Non-Dillon Options

[Deaf Smith]

Hey, all. I've been reloading exclusively on Dillon Machines since the late 80s when I started with an SDB. I've always been a Dillon Fanboi, and have loaded tens of thousands of rounds of handgun ammo mostly through 550Bs.

I bought a new 550 in 2019, and it has been a total nightmare. The "primer catch" gets about 1/3 or 1/5 primers in it - at the end of every loading session the floor and workbench in my reloading space looks like brass after a final protective fire. Today I was watching spent primers sprinkle all over the place - like an early Gen4 Glock 9mm erratic ejection. Terrible.

This causes no end of issues with the priming system, as, frequently, those spent primers end up in the workspace for the priming system - causing the moving "shuttle" to catch and have its movement impeded or stopped.

I've also had issues with the powder measure, specifically the small plastic "spacer" in the powder bar has fallen out during routine use at least a half dozen times. Earlier this week it jumped ship and disappeared into parts unknown, causing an "all stop" on loading. After conducting a crime scene examination of the reloading room, I eventually found it wedged into the "works" of the powder system, and was able to recover and re-install it.

With all of these issues, I've only been able to maintain about 200 rds/hour through the machine, constantly having to interrupt operations to unscrew this, that or the other.

"No problem!" I told myself. "Dillon has their awesome 'No BS' warranty. They'll fix me right up!" So I sent them an e-mail, which went un-answered for 72 hours. When they finally got back to me, they suggested I ship the press in it's entirety back to them, at my own expense, and give them a credit card number so they could charge me $80 for "clean and lube" service, during which they would replace/repair any other issues or parts - and charge me for those parts, of course. I'm thinking, conservatively, by the time I ship this hunkajunk to AZ, pay the "service fee" and any parts, and pay to have it shipped back to me, I'm going to be out $200 or more.

That's a VERY long way to start the question: If I want a new progressive system that's NOT made by Dillon, what are the best options? I was getting a hankering for something more "progressive" than the 550 anyway, and, rather than throw money at a problem, I'd rather start over with something better. All experiences and suggestions welcome - just looking for something that will be relatively trouble free.

Thanks!

I have Lee 3 hole turret press going back over 35 years... I have turrets for .380, 9mm, .38 Super, .38 S&W, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .44 Spl, .44 magnum, .45 acp, .. all with powder charger hoppers.

Also a Lee 4 hole turret press (10mm and .40 S&W).

Not as fast as a Dillon but since I don't do IPSC/IDPA anymore they are plenty for my needs.

[jtcarm]

I had a Hornady LnL and it was always needing something adjusted and didn't have sufficient leverage to adequately prime cases in my example.

Seriously? The LNL has some issues, but lack of leverage ain’t one of ‘em.

On the other hand, I can almost left my substantial bench off the floor seating primers on my Dillon SDB.

[mizer67]

Seriously? The LNL has some issues, but lack of leverage ain’t one of ‘em.

On the other hand, I can almost left my substantial bench off the floor seating primers on my Dillon SDB.

Yes. Dead serious.

I had a similar experience lifting my 250 lb. bench off the floor trying to seat primers reliably on the LnL.

I had quite the substantial divot in the aluminum frame under where the primer punch resides. This is a poor design, but not the only issue, just a contributory one. All manner of fixes didn't do anything to resolve the primer punch/seating issue.

[Spartan1980]

Yes. Dead serious.

I had a similar experience lifting my 250 lb. bench off the floor trying to seat primers reliably on the LnL.

I had quite the substantial divot in the aluminum frame under where the primer punch resides. This is a poor design, but not the only issue, just a contributory one. All manner of fixes didn't do anything to resolve the primer punch/seating issue.

Same here.

ETA: I don't know that the actual design is bad because the priming mechanism is pretty simple, but it's a healthy dose of piss poor execution for sure.

[mizer67]

Same here.

ETA: I don't know that the actual design is bad because the priming mechanism is pretty simple, but it's a healthy dose of piss poor execution for sure.

I think not placing a hardened steel insert below the primer ram, allowing it to wallow out a divot in the soft aluminum frame is poor design.

However, I still I don't believe the root cause of the issues I had, because all manner of spacers I used to restore primer seating depth did little to improve the reliability of seating.

[Spartan1980]

I think not placing a hardened steel insert below the primer ram, allowing it to wallow out a divot in the soft aluminum frame is poor design.

However, I still I don't believe the root cause of the issues I had, because all manner of spacers I used to restore primer seating depth did little to improve the reliability of seating.

On the one I had the primer punch would extend well up into an empty primer pocket. The casting had a slight taper/angle where it engaged the frame which was probably needed and a normal part of mold design in casting metals. You are correct that it would have been much better to machine in or simply screw a harder steel plate onto that spot to engage the punch, but the wear divot wasn't what was causing my issue, it was simply when resistance was encountered by the ram in priming, the ENTIRE ram, ball handle and all, would rotate around its axis instead of applying pressure. It just "bounced off" the primer. Like you, I did try putting dimes, steel banding material, etc. there to no effect at all.

It's kinda funny, I read all kinds of posts back then about the primer feed not working well. That part on mine ran pretty good. If you want to talk about piss poor design, the automatic case insertion was the epitome of poor design! Once setup it worked OK but the fact that disconnecting it after you were though fiddling and ready to load meant readjusting it all. That was no bueno! I may have loaded 1000 rounds before I put it up for sale after that, but the primer issue is what really sealed the deal for me.