RL450 Modest Upgrades
Quote from Reloader on July 11, 2020, 4:10 amMy two RL450's purchased in 1982-83 deserve a couple modest upgrades. (Note: I have never had a single failure or replaced a single part in all these years.)
1. Does the RL450 Auto Eject kit include the shellplate platform alignment tool?
2. I see that the newer 550's with auto prime have an extended platform with a case retention spring attached in front of station one. The Auto Prime parts diagram identify these as #14280, Roller Bracket Assembly, and #13926 Cartridge Spring. Can this Roller Bracket Assembly be used with the old manual primer system?
3. The original RL450 did/does not have the steel wear plate #14015 under the primer assembly. Can the wear plate be installed under the manual primer system and if so will the existing screws //fasteners work?
My two RL450's purchased in 1982-83 deserve a couple modest upgrades. (Note: I have never had a single failure or replaced a single part in all these years.)
1. Does the RL450 Auto Eject kit include the shellplate platform alignment tool?
2. I see that the newer 550's with auto prime have an extended platform with a case retention spring attached in front of station one. The Auto Prime parts diagram identify these as #14280, Roller Bracket Assembly, and #13926 Cartridge Spring. Can this Roller Bracket Assembly be used with the old manual primer system?
3. The original RL450 did/does not have the steel wear plate #14015 under the primer assembly. Can the wear plate be installed under the manual primer system and if so will the existing screws //fasteners work?
Quote from Reloader on July 14, 2020, 11:44 pmI would call Dillon tech support they will give you the right answer they have never failed me.
Happy shooting
I would call Dillon tech support they will give you the right answer they have never failed me.
Happy shooting
Quote from Reloader on July 20, 2020, 1:12 pmI did call Dillon and ordered two auto eject kits and primer slide wear bearings.
Reference the primer slide wear bearing they said they would work with the original push/pull primer system but would need longer bolts, (ordered them but they were too long and bottomed out, so the original bolts worked just fine).
The auto eject kit included EVERYTHING I needed. Odd the on line description/s don't include what's in there or a pic of everything laid out.
I was surprised and a bit confused that the new shell plate platform neither includes nor is drill-n-tapped for the primer depth adjustment bolt. I guess they decided some time back that the dead stop seating method was not preferred. Although in 37+ years of use I have never had a primer FTF issue due to seating depth. I am going to run them for a while without hard stops, if it's a problem for me I may drill-n-tap the platforms myself.
I had to do some ejection chute material removal on both chutes. Although my presses are mounted squarely against the base lip to 3/8" aluminum plate, the ejection chutes interfered with the seating stroke of the press handle. Part (but not all) of that issue was my own. I installed the heavy walled, self adhesive heat shrink to the handle rods to eliminate rusting and which added to the clearance problem.
I found there is a fairly significant difference in the height of the new platforms. All preset dies needed to be lowered 1.5-2 full turns. Just an observation.
All of the above are minor and only shared as FYIs'.
I am having some issues with the proper adjustment of the case retainer spring (paper clip looking thing). No instructions and no idea of how/where it should sit on the case/rim lip, etc. Still playing with that and haven't engaged in an actual reloading session yet.
I did call Dillon and ordered two auto eject kits and primer slide wear bearings.
Reference the primer slide wear bearing they said they would work with the original push/pull primer system but would need longer bolts, (ordered them but they were too long and bottomed out, so the original bolts worked just fine).
The auto eject kit included EVERYTHING I needed. Odd the on line description/s don't include what's in there or a pic of everything laid out.
I was surprised and a bit confused that the new shell plate platform neither includes nor is drill-n-tapped for the primer depth adjustment bolt. I guess they decided some time back that the dead stop seating method was not preferred. Although in 37+ years of use I have never had a primer FTF issue due to seating depth. I am going to run them for a while without hard stops, if it's a problem for me I may drill-n-tap the platforms myself.
I had to do some ejection chute material removal on both chutes. Although my presses are mounted squarely against the base lip to 3/8" aluminum plate, the ejection chutes interfered with the seating stroke of the press handle. Part (but not all) of that issue was my own. I installed the heavy walled, self adhesive heat shrink to the handle rods to eliminate rusting and which added to the clearance problem.
I found there is a fairly significant difference in the height of the new platforms. All preset dies needed to be lowered 1.5-2 full turns. Just an observation.
All of the above are minor and only shared as FYIs'.
I am having some issues with the proper adjustment of the case retainer spring (paper clip looking thing). No instructions and no idea of how/where it should sit on the case/rim lip, etc. Still playing with that and haven't engaged in an actual reloading session yet.