I dont own a Dillon yet , have been thinking about it for a while now . Your video was quite informative how you systematically go through every detail in finding the cause of the problem and coming up with a simple solution to remedy it . I am really impressed with your troubleshooting skills and glad I found this video , your procedures will help me solve problems and teach me how to fine tune my reloading skills . Thank you for taking the time to share your findings .
Thank you so much. I recently acquired a used Dylan 550 and believe this video. Save me a lot of heartache. As I took apart, all my powder dumps and all were suffering from this very problem. Appreciate the video.
Thanks for the tip. I had the problem with deviations and could not explain it? After watching your video I checked my Dillon powder towers and had the same gaps in them. Followed your instructions to work through the problems and now my Dillon is running as it should. Thank you very much 🙏
Did the drop tube correction and knocked it into its seat as well, a few minutes with a hairdryer and then a rubber mallet. Saw a good collection of powder in the crevice before i did the correction. Thank you for the video!
Thanks for a nice walk-through of the system and improvements. The Dillon measure has changed a lot over the years. Mine came with the RL450 and has dual springs so it is a very old one. These measures work better with some powders than others. The improvements Dillon has made are excellent for safety but for some toolheads I have gone to other powder measures to improve precision where that is important. The Hornady automatic measure works quite well on the Dillon. Dillon used to make an adapter so a manual measure (with 7/8-14 threads) could be used, and they also have a funnel die so for precision work individual measured (or auto-measured) charges can be used. I use different options on different toolheads, depending on the precision needed.
Man, that tube gap tip was spot on. I was changing my powder bar and thinking about how much I hate the spillage with this measure, googled for fixes, and this video was the first result. I used a torch and a bench vice to press it in. That method did collapse the channel for the powder bar a bit requiring about 10 minutes of work with a fine tooth file, but now it's better than ever. H335 was the worst for spillage of all the powders I currently use. There'd be a little powder shower after every storke. After 50 test charges and then 200+ rounds loaded, there was maybe 5 specks of powder total on the press. Amazing. Thanks so much.
@kh8553 in my experience, this never happened. I am getting ZERO powder spill except from snappy shell plate indexing. With manual indexing (RL550) or smooth operating (750XL) the powder measure „snap“ doesn’t transfer to the cases
Excellent vid. Very instructive, no fluff. Really appreciate your experience and the time you took to create this vid. Very helpful for me as I have erratic powder drops on my 550B which I now have insight to resolve. Thank you!
@@GunWodan - After implementing your recommendations, my powder drops are not perfect, but acceptable now. About half the time they're right on spec to the tenth, the other half of the time either plus or minus one tenth of a grain; this is acceptable to me as the recipe is fairly light. Much improved now though-- I was getting +/- .4 grains prior to this repair. Thank you!
Well done video. I have two Dillon presses and thought I was pretty knowledgeable on their function but you have taught me some things with this video.
Video was amazing and the information was great! I'm defiantly going to make these recommended improvements. Only criticism is a higher volume on the video would be great! I guess I'm getting old and losing some hearing. Thank you!
My biggest regret in life is the shabby voice volume in that video :) hopefully my later videos have better audio - unfortunately, I can't fix the old video.
Just did this to an older model measure (had a big gap with the drop tube and leaked powder) and a new mfg measure that had a noticeable gap. Meanwhile I did the failsafe upgrade. Happy you showed how to do this and I am sure it will solve my issues. Thanks!
Thanks so much for the feedback! I had no idea how many people were struggling with that … It‘s also surprising how many reports of brand new measures with this issue I am seeing. Hope you are getting good results from your fixed units!
Great tip on the drop tube gap correction! Mine was leaking all over the place after I would lower the case. I got my borescope out and sure enough, CFE223 powder flakes were stacked in the groove. Got out the heat gun, a couple blocks of wood, heated it, and gently hammered it until there was no gap left. e.g., I rested the cast part on a vertical block of wood and used another block between the drop tube and the hammer so as not to damage the tube. I've got great before/after pictures if I could find a way to attach them to your video comments. Thank you!
I removed my drop tube by grasping in a drill chuck and gently pried with screwdrivers against the casting body. Mine wasn't seated fully either. When re-inserting it, I used a stubby screwdriver to cushion it and tapped-it-in with a hammer.
Talked to the mic manufacturer - they advised me to add a +12db volume gain on top of setting the volume to MAX. Very weird hardware, unfortunately too late for this video
I have an odd thing in my powder dispenser with sometimes when pulling the lever, i can feel a resistance like something is binding up, and then breaks loose. This does not happen on every pull, but it is making me crazy since i cannot figure out what is the cause. It seems like some mechanical part is having to overcome a lot of friction and then breaks loose, but it does not happen every time. I've noticed that the little white square cam plate that rides the powder bar is not a particulary good fit for the cap, which means that the bar will have some slop on it, but i'm not sure if that makes any difference.
Hi, just a note on the old powder measure, it is designed to use two springs to return the slide, the failsafe rod is, as it's name implies, a failsafe that will return the slide if it for some reason gets stuck. It was never meant to be the main return mechanism for the slide as the new failsafe system is.
Ha thanks for the insight. That explains why I was getting TWO springs on all the old powder measures I upgraded. Thought the previous owner just added as second spring himself.
If that large wrench is too long for you when you wish to adjust your dies you can always cut the wrench down with a hacksaw. I would then grind the cut edge to a rounded edge and drill a hole so I could hang the cutdown wrench on a nail or pegboard.
Good video but you should note that the powder bar should not slam like that. The Failsafe system is designed as a completely mechanical return system and not use a spring to slam it back. I do have a rubber band in place of the spring on my SDB's and it's just enough to ensure complete return of the powder bar with no slamming. IMHO it's just not good for the assembly to be hammered like that. I also use the smallest powder bar available for my cartridge loading for 38/357 and 45acp and it's very consistent with all flake or spherical powders. There are 3 sizes available and the smallest powder bar works excellent and consistency is spot on. I change back to the normal bar for 357, 10mm and 454 Casull when using powders like 2400 or H110 because of the large charges.
While it was certainly not designed to work like that, I‘ve used this system for tens of thousands of throws by now with zero issues from this setup. The consistency this slam gives me is so much better than anything else I tried so I am willing to risk parts wear/breakage but understand if you disagree
@@GunWodan If it works for you, great. There is usually more than one way to skin a cat. With just the rubber band for a positive pull to make sure the powder bar returns fully I find my charges of Titegroup are within .03 of a grain when dropped using the very small powder bar. Close enough for me.
Very informative video without too much fluff. The only thing I would change is not showing us the entire drop tube heating process in real time. Everything else was explaining something valuable the entire time you were working.
I bought an XL 750 about 4 months ago and the Powder drop is so inaccurate that I can not risk using it. I like Dillon generally but I can not risk blowing my hand off with my 500 magnum handgun because of this. Now I just use an electric powder scale/dispenser and double check half the loads as I am loading. Had I known, I would NEVER have bought Dillon
Have you tried these little fixes? Would love to hear whether this gave you better results. For handgun loads, I really love the Dillon system - with upgrades ;(
It appears that the current Dillions have that updated drop system am I correct in thinking this, I ask because I’m getting my budget together to get a new press if I go progressive the 750 would be the one? If I go single forester co-ax or rcbs rebel any thoughts on any of the above? Great video very well thought out.
I cannot confirm whether Dillon has done anything about this. It‘s not a big issue that only requires each powder dropper to be fixed one in it‘s lifetime to be good. The 750xl is the best 5 station progressive in the market currently in my opinion.
I have a 1990s version Dillon 550, will the upgrade mechanism fit it. The tube does not does not have screws and does not come off of the funnel portion of that.
Oh yeah I had some of those too. Use a heat gun to soften the glue around the rim. You need to drill holes for mounting screws if you want to replace the powder container with a brand new one
Hi Woden . Nice video. I was curious on the spring that pushes the powder bar back in, why do you think that helps with powder spillage? I checked mine and that inside tube did indeed have a gap inside the body, filled with fine powder. I cleaned the gap and closed it. Hope it helps. It seems like such a silly thing for Dillon to overlook
Thanks very much for your feedback! I was indeed surprised when I found this gap in all my oldest Dillon Powder Measures. This seems to have been fixed a long time ago - at least 15 years - by making the funnel-tube that goes into the main body a bit longer. It was necessary for me to press this tube way beyond flush into the body to close the gap inside. New models have tubes flush with the body and no gap inside... The spring helps avoid another potential powder spillage. I had situations where the slider only started the return-travel AFTER the case mouth already left the powder die. This happens when there‘s a bit of friction keeping the powder measure „up“ only to be pulled back down by the return rod. When the slider returns, it might tip some kernels that were still in the measure down into the case. If the case is already far enough down to actuate the return rod, there kernels sometimes spill. I just want to make sure the slider returns firmly with the brass case so that any kernels left in the dispenser safely drop into the case 😅
Oh .. thanks for sharing - I wasn‘t aware. Recently got a 550b with four Dillon Powder Measures from 2005 and they were all fine. Guess this is something to always check in your measure then!
@@GunWodan so I recently had ordered a brand new quick change kit from Dillon itself for my 750, I just got it a couple weeks ago and I never opened it. So just now I went and opened it and I took out the bars and sure enough, there’s the typical gap Where the dropper tube is not Presed in far enough. I wonder why some are good and some are not., I mean even the new ones, so far out of both of the somewhat new one I have and this brand new one, they both obviously need to be fixed
I found when working with fine ball powders that any jerkiness that occurs like the slam you showed really ruined the consistency of the throw. In order to get consistency for example in 38/357 I had to get rid of Lee factory crimp die it would run the cartridge and snap on the way down and that messed up consistency! I would get jumps in powder in couple tenths or more of a grain. Same thing was happening when I was expanding case mouth and the throws were all over the place that I just decided to run through expander first and load it up and than it was back to throwing under 0.1gr. Frankly that fail safe is only makes the throws worse if you're going to use a spring to return the powder bar.
Thanks for the report! That's very interesting to hear. Since I almost exclusively use Vihtavuori extruded powders, I never came across this issue. On the contrary, the results I am getting with extruded poweders in this setup are better than I ever expected from a mechanical powder drop - usually to be within an extreme spread of 0.1gn (+/- 0.05gn). To be honest, I wouldn't be comfortable with a volatile or sensitive powder drop setup at all. I've also been in situations where every vibration and bump in the process would throw my powder drops off by 0.2gn and really hated loading like that. It just forces you to measure more and still leave you with more uncertainty.
@@GunWodan I took Dillon powder measure apart yesterday to see if I have a gap and while there was no gap there was still a ridge from the tube end protruding and lots of tooling marks, it was so disappointing to see how cheaply that part is made, it should have been polished. I decided to remove the tube with the helpful tip from "dahut" below, put it in my lathe chuck, heat up the body and used two flat screwdrivers to push it out and it came out with little effort. Chucked it in lathe and used oiled sandpaper to remove tooling marks and polish to the shiny finish, than I took out the ridge and polished inside with a dovel and sandpaper till all tool marks were gone, also polished the opening a bit where the tube inserts as that was rough too. Since everything was apart I decided to polish inside the powder measure as well, first oiled sandpaper and than Flitz paste and it was shiny as a mirror. Wish I could post pictures, it looks great! While I was doing all this I realized that I probably lose more powder when the case rotates and stops and some of it gets spilled. Anyway, thanks for the video and BTW the audio level was really low, I had to really crank up the volume.
@@DimaProk That sounds like a lot of work, would love to see pictures! Thanks for sharing! Have you gotten any results from tests after the overhaul? Are you still getting these irregular throws with the spring+failsage? The audio in some of my "older" videos was too low, had to add an absurd of gain for the mic i'm using. Should be improved since.
@@GunWodan Well alright, it's apple to oranges but I was actually using Hornady powder throw with pistol drum which is very precise, under normal conditions in my testing it was more accurate with less spread. I also love how quick and easy it is to take it off the press compare to Dillon but I've ordered quick disconnect for Dillon now, also I want to order a buffle and micrometer for Dillon. I will say that last time I used Dillon PM it was spot on using Ramshot TAC which is fine ball powder and I didn't worry as much either because it was plinking ammo. I do have Benchmark powder which is short extruded that I want to try with Dillon PM and this is where I want to try spring / rubber band to see if consistency improves. It was giving me terrible spread of about 1/2 a grain on my Hornady last time I tried. I will report back.
Great Vid , I have searched vids looking for info on the spring that you used. I sent Dillon message asking for old spring part number but got wrong info from them, COVID issues make customer service very difficult, My only comment is volume was a little low until the very end of your video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Would appreciate spring part number if you or anyone has it or maybe another source of similar spring?
Thanks, great feedback! The volume issue is a good point. This has hopefully been fixed in my later videos. Regarding the Dillon parts number, I‘m no wiser than you are unfortunately. Pretty sure a rubber band could serve the same purpose until you find something better.
I feel your pain. I'm doing 223 and my vacuum cleaner is so full of powder I am afraid it may blow up. I just sent a video to Dillon showing that the powder funnel slips about every 10-12 pulls even with everything above it removed. I don't think they can fix it but will let you know. Thank you. Also, the large powder bar specs are so bad that you can see light shining through the top and sides of the bar between the bar and the holder. Powder gets in there like you said. The good news is that I'm up to about 2 bullets/hour now (sarcasm) with all of the cleaning I have to do. I gave you a thumbs down before and I apologize. I was just upset and didn't watch the whole thing.
Thanks very much for the feedback, really appreciate the input. One issue I've been quite ignorant towards is powder spill due to fine powders working through gaps. I have given up on fine powders a long time ago because of exactly these issues. No matter how good your setup is, it felt like everything was covered in fairy dust sooner or later. The powder availability - even in pre-2019 situations - is different from the US and I mostly work with Vihtavuori stick powders partially because of their great availability. The price isn't as much an issue here because powders are generally a lot more expensive.
@@GunWodanactually it did not. My powder drop tube is seated tight up against the aluminum housing. There is no gap between the drop tube and the housing like the one you show in your video. I am still looking for a solution to the mystery powder leak.
@@GunWodan, wide open on site, computer settings allied with external speakers...... I was looking forward to the examples and solutions as the Achilles Heel with Dillon's 550 is the powder measure systems..... Powder leaks, alignment, fail-safe rod and you name it..... Shoot; pun intended....
@@ridgerunner5772 Unfortunately there's no easy way for me to improve the audio on that video. I've since improved my setup for better audio but that doesn't help. If you are just looking for a way to follow the video, the automatic captions/subtitles might work well enough. Just skipped through them and they seem to be half-decent.
I dont own a Dillon yet , have been thinking about it for a while now . Your video was quite informative how you systematically go through every detail in finding the cause of the problem and coming up with a simple solution to remedy it . I am really impressed with your troubleshooting skills and glad I found this video , your procedures will help me solve problems and teach me how to fine tune my reloading skills . Thank you for taking the time to share your findings .
Thanks very much - that comment is really heartwarming. Wish you good luck with which ever press you choose.
Thank you so much. I recently acquired a used Dylan 550 and believe this video. Save me a lot of heartache. As I took apart, all my powder dumps and all were suffering from this very problem. Appreciate the video.
I have been reloading since 1976 "220 Swift" and I won't own anything but Dillon. Great video
Can't go wrong!
Thanks for the tip. I had the problem with deviations and could not explain it? After watching your video I checked my Dillon powder towers and had the same gaps in them. Followed your instructions to work through the problems and now my Dillon is running as it should. Thank you very much 🙏
Glad to hear! Thanks for the feedback
Did the drop tube correction and knocked it into its seat as well, a few minutes with a hairdryer and then a rubber mallet. Saw a good collection of powder in the crevice before i did the correction. Thank you for the video!
Nice work!
Thanks for a nice walk-through of the system and improvements. The Dillon measure has changed a lot over the years. Mine came with the RL450 and has dual springs so it is a very old one. These measures work better with some powders than others. The improvements Dillon has made are excellent for safety but for some toolheads I have gone to other powder measures to improve precision where that is important. The Hornady automatic measure works quite well on the Dillon. Dillon used to make an adapter so a manual measure (with 7/8-14 threads) could be used, and they also have a funnel die so for precision work individual measured (or auto-measured) charges can be used. I use different options on different toolheads, depending on the precision needed.
Fantastic video, very educational and helpful. Thanks from the states!
Outstanding video, learned a lot, thank you! Now off to the shop to make some fixes.
Man, that tube gap tip was spot on. I was changing my powder bar and thinking about how much I hate the spillage with this measure, googled for fixes, and this video was the first result. I used a torch and a bench vice to press it in. That method did collapse the channel for the powder bar a bit requiring about 10 minutes of work with a fine tooth file, but now it's better than ever. H335 was the worst for spillage of all the powders I currently use. There'd be a little powder shower after every storke. After 50 test charges and then 200+ rounds loaded, there was maybe 5 specks of powder total on the press. Amazing. Thanks so much.
Thanks for leaving the feedback, really appreciate it. So glad this was useful for you!
with the slam of the power drop, would it throw all the power out of say a 9mm case on the shell plate ?
@kh8553 in my experience, this never happened. I am getting ZERO powder spill except from snappy shell plate indexing. With manual indexing (RL550) or smooth operating (750XL) the powder measure „snap“ doesn’t transfer to the cases
Excellent vid. Very instructive, no fluff. Really appreciate your experience and the time you took to create this vid. Very helpful for me as I have erratic powder drops on my 550B which I now have insight to resolve. Thank you!
Very kind, thanks! Hope you manage to solve the issues with your powder drop!
@@GunWodan - After implementing your recommendations, my powder drops are not perfect, but acceptable now. About half the time they're right on spec to the tenth, the other half of the time either plus or minus one tenth of a grain; this is acceptable to me as the recipe is fairly light. Much improved now though-- I was getting +/- .4 grains prior to this repair. Thank you!
@@neilreid9005 love hearing that. To be honest +/- 0.1gn is the best I can do myself.
I’ve been considering upgrading my press with this. You’ve convinced me to do so. Thanks for the video.
Let me know how it went! Would love to hear if this improved anything for you
great tip with the spring at the end! Forgotten all about that :)
Well done video. I have two Dillon presses and thought I was pretty knowledgeable on their function but you have taught me some things with this video.
I wish RUclips could be a little more interactive - I bet there are dozens of things I could learn from you, too!
Great fixes , i learned quite a bit. Thanks !
Video was amazing and the information was great! I'm defiantly going to make these recommended improvements. Only criticism is a higher volume on the video would be great! I guess I'm getting old and losing some hearing. Thank you!
My biggest regret in life is the shabby voice volume in that video :) hopefully my later videos have better audio - unfortunately, I can't fix the old video.
Simply outstanding advice and thorough walkthrough. Sincere thanks!
Appreciate the feedback! Hope this help with your reloads. Happy Holidays :)
Great video. Helped me tweak my powder drop to work much better.
Thanks for the feedback, glad this video helps.
Just did this to an older model measure (had a big gap with the drop tube and leaked powder) and a new mfg measure that had a noticeable gap. Meanwhile I did the failsafe upgrade. Happy you showed how to do this and I am sure it will solve my issues. Thanks!
Thanks so much for the feedback! I had no idea how many people were struggling with that …
It‘s also surprising how many reports of brand new measures with this issue I am seeing. Hope you are getting good results from your fixed units!
Very nice video, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing, very informative.
Great video despite the audio.
If you could include part numbers, it would be very helpful and appreciated.
Thanks.
Very good thanks from Oregon, USA.
BTW: The nut with the nylon insert locking feature is called a "NYLOC" nut.
good input, thanks!
Spectacular!
Great tip on the drop tube gap correction! Mine was leaking all over the place after I would lower the case. I got my borescope out and sure enough, CFE223 powder flakes were stacked in the groove. Got out the heat gun, a couple blocks of wood, heated it, and gently hammered it until there was no gap left. e.g., I rested the cast part on a vertical block of wood and used another block between the drop tube and the hammer so as not to damage the tube. I've got great before/after pictures if I could find a way to attach them to your video comments. Thank you!
So glad that worked for you. Would love to see the pictures - maybe you can upload them to Imgur and paste a link here?
well made discussion re problems we all can share Thank you
Very nicely done. Thank you.
Many thanks!
Very nicely done
Glad you like it! Have you been able to improve your throws? :)
I hope one day somebody invents a fix how to get this system precise with long grain powders.
I removed my drop tube by grasping in a drill chuck and gently pried with screwdrivers against the casting body. Mine wasn't seated fully either. When re-inserting it, I used a stubby screwdriver to cushion it and tapped-it-in with a hammer.
Wow that's some real commitment. Couldn't get that tube out of there if my life depended on it!
Why is the volume so low?
Talked to the mic manufacturer - they advised me to add a +12db volume gain on top of setting the volume to MAX. Very weird hardware, unfortunately too late for this video
Low is Correct, just murmurs at best...... I would love to hear the value of the lessons.....
The only way to make sure it returns “smartly” is adding the spring…I’m not sure why Dillon eliminated them. I would rather use them, than not.
I have an odd thing in my powder dispenser with sometimes when pulling the lever, i can feel a resistance like something is binding up, and then breaks loose. This does not happen on every pull, but it is making me crazy since i cannot figure out what is the cause. It seems like some mechanical part is having to overcome a lot of friction and then breaks loose, but it does not happen every time.
I've noticed that the little white square cam plate that rides the powder bar is not a particulary good fit for the cap, which means that the bar will have some slop on it, but i'm not sure if that makes any difference.
Hi, just a note on the old powder measure, it is designed to use two springs to return the slide, the failsafe rod is, as it's name implies, a failsafe that will return the slide if it for some reason gets stuck. It was never meant to be the main return mechanism for the slide as the new failsafe system is.
Ha thanks for the insight. That explains why I was getting TWO springs on all the old powder measures I upgraded. Thought the previous owner just added as second spring himself.
Great Video Wish The Video Was Loader Thank Your For Time Great Ideas I Will Try Them On My Old 550
Ein super Tipp
If that large wrench is too long for you when you wish to adjust your dies you can always cut the wrench down with a hacksaw. I would then grind the cut edge to a rounded edge and drill a hole so I could hang the cutdown wrench on a nail or pegboard.
Good video but you should note that the powder bar should not slam like that. The Failsafe system is designed as a completely mechanical return system and not use a spring to slam it back. I do have a rubber band in place of the spring on my SDB's and it's just enough to ensure complete return of the powder bar with no slamming. IMHO it's just not good for the assembly to be hammered like that. I also use the smallest powder bar available for my cartridge loading for 38/357 and 45acp and it's very consistent with all flake or spherical powders. There are 3 sizes available and the smallest powder bar works excellent and consistency is spot on. I change back to the normal bar for 357, 10mm and 454 Casull when using powders like 2400 or H110 because of the large charges.
While it was certainly not designed to work like that, I‘ve used this system for tens of thousands of throws by now with zero issues from this setup. The consistency this slam gives me is so much better than anything else I tried so I am willing to risk parts wear/breakage but understand if you disagree
@@GunWodan If it works for you, great. There is usually more than one way to skin a cat. With just the rubber band for a positive pull to make sure the powder bar returns fully I find my charges of Titegroup are within .03 of a grain when dropped using the very small powder bar. Close enough for me.
Very informative video without too much fluff. The only thing I would change is not showing us the entire drop tube heating process in real time. Everything else was explaining something valuable the entire time you were working.
I bought an XL 750 about 4 months ago and the Powder drop is so inaccurate that I can not risk using it. I like Dillon generally but I can not risk blowing my hand off with my 500 magnum handgun because of this. Now I just use an electric powder scale/dispenser and double check half the loads as I am loading. Had I known, I would NEVER have bought Dillon
Have you tried these little fixes? Would love to hear whether this gave you better results. For handgun loads, I really love the Dillon system - with upgrades ;(
It appears that the current Dillions have that updated drop system am I correct in thinking this, I ask because I’m getting my budget together to get a new press if I go progressive the 750 would be the one? If I go single forester co-ax or rcbs rebel any thoughts on any of the above? Great video very well thought out.
I cannot confirm whether Dillon has done anything about this. It‘s not a big issue that only requires each powder dropper to be fixed one in it‘s lifetime to be good. The 750xl is the best 5 station progressive in the market currently in my opinion.
Dankeschön
😁
dram worx makes a glass powder container , no more static or staining!
Love their stuff, wish the shipping to europe wasn't so expensive
I have a 1990s version Dillon 550, will the upgrade mechanism fit it. The tube does not does not have screws and does not come off of the funnel portion of that.
Oh yeah I had some of those too. Use a heat gun to soften the glue around the rim. You need to drill holes for mounting screws if you want to replace the powder container with a brand new one
Can not hear a word of it even with all the volume controls set at max.
Hi Woden . Nice video. I was curious on the spring that pushes the powder bar back in, why do you think that helps with powder spillage? I checked mine and that inside tube did indeed have a gap inside the body, filled with fine powder. I cleaned the gap and closed it. Hope it helps. It seems like such a silly thing for Dillon to overlook
Thanks very much for your feedback! I was indeed surprised when I found this gap in all my oldest Dillon Powder Measures. This seems to have been fixed a long time ago - at least 15 years - by making the funnel-tube that goes into the main body a bit longer. It was necessary for me to press this tube way beyond flush into the body to close the gap inside. New models have tubes flush with the body and no gap inside...
The spring helps avoid another potential powder spillage. I had situations where the slider only started the return-travel AFTER the case mouth already left the powder die. This happens when there‘s a bit of friction keeping the powder measure „up“ only to be pulled back down by the return rod. When the slider returns, it might tip some kernels that were still in the measure down into the case. If the case is already far enough down to actuate the return rod, there kernels sometimes spill. I just want to make sure the slider returns firmly with the brass case so that any kernels left in the dispenser safely drop into the case 😅
@@GunWodan Mine definitely had the gap and I think my powder measure is much newer, as in last few years. It came with a néw RL1100.
Oh .. thanks for sharing - I wasn‘t aware. Recently got a 550b with four Dillon Powder Measures from 2005 and they were all fine. Guess this is something to always check in your measure then!
@@GunWodan so I recently had ordered a brand new quick change kit from Dillon itself for my 750, I just got it a couple weeks ago and I never opened it. So just now I went and opened it and I took out the bars and sure enough, there’s the typical gap Where the dropper tube is not Presed in far enough. I wonder why some are good and some are not., I mean even the new ones, so far out of both of the somewhat new one I have and this brand new one, they both obviously need to be fixed
Okay you really got me nervous now, will check all my dispensers next chance I get!
Great information thank you but you audio is very hard to hear you.
I found when working with fine ball powders that any jerkiness that occurs like the slam you showed really ruined the consistency of the throw. In order to get consistency for example in 38/357 I had to get rid of Lee factory crimp die it would run the cartridge and snap on the way down and that messed up consistency! I would get jumps in powder in couple tenths or more of a grain. Same thing was happening when I was expanding case mouth and the throws were all over the place that I just decided to run through expander first and load it up and than it was back to throwing under 0.1gr. Frankly that fail safe is only makes the throws worse if you're going to use a spring to return the powder bar.
Thanks for the report! That's very interesting to hear. Since I almost exclusively use Vihtavuori extruded powders, I never came across this issue. On the contrary, the results I am getting with extruded poweders in this setup are better than I ever expected from a mechanical powder drop - usually to be within an extreme spread of 0.1gn (+/- 0.05gn). To be honest, I wouldn't be comfortable with a volatile or sensitive powder drop setup at all. I've also been in situations where every vibration and bump in the process would throw my powder drops off by 0.2gn and really hated loading like that. It just forces you to measure more and still leave you with more uncertainty.
@@GunWodan I took Dillon powder measure apart yesterday to see if I have a gap and while there was no gap there was still a ridge from the tube end protruding and lots of tooling marks, it was so disappointing to see how cheaply that part is made, it should have been polished. I decided to remove the tube with the helpful tip from "dahut" below, put it in my lathe chuck, heat up the body and used two flat screwdrivers to push it out and it came out with little effort. Chucked it in lathe and used oiled sandpaper to remove tooling marks and polish to the shiny finish, than I took out the ridge and polished inside with a dovel and sandpaper till all tool marks were gone, also polished the opening a bit where the tube inserts as that was rough too. Since everything was apart I decided to polish inside the powder measure as well, first oiled sandpaper and than Flitz paste and it was shiny as a mirror. Wish I could post pictures, it looks great! While I was doing all this I realized that I probably lose more powder when the case rotates and stops and some of it gets spilled. Anyway, thanks for the video and BTW the audio level was really low, I had to really crank up the volume.
@@DimaProk That sounds like a lot of work, would love to see pictures! Thanks for sharing! Have you gotten any results from tests after the overhaul? Are you still getting these irregular throws with the spring+failsage?
The audio in some of my "older" videos was too low, had to add an absurd of gain for the mic i'm using. Should be improved since.
@@GunWodan Well alright, it's apple to oranges but I was actually using Hornady powder throw with pistol drum which is very precise, under normal conditions in my testing it was more accurate with less spread. I also love how quick and easy it is to take it off the press compare to Dillon but I've ordered quick disconnect for Dillon now, also I want to order a buffle and micrometer for Dillon. I will say that last time I used Dillon PM it was spot on using Ramshot TAC which is fine ball powder and I didn't worry as much either because it was plinking ammo. I do have Benchmark powder which is short extruded that I want to try with Dillon PM and this is where I want to try spring / rubber band to see if consistency improves. It was giving me terrible spread of about 1/2 a grain on my Hornady last time I tried. I will report back.
@@DimaProk Thanks, very much appreciated!!
Great Vid , I have searched vids looking for info on the spring that you used. I sent Dillon message asking for old spring part number but got wrong info from them, COVID issues make customer service very difficult, My only comment is volume was a little low until the very end of your video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Would appreciate spring part number if you or anyone has it or maybe another source of similar spring?
Thanks, great feedback! The volume issue is a good point. This has hopefully been fixed in my later videos. Regarding the Dillon parts number, I‘m no wiser than you are unfortunately. Pretty sure a rubber band could serve the same purpose until you find something better.
Thats the DP powder bar return spring which are now not included in the powder dispenser
Too Quiet. Have all my volumes set to high, still too quiet
Where can I get one of those springs?
As far as I know, Dillon sells them as spare parts. Alternatively, you might want to try rubber bands.
Thanks so much, awesome additions! If you comment that directly on the video, I will pin your comment for everyone to read!
You must be recording these videos at a very low volume - much lower that the other videos.
I feel your pain. I'm doing 223 and my vacuum cleaner is so full of powder I am afraid it may blow up. I just sent a video to Dillon showing that the powder funnel slips about every 10-12 pulls even with everything above it removed. I don't think they can fix it but will let you know. Thank you. Also, the large powder bar specs are so bad that you can see light shining through the top and sides of the bar between the bar and the holder. Powder gets in there like you said. The good news is that I'm up to about 2 bullets/hour now (sarcasm) with all of the cleaning I have to do. I gave you a thumbs down before and I apologize. I was just upset and didn't watch the whole thing.
Thanks very much for the feedback, really appreciate the input. One issue I've been quite ignorant towards is powder spill due to fine powders working through gaps. I have given up on fine powders a long time ago because of exactly these issues. No matter how good your setup is, it felt like everything was covered in fairy dust sooner or later. The powder availability - even in pre-2019 situations - is different from the US and I mostly work with Vihtavuori stick powders partially because of their great availability. The price isn't as much an issue here because powders are generally a lot more expensive.
Ish I had found this video a long time ago.
Did this fix your problems with the Dillon powder measure for you?
@@GunWodanactually it did not. My powder drop tube is seated tight up against the aluminum housing. There is no gap between the drop tube and the housing like the one you show in your video. I am still looking for a solution to the mystery powder leak.
@@Rusty_ok thanks for sharing! Let me know if you find a solution!
Audio is poor. Can't hear anythong.
I have to think of a better way to record the audio when I am on the press. It‘s just too far from the mic...
I had to use an external bluetooth speaker. With that, the audio is loud enough. Good video.
Can't hear it
Is there audio with this video????
Yes, but the volume level is not as high as usual. Just turn up the video volume
@@GunWodan, wide open on site, computer settings allied with external speakers...... I was looking forward to the examples and solutions as the Achilles Heel with Dillon's 550 is the powder measure systems..... Powder leaks, alignment, fail-safe rod and you name it..... Shoot; pun intended....
@@ridgerunner5772 Unfortunately there's no easy way for me to improve the audio on that video. I've since improved my setup for better audio but that doesn't help. If you are just looking for a way to follow the video, the automatic captions/subtitles might work well enough. Just skipped through them and they seem to be half-decent.
@@GunWodan, now that is the Ole College Try; and with success. A fella does get the gist of the intent......
Seems like this new upgrade makes my action click doesn't feel as satisfying as it used to
Are you getting good results? Would love to get some feedback. I keep getting really good consistency with the snapping powder bar.
Why should we have to do this?
If you are not getting any of the problems I mention, there‘s nothing to fix.
Probably a great video. How about re-doing the audio and sound off like you've got a pair. The GoPro is even worse.
En fait tu fais tes vidéos juste pour l'audience... En anglais 😔
Sorry but Sound is so way off..