Comments on: Chain Fire! What Happens When a Primer Column Detonates

By: Christopher Lollini

Christopher Lollini — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 15:12:32 +0000

I have a Dillon 550 that was my fathers, and I’d be surprised if he loaded less than 100,000 rounds of .45 acp alone…never with any primer detonation. I personally have probably loaded an additional 20,000 rounds, and I have yet to have such an issue. What exactly happens that allows such a detonation? What steps should a reloader do to prevent such an occurrence? I’d love to see some tips from the manufacturer to address this, and to give me some tips for making sure this does not happen on my bench.

By: Jim Crow

Jim Crow — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 02:59:35 +0000

Even though I load most of my handgun ammo on Dillon Square Deals I still prime all cases, rifle and handgun, by hand using hand priming tools.
I never cared for the “feel” or lack there of when priming on a press. I worked at an indoor range that had three Dillon 1050’s, one each for 9mm, 38Super and 45acp and we had 3 separate detonations in one morning. Thankfully no injuries to the operators (not sure abount one guys shorts) but the overhead tiles and lighting did not fare as well.

By: jon lennon

jon lennon — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 21:10:04 +0000

I will be it was a 650 Dillon and not the 550 which would be almost impossible to chain fire. Dillon designed the primer tubes extra thick just in case.

By: ELR Researcher

ELR Researcher — Tue, 06 Jan 2015 20:54:28 +0000

I also like the APS approach but use the press-mounted unit (saves your hands/wrists – and I haven’t had a need for a progressive press in over 20 years). Loading the primers in the strips is a bit of a PITA but very manageable. As with all tools there is a learning curve.

Here is a YouTube video for the press-mounted unit and the primer-loading tool – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geHLJiX9OjY