Difficult time getting consistent case bell on Dillon 650

[Underwhere]

So I've never really had much issue reloading before with my Dillon 650.
That is until I bought a few thousand moly coated 9mm bullets.

I have have most everything figured out now except for 1 thing. I'm shaving the moly off the sides and sometimes deeper into the lead when I seat the bullet.
I have adjusted the bell by loosening the powder drop, loosening the die lockring and turning the die down 1/8 or 1/4 whatever it needed. Then I locked everything back up.

This is a bit of a tedious process so if anyone here has any suggestions I would be grateful.

Once I get the bell to be sufficient I load up a few rounds and for some reason the case bell seems to go back to shaving the the bullets after 10 or so loads. Nothing seems loose.

It's a bit of a mystery to me. I've spent way too much time fiddling with this and not enough time loading.

Thoughts?

 

[1919FAN]

Can you post a pic of the expanded case.

 

[NavelOfficer]

Thoughts?

Don't know the Dillon dies, but if they are like the Lyman "charge-through expander dies", make sure the expander is not loose and shifting within the die body.

 

[JustanotherDan]

What OAL are you seating it at?

 

[wmccurdy53]

You have to be careful that the powder measure is tight enough so that it doesn't move upward.
When the bell is correct, I tighten it under tension (with the shell plate in the up position with a piece of brass engaged).

 

[Underwhere]

Can you post a pic of the expanded case.

I can but it'll look almost exactly like a resized 9mm case. I don't bell very much. Just enough to slide the bullet in.

What OAL are you seating it at?

It's short. 1.130 if memory serves me.
These bullets have a very strange Ogive which was proving problematic when chambering in some of my barrels. I actually had to have one of my barrels sent out to be reamed to fit these.

You have to be careful that the powder measure is tight enough so that it doesn't move upward.
When the bell is correct, I tighten it under tension (with the shell plate in the up position with a piece of brass engaged).

I'll check that. I didn't think to tighten under tension. Thanks for the tip.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Move the powder measure to station 3 and buy an RCBS expander die and put it in station 2. You can do a much better job setting and controlling the flare with the dedicated RCBS die.

I can but it'll look almost exactly like a resized 9mm case. I don't bell very much. Just enough to slide the bullet in.

Bell more.

 

[SJan]

You have to be careful that the powder measure is tight enough so that it doesn't move upward.
When the bell is correct, I tighten it under tension (with the shell plate in the up position with a piece of brass engaged).

This

Set your bell with the shellplate full, brass in each station, and bullets being seated / crimped

Although you can get a proper bell with the dillon dies, I now use Mr Bullet-feeder expander dies from Double Alpha in all pistol calibers, they replace the die in our dillon powder drop. It has a better shape bell

 

[ruebarb]

This

Set your bell with the shellplate full, brass in each station, and bullets being seated / crimped

Although you can get a proper bell with the dillon dies, I now use Mr Bullet-feeder expander dies from Double Alpha in all pistol calibers, they replace the die in our dillon powder drop. It has a better shape bell

Agree 100% on both accounts.

 

[thormx538]

This

Set your bell with the shellplate full, brass in each station, and bullets being seated / crimped

Although you can get a proper bell with the dillon dies, I now use Mr Bullet-feeder expander dies from Double Alpha in all pistol calibers, they replace the die in our dillon powder drop. It has a better shape bell

I found the expanding style powder funnels tend to "clunk" really bad when using mixed brass, even if I lubed. I should measure a random assortment of sized brass and set the flare using the smallest case I have and see if it is still enough flare on the larger ones. I do really like how straight the bullet sits, but the sticking made it absolutely unusable for me.

 

[IPSC_DRL]

This

Set your bell with the shellplate full, brass in each station, and bullets being seated / crimped

Although you can get a proper bell with the dillon dies, I now use Mr Bullet-feeder expander dies from Double Alpha in all pistol calibers, they replace the die in our dillon powder drop. It has a better shape bell

Ah, saved by the bell.Good idea.

 

[Meehuel]

I reload ill looking range pickup brass on my XL650 with poly lately. It's definitely trickier. I'm using a highly overpriced 3 die set with the Dillon powder die and the results are stellar. Great dies make shitty components go together nicely.

 

[noylj]

First, proper terminology so we know what you are describing would help.
1) powder die--it screws into the tool head.
2) Powder funnel--it is the insert that does the case expansion and case mouth flaring. Strange, when I asked for a .38 Super powder funnel in the Dillon store they pointed me to the display for regular powder funnels. So, I like to call them case-activated powder-through expander "powder funnels."
(You see, Dillon licenses the design from Lee and Lee trade-marked powder-through expander, so Dillon had to call it something else--but I really don't think "powder funnel" was a very good choice. The Lee measure is nothing more than a Lee Auto-Disk with an adjustable charge bar that actually works.)
3) The collar clamp must be properly installed in the powder die groove and the Body Collar Housing groove.

Place the measure on the powder die and make sure the collar encompasses both the die and measure grooves and finger tighten the two clamp bolts. You can leave it just loose enough that you can hold the measure in position while you screw the powder die body up or down as needed.

First, you set up the powder measure/powder die with nothing else on the press:
Install the powder die in the tool head and drop the caliber-specific powder-through expander "powder funnel" in the die—grooved end UP. Install powder measure on the powder die and tighten collar bolts.
Place a sized case the shell holder and raise ram with case entering the powder measure station.

Screw the powder die body down with the case in the shell plate and ram raised all the way up. If you can, screw it down until the powder measure has completely activated (fully open position) so the back of the charge bar is all the way forward. If not, lower the ram, move the case back to station 2, screw the powder die down 1/8 turn, and check for full travel of the measure with the ram raised all the way up again. Keep adjusting until the case fully activated the measure. At this point, you have expanded the case ID, but haven't flared the case mouth necessarily.
Now, it is just a matter of adjusting the powder die body down until you get the flare you want. I use enough flare that I can place a bullet on the case and lightly push down such that, if I pull the case/bullet from the shell plate and turn it upside down, the bullet stays on the case.
Also, my personal philosophy is that more rounds are ruined by NOT flaring enough than cases have dies an early like due to excessive flare. Don't be afraid to use about twice the amount of flare you "think" is proper.
*When you get the flare where you want it, and with a case in the die with measure fully activated, lightly tighten the lock ring on the powder die. Take about five more cases, size and run them through and be sure that they ALL fully activate the powder measure and they all have sufficient flare. If not, loosen the die body lock ring and screw the die body down an additional 1/8 turn. Go back and size these cases again and repeat from the asterisk above.
This generally takes less than one minute and the powder die and measure can't lose the setting unless the powder die lock ring gets loose or the collar get so loose it almost falls off.

So, it simply involves making sure the powder measure completely cycles open, you are getting the flare you want, and everything is at least hand-tight if no wrench tight.

You can also go back and read page 23 of your Dillon manual. There might even be useful visuals on the Dillon 650XL DVD. I know the 1050 DVD showed me several things the narrator/technician did without thinking about it that made things easier for me.