Primer depth adjustment from Armanov

[wyliefoxEsquire]

Has anyone installed the

Index Bearing Cam Block with Primer Depth Stop for Dillon XL750

I have applied ALL the suggestion from the Dillon instructional video.  Sadly, I am not able to "seat" the Federal primers so that they are correctly charged.

According to Armanov, the reason is based on the thickness of the Dillon Primer Punch Spring (62328).

Armanov sells the smaller spring along with the Index Bearing Cam Block that allows adjustment of the depth of seating the primer, thus "charging: the primer.

 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

What's wrong with the factory Dillon set up? 

[wyliefoxEsquire]

11 hours ago, wyliefoxEsquire said:

I have applied ALL the suggestion from the Dillon instructional video.  Sadly, I am not able to "seat" the Federal primers so that they are correctly charged.

According to Armanov, the reason is based on the thickness of the Dillon Primer Punch Spring (62328).

As I stated above.   I am now getting 10% light hits.  Meaning for me a 3-5 seconds increase to my stage time due to my poor ability to do a rifle reload.  The size of the factory spring limits the ultimate primer seating depth

[Happy Jack, SASS #20451]

I think something more is wrong. Recheck tightness on rotarying parts  etc.

[Oklahoma Dee]

What brass are you using?  Not all brass have the same primer pocket depth.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

47 minutes ago, wyliefoxEsquire said:

As I stated above.   I am now getting 10% light hits.  Meaning for me a 3-5 seconds increase to my stage time due to my poor ability to do a rifle reload.  The size of the factory spring limits the ultimate primer seating depth

Have you removed ALL up/down play from the shellplate? 

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Hundreds of millions of rounds have been loaded with Dillon 750s.  If this was a problem Dillon would have fixed it.  Your problem most likely is caused by something else. The thing is only forty bucks.  Buy it and install it.  If it fixes your problem great.  If not you have a cute little doo dad on you machine. 

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Out of curiosity what exactly is "charging" a primer?  I have been reloading for over 60 years and I have never charged a primer.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

1 hour ago, wyliefoxEsquire said:

3-5 seconds increase to my stage time due to my poor ability to do a rifle reload.

Is this only with the rifle?  If so check your hammer spring and for dirt in and around the firing pin and firing pin extension.

[wyliefoxEsquire]

First I appreciate all the comments, thank you.  This is one of the benefits of being part of this activity.

 

If you have seen the Dillion video "Trouble Shooting High Primers", it discusses shell plate, ejector wire, sheet metal chute bracket and wing nut on fail safe rod.  I have triple checked all those issues.  I also only use Star-line and Winchester brass for my rifles.  The brass is deprimed then wet tumbled with SS pins.  The rifles have been cleaned and the firing pin system inspected.  I have also installed washers on the hammer spring causing the hammer to loudly slap the bolt extension.

 

As I am awaiting EOT to start I have been surfing the net.  This is where I found the Armanov product.  In its description it is mentioned that there have been some issues with the Dillon Primer Punch Spring which centers around the design of the spring.  The Armanov spring is shorter thus allowing an increase in the travel of the Primer Punch.  The kit also has a way of adjusting the length of the Punch.  I have yet to order the system and will wait until I return home.  In reviewing the parts and diagrams there is the possibility that the parts making up the Primer Punch are not good, clean or correctly installed (I doubt it, but it is possible).

 

I await additional comments from the forum posse.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Never/ever have I had any issue with the Dillon setup as long as it was keep clean and lubed.

Post pictures of the area you are speaking of.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Loose shell plate

Mis-aligned primer punch

Brass with tight primer pockets - S&B brass is real bad about this

Brass that has a mil crimp on primer pocket

Dirty primer pockets

 

Check for all those things.  If the spring on the primer seater were causing Federal primers to be seated too shallow, it would do it a lot of the time, not 10% of the time.

 

But the most likely reason - you are trying to speed up your rifle shooting and you are tripping the trigger when the action is not yet closed.  THAT will give light hits 10% of the time (or 20%, or 2% just depends on how poor your "lever first, trigger second" discipline is).  Almost everyone who is fairly quick with rifle has hit this pothole.  good luck, GJ

Edited January 29 by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

I went back and looked at the video again and don't think it will help your problem.  The primer is seated when the operating lever is pushed to the rear.  That forces the ram head and shell plate down on the primer.  Purple arrow.  This is the maximum primer seating depth you can get out of a properly adjusted 750.  The "adjusting" screw cannot increase primer seating depth.  All it can do is limit how far down the ram and shell plate can move.  This limits how deep the primers are seated.  Green arrow.  (The primer adjusting screw is just to the left of the arrow.)  Light hits are usually caused by the primers not being seated deep enough so I cannot see how this device will help your problem.  The roller was a good idea but the 750 already has a roller.  I would look to make sure you are fully pressing the loading lever to the rear.  Make sure everything is adjusted and the scews are tight. Make sure you do not have a gun problem.  Take a bunch of your reloads and set them on a FLAT surface like a piece of glass.  If they wobble you have high primers.

 

Edited January 29 by Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933

[wyliefoxEsquire]

LEP, thanks for the post.

I do check all ammo on a glass mirror (a mirror is more likely to be perfectly flat) and some do wobble.  Those are returned to the loading room.

As I push the arm forward, I end with a strong rearward tug.

Ol'#4 has explained to me the meaning of "arming" the primer.  If you look at a new primer you should note that the three wings of the anvil protrude slightly past the lip of the primer cup.  During the process of pressing the primer into the brass it is important that those three wings are fully set inside the cup.  If they are not, then a highly tuned rifle will use the initial force of the hammer to finish arming the primer and then not have enough energy to cause the primer to go bang.  Sometimes a second strike will activate the primer and other times the light hit was just enough to mess-up the primer and not go bang.  A properly armed primer will be slightly below the lip of the brass and not just "even" with the brass.  

Maybe Armanov is just marketing its products.  I have not heard of anyone else having 750 primer issues as Armanov claims.  On the other hand 

their theory does appear to be theoretically valid.  

I see that Dillon does give list the distance of the assembled Primer Slide Assembly (page 59).  This will be checked when I return from EOT.

Edited January 29 by wyliefoxEsquire

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

1 hour ago, wyliefoxEsquire said:

During the process of pressing the primer into the brass it is important that those three wings are fully set inside the cup. 

 

This is designed to ALWAYS happen if the primer is set to flush, or even better, to 0.003" (3 thousandths) deeper than the case head.   Measure to see if you are seating deep enough.   If you are not, look for WHY.   

 

If no one else has problems, it's probably something YOU are doing.

 

good luck, GJ

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

There is no such thing as "arming" or "charging" a primer.  It is not a hand grenade.  Primers have three components but by the time they are packaged for reloaders they are essentially a one piece item.  I have reloading manuals back into the 1950s and none of them address "arming" a primer.  What Garrison Joe says is correct.

Edited January 29 by Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933

[Eyesa Horg]

I'm supposing also that if "arming" was a thing, they wouldn't go off in vacuum cleaner. 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

I was taught it's called 'setting' a primer.

I always seat primers to the bottom of the case's primer cup.

[El Sobrante Kid]

34 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

I was taught it's called 'setting' a primer.

I always seat primers to the bottom of the case's primer cup.

 

I always heard it as "seating" a primer, and it is supposed to be pressed in until it bottoms out in the case. Not doing so can cause misfires because when the hammer strikes the primer, some of the energy is expended driving the primer all the way into the case, and not enough energy remains to ignite the primer. I have never heard of setting a primer to a specified depth, it is always seated to the bottom shelf in the primer pocket of the case.

[Sedalia Dave]

Call Dillon

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

38 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Call Dillon

Since he is going to EOT he should just stops by and talk with them in person.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

45 minutes ago, El Sobrante Kid said:

I always heard it as "seating" a primer

For at least six decades that is all I have heard it called.

[Tall John]

On 1/29/2026 at 5:46 PM, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

There is no such thing as "arming" or "charging" a primer.  It is not a hand grenade.  Primers have three components but by the time they are packaged for reloaders they are essentially a one piece item.  I have reloading manuals back into the 1950s and none of them address "arming" a primer.  What Garrison Joe says is correct.

Agree 100%!  For those of us that actually reload primers, the term is an “unsupported anvil”.

 

short of not properly charging a round with powder, it is the #1 cause of miss-fires.

The three legs of the primer’s annvil are “proud” in the cup or protrude slightly.  If the primer is not correctly or fully seated in the case with the legs coming in contact with the base of the case’s primer pocket, then lighter strikes will push the primer further into the cup vs causing the necessary friction between the cup and its anvil to induce ignition.

 

beyond the frustration of the mess caused by skipping primer systems, this is why I prime all of my cases in a separate step either by hand or on a Lee DLX APP where I can feel the primer seating in the case.

 

if you want to learn more about primer construction and reloading spent primers, go to aardvarkreloading.com or join us on the MeWe app in the “Primer Reloading for Beginners” group””.

 

here’s a great video on the topic on how primers work and how unsupported anvils cause FTF’s

 

https://rumble.com/v2o9szi-unsupported-anvils.html

Edited February 3 by Tall John
Added a link to a Video on Rumble.

[Tall John]

I have most of the Armanov and/or Uniquetek upgrades on my xl650.  Each makes a small improvement, together they make the press run sooo much smoother.