Problem with 223 cases on Dillon 550B

Checked and double checked. According to Dillon's chart I'm using the correct shell plate and locator pins.

223 and 5.56 cases are not guided correctly. Station 1 ALWAYS offsets the case so the decapping pin is on the outside of the case. This has to be fixed by hand.

Station 2 lines up the case about 70% of the time for the powder drop funnel. Otherwise it must be realigned by hand.

Station 3 the bullet must be always guided into the die.

Station 4 works great. Absolutely no problem.

This happens whether I am using the 550B as a progressive press or just trying to load one round at a time.

Any suggestions for a fix?

rmc

Call Dillon customer service. When I called about my sq. deal they were very helpful.

Interesting problem. I too load 223/5.56 rounds on my dillon 550B and to date have never experienced a problem(s) like you're experiencing and I've loaded easily 3 or 4000 rounds over the past 5 years for both my son's and my use. As suggested by Recumbent, call Dillon in the morning and talk with their Tech Service people. As Dillon advertises, "Don't suffer in silence". Talk with the experts.

CALL DILLON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a thought. Did you by chance lose the round ball or the spring under that ball when you removed or changed your shell plate? That could possibly cause the problems you're experiencing.

loaded round said:

Just a thought. Did you by chance lose the round ball or the spring under that ball when you removed or changed your shell plate? That could possibly cause the problems you're experiencing.

Click to expand...

That mirrors my thoughts. Sounds like a shellplate issue.

Dan in MI said:

loaded round said:

Just a thought. Did you by chance lose the round ball or the spring under that ball when you removed or changed your shell plate? That could possibly cause the problems you're experiencing.

Click to expand...

That mirrors my thoughts. Sounds like a shellplate issue.

Click to expand...

That was what I was thinking as well. I would double check for the proper pins and shell plate too.
If the shell plate is too tight or too loose it can be hard to feel the right stop also.

I have had a Dillon 550B since the beginning. I have loaded thousands of .223's on mine without issue.

One thing I have not seen mentioned regarding progressive presses in general. When the dies are first set up, it is VERY helpful for proper alighnment to run a case up each individual die (do this one at a time doing the original set up) before you tighten the die lock ring. This assures every single die is centered over the shell plate. This solves a myriad problems before they start!

FWIW
Dale53

Ever resolve your Dillon 550 problem?

Thanks for the review of the problem and suggestions but it's a no go. Shell plate and pins are correct. Ball and spring in place. Told to disassemble and resemble entire setup. Did that twice. No luck. I even started from the beginning and set up for 22 Jet (works great). Swapping out for other calibers does not produce the same problem. 300 BLK is the only other rifle cartridge I reload. The rest are pistol/revolver. No problem with any of them. I've reloaded with each of the calibers to verify that everything works like it should. All the rest work fine but 223 is a bust. I've moved all my 223 to my RockChucker. So now the 22 Jet is progressive and the 223 is single stage.

Two things come to mind.
1. Do you have a case in place when setting your dies? You should because it helps with it being aligned.
2. What dies are you using? It is possible that something could be bent or off center in the manufacturing. Quality counts and some makers do not have the same level of QC as others. If you have a friend that also loads .223 on a 550 try their toolhead and dies in your press. Sometimes tolerance stacking can be the problem with the combination.

Thanks for the reply but still a no go.

1. I do/did have a case in place when setting the die.
2. Using Dillon dies which work fine in my RockChucker. I'm the only one in our group that uses Dillon but I may try switching out the tool head to see if that might be the problem.

Thing that frustrates is that 300 BLK load fine. Got the caliber switch kit from Dillon along with the power funnel and am using my RCBS dies. Only three stations but loads great. Will probably get a separate crimp die some time next year.

The 223 is the worse caliber I reload in my dillion 550 .I hate that even though it says 223 on the head case it has crimped primers . My 550 did the same thing as you said dumping powder .It does is rarely with other calibers .I had fits reloading nickle plated 357 cases they just crushed .There was no problem with brass 357 . The 405 win crashed brass but that was hornady junk I hate their brass .I also had hornady match 308 bullets that will not let you put a primer on no matter what you did .i talked to dillion a ton of times about 223 and others they sent new parts . The 223 is so small it's easy to be just a little out of wack.

Are you saying with 4 cases on the shell holders some line up & others don't? Trying to get this pictured in my less than fertile mind.