Buy another Dillon 550b or components?

[Hondo 60]

I bought 11 toolheads.
The primer change only takes about 3-4 minutes.

I have only one dillon powder measure.
That takes more time to adjust than the primer change.

But of course any reason to buy another 550 is a good reason

 

[fguffey]

I have two RCBS Piggy Back presses with Rock Chuckers. one for small premiers, the other for large. The Piggy Back attachments are the reason my rock Chuckers do not cam over.

F. Guffey

 

[BCRider]

Since you've already got the tool heads sorted with each having individual powder measures there's really not much farther you can go with a 550b. A second 550b isn't going to really help all that much either. Really if you've got the numbers to justify thinking about a second press I'd suggest that you need to be thinking about a BETTER press instead. It's likely that you should be looking at either a 650 or even a 1050 with all the automatic bullet and case feeder setups. And then to really make the time work for you buy enough bullets that you can load up at LEAST 2000 at a crack. 5000 at a crack for one caliber would be even better. That way you've got enough to shoot for a while that you can reload bigger batches of the other calibers.

With that sort of direction you reduce the time spent changing the press over. And that's the whole point isn't it?

The other option is to fine tune the time needed on the 550. You're already well on the way with the complete tool heads with measures. The complete primer feed suggested above would also be in line with the modular approach.

But there's a few other aspects as well.

I find that the primer tubes take a significant amount of time to peck up all the primers. There's videos on You Tube and instructions on various forums on how to make the flat flipper trays from Lee and others into tube loaders. This would be a major time saver for anyone trying to maximize the hourly production rate.

I don't know about you but I find the small primers can be a real pain to decap. I can't recall the last time I had a spent primer grab the ejector pin and pull part way back into the casing. But with small primers it's all too regular. I want to replace the "hard" ejectors on my small primer dies with the spring loaded type. That way the primer is knocked off the pin and I should be able to achieve 100% reliable priming in the press instead of the current 98%. The stoppages caused by even the occasional such jam really upsets the production if I miss it and send that casing to the powder station.

Next up is to buy your bullets and plan on working in batches of 2000 or more between setup swaps.

I'd do all this before I'd buy a second press. The only true way that a second press would help is if you've got a second person to pull on the lever. Otherwise it just won't save enough time to matter to any great degree. So it's either upgrade all the way to a press setup that is two levels of automation above (so a 1050) or fill in your modular approach with a few bits like a vibratory primer tube loader and perhaps a second primer handling block.

I'd also consider automating either the bullet feeder or the case feeder. Likely the case feeder would be best since it would mean you don't need to take your hand off the lever. And it would want to be one of the powered self feeding units so the tube doesn't need to be loaded by hand.

 

[bobinoregon]

I went with two 550's and a bunch of quick changes. I load several different calibers and it just makes it easier for me. The money spent on all the quick changes pays of for me in not having to readjust stuff, just drop in the already set quick change for that bullet and powder and go. If I live to be 150 I might break even on what I spend to enjoy my hobby.

 

[Toprudder]

BCRider, I don't have the problem with small primers that you mention, but it is because I deprime all my casings before I wet tumble. I deprime on a single stage press with a universal decapper. I also don't have the problem koz4guns mentioned about having to clean the primer bar as a result. Since I don't deprime on the 550, I don't get any spent primer residue in the primer bar or the ram. It has cut my press maintenance to almost nothing. Basically I just vacuum the press quickly every time I add more primers.