Dillon 1050 Rebuild....

[hightechstuff2]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to the forum and reloading. Due to recent ammo sourcing issues, I decided to explore the wonderful world of reloading. I happen to enjoy making things and am technically inclined so the new hobby should fit right in.

So.... It just so happens I have a Dillon RL 1050 laying around. It's actually brand new, never used. It was bought back in the late 80's/early 90's by my father and setup for 10mm auto. Unfortunately it was delegated to a life of sitting around in various warehouses collecting dust and rust. See pics.








Yeah... Brand new. Never used!

Anyway, I decided to rebuild this poor thing and replace all the parts that weren't bolted down as they fell off over the many years in storage.

The first thing that needed to happen was strip the whole press down to it's individual parts. From there the whole frame and sub-components were stripped of their parkerizing, scrubbed of their rust and re-parkerized.



After that, the whole press was re-assembled with fresh hardware and re-lubed.




At this point I figure this press can be brought back to perfect working order and ordered the rest of the parts from Dillon to convert it to reloading .223.

Here is the "almost" finished press waiting for the small primer conversion and large powder bar to finish it off.



Well, that's it for today... more to come. I have lots of questions on reloading since I've never done it before, but I figured I'd start with this as my first post on this forum.
Adam

[sjd78]

Wow! Amazing job bringing new life to your "new" press!

[Mike40-11]

I have lots of questions on reloading since I've never done it before

Welcome to the forum. Judging from what you've done to resurrect that press, attention to detail is not something you have a problem with. I don't think you're going to have a lot of trouble getting up and running.

Reloading isn't rocket science. It just requires a careful systematic approach. That old press looks brand spanking new. Apply the same mindset you did to restoring the press to your reloading and you'll be fine. I mean, you even re-parked it. I'da probably stopped with steel wool and WD-40.

Nice job.

[rajbcpa]

nice job!

Ive been waiting for Dillon to send 223 stuff to me for +5 weeks, so be patient - you have no choice, however.

I would consider getting the strong mount for this press. It stabilizes the press and makes loading more enjoyable.

[greentick]

wow! great job... You should send the pics to dillon. They prolly would have done it for ya and will probably thank you.

[ScottRiqui]

Beautiful job! Are those new dies in the last picture? If not, what did you do to the cruddy dies in the second picture to get them looking so good?

[hightechstuff2]

Wow! Amazing job bringing new life to your "new" press!

Thanks! I couldn't possibly work on something that looked like it originally did.

Welcome to the forum. Judging from what you've done to resurrect that press, attention to detail is not something you have a problem with. I don't think you're going to have a lot of trouble getting up and running.

Reloading isn't rocket science. It just requires a careful systematic approach. That old press looks brand spanking new. Apply the same mindset you did to restoring the press to your reloading and you'll be fine. I mean, you even re-parked it. I'da probably stopped with steel wool and WD-40.

Nice job.

Thanks for the welcome. Yeah, I have attention to detail but some of my reloading data books that I just picked up seem to conflict themselves a little and want to make sure I start with a load that's not going to "Elmer Fudd" my AR. I just seed some reassurance that the combination I choose sounds safe... More on that later.
Thanks Again!

nice job!

Ive been waiting for Dillon to send 223 stuff to me for +5 weeks, so be patient - you have no choice, however.

I would consider getting the strong mount for this press. It stabilizes the press and makes loading more enjoyable.

Thanks!
Yeah, tell me about it... I've had a hell of a time trying to get a hold of anyone at Dillon. I'm sure my little dash to get this press up and running along with the rest of the US is probably putting some hamper on their communication. I'll cut them some slack as I have read mostly good reports concerning their customer service.

As for the "strong mount", I don't see that as an available product for the 1050. My plan is to mount this to a very heavy, gutted medical machine rolling cabinet with locking wheels. I have lots of heavy benches in my shop but need all the bench space I can get.

wow! great job... You should send the pics to dillon. They prolly would have done it for ya and will probably thank you.

Thanks! Yeah, I found out about Dillon's $155 rebuild after I finished the work. I sent them pics before hand but never received an offer for that.... I guess I don't blame them.

Beautiful job! Are those new dies in the last picture? If not, what did you do to the cruddy dies in the second picture to get them looking so good?

Thanks!
Yes, the original dies were 10mm Auto. These are Lee .223 dies except for the primer swaging die, that one came with the 223 conversion kit from Dillon.

I was told I would have quite a wait for the 223 carbide die set so I opted to pick up the Lee dies to get started. They do seem to be very nice for the money and I really like the collet die that just sizes the neck versus the entire case. I hear you can get away with this the first 2 or 3 times before the whole case needs to be resized.

Anyway, here is a pic of the 10mm die set after cleaning. I do plan on using these as well to reload for my 10mm 1911's. I used phosphoric acid on the dies then polished out the blemishes with a wire wheeled bench grinder. Found out the hard way the original primer swage die was nickel plated and had to strip the whole thing. OOPS.

[rajbcpa]

I believe this strong mount below fits your press but you should call Dillon and ask before ordering it.


http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/con...are_Deal_Mount

[Reinz]

Dillon does not make a Strong Mount for the 1050. Due to the Case Feed post mount, it would have to be re-engineered. Not a big deal, but it could be done. Also, due to the footprint of the 1050, being totally bench mount, with nothing hanging down, there is need for a strong mount. If you need to raise it, you can always build a riser.

[m&p45acp10+1]

The collet die is great for reloading for single shot, and bolt action rifles. If your are loading for an AR as you stated in your earlier post then do not use the collet die. It will not work with your rifle. You will have a jam-o-mattic. Not to mention that the possibility of an out of battery slam fire could happen. That would ruin your gun, and possibly injure you badly.

[Sevens]

^Good info posted above mine. The good news is that you most likely also received a full-length sizing die with that Lee .223 set. Use it. Save the collet neck-only size dies for when you wish to make bolt-action or single shot rifle ammo. The collet die is a nice tool, but it's not what you need for AR-15 ammo.

Yeah, I have attention to detail but some of my reloading data books that I just picked up seem to conflict themselves a little and want to make sure I start with a load that's not going to "Elmer Fudd" my AR. I just seed some reassurance that the combination I choose sounds safe... More on that later.

Yes, this is standard fare. There are many reasons that published data varies and we can explain it when the time comes, but just to re-assure you-- what you have noticed (re: conflicting published data) is common.

[hightechstuff2]

Ah.... Okay, I think I'll play it safe than sorry then. You see, I 've been gathering info on forums (not always the best source) and heard that you can use the collet die for AR loads a few times. I'll just bin that info for now and use the full resize die. Thanks!

Also, I have mixed brass. Mostly from my gun, some from other people. Most of it is LC/Federal and some is Remington 223. Is it okay to primer swage the brass that does not have crimped primer pockets?

Is it okay to load 223 brass with the same loads as the 5.56 brass? I hear the base is thicker on the 5.56.


So, For my first attempt at reloading for a 14.5" 1-7 twist barrel, I'm going to try 69gr HPBT with 23.5gr of IMR 4895 with the CCI 400 primers. Does this sound like a safe start?

Unfortunately I don't have a local range but I think it would be safe to make 20 rounds and see how they fly.
Thanks Again!

[Mike40-11]

23.5 sounds reasonable. Hodgon lists 23.3 gr starting to 24.8 gr max for IMR 4895 under the 69gr SMK.

Swaging an uncrimped primer pocket won't hurt anything though I'm not sure it will gain you anything.

Military brass is, as a general rule, thicker than commercial brass. This slightly reduces the internal capacity and increases pressure. That said, unless you're at or near max loads, you're okay. I load a middle of the road 24.8 gr H4895 under the same bullet you're using. I don't change the charge for different brass.

Welcome to the reloading addiction. Pretty soon you'll be compulsively collecting brass for calibers you don't even own.....

[hightechstuff2]

Welcome to the reloading addiction. Pretty soon you'll be compulsively collecting brass for calibers you don't even own.....

HA! Yeah, I can see that happening already.

Thanks for the okay on my load. I'll be sure to hold you legally responsible if anything goes wrong.

As for primer pocket swaging. It's built into the 1050 so I'm just aiming for setting it up once and running all the brass.

Now, as for the case volume issue.... Would the same amount of powder in the different cases affect ballistics or would it be negligible? I'm not going for 700YD targets here. Just 100YD plinking for starters...

Also, Here is what I plan on using as a reloadoding bench. It weighs close to 150LBS and has locking wheels. Plenty of room for storage underneath and I think enough room behind to motorize this press for automatic operation in the future....