[Huey]

I am looking for a new, "old style" Dillon 1050, not one of the new Super 1050s. I want to load 40 S&W. The new Super 1050 is giving me a bunch of head aches, and having looked over one of the old style 1050s, it seems that Dillon may have screwed a good thing up. Does anyone have any idea where I might find one of these machines?
Thanks

 

[Tom Freeman]

My Super 1050 is running like a champ. Maybe 10K-15K rounds through it since December. I have loaded 38 TJ, 9x19, 40 and 223 through it fine. Whats going on with yours?

Tom
AF Shooting Team

 

[Jim Watson]

Mine too, I couldn't be happier - except for the extra hundred bucks, and that memory is fading fast. I just grin to see the primers socked into the (swaged) pockets.

 

[Huey]

I am having trouble with powder shaking out of the cases when the shell holder is advanced, and an infuriating problem with the primer arm jamming the machine. I have contacted Dillon, but have had little help in solving the problems. I am not the only one, since another shooter in the area is having the same problems, has already sent his back once, with seemingly no difference when it was returned. I am using Winchester Small Pistol Primers. What are you guys using? Could this be the problem? Any suggestions? Sending it back is all well and good, but that means I am without the loader.

 

[Randall_1611]

My memory is failing again!

There was a post about one brand of primers, that I don't remember for sure, that have a higher cup & anvil and cause problems in the Dillon primer feed system. The primer might not be seated flush with the case head in some brands of brass. I hope this gives you a place to start. This is for all Dillon primer feeds, 550, 650, 1050.

If the poweder is coming out of the case, see if you can find a more dense powder/burning rate for what you want that does not fill the case. I never had this problem with the powder and I always glance for powder charge before seating the bullet for proper charge level, but then I only have a 550. Mike

 

[Bear]

Could it be CCI primers? I read somewhere that the CCI primer depth gauge could only be used with their primers. I know they sure seem to go into the pockets harder than others.

 

[DougC]

Tighten down the shellplate to where it barely turns, and lube the ball detent. Make it so you barely can turn it with your hand. I set it up with my rythym so when the case comes around after the powder drop I automatically put a bullet on top of the case, so I dont have to worry about spillage. As far as the primer goes, first try different primers, if that doesnt work, try moving the pivot arm on the primer tube that moves the bar in/out up just a bit, and see if that helps. Obviously you know that everything works better when it is clean, and it is a bitch to tear down to clean all the time. Good luck, play around with it, I am sure you will be able to get it going. Heres hoping mine works this afternoon, need some match ammo. good luck, DC

 

[Peter Loron]

I have a bit of a problem with powder shaking out of the cases in my 650 as I load if I let the shellplate snap into the next detent. I have gotten into the habit of easing the shellplate into position with my fingers as I'm putting the next bullet into place.

 

[Mike Benedict]

I have loaded more than a millon rounds on my 1050 almost all with WW primers. Ever since Winchester changed to brass collored primers my press primer feed jams up. I had the entire press re-built and it stimm jamed
So I tried Remington primers and no more problems.

The Winchesters are a tiny bit taller and a bit out of round compared to the old nickled ones.

I spoke with a nice lady at Winchester customer service and she said she was sorry I was having a problem and hoped I would continue using Winchester primers.

Mike

 

[Huey]

That may be my problem. I will try some Remington primers. I do know that the Winchester do not work in my Dillon automatic primer filler gizmo. Maybe the same problem is rearing its head in the relaoder primer feed mechanism.

 

[stipilot]

Well, I'm glad I'm not alone having problems with my Super 1050 -- my SECOND one! The first was an absolute POS. For starters it was set up for 38 Super and they shipped it with a large primer feed bar. Move the handle - dump a tube of primers all over the reloading bench. The tech at Dillon was an real smart ass and pretty much giving me a hard time because I hadn't immediately figured out how to diagnose the primer feed problem with the 1050 that I had for all of two hours. While he as giving me crap ideas to solve the problem, I noticed the primer feed bar hole was too big. I had to call back and got another tech who identified the problem instantly, even before I could tell him what I found wrong.

A week later when the new part arrived, I spent an evening setting it up. First, the powder measure was varying something like -.3 to +.6 grains! Primers still would not feed right, and the thing was so jerky, it was unusable. That Saturday I called and literally spent about 5 hours on the phone with a Dillon tech. Several screws were WAY overtightened and for loading Super and .40, Dillon recommends cutting back the shell plate detent ball spring 1/2 coil at a time until it operates smoothly. We got the charge variations fixed and improved but did not eliminate the jerkiness. We never did solve the primer feed problem so I sent that back and they sent me a new one.

The second one was in a little better shape though some of the screws that were over tightened on the first were also overtightened on the second. I had to use a 1 ' piece of pipe over an allen wrench to break the shell ejector screws loose they were so tight. I still had intermittant primer feed problems too; that was caused by flashing burrs on the primer follower which was making it hang up in the tube.

The auto-indexing is still too jerky and keeps dumping powder out of my cases. I've cut probably 2 full coils off the ball detent spring - only thing left to do is loosen the shell plate a little more.

Given the amount of time I have to spend cleaning the thing because it keeps dumping powder, my productivity is probably half what I can do with my 550.

Soon as I'm back from vacation I'm giving it one more R&D session but if I can't make it work better than it does, it's going back and I'll either get a 650 or a used, older 1050. BTW, a friend just got a Super 1050 and is having exactly the same problems.

Bottom line is I think Dillon replaced probably the finest reloading press ever made with a piece of junk. And I'm not changing my powder to something that suits the freaking reloading press. For the price of that thing, it should load any qaulity powder/bullet/case/primer quickly and without errors.

 

[DougC]

Thanks for the heads up on the "new" model. I just loaded 2500 rds last night with the new
WW primers and it never missed a beat. Must be enough variance from the vendor on the priming units that mine slips through. I am sure that Dillon will take care of you guys, they have in the past. DougC

 

[Randall_1611]

I found my notes and CCI primers caused problems with the Dillon primer feed systems. I cannot tell if current production has been corrected or not. Mike

 

[Marvin Gardens]

I just finished running 2,000 rounds of .45 ACP through my 1050 this afternoon. I got so frustrated after my last loading session with the machine that I put it away for about a year and went back to loading on a Star machine. I was using CCI primers and couldn't get 25 rounds loaded without the priming system locking up and having to stop and tear it down. I spent a couple of hours this morning setting the machine up and adjusting it (biggest headache was the swaging stage) and then loaded a batch of once fired WCC cases (primers still crimped in)with the new Winchester large pistol primers without a hitch. I would also mention that Dillon told me that the sturdier the bench the better, I recently built a new bench that is very stable and this might have had some effect also.

Regards,
Marvin

 

[JP]

Has anyone had any experience with Dillon's shotgun press? Good or bad?

 

[FortyFive]

Glad to see Mike Benedict experienced the same problems with Winchester primers jamming etc. I thought I was the lone ranger. I changed from the winchester to Federal 150 primers and my problems cleared with pimers jamming in the tubes etc. I have a 550B and found at times the chute designed to catch the old primer punched out would not move as designed and the ejected primer would cause the press to jam as it rested under the shell plate. My fix was to replace the cotter pin with a hunk of paper clip and it works fine. The cotter pin holding the chute does not always allow the chute to drop against the ram column to catch the ejected primer because it is out of round. A paper clip does the trick. I don't know if this same problem exists with say the 650 or 1050 press.

 

[Gary Kieft]

The index lever and the accompaning roller were redesigned in August, 2001. If you did not already receive these upgrades, contact Dillon Precsion for replacements. the easy visual way to see if you have old or new parts is that the old index roller was bronze, while the new roller is steel.The new design advances the shellplate more slowly and smoothly,hence much less powder spillage.

 

[DBR]

One other thing I found on my 1050 was if there is any kind of a burr in the flash hole, the rod which holds the case down during primer hole swaging will mash it into the flash hole. I machined a relief in the end of the rod to accomodate any burr. My press is 1995 vintage so Dillon may have changed the end of the rod.

 

[Andy]

JP, my neighbor is a trap and clays shooter. He has had a Dillon SL1200 since they came out. He has sold/is selling all of his other (P-W) presses.

 

[Robin Sage]

I spoke with a Dillon Rep back in Jun. He told me that Dillon is no longer manufacturing a lot of their parts any more. They contract them out and their quality is dependant upon the contractor. I have a XL-650 that I got in May, I would not trade it for the world. I absolutely love it, but I am starting to hear more and more Dillon horror stories. Of course, they are holding true with their no B.S. guarntee.