So it’s been about 6 years I’m loading on my Dillon RL550. I mainly load 9mm and 223. I am in two minds about upgrading to the 650 or 750. But my question is, for other Dillon users, have you ever had your powder measure change it’s charge weight after setting up? I don’t check nearly as often as I use to, after the first few years I found it to be very very consistent.
Depends on the powder, some more consistent than others. I also load on a 550 as well as a 1050.
550 is plenty of press, if doing over a 2nd 550 would probably be on my bench instead of the 1050.
ThisOriginally Posted by Patrick Taylor
Don’t blame me. I didn’t vote for that dumb bastard.
Couple observations after 200k+ rounds on a D650. Depending on powder type, some settle more than others. This settling can be the result of vibration, or time. For instance, if I don't load for 4 or 5 months, I can expect to drop a slightly heavier charge for the first 1 or 2 rounds. With a weight of 5.2 grains, it may instead drop 5.3 or even 5.4 grains. This is simply because the powder bar, is done by volume, and not actual weight. If more powder is packed in, more powder drops.
I alleviate this by returning the first 3 powder drops to the reservoir, if I haven't loaded for several months.
May spot check a drop every hundred rounds or so, but once I'm set and production has started, it throws consistent.
Taking a break from social media.
So are all of you leaving powder in the measure? I tend to load up the measure for a session then empty it back into to the original container.
So I reweigh 10 to 15 throws every session to reestablish my baseline.
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Try something like this:
https://ballistictools.com/store/per...powder-measure
Or this:
https://dramworx.com/products/dillon/
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Last edited by Tokarev; 08-11-2020 at 07:02 PM.
The first drop is always heavy, but after that it's consistent for as long as I can stand to run the press.
Yes. Until the virus hit and slowed down my shooting, loading 9mm was a never ending process.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
Thanks, i have had the first drop issue with my Lee press before. I normally chuck the first charge back into the powder measure, its just old habit from my Lee days.
I also dont fill the powder measure beyonf quarter full, its just a habit i have as well.
The 550 is really a simple ,efficient reliable press, i get tempted by the 650 and 750 when seeing the speed they run at. But really, cant fault the 550. For 9mmP and the odd 9mmK reloading, i use the following Lovex powder:
https://www.lhs-germany.de/en/powder...er/lovex/d032/
One thing I have come to appreciate as I have started to do more 223 on my 650 is the powder check probe. It is a pretty coarse adjustment and a little klunky and rather expensive, but I apreciate having it. Now and then a case will be just enough off on internal capacity that it will set it off, and I just keep a scale and a funnel handy to check that charge. If I am trying to load nice bullets I also maybe set that case aside, if it is off enough to trip the alarm then it is not going to group with the others.
Anyway, mentioning it because it was something I was always meh about but now like it.
Do not discount environmental conditions. Do you live in an area where humidity varies widely? Static buildup (low humidity) and moisture levels (high humidity) can come into play when measuring by volume to achieve a desired weight.
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