like.

Just rechecked a couple of your pictures. Looks like you've got a classic case of loose shell plate.

 

[Aticus]

You were right on the money! After I tightened down the shell plate the first time I backed it off too far and it was a little too loose. I tightened it back up and went through about 30 cases, all of which mated up with the powder die without any issues. I checked the pin, plate, and powder die again just to be safe and they were the right ones. Glad to hear that the skinny case thing is normal too.

Thanks for the help everyone!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Glad I could help, tj. That's one of them: been there, done that, got the t-shirt things.