Virgin reloader

[dcxplant]

Good evening all, I'm an FNG on the forum, and I just purchased my first reloader! For any other FNG's out there who would like to start, I'd like to try and chronicle my journey from purchase to first batch of rounds.

Tomorrow morning I'll be sippin' my joe over the instructions, watching the set-up video, and trying to keep an eye on our 19 week old chocolate lab, first name Kodiak...

I bought the RL 550B from Dillon. I read a lot of good things about it, watched some vids on YouTube, and the two factors that got me to buy the Dillon was 1-the warranty, and 2-I live in Scottsdale where the HQ is.

I worked with a rep named Matt at the Scottsdale store, who was really helpful and super-sharp with the product knowledge. He patiently showed every step of reloading and set-up, as well as showing the features of the various models to be sure that I got what I needed as well as expecting. I can't say enough about the excellent customer service, the best product service I gotten in years. After spending about an hour in the shop, I bought the 550B and a few things to get ready to roll:

Dillon RL 550B
Dies for 10mm/40SW
Dies for 44 Mag (now you know my true reason for reloading!)
Spare die tool head for second caliber
Dillon's analog calipers
Dillon case cleaner and corn media
Electronic scale
Dillon's strong stand (optional mounting stand for press)
Primer flipper

Total plus the considerable AZ tax and city tax was just over a grand. A lot, but I am ready to reload two expensive calibers. I was planning on checking out all the stuff at the Dillon HQ retail store, and scrounge up the press and other things online etc. to get the best prices, but after the great in store service, I bought it all right there, and now I have the Dillon warranty.

Why I bought these things:
-550b: easy to set up, and change calibers. HQ in my hometown, warranty, tough, reliable.

-Spare die tool head: will save tons of time by having a complete caliber ready to slide in, no secondary set-ups. Like Ron from Ronco's rotisserie: set it and forget it (almost I'll still have to make fine adjustments from time to time.

-Analog calipers: I saved money over digital, and these are plenty accurate for my needs.

-Case cleaner and media: I've amassed a good collection of found brass, and plan on finding more-hey, it's free!

-Electronic powder scale: I will not save money on this critical item, a balance scale was a non-starter. Measuring powder is too critical to skimp on for me.

-Strong Stand: This will keep the press more stable with less wiggle, and make pulling/indexing easier because it raises the press to a more ergonomic position.

-Primer flipper: It would take all day to do this correctly without it!

My next step is to buy the needed consumables, get some reloading manuals, and set her up.

Thanks!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Congratulations on starting to reload. I'm a little surprised your first reloading press is a progressive press. There is a learning curve when you start reloading and IMO starting with a progressive press only steepens the curve.

BE VERY CAREFUL not to double charge a case. A "powder cop" dies would be a good idea and even with one you should look inside every case before the bullet goes on.

Good luck with your new press, you did buy a good one.

 

[Steve in Vermont]

BE VERY CAREFUL not to double charge a case. A "powder cop" dies would be a good idea and even with one you should look inside every case before the bullet goes on.

Ditto on this advice. I have a single stage and was loading Bullseye Powder last night. I check every load carefully and one didn't look right. Checked it and.....yep. Got my attention.

 

[dcxplant]

I was hoping to get some advise before starting this morning, so thanks!

I will run the 550 one cartridge at a time to gain experience with the machine and reloading in general.

Early in my career I worked on F-4 Phantoms and F/A-18's in the Marines and paid for my college and flight lessons working on aircraft in a local aircraft repair station, and have always maintained my motorcycles (including adjusting valves, balancing carbs/throttle bodies) so I am pretty handy with tools. It helps being of German descent, my anal-retentiveness knows almost no bounds-ha!

I have a healthy respect for precision with critical components, and reloading ammunition is certainly critical.

Message received: Be careful, check the powder!

It looks like the "powder cop" goes after the powder drop stage, but the 550B has only four stations, not five, like the 650 does. If I can use the powder cop on my 550, please tell me. It was not obvious on Hornady's website.

I almost bought the 650 for the powder alarm feature alone (beeps with too much or too little powder) but the cost savings of the 550 vs 650 paid for a second caliber/tool head setup.

Also, the 650 with it's auto indexing seems a bit over the top for a noob like me. There are a lot of critical things going on all at once.

As for powder checking, I will mount an inspection mirror on the back of the press frame so I can easily peek in each case before the bullet is seated. I got that idea on this forum somewhere, so a big thanks to who posted that!

I believe in a "best practices" approach to complicated tasks, so if anyone has experience with the Dillon 550 that they would like to share, I'd love to hear it-hey, that's why we're here right

 

[Maximumbob54]

You might add to the mirror a small led lamp. That will help you see for sure with the added light. I have one with a flexing neck but it takes AAAA batteries and I hate having to order them. Time for an upgrade...

 

[dcxplant]

You might add to the mirror a small led lamp. That will help you see for sure with the added light. I have one with a flexing neck but it takes AAAA batteries and I hate having to order them. Time for an upgrade...

A fine idea, I'll incorporate that. Thanks!

 

[matsu]

All good advise have had a Dillion 550B for over 25 years other goodie's
are bullet tray and roller handle

 

[M29since14]

You might add to the mirror a small led lamp. That will help you see for sure with the added light...

Excellent advice.

Dillons take a lot of abuse from people who claim they cause all sorts of problems, but they are just a machine, like any other. The results will depend on the skill of the user. If you do not allow yourself to become distracted while you are reloading, you can turn out thousands of rounds and never have a problem. If anything causes an interruption in your operation of the machine, that is the dead giveaway that it is time to stop immediately - check and re-check EVERYTHING before proceeding. The slightest bit of confusion can precipitate a disaster.

The idea to process single rounds until you are comfortable with the operation of the machine is a good one. It is not a complicated process and you should get past that quickly. But all the other considerations of reloading remain, and are the same whether using a progressive press or not.

I always suggest that new handloaders should deliberately stay away from maximum charges - for a lot of reasons. There really is a lot to learn. Having that electronic scale is a great thing. However, like anything else, that scale needs to be monitored. If you do not have a set of test weights for it, get them!

 

[PALADIN85020]

The powder check die is not available for the 550. It's a good idea to check the powder level visually.

Although many people advocate starting with a single stage press, the slowness of such presses soon encourages the purchase of a progressive reloader. Might as well start with the progressive and save some money. The Dillon 550 is the workhorse of the line, easy to learn and use, and offers the most versatility of any of the lineup. It also gives you the advantage of total control over the process; nothing happens until you want it to. Plus you will get unequaled customer service. The CS reps are all veteran reloaders and will be happy to answer any questions on the phone. It doesn't get any better than that. Also, when and if you finally wear out a part, Dillon's "no BS" warranty applies and it will be in the mail to you no charge.

John

 

[Moonman]

Get some manuals and READ-READ-READ. Get to know the what and why's of things in reloading. (What to do, what to watch for, what NOT to do). You eventually should get a chronograph to check the actual velocity of your hand-loading work. You can try to tape a small flex neck bore light (1 AAA battery) to the press.
I got at Brownell's $6.25. I have one taped to the optional wrench holder on a Square D press.

I also have a long flexible light that mounts on a rear shelf of my bench. Keep only (1) ONE powder at the reloading bench at a time, powders do not mix.

When setting up the progressive, drop (10) TEN charges and weigh the 10. You then divide by 10 and you'll have the average charge that you and your press operating motion are delivering. Adjust the powder drop and repeat.

I actually HAND prime the cases, before loading the case in my Square D. (I remove the decapping pin from the decapping/sizing die, as decapping a live primer is not good.) I check to see primers are seated below flush.

Make sure to check your overall length (COL). I have chamber gages to check the finished round, some people use the barrel of the firearm being loaded for. (easy if it's an automatic).
Have fun.

 

[Culina]

Since you started off with a progressive, maybe you should put a bullet puller on the list. Hopefully you won't need it but when you have a press that can turn out a lot of loaded rounds quickly, if there is a problem, it means you will have lots of rejects.

I have been reloading since 1992 and still do not own a progressive press. I only reload 2000-3000 rounds a year which I do not consider high volume.

 

[matsu]

There is a you tube website called the ultimate reloader who has video's of Hornady, Lee ,RCBS and Dillion progressive press's demos

 

[Moonman]

+++++1 on the Ultimate reloader you-tube site.

 

[fredj338]

Welcome to a great new hobby. The 550B will give you years of trouble free service. I have loaded on a couple for some 25yrs+ & recently sold the first one I bought & got a 650 to go with the other 550B. It's addicting. I know guys that I swear shoot just so they can reload.

 

[shooter1950]

Bullet puller is needed befor mass production begins. Been loading over 25yrs and a couple of months ago things were going so good I forgot to keep an eye on the powder and loaded the last 80 rounds without powder.

 

[dcxplant]

Thanks all!!

I just got the machine up on the bench, but I am not ready to set up the dies until I have an inkling of what I'm doing.

New additions:

-Latest copies of Lyman's and Speer's reloading manuals.
-Robbed an old lampstand from spare bedroom to shine onto the station (check powder). I think there is enough open space on the machine for me to peek into the cases to check power, so for now no mirror, but if I need to I'll mount one.
-Bullet puller
-Case gauges for each caliber

Components!
-Powder: IMR 4227 (what the store had in stock that was in both books for my caliber/bullet weights)
-Bullets: Berry's plated 240gr flat point .44 and 165gr flat point .40SW
-Primers: Winchester small pistol standard; large pistol for standard or magnum.
-New Winchester 44 Magnum cases.

I'm reading through the Lyman and Speer manuals before getting started. I am especially enjoying the Speer manual, very well written.

Questions:

-With the Dillon dies, do I need to lube the cases?
-Does anyone hand clean the primer pockets, or just run the cases through the media machine and call it a day?

 

[dcxplant]

Thanks very much you guys!

Kurac,
I thought long and hard about progressive or not… Ultimately, I figured I'd prolly end up enjoying this hobby and moving into a progressive anyway.

Shooter 1950,
If you did it I sure as heck can too!! Got the puller…

Thanks Matsu, I'll check it out.

M29since14,
Hey, a kindred soul! I bought a new M29 Mem Day weekend, and after buying three boxes of ammo decided it is going to be expensive to feed my new baby. I'd been playing with the idea to reload for years, but the M29 got me to do it. Plus, I'm really looking forward to working up plinking rounds, accuracy rounds-fun fun! Man I just love shooting that chunk of metal… I rented one before I bought it, because I was really intimidated by the recoil, but heck, I shot that 6 ½ in. M29 better at 25 yards off-hand within the first two cylinders than I hardly do at 25 feet with my HK USP Compact 40!! For some reason that HK in 40 cal really sends out a nasty blast.

 

[Rule3]

No, you do not need to lube the straight wall cases, nor do you need to clean the primer pockets. Some do, I don't.

You might want to reconsider your bullet choice for the 44 Mag.

Plated bullets are just that, plated. They are not good for Magnum loads and do not have a crimp groove( cannelure) The should not be driven past 1200 fps.

Some hard cast lead or more expensive FMJ (Speer, Hornady etc) if you do not want lead.

Start low and work up, check and double check.

 

[matsu]

another book that can be a big help is ABC's of Reloading

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Components!
-Powder: IMR 4227 (what the store had in stock that was in both books for my caliber/bullet weights)
-Bullets: Berry's plated 240gr flat point .44 and 165gr flat point .40SW

Just because a manual lists a powder for a caliber doesn't mean it will do a good job in that caliber. 4227 is a good powder for the .44 Magnum but not that good for the 40 S&W. IMO 4227 is much too slow a powder for the 40 S&W.

I would give slightly faster powders a try in the 40 S&W like HS-6, Longshot, Auto Comp, Power Pistol, AA#7 or other powders in that burn rate range.

 

[dcxplant]

OCD1,
Good point thank! I was planning on loading light loads, not full magnum at first. The Winchester Large Pistol primers I picked up say "for standard or magnum" so I figured I'd get magnum cases so as to not have to keep track of special vs magnum and load them lighter. I'll check Berry's website, and see what they say for maximum fps, thanks.

[edit] What Berry had to say about their plated bullets:
"Velocities depend on the caliber, but as a rule of thumb, we recommend you don't shoot our plated bullets over 1200 feet-per-second. Our 44's actually shoot best around 1150 fps. 45's are generally good at 850-900 fps. Our bullets are not recommended for magnum velocities."

Matsu,
Thanks! All I could get locally in stock was the Speer and Lyman. I'll order that on Amazon, I've heard many people suggest it on other threads too.

ArchAngelCD,
For me, this is the most mystifying aspect of reloading…Powders. I am in awe at the choices. I picked 4227 because it was in the tables of both manuals I bought, and I need to build experience with loading safely. Right now I'd be happy that I produce safe ammo that goes "bang" when I pull the trigger without mishaps, misfires, or the dreaded "click-bang".

Community knowledge is very important, and I appreciate all of the help for me to utilize a "best practices" approach to reloading!

 

[Rule3]

OCD1,
Good point thank! I was planning on loading light loads, not full magnum at first. The Winchester Large Pistol primers I picked up say "for standard or magnum" so I figured I'd get magnum cases so as to not have to keep track of special vs magnum and load them lighter. I'll check Berry's website, and see what they say for maximum fps, thanks.

[edit] What Berry had to say about their plated bullets:
"Velocities depend on the caliber, but as a rule of thumb, we recommend you don't shoot our plated bullets over 1200 feet-per-second. Our 44's actually shoot best around 1150 fps. 45's are generally good at 850-900 fps. Our bullets are not recommended for magnum velocities."

What, you didn't believe me??

The Win Primers are great for Mag or not Mag. The "problem" if you will with the Berrys bullets for revolvers (they are fine bullets, I have shot thousands of them) is there is not crimp groove for revolver loads, so you either have to apply a very light roll crimp to avoid cracking the plating or use a taper crimp. My revolver dies only roll crimp. If you load heavy recoil 44 Mag loads without a good crimp the bullets may move in the cylinder and cause the gun to lock up.

So what to do if no taper crimp?? I just crimp until it dents the bullet. Do you have a inertial bullet puller (mistake hammer)
You can crimp some without primers and powder and determine how much it has grooved the bullet.

And do tell us about your "first time"

 

[Skip Sackett]

Ever do any of your work on those F-14s in Iwakuni? I was there in 1974-1975. Just wondering.

With your mechanical aptitude you will do fine with an RL550B. It isn't really a progressive press. It is a manually advanced turret, kinda. I know, whatever!

What are you going to be shooting the 40S&W in? That is a question that I would like to have answered. The calibers you have are not that difficult to load BUT the 40S&W in certain firearms can be trouble.

I have loaded it successfully for several years. I did have one KB, but that was the fault of some data I used, really.

Using the press as a single stage is a good idea to start with. With the RL550B, seeing that you are the advancing mechanism, should you forget to do that, you could end up with a double charge pretty easily. Use a powder that fills the case pretty well with a single charge and you will readily notice a double charge. If in doubt, use the puller!

Enjoy, and be safe. Now all you have to get involved in is casting your own bullets. Then you will be in reloading bliss!

 

[M29since14]

4227 is a good place to start loading the 44 Magnum - hard to get in too big of a mess with that one, but the comments about the bullets lacking a crimp groove are something to take note of. The bulk Winchester and Remington 240-gr jacketed bullets would have been a better place to start, but of course a bit more money.

You might concentrate your efforts on the 44 Magnum and get some experience with it before you go on to .40SW. First, for a beginner, there will be a certain added confusion in working with two very different types of cartridges. The 44 is the easier of the two to work with, for me.

Once you get things going your way with the 44, and you have developed confidence in your ability, then the .40 can come along, and in the meantime, you will not have wasted a lot of money if you continue shooting the .40 because factory cartridges are not that expensive.

For the .40SW, you definitely want another powder. I am particularly fond of HS-6, but there are many good ones. Some of the other popular choices are 231 / HP-38, Unique, AA #5, Winch. Super Field, Longshot, and so on. A medium speed pistol powder (4227 is slow) seems to work best in the various high-pressure auto pistol cartridges like 9x19, 40, and 10mm.

 

[PALADIN85020]

4227 is a good place to start loading the 44 Magnum - hard to get in too big of a mess with that one, but the comments about the bullets lacking a crimp groove are something to take note of. The bulk Winchester and Remington 240-gr jacketed bullets would have been a better place to start, but of course a bit more money.

You might concentrate your efforts on the 44 Magnum and get some experience with it before you go on to .40SW. First, for a beginner, there will be a certain added confusion in working with two very different types of cartridges. The 44 is the easier of the two to work with, for me.

Once you get things going your way with the 44, and you have developed confidence in your ability, then the .40 can come along, and in the meantime, you will not have wasted a lot of money if you continue shooting the .40 because factory cartridges are not that expensive.

For the .40SW, you definitely want another powder. I am particularly fond of HS-6, but there are many good ones. Some of the other popular choices are 231 / HP-38, Unique, AA #5, Winch. Super Field, Longshot, and so on. A medium speed pistol powder (4227 is slow) seems to work best in the various high-pressure auto pistol cartridges like 9x19, 40, and 10mm.

The powder measure on the 550 and other Dillon presses measure most accurately with ball powders. For the .44 maggie, Win. 296 and its Hodgdon twin H110 work exceptionally well. These are a slow burners like Alliant 2400, so it's best to use magnum primers. They are also about ideal for the .357 magnum and the 41 magnum.

John

 

[Skip Sackett]

The powder manufacturer determines what primers to use for their powder, not the measure.

At any rate, H110/W296 (which is the exact same powder) is a WONDERFUL powder for both the Dillon measure AND the 357Mag with heavier bullets.

Small flake powders, such as the "dot" powders from Alliant and the IMR powders, SR7625 & SR4756, work equally well in the Dillon powder measure. Larger flake powders and extruded rifle powders can be a pain but there are ways around that too.

FWIW

 

[dcxplant]

OCD1,
Suuuuure I trust ya!

Roger on the crimpage… I checked into the Dillon .44 die set I have and evidently it features what they call "Accu-Crimp". For light revolver loads a shallow set die yields a roll crimp and for heavier loads a deeper set die yields a roll-crimp, pretty kewell! If you or anyone else has experience setting these Accu-Crimp Dillon dies on a 550B I'd like to hear about it.
I got the mistake hammer yesterday, the day is soon approaching I'll use it, hopefully not too often.

Smith crazy,
I pasted through Iwakuni, but with F/A-18's. We had gotten rid of the last of our F-4's right before the WEST PAC tour, 1988. I wrenched on the J-79's and GE-F404's. Really the F404's on the F/A-18 were like a Honda, just change the oil every once and a while, and swap out the motor at hot section time. Dang things ran forever, but the AMAD had a habit of eating generators… I did an engine change in less than a hour with a good crew with the -18, try that on an F-4 ha ha!!

M29since14,
Now that's best practices material right there… For sure I will start on the 44 first. The powder choices are boggling. I'm just going to stick to the book recipes verbatim for a while.

For now I'm still digesting the intro sections to my manuals and checking out info on the component maker's websites. I hope to make my first batch this weekend.

 

[Skip Sackett]

dcx,
Not a fly-guy so you are talking Greek to me! I was a Combat Engineer attached to the Air-Dales to make embarkation boxes for their moves! WES-17, MSSG-17.

At any rate, you have the skill set to do what you need to do with the Dillon. Just remember, you can end up with a real problem if you put JP5 in a multi-fuel 6 by. If you get my drift.

There is a way to hot rod rounds and there is a way not to.

The most reliable source I have found for firearms and ammunition that has been run to their max, is from Brian Pearce and his Handloader Magazine articles. Wolfe Publishing has a webpage and pdf files of the magazines. All of his loads are on LoadData.com too and that makes a nice data resource for those wanting the last "inth" out of their rounds.

I have a subscription to each. Well worth the money, in my opinion.

 

[GF1]

You've got some good advice here, would add a couple things. Be careful reducing loads with the slow powder you use; that can get you in as much trouble as too much. Follow a manual, be very judicious about setting up your powder measure and check charges frequently w/ a reliable scale, ensuring that you weigh enough that you get the extremes covered well within book standards. With the .44, be sure to roll crimp in a groove of the bullets. I agree also with waiting on the 40 until you are proficient with the set up and process. I use progressives with shotshells, but not handgun cartridges (have done so since 1975).

The very light loads of fast powder - small charges - have the greatest potential for danger due to the possibility of double charges that you might not detect. The magnum loadings with medium to slow powder will overflow the case in a double charge situation (pretty good tip).

 

[Rule3]

One more thing as Skip was yacking about magnum powders and other stuff.

You have plated bullets so from your Speer or whatever manual you want to be using a low to mid range powder charge for FMJ data or some say use the lead data for a same weight. shape bullet. It just gets too confusing. So No H110 or 296 for these plated bullets

And no, 4227 is not a good choice for either bullet you have chosen. If you get "real" bullets for the 44 Mag OK but again not the plated as they are not Magnum rated.