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Thread: RL550 Priming Issue

  1. #1
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    RL550 Priming Issue

    I changed over from 9mm to .45ACP this evening. Things were going along great and suddenly I started having problems priming.

    I would decap and size, then on the downstroke it would feel as if the primer would set a little hard, and I couldn't advance the case to the next station. So I'd take the case from the powder dump station, and cycle it again, removing the case after it was decapped. This happened about every 10 to 15 cases.

    After about the fourth go round I took the tool head off and loosend the shell plate enough to get the case out. The primer was trying to seat sideways. I'm using primarily once-fired Speer and R-P brass. It seemed to be R-R cases that were doing it.

    This 550 has a Dillon case feeder and a JW Primer Track Plate, the one with the bearing. Worked fine on 9mm.

    I readjusted everything, made sure the primer seating pin and cup were centered and went back to loading. Same problem kept cropping up.

    Sometimes I'd 'feel' that the case wasn't aligned for priming and sure enough, when I eased back I could generally push the case it a little deeper into the shell plate. When I'd check the primer slide on these cases the primer was in place, not sideways in the cup.

    I thought maybe it was something with the case feed, but the case should be properly located after it has been sized, correct? I've tried loosening and tightening the shell plate, doesn't seem to make a difference.

    I'm stumped, any suggestions? At this point I've become pretty adept at moving cases in and out of the powder drop station, and holding the slide on the case feeder to the rear as I clear the occassional sideways primer, but it is slowing me down quite a bit.

    Monday I'll call Dillon if nobody can solve my dilemma.
    Last edited by 26 Inf; 01-18-19 at 21:40.
    Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.

    Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee

  2. #2
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    Check for loose powder/general cleanliness of the priming bar(dunno what it’s called) and the little black strip that it runs on. If that isn’t running smoothly, this can happen.

    It may be something else, but I’ve had it happen due to that. You may also consider replacing the plastic thingy on the primer tube.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by thopkins22 View Post
    Check for loose powder/general cleanliness of the priming bar(dunno what it’s called) and the little black strip that it runs on. If that isn’t running smoothly, this can happen.

    It may be something else, but I’ve had it happen due to that. You may also consider replacing the plastic thingy on the primer tube.
    Everything there is running smoothly, the primers are getting into the cup correctly.

    Thanks!
    Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.

    Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee

  4. #4
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    RL550 Priming Issue

    Quote Originally Posted by 26 Inf View Post
    Everything there is running smoothly, the primers are getting into the cup correctly.

    Thanks!
    So they’re definitely flipping between entering the cup, and the little upstroke?

    Edit, just re-read your initial post and I guess you’re saying that the bigger issue is that the cases aren’t in position.

    I have no idea and will show myself the door since I don’t have a casefeed.
    Last edited by thopkins22; 01-18-19 at 22:35.

  5. #5
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    That priming system is a total piece of sh1t! That thing ate my ass alive for years. I disabled it on my 550b and only leave the cup in place as it's the suspension for the press.

    I prime everything I run on the 550b off press, and totally bypass station 1.
    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

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    Quote Originally Posted by markm View Post
    That priming system is a total piece of sh1t! That thing ate my ass alive for years. I disabled it on my 550b and only leave the cup in place as it's the suspension for the press.

    I prime everything I run on the 550b off press, and totally bypass station 1.
    I've had this 550 for over 20 relatively trouble free years, notice I'm not saying 550B.

    This problem just cropped up with this caliber change. I'm not saying the primer feed has been absolutely trouble-free but I'm used to going a couple hundred rounds between issues.
    Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.

    Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee

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    Quote Originally Posted by 26 Inf View Post
    I've had this 550 for over 20 relatively trouble free years, notice I'm not saying 550B.

    This problem just cropped up with this caliber change. I'm not saying the primer feed has been absolutely trouble-free but I'm used to going a couple hundred rounds between issues.
    The biggest issues I've had running high volumes of 9mm in the 550 tended to show up with S&B brass. But the underlying culprit was routinely one of two things. Either the primer bar was dragging and "shuddering", which would cause the primer to jump up in the cup and bit and get off kilter, or the paperclip shaped "spring" gets out of adjustment and doesn't hold the case firmly against the inside shoulder of the shell plate.

    Readjusting the paper clip spring is quick and easy. Fixing the primer bar shudder was a matter of removing the bar, cleaning it, hitting the bottom and sides with a couple of swipes of 2000 grit sandpaper and applying a touch of dry film lubricant (to avoid attracting grit).

    After running a couple hundred thousand rounds through my oldest 550, I did run into an issue that I just couldn't diagnose. It was also causing primers to seat sideways. After trying everything I called Dillon and they ran through everything with me. Their best guess was that the ram and platform had become misaligned. They offered to have me send it in for repair of course. However, after assuring them that I was fairly mechanically inclined, they sent me a platform alignment tool, free of charge. I followed the steps and that fixed the problem.

    https://www.dillonprecision.com/rl55...8_6_26408.html

    Hope this info helps!
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by glocktogo View Post
    . After running a couple hundred thousand rounds through my oldest 550, I did run into an issue that I just couldn't diagnose. It was also causing primers to seat sideways. After trying everything I called Dillon and they ran through everything with me. Their best guess was that the ram and platform had become misaligned. They offered to have me send it in for repair of course. However, after assuring them that I was fairly mechanically inclined, they sent me a platform alignment tool, free of charge. I followed the steps and that fixed the problem.

    https://www.dillonprecision.com/rl55...8_6_26408.html

    Hope this info helps!
    I think you may have solved it. I recently had it completely down for a thorough cleaning. Could be the misalignment didn't really impact the small primers and showed itself when I switched to large primers.

    I've always paid attention to the priming system, I use a lot of the tips from the Brian Enos forum to keep it running smooth, this is why this problem is so frustrating.

    Thanks!!

    Dan
    Last edited by 26 Inf; 01-19-19 at 12:53.
    Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.

    Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by 26 Inf View Post
    I've had this 550 for over 20 relatively trouble free years, notice I'm not saying 550B.
    Gotcha. I assume sometimes people just drop the "B" for expediency.
    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

  10. #10
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    I have the 550B and have had a similar problem with 45. The solution for me was adjusting the paper clip thingy and not setting the shell plate too tight.

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