Dusting off the Dillon 550B

[TackDriver284]

I had quit pistol competition 18 years ago due to an severe eye infection on my shooting eye where a headless shrimp horn was thrust into my eye while pressure washing my boat. It was so infected that I needed a one week hospitalization stay and the infection returned again 5 years later awoke from its dormant state. So far its gone, but the infection had slightly blurred my shooting eye permanently , its why I use glasses when I shoot with scoped rifles. Anyways, I had the Dillon 550B covered for 18 odd years and dusted it off, found that the last time i used it was when I loaded .45 ammo for the Kimber, so I had to You Tube and read the owner's manual to figure out how to change the caliber conversion kit to .38 Super and the primer feed assembly. After about 30 mins, I had it all figured out and its ready to load .38 Super ammo for my Kimber. Time to find my old loads, if I could remember, I used Blue Dot for the .38 Super and Unique for the .45. I need to get some new .45 brass and some hardballs for both calibers for target shooting. Just did a quick disassembly on my Kimbers to clean and oil for a range session soon. Missed 18 years of that. I'm not familiar with the new pistol powders and bullets currently. Blue Dot and Unique is what I used. I still have about 150 rounds of each caliber that I loaded 18 years ago.
What ammo and powders do you guys use for the .38 Super and .45?

 

[wvbuckbuster]

For the 45 depending on which bullet and load, I have used Bullseye, Power Pistol, CFE Pistol, Win 231. All have done well for me. Dan.

 

[truck driver]

Gee there are so many options for powders in the .45acp. It depends on what you're going to do with it and what bullet weight and type you plan load.
Across the board you have Winchester WST which works well with most bullet weights and designs plus it is readily available, and the price isn't out of sight. There is also Vitivori powders that is more expensive but favored by the AMU pistol team and others.
I use the .45acp for competitive pistol target shooting, bullet weights from 160gr lead SWC to 185gr lead SWC HP and 185gr JHP bullets.
MY loads range from 3.8grs to 4.4grs depending on bullet weight and type. I also change recoil springs to get reliable function with the different bullet weights and powder charges. My pistols also have red dot sights mounted on the slides, so this is also another variable you have to take into consideration.