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Dillon 550C and maybe other Dillons..??

Old_Me

Old_Me

Emissary
i don't know where my posting went, i still cannot find it, so as best i can, a reposting of what i spoke about last week.

some of you that do not reload or own a DIllon, you may not be familiar with any of this, so it's a mere posting in show & tell.

in this picture, is a spring from my Dillon 550C....it operates the primer slide bar....

1755171601969.png


as you can see, the "loop" at the left broke off...the spring is quite strong, but at the same time, the coils are thin...on the Dillon facebook page, some have said they get "about" 7,000 rounds, before it breaks.....some say then got well over 10,000 rounds.

mine broke at just over 3,500 rds.

also too, i bought this NIB from the RSO who was getting rid of all his reloading room....and scooped it all up.

so i called Dillon, and this spring is $6.00 EACH...but i did not get one for free...must depend on who answers the phone..???...i had ordered 5 springs.

anyways, they arrived yesterday (8/13/25)


now on the Dillon facebook page an owner showed this picture..

1755171931813.png


and this is the "operating rod" for the Dillon, that pushed back that primer bar, in this picture, outlined.....

1755172055623.jpeg


his operating rod broke as well, (different owner), and some claim a lifespan of 7K to 10K rnds..

i went "pro-active" and ordered up 2....

when this new replacement spring breaks, and i suspect it will, and when my original operating rod breaks, i will call Dillon and ask for "freebies"........

it should be "hassle free lifetime warranty" ..........but yet, does it depend on who answers the phone...???
 
Dillonfriend said:
Old_Me,
Your broken spring is covered under warranty. We do charge a $4.99 shipping fee now on warranty parts, due to significant increases in shipping charges. Please email me directly, gary.kieft@dillonprecision.com and I will mail you a replacement spring for free, to replace the broken one. I will need your name and mailing address. I do apologize for the error.
Click to expand...
Thank you Gary...!!

email sent to you with my name, address, and also all the #'s on the sales slip

DO NOT be a stranger here.......we LOVE communications with companies..!!!
 
i was going to say
my square deal B broke a few things and always had stuff sent out
hint.. try to break numerous items so only one shipping charge :ROFLMAO:
seriously the few items that failed was an easy OK
i was surprised you had a bad experience at first
 
well, i got a phone call from "Cat" the sales manager at Dillon...

she left a message earlier, and i just spoke to her....

that guy from Dillon that posted here, is "Gary, Dillon's human manual"........lol...lol

she reiterated that they are shipping out a new spring

as for the control rod that pushes back the primer bar, she mentioned that only going "half way" may be the cause of that rod breaking.

so be sure to go the full up or down stroke, i would think be a better idea.

and as mentioned due to shipping costs, we do have to at least pay for shipping charges now on warranty items.

very hot and muggy here, but "cool" responsiveness from Gary and Cat...!!
 
one very interesting thing with my conversation with "Cat" at Dillon....

read Gary's recent email from me, minutes ago.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Howdy

A replacement spring is invoiced, and should ship today. The Sales Manager pulled the call, and it wasn’t clear that you needed a replacement spring under warranty.

You said you have a propensity to break them, and you wanted to order five. In the future, if you have a broken or damaged part and want extras, just say you need one

Warranty part and want to order X number of spares. We are happy to take care of you.


my response to Gary was this...

Actually Gary, I questioned "Cat" on what I had said...this is my first ever Dillon, and the very first time the spring broke..I only have 3,500 rounds thus far thru it.

I think what I might have said was I read that they tend to break at XXXX number of rounds, and I either got that from the DIllon facebook pages, one for the 550 and the other is Dillon Precision Reloaders The Official Blue Group.....or from the website..."The High Road, reloading thread.....

Honestly, I cannot recall where, but several guys chimed in to say that spring has a tendency to break

I simply could not have that tendency to break that spring, with only 3,500 rounds, and this one time, it broke..

I was very confused when she said that's what I had said...

Could you please share this email with her..??

Thanks again, and I did not know it was you, "the Dillon human repair manual"....lol
 
We have found that customers often post questions on a variety of forums during our off-business hours. We feel it is good business practice to make sure their needs are met correctly, with information, advice, or actions. We are your friend at the factory. Yes, I am AKA "the Human Manual" on many of our videos. Work at the same place 41 years and you can pack your brain.
 
Pitdogg2 said:
More than 10yrs ago Dillon was charging for shipping it's nothing new. I'll gladly pay shipping for a warrantied part, no problem. Shipping now as compared to then as astronomically more expensive.
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yeah, i have no issue with a nominal shipping charge...its when i buy something for say $5.00 (at other places) and the shipping li like $18.00.........i have had that happen, once i hit to "go to check out" button, and from there, just cancelled the order.

so when i see a huge shipping fee, i simply add more items to be bought...

which is why i have like 42,000 packages of cleaning patches.
 
Dillonfriend said:
We have found that customers often post questions on a variety of forums during our off-business hours. We feel it is good business practice to make sure their needs are met correctly, with information, advice, or actions. We are your friend at the factory. Yes, I am AKA "the Human Manual" on many of our videos. Work at the same place 41 years and you can pack your brain.
Click to expand...
yes, we post all over....i have seen many of your videos over and over again, sometimes, linking them in a posting so another Dillon owner can view them.

very informative.
 
Old_Me said:
yeah, i have no issue with a nominal shipping charge...its when i buy something for say $5.00 (at other places) and the shipping li like $18.00.........i have had that happen, once i hit to "go to check out" button, and from there, just cancelled the order.

so when i see a huge shipping fee, i simply add more items to be bought...

which is why i have like 42,000 packages of cleaning patches.
Click to expand...
I'll cancel as well. Now if they used the small USPS priority boxes or a padded envelope that cost about $10 I'm good with that, mist try and gouge you for FedEx or UPS.
 
Pitdogg2 said:
'll cancel as well. Now if they used the small USPS priority boxes or a padded envelope that cost about $10 I'm good with that, mist try and gouge you for FedEx or UPS.
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with competition the way it is with shipping companies, one would think the prices would be held back..however unions, salaries, benefits costs, fuel, insurance, keep rising.


i'd like to see DHL come back to home deliveries, rather than to hand that over to USPS for the final delivery.

that "might" add to the price competition wars.
 
i got my 2 new operating rods from Dillon earlier today, and chucked them into the Dillon bin.

i "might" reload some more 45 ACP saturday (tomorrow).


my Dillon isn't dirty, I clean it often, (even getting under the shell plate) but i will still remove the primer bar, wipe it clean (again), and add some more grease to the original operating rod.
 
Old_Me said:
yeah, i have no issue with a nominal shipping charge...its when i buy something for say $5.00 (at other places) and the shipping li like $18.00.........i have had that happen, once i hit to "go to check out" button, and from there, just cancelled the order.

so when i see a huge shipping fee, i simply add more items to be bought...

which is why i have like 42,000 packages of cleaning patches.
Click to expand...
IMG_4451.gif
 
Pitdogg2 said:
More than 10yrs ago Dillon was charging for shipping it's nothing new. I'll gladly pay shipping for a warrantied part, no problem. Shipping now as compared to then as astronomically more expensive.
Click to expand...
i failed to see that you said for the past 1o years, Dillon has been charging shipping, for warranty replacements.

i only had my 550C for 3 years.
 
ok, i just finished reloading 350 rounds of 45ACP, and am eating some honey roasted peanuts, before my nap.

before i started to reload, i took off the primer bar, wiped it clean and all the surrounding area...and i also put fresh lube into the operating rod pivot point.

as i was reloading, i caught this....

1755364012827.png


only cracked one in the coffee can, and it was a Winchester

but it did go thru the cleaning and polishing process, as i do not inspect the brass before doing so.


much easier (for me) to inspect as i reload.
 
Old_Me said:
i failed to see that you said for the past 1o years, Dillon has been charging shipping, for warranty replacements.

i only had my 550C for 3 years.
Click to expand...
I've had my 550b since the mid 90's, it has loaded 10's of thousands of rounds. I've had one small part break and I do not remember what it was, it was some time in the mid 2000's. I called Dillon and tried to order one and was Denied. 😄The guy on the phone told me that they would send one for free and asked that I pay for shipping, I had no problem with that. I remember getting several of the part that had broke. Along with that they sent a maintenance kit that had all kinds of small parts that were generally known to wear out. I remember the guy sent a note in my order that said, since you paid for shipping the least I could do was make it worth your shipping money with a smiling face. I really like the fact that he took time to personalize it.
Chances are I'll never use any other loading machine besides a Dillon.
 
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