Dillon 550 easy primer swap

[@sitofranco]

9 yrs later and your video is still helping new 550 reloaders! Thank you!

[@SW20AE86]

Dude...that is a solid piece of advice. Just tried it and it worked perfectly. Such a time saver.

[@bltefft]

Wow, so simple. Thanks. Makes me wonder how many other short cuts there are that i don't know about.

[@4570Govt]

Put a piece of primed or fired brass inside the first stage so your cup is adjusted to the proper height.

[@DanielBoone337]

I'm almost mad that I've been changing primer bars for a couple years now to swap between large and small... Awesome tip brother!!!

[@richardminnich4249]

I had just realized that I needed to swap out a small primer for a large primer cup on my Dillion. Shoot! Then I ran across this, and it was just as easy as he said, and worked perfectly. Thanks.

[@wpalmer9867]

GENIUS!!!! Thank you for this Dillon Hack. Best ever!

[@rgorji]

Wow. That's an amazing feat. Well done.e

[@DubfromGA]

Thank you very much for taking the time to post this. Mighty helpful.

[@KE0ZCO]

Good idea!

[@Hazeltonpeakroad]

What a great tip!! Saved me a lot of time and will pass it along to my reloading friends and will give all the credit to you.

[@joevangorder1006]

Great hack!! I actually feel pretty stupid for not thinking of this myself now lol. Thank you

[@mikhail2400]

Im very new to reloading and im so glad I saw this. Thanks for the tip!!!!

[@brucematthews6417]

It's been a few years since you posted this video but just a hearty "GOOD JOB". This will be the first time I've changed the primer size and I love the ease and simplicity.

[@pazmaker2235]

This is basically how the primer size is switched on the older RL 450. You may have to adjust the hex screw that limits bar travel out a little so that the larger primer drops into the cup. Thanks for the video. Now I know I can change primer sizes just like I did with the RL 450.

[@suzuki94]

Great Tip . A real time saver! Thanks for taking your time to share.

[@shaverlocal]

Wow! I wish I had run across this video 3 years ago.

[@spielp]

Pretty sweet trick. Thank you for posting this tip.

[@brianonthego]

That is awesome. I dredged changing primer sizes. Thanks so much.

[@Aldocello1]

Brilliant ...

[@bob.b4867]

Great-- thanks for taking your time to show us!

[@GaryT1952]

Brilliant and well presented, thank you!

[@Rocketman9mm]

Awesome I just got this press and am going to be switching between large and small a lot, this will save me a lot of grief going back and forth from 9mm to 45 and back.

[@Mark-cm3up]

Great tip. The other way was to take the whole bar out and use a vise to compress primer cup & spring which was a pain in the A**

[@prebaned]

Nice deal, but that grub screw is not designed to be taken in and out many times. You set it and be done. Eventually you will start maring the punch and screw threads get compromised. This is why Dillon recommends to swap out complete slide assembly and send two with the new press.👍

[@toprudder1]

You may be right. I admit that I don't change that often, but I have been doing it for 7 years now and have not had a problem. That screw does not need to be very tight for it to work, I guess if I torqued it down very tight every time then I might have a problem. However, the normal method for swapping out the slide assembly requires taking out the cap screws that thread into the aluminum base for the primer assembly, and I have had a problem where the slide started sticking and it was because of the aluminum in the area of the threaded holes had bulged into the slide area. I had to take a file and carefully remove those bulged areas for the slide to work smoothly. I can't help but think that constant disassembly/reassembly of the primer system to swap the slide would cause that.

[@Retiredin]

Thanks great time saving tip less time changing primer slide more time at the range works for me two thumbs way up

[@XvREByrd3vX]

That's crazy! Thanks so much for the tip

[@DubfromGA]

extremely helpful !!!!! Many thanks for sharing this.

[@LuvBorderCollies]

Thanks for video. I've had a 550 for 30 years and never gave this method a thought. Looks totally logical and can't see any reaon not to do it (I know what Dillon says). IMHO swapping out the primer parts during a switchover was the worst part.

[@jimdavenport8020]

Maybe I'll try it again but it was a dismal failur for me. After the cup change, the cup would not pick up the new primer. Yes I tried adjusting the set screw on the back of the Feed Block (just unter the leaf spring) and couldn't make it work . Switched the cups back to their original bars and it started working perfectly.

[@r1dv]

Thanks for that great idea!

[@FNG223]

This is awesome! Thanks.

[@BZHprepper]

Fantastic. Thank you : )

[@Mark-wh4rx]

Great tip. Thank you.

[@Scooter101466]

Awesome video....thanks man

[@leadmonkey]

Wow why wouldn’t Dillon tell us this!!!

[@Wes-tg5xw]

Great hack. Good eye in figuring that out. I hate fumbling with that mechanism. Always thought the design change over was poorly thought out.

[@robertenzo5397]

6 people unnecessarily bough a second 550

[@toprudder1]

LOL. I personally know someone that bought two 550s just so they wouldn't have to swap primer sizes.

[@robertenzo5397]

@@toprudder1 Read about it all the time on gun boards....insane

[@johnmiller102]

Good tip. Do you have to make any fine adjustments to the primer punch/cup or is pushing the primer punch down till it bottoms out all you need to do?

[@toprudder1]

+johnmiller102 Just pushing the cup down is all that needs to be done.

[@ac31415927]

+toprudder1 I am not sure what you said is true, but am pretty sure in the RL550 manual it says the primer cup, when uncompressed, must be set between 1.215"-1.220" measured from the top of the cup to the bottom of the primer slide.

[@toprudder1]

+ac31415927 , Sorry, I did not see your reply until just now. Yes, the manual does say that. I have not seen where that distance is critical, there is nothing in the press that indexes the shellplate platform relative to the primer cup except the cup itself. The primer cup spring is what stops the normal downward movement. And there is nothing on the press that stops the shellplate platform when priming, except the primer bottoming out in the case. If there is no primer in the cup, the primer ram will go halfway or more into the primer pocket. I suppose if there is a case feeder installed, then it might be an issue. I will have to check the height of each primer cup when I get a chance and see how close it comes to the recommended measurement.

[@toprudder1]

Ok, I checked both the large and small primer cups. When bottomed out in the primer bar, one was 1.215, the other was 1.217, so both were in spec. Looking a little further, I think it was designed for the stem to be bottomed out in the primer bar. That appears to be the only way the supplied set screw can hold the stem in. The tapered end of the set screw will push against a shoulder on the stem, not on the straight wall of the stem. It depends on the machining tolerances of the stem and primer bar. So, I believe pushing the primer stem all the way in is the proper technique.

[@ac31415927]

+toprudder1 The distance is critical to picking up primer reliably from the primer tube. If you pull the handle down and look inside the primer housing (#20263), you can see that the narrow part of the primer seating cup (#13824) needs to push the primer feed stop pin (#14051).

[@matthennagersguitarlessons]

Thank you!

[@notyouraveragejoe7093]

are you affecting primer seating depth using this method?

[@toprudder1]

+Caliber's No, this does not affect seating depth.

[@Whitpusmc]

Genius!!

[@atticafireman]

dillion states "do not use this method " the primer slide is two different lengths . this short cut might cause priming issues.

[@toprudder1]

I don't understand how the primer slides can be different lengths. The geometry is the same regardless of which primer size is installed. I have been using this method for well over a year now and have not had any problems. I'm curious, where does Dillon state not to use this method?

[@atticafireman]

toprudder1 www.dillonprecision.com/large-primers_350_10_1803.htm#top_pagination Feb 6th dillion999

[@toprudder1]

Thanks for the link, I have not seen that. If that is true, I find it strange that they have different part numbers for the punches and cups, but only list one part for the primer slide, #13920. If there were truly a different slide for small vs large, they should list different part numbers in the manual. I looked at my two slides and can see no difference between them. However, anyone trying my method be aware of this caveat. Check the two primer cup heights to see that they fall within tolerance - 1.215 to 1.220 (mine do). I will add that I have had zero problems switching primer sizes using this method.

[@robertenzo5397]

Of course they would rather you buy another press. Been working for me for years.

[@594marco]

Great tip. It works

[@eltruchador]

I just ordered a 550 today and doing research. Where do I find just the primer cups to swap out? Does Dillon sell them separately?

[@toprudder1]

+eltruchador , The press comes with both size cups. There will be two primer feed bars that have the cups installed on them. The instructions for the press say to take apart the primer feed assembly to swap out the bars with the cups. I don't bother with that anymore, I just swap the primer cups with the spring and post.If you order the spare parts kit (which I recommend) I think that also comes with primer cups.

[@snowdude66]

Thank you

[@jamespollard1670]

Great tip

[@benengleman1707]

Are you the notorious Toprudder from THR?

[@toprudder1]

That would be me. :-)

[@colby7625]

Thanks

[@gabe1290]

Wow thanks!

[@coppedl1971]

I learn something every day! Thank you, toprudder1.