Has anyone ever had the Dillon powder drop system fail and significantly over or under throw powder? It’s very robust and I’ve never had that happen on a 550 or 650
No. I suppose you could get a powder clump (for example, oil or lube contamination of the powder) or maybe a foreign object mixed in the powder, either of which might cause a throwing error. I have another powder measure that has a screen filter secured near the top of the powder tube, which I think is not a bad idea. A foreign object inside the case might also be detected by a powder check, but probably a good chance you’d find it with the decapping rod first.
Interesting. I’ve never seen a Dillon die. Does it smash and break decapping pins as easily as other dies?
I haven’t broken many Dillon decapping pins. I bent one in a way where it made it so I couldn’t get the threaded collar off to swap it, and Dillon just sent me a new decapping pin and threaded collar for free. I don’t beg for replacements when consumables break, but in my experience, Dillon is pretty quick to mail out replacement parts even if you don’t ask for it. In the aforementioned case, I was trying to find the part number for the threaded collar to order one for myself, and they just sent the replacement without me asking for it.
ETA: I have broken the little C-clips that go on top of the decapping assembly and can take some of the impact from the decapping spring mechanism.