DIY upgrade for Dillon Powder Measure

[C. Richard Archie]

Loading large quantities of pistol and rifle cartridges can be greatly enhanced by going to a Progressive machine. While more expensive than single stage presses, the time saving features of these set ups can make a huge difference in hours spent at the loading, instead of at the shooting bench. RCBS, Lee and Dillon all produce these tools.

I have to confess a personal preference for the Dillon line. (I am a drinker of the Blue Cool aid). I have personal experience with their "No BS" lifetime warranty. Several years ago, I had a tree from a neighbor's property blow onto my shop during a violent thunderstorm, the crown penetrated the roof structure, and resulted in a thorough soaking of my reloading area. I was out of town at the time, and my wife could not fain access to move any of my tools. My 25 year old Dillon 550 was in was shape upon my return. I contacted Dillon, they had me ship the press, and all the affected dies and toolheads back to them. the reworked the press, replaced the toolheads and dies, all at no cost.

As much as I am enamored of the Dillon line, there is one area of their products that can use some TLC to upgrade function. Their powder measure has a hard time dealing with course grained powder, such as Varget (which my .204 Ruger loves). I would like to take credit for thinking this procedure up, but can not, I stumbled upon it searching for answers to the problem of inconsistent drops across the web. The following link describes the upgrade, and is defiantly worth the time and trouble to produce a better running tool.

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=154783