Dillon Super Swage

[Aszerigan]

I'm considering getting one, but wanted to see one / try it out first. Anyone have one I could come see, or possibly borrow for an afternoon?

 

[sloughfoot]

yes, but it is a long drive for you. What kind of beer do you favor?

Seriously though, I would ship mine down to you to play with if you are serious. Cost about 10 bucks one way, UPS.

It is a good tool, if you are not sure whether to buy or not, lean toward buying it. You won't regret it.

 

[Aszerigan]

I like ANY beer. Cold is best.

 

[ANeat]

Pretty simple operation, good tool.

Case goes onto the rod at the left, that supports it from the inside, gets swung down horizontal, you move the handle down and that pushes the swage punch into the primer pocket, swaging it,

Swing the handle back up, pivot the case up, remove.

I could probably do 20 in the time it took to type this

 

[GhostofWinter]

Pretty simple operation, good tool.

Case goes onto the rod at the left, that supports it from the inside, gets swung down horizontal, you move the handle down and that pushes the swage punch into the primer pocket, swaging it,

Swing the handle back up, pivot the case up, remove.

I could probably do 20 in the time it took to type this

Do you need a different holder/rod for the different size cases? or the different primer sizes IE small pistol, small rifle, large pistol, large rifle?

 

[ANeat]

It comes with different parts to do Large and small primers. Doesent matter if its Rifle or pistol, the swage part is the same

 

[billt]

They're like a Microwave oven or a TV with remote. Once you have it, you'll wonder how the hell you ever lived without it! Bill T.

 

[GhostofWinter]

It comes with different parts to do Large and small primers. Doesent matter if its Rifle or pistol, the swage part is the same

THANKS!

 

[slow1911s]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaZHeSUqQbk]YouTube - Automatic Dillon Super Swage 600 Modification[/ame]

 

[Aszerigan]

YouTube - Automatic Dillon Super Swage 600 Modification

I ordered one when saw this on Youtube. I'm definitely going to outfit mine like this. Hope it works as well as they say it does.

If not, I'm sure Dillon will take care of it.

 

[slow1911s]

I ordered one when saw this on Youtube. I'm definitely going to outfit mine like this. Hope it works as well as they say it does.

If not, I'm sure Dillon will take care of it.

You know, if you just ponied up for a Dillon 1050 this wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Aszerigan]

You know, if you just ponied up for a Dillon 1050 this wouldn't be an issue.

Yeah... yeah... I know. I'll be ordering one in May, but I have to pay for the new Spikes Compressor SBR I ordered first.

 

[ekg98]

I really want one but the amount of reloading I will do will not justify the price. I settled on the RCBS swager instead. The Dillon tool is more inline with what you do Aszerigan.

With the line of work your doing I think you need to get a setup like this

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AngO2Yj5s3A[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edeelYqIBOo[/ame]

Mr bulletfeeder and a case feeder. The press is ran by a hydraulic ram.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_xPmkSuAYQ[/ame] Mr Bulletfeeder

GSI makes a nice one

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBw0Vhcrl4Y[/ame]

 

[Aszerigan]

I really want one but the amount of reloading I will do will not justify the price. I settled on the RCBS swager instead. The Dillon tool is more inline with what you do Aszerigan.

I love these videos on Youtube. Only problem is that - if you look at the computer round count, it has done 177 rounds is 43 minutes. That's way too slow for commercial production.

 

[billt]

There is a very important thing to remember with this tool. It has an extremely powerful cam system that transfers the energy of the handle into the primer pocket swaging rod that actually removes the crimp on the primer pocket. It can be over adjusted very easily, causing far too much pressure to be exerted into the bottom of the primer pocket.

Some people who don't understand the mechanical advantage this tool possesses have actually cracked the frame of the tool, destroying it in the process.

It takes very little effort for this tool to roll over the edge of the brass primer pocket, thereby permanently removing the crimp on the primer pocket itself. Once the end of the swager rod touches the bottom of the primer pocket, that's it. It cannot go any further, and if one continues to adjust the rod out after that, the force will have nowhere to go. IMHO Dillon's instruction manual doesn't point this out clearly enough.

For someone who has a good idea of mechanics, and understands basic load transfer, this will not be an issue. But many reloaders do not and the result is what you see in the photo. BTW that is not my photo. The picture was copied off of another forum. Bill T.

 

[billt]

You know, if you just ponied up for a Dillon 1050 this wouldn't be an issue.

My only issue with the 1050 you have to clean and lubricate your cases, then run them through the entire reloading process. You then have to clean the loaded rounds some way to remove all of the case lube.

I like to start the reloading process with a fully preped, clean and dry, resized case. First off I'll full length resize and deprime with a small base resizing die. Then swage out all of the primer pockets. Then I trim to minimum overall length on my Giraud Power Trimmer. Lastly I tumble and clean in Stainless Steel Media. After that I'm ready to run them through the Dillon minus the resizing die which results in very little press leverage because all I'm basically doing is seating primers and crimping bullets in place.

With all of that said, the 1050 still tempts me unmercifully. The problem with it, is if your reloading once fired brass, you have to interrupt the reloading process somewhere along the line to clean the cases, and then all of the blistering speed you paid for to get with the 1050 goes out the window. If you were reloading new brass, or else brass that was already prepped, nothing could touch it. Bill T.

 

[billt]

Another issue with the Dillon Super 1050 is you cannot clean the primer pockets. The best you can hope to do is to start with a tumbled, clean, and lubricated case that has already been trimmed to length. If you want to clean the primer pockets you have to interrupt the reloading process, then as I said all of the blistering speed you paid to get with the Super 1050 goes right out the window.

If you trim the cases before full length resizing them, they will grow as soon as you run them through. By resizing first, then trimming you will maintain minimum overall length by 1 more reloading cycle, and in the process you will be chambering finished cartridges that are actually at minimum overall length. This is very important in semi automatic weapons like the AR-15 and Ruger Mini 14 rifles.

Now perhaps there is a way around all this by installing a Dillon Power Case trimmer on the resizing die, I don't know. But that causes yet another problem. The Dillon Power Case Trimmer does not chamfer the inside and outside of the case. It leaves a large burr on both the inside and outside of the case, then you are going to be seating bullets in a heavily burred case. None of this is desirable.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Dillon Super 1050 is one of the finest reloading machines being produced today anywhere on the market. I would purchase one tomorrow if these issues didn't exist. It's a hell of a machine. With that said if you want perfectly reloaded ammunition with it you have to start with either brand new brass, or else fully prepped cases. Bill T.

 

[Litlratt]

It's really tough to beat a Super Swage for the money. It is well spent.

However, mine has set idle since I learned how to cut the crimps out with a deburring tool. The last couple of .223 lots of brass that I did (around 5k each) were done in about half the time that it would have taken me with the swager.

I agree with biilt regarding the 1050s issues with quality rifle ammunition.

 

[Aszerigan]

My process for prepping .223 casings:

1) Lube all brass with One Shot and put in brass hopper
2) Use my XL650 to resize and decap all the brass, only one die in the toolhead
3) Tumble all brass to remove lube
4) Run through my RCBS Pocket Swage system on my Rockchucker
5) Continue the steps of reloading to complete round

If I can save one step - especially the pocket swaging step - I'm all for it. After it arrives, I'll review it and post the file on INGO.

 

[Litlratt]

My process for prepping .223 casings:

1) Lube all brass with One Shot and put in brass hopper
2) Use my XL650 to resize and decap all the brass, only one die in the toolhead
3) Tumble all brass to remove lube
4) Run through my RCBS Pocket Swage system on my Rockchucker
5) Continue the steps of reloading to complete round

If I can save one step - especially the pocket swaging step - I'm all for it. After it arrives, I'll review it and post the file on INGO.

At what point do you trim, chamfer and deburr?

The Super Swage will not save you a step. It will merely replace #4 unless you are swaging every time, which isn't necessary.