Something weird on the Dillon 650; having to size the case multiple times?

[TheGerman]

Just grabbed a bunch of once fired 223 RP brass, lubed it and put it in the case feeder. Put my prep toolhead on (decapper stage 1, Dillon FL sizer and trimmer stage 4), ran 20 pieces and measured.

Can't figure out whats causing this:

Of the 20 cases, roughly half sized to the pre determined shoulder measurement I want of 1.457. The other half are like they didn't get sized at all and are somewhere in the 1.46X range. When I put them in the FL sizer again, most didn't size the shoulder down again. It took me putting imperial wax on the ones that wouldn't size and sizing them 5+ times to get them to finally come to the 1.457 measurement.

Was using Dillon spray lube initially as I wanted to run them in large batches and have never used it before.

Can it be something with the lube?
Can it be something with the once fired brass that was fired in different carbines but just sorted by headstamp?
Is there some crazy voodoo on the Dillon FL sizing/trim die?

What the hell?


Update - I actually think I've found out the hard way that Dillon case lube can expire/go bad. Just doused the living shit out of 10 cases with it, let it sit and they are totally dry and non-oily afterwards. That's what I get for using a new bottle of lube I found in a box that's been in the garage for 5+ years.

 

[FishDr]

Glad you found the problem. Another item to consider - place an empty decapping die (no pin) or an empty powder die opposite of your FL/trim die to eliminate any possibility of flex between the stage and toolhead. Ive not experienced this with my Dillon, but did on another press.

 

[padom]

You shake that bottle.up?

 

[TheGerman]

You shake that bottle.up?

Yep. Went crazy on it.

It smells like it should, but it doesn't have the greasiness to it even when applied. After a few minutes when the alcohol usually evaporates and leaves a greasy residue, the case is totally dry instead.

Didn't even consider the lube was bad because it smelled fine. It only hit me that it was lube related after the last few cases started getting noticeably harder to get out of the die.

 

[DrewC]

Yup, Dillon will go bad. I found out the hard way, got a stuck case and damn.. it was stuck good. Tried a few more and couldn't even get .308 brass halfway up into the die. I just threw away 3 bottles if it. I seen the separation of lanolin / alcohol in the bottles, just figured I could shake them up and all would be ok but nope.

 

[TheGerman]

So with that, for bulk rifle brass which is better; Dillon or the One Shot?

 

[DrewC]

To me One shot sucks and I won't touch it. I like Dillon and have never had an issue till now. Now in defense of the Dillon, those 3 bottles were over 3 yrs old. At least. Since I have to order it and didn't have time plus was / is a little leary of it, I tried the RCBS lube and it was amazing on sizing a ton of Lake city machine gun brass. It just doesn't go a long ways but it is local and easy to get.

 

[Sheldon N]

Make your own. Lanolin plus 99% alcohol. That stuff is the bomb.

 

[TheGerman]

Make your own. Lanolin plus 99% alcohol. That stuff is the bomb.

Just ordered some 99%, Lanolin and a spray bottle.

 

[nexusfire]

Just ordered some 99%, Lanolin and a spray bottle.

What ratio do you mix it in?

 

[Sheldon N]

I think I was around 12:1, maybe a little closer to 10:1 alcohol to lanolin.

 

[DrewC]

That's all the Dillon lube is - 10:1 alcohol / lanolin. Now I'm going to have to mix some up out of curiosity

 

[Sixfivesavage]

Do you guys remove lube after loading and what's your process?

 

[spife7980]

I use a 10:1 via 6.5 guys tutorial. I just draw an line 4" up on the bottle and then another .4" above that. Fill your alcohol to the bottom line and the lanolin to the next.

I just vibratory tumble for a few minutes to take the lube off.

 

[TheGerman]

The channels on youtube I watched say 8:1 but I'm sure its all over the place.

As far as the process on a progressive:

- Do whatever prep is needed to the case if necessary
- Lube a ton of brass
- Toss brass into brass bucket at top of Dillon 650
- Prep toolhead: Station 1 universal decap, Station 3 Dillon FL sizing die and Dillon trimmer

Tumble for an hour or whatever

- Switch to loading toolhead; Station 1 Redding neck sizing die (important: leave the decapping pin in so it can punch out any stuck media), Station 2 primer/powder, Station 3 Mr Bulletfeeder bullet drop, Station 4 seating, Station 5 Lee Factory crimp (if needed)

 

[Sheldon N]

Do you guys remove lube after loading and what's your process?

One toolhead for brass prep (deprime, size, expander mandrel) then tumble the lube off and store the brass as "ready to load". Separate toolheads for loading rounds.

With true progressive 223 just tumble the loaded rounds afterwards.

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Found out the hard way that a 650 has to have a die and case opposite from each other. I set mine up the first time and trimmed 300 case I had already sized, trimer in 4. Then set up my sizing die in 1. Measured the shoulder before they hit the trimmer. The first batch I sized and trimmed on the press, another 300 ended up with the shoulder set between .003 and .005 too far back and trimmed .005 too much.

My lube mix is 2 oz lanolin and 32 oz alcohol in big trigger spray bottle. Put a hundred or so cases in a gallon bag, spray with a couple of pumps of lube, shake them around the bag to wet them evenly, dump them into a pan, let the alcohol evaporate off, then size and deprime.

 

[MtnCreek]

I assume that's why they make their seating die so that it can bottom out on the plate.

Better lubing will reduce the variances because it reduces the friction that causing the case to push harder on the shellplate. A die in sta 3 or 4 set to keep the plate from rising will do even better.

 

[PatMiles]

On the Dillon 650 the shellplate has to be snugged down so there is minimal rocking fro side to side. Loosen the locking screw on the side of the ram, snug the shellplate bolt until the shellplate itself will not turn, tighten the locking screw. After this is done loosen the shellplate bolt, it will take a bit of effort since the setscrew has been tightened, until you can rotate the shellplate with your fingers and it doesn't drag on the platform underneath it. Check the rocking again, it should be significantly less than when you first checked it.