Dillon 650 expander station alignment?

[Lefty2506]

I bought a 650 back in the late 90's, and I've mainly loaded 45acp on it. Within the last decade or so, my wife has started shooting a little so we've added several 9mms to the stable, and a couple of 40s. I've only loaded maybe 2,000 rnds of 9mm on it, and that was a few years ago. On 40s, I've probably only loaded 500 rounds or so. Over the weekend, I started working up a new load for the 40s. I had a handfull of sized and primed brass, but needed to flare them a little to allow the bullet seat (140gr lead TCFP). I just single fed them in at the priming station, and left the actuator arm disconnected from the powder feeder so that it didn't continue to fully actuate. I quickly noticed that the flaring mandrel was not wanting to go into the case. This is what it looked like.




Never noticed this loading 45 acp (don't know how many tens of thousands). I remember fighting with the press some when loading either 9mm or 40s (maybe both) in the past, but I don't recall what issues I was having.

Here's a pick of the priming station. It looks a little off in the pic, but in real life it looks better. The rest of the stations on the shell plate in the pic all look like they line up well with the other features on the press.




Thoughts???

 

[Krogen]

My first thought is the tool head is drilled off-axis. Try swapping with another one. Is the expander die seated squarely on the tool head without debris between the body and tool head?

 

[243winxb]

Platform Alignment Tool

Units may come from Dillon, out of alignment. My RL-450 was, from 1979.

 

[rwj]

Are you using the pins that locate the tool head to the frame? If yes, I’d remove them and let the tool head float.

Are you using the same tool head for .45 and .40? If no, the tool head location for the priming station may be out of location on the .40 tool head.

Is the flare previously applied to the .40 cases concentric/uniform? If yes, determine what changed from that setup to the misaligned one shown in the picture.

Does the misalignment occur with a case in all shell plate locations? If no, at least one shell plate position is out of location.

 

[Lefty2506]

Are you using the pins that locate the tool head to the frame? If yes, I’d remove them and let the tool head float.

Are you using the same tool head for .45 and .40? If no, the tool head location for the priming station may be out of location on the .40 tool head.

Is the flare previously applied to the .40 cases concentric/uniform? If yes, determine what changed from that setup to the misaligned one shown in the picture.

Does the misalignment occur with a case in all shell plate locations? If no, at least one shell plate position is out of location.

Yes, I use the pins. I've tried letting the tool head float in the past, and had issues with it floating too much. In this specific case, the tool head would need to be seated further into the press to make the situation any better, so letting it float wouldn't be helpful.

I have different tool heads for everything I load, multiple for .223/5.56. I plan on swapping over to my 9mm setup and see if I have the same issue or not. If the 9mm lines up well, it would indicate my 40 tool head has a defect in it.

I haven't loaded any 40 for about 3 years now, so I don't have any previously flared brass to compare to. The current brass appears to be flared evenly, but I intentionally put a very very small amount of flare on my brass so its hard to say.

I was only flaring the brass so I could charge them 1 at a time and then bring them back and seat the bullet. Basically using the press as a single stage. I'm developing a new load for a new bullet and powder combo because I ran out of both. With that said, I would think that if the brass was off that far at the first station (sizing), it would get crunched every time. I'll run 20 rounds through the press and see how it looks.

 

[Lefty2506]

My first thought is the tool head is drilled off-axis. Try swapping with another one. Is the expander die seated squarely on the tool head without debris between the body and tool head?

The jam nut is tight against the tool head, and there doesn't appear to be any gaps between the two which would indicate that the hole and threads are square to the world.

 

[argrendel]

Good advice above. Don’t hesitate to reach out to Dillon. They have been great to deal with. Troubleshooting and parts.

 

[Lefty2506]

Platform Alignment Tool

Units may come from Dillon, out of alignment. My RL-450 was, from 1979.

View attachment 1711544

I forgot that the platform could be adjusted. Depending on how the 9mm lines up, I may do this. I need to purchase a new case insert slide anyway. Mine is sprung and keeps wanting to hang up when its pulled back. Before swapping that part out though, I want to try to build up part of the feed mechanism to see if I can prevent that problem from occurring again. IMHO, that issue has always been the weak link on the press.

 

[Lefty2506]

Platform Alignment Tool

Units may come from Dillon, out of alignment. My RL-450 was, from 1979.

View attachment 1711544

Ordered.

 

[Rwfish]

Your platform has shifted or was not aligned properly. Once you remove the shell plate you’ll see the 2socket head bolts that fasten it to the ram. The platform holes are a little oversized and allow you to shift it around. The alignment pin is useful but not really required. There is a video on Dillon’s site that covers the alignment procedures. In 15 years I’ve had to realign mine once…

 

[Lefty2506]

Your platform has shifted or was not aligned properly. Once you remove the shell plate you’ll see the 2socket head bolts that fasten it to the ram. The platform holes are a little oversized and allow you to shift it around. The alignment pin is useful but not really required. There is a video on Dillon’s site that covers the alignment procedures. In 15 years I’ve had to realign mine once…

After seeing the reference to the alignment pin yesterday, I went and found that video and watched it. I had forgotten how the head mounted, but it looks like it should be pretty straight forward.