October 19, 2025

Dillon 550 - accessories from Armanov

Amanov is a company in Slovenia that makes unique and useful accessories for Dillon reloading machines.

It is important to note right up front that a US company called KMS sells clones of their products which are not identical items at all. In particular the KMS clone of the clickable knob for the powder measure is definitely an inferior look-alike item.

I became interested in Armanov when I learned about their clickable knob for the Dillon powder measure used on the 550 and other Dillon machines. While looking into that, I discovered they also make a "quick change" device for the same powder measure. I immediately ordered both.

I had some concern about the time to ship from Slovenia. I placed the order late Sunday evening (Arizona time) and on Monday morning I found the notice that the items had shipped (via DHL) and were predicted to arrive on Thursday. Perhaps they have a shipping partner in the USA as many overseas companies do. I used the link sent to me by DHL to request delivery without signature and now have a very reasonable 3 day wait for the items.

Armanov clickable knob

Armanov is a company in Slovenia. They offer a clickable knob for the Dillon powder measure that claims to allow repeatable powder settings! There is a version for the small bar and a version for the large bar. I ordered direct from Armanov, and there were various charges including tariff and DHL shipping (for $25) that took the price to $76 total. The shipping charges make it worth ordering several items at one time. The knob itself is polymer of some kind (i.e. plastic), but you get some metal hardware, including the replacement bolt. They say it has a special spring tensioned anti-backlash bolt. You can watch the video on the Armanov site and see that their measure is oriented differently from the KMS clone and has a turn counter. If you watch the video you see that their knob has a silver bolt in the center, whereas the KMS is a plastic knob that fits over the Dillon bolt with a setscrew.

Armanov quick-change bracket for powder measure

The makes removing the powder measure a 2 second operation with a spring loaded clamp rather than the business of removing and replacing 2 screws wih the original Dillon design. Once I saw the video I was eager to order one and I did.

Armanov clone from KMS

I am a bit annoyed by this. KMS sells this with the Armanov name printed on it, exactly like the real thing from Armanov. But it does not come with a spring tensioned anti-backlash bolt or a turn counter.

What a strange turn of events. Rather than a company in China making knock-offs of products originally designed and made in the USA, we now have a company in the USA making inferior knock-offs of innovative products made by a company outside the USA. I hope this trend does not continue.

It is easy at a glance to tell the clone from the real thing. The real thing has a metal screw in the middle of the knob and the clone does not.

The clone does not include a spring tensioned replacement bolt. It is simply a knob that clamps onto the Dillon bolt along with a simple bracket that provides an indicator arrow. The whole thing may be 3D printed. It may be useful and work well, but labeling it to look like the more sophisticated item from Armanov is dishonest and deceptive.

Once again, this is not the same as the genuine Armanov device.

KMS sells their clone both on Amazon and on Ebay. You will certainly save money on shipping, but ultimately you get what you pay for.

You get 50 clicks per turn. They say 0.015 grain per click with the pistol bar.
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Tom's Computer Info / tom@mmto.org