Reloading BS thread

I originally had 2 550’s and was happily going about my life when a guy I know got a divorce and I was given all of 2 hours to pick up his gear or his wife would get it. He tried unsuccessfully to sell it and time ran out. She literally got possession of the house at noon and I was there at 10AM to gather whatever reloading gear he had. I got a 650 for free.

my reasoning for 2 550’s was so I never had to switch out the primer feed mechanism. That is the first big improvement in the 650. I can go from small to large and back by changing the complete unit with 2 bolts. All part of the conversion. The timing g ars are the hardest to understand and learn but once you get the method you are pretty set.

the real reason for the change in my mindset is speed. On a good day with no hiccups I can do 400 rounds an hour. On my 550 I never got past 300 and was closer to 250 rounds a hour, the self index is a godsend never thought I needed one till I had one. I recommend it to new reloaders along with a single stage press.

my rule is anything that is used for hunting is done totally by hand.

 

Really like the 650 and like @Ivanimal stated, once you get it setup, you can roll out a bunch of ammo in short time. Only use it for pistol (10, 45, 9) as I have a single stage for the rifle calibers. It is nice that Dillon is only about 40 minutes from me and they have awesome customer service and tech support.

 

The second 550 I bought was pretty rough and I was having issues getting it right. It sat in a damp garage for a year before I rescued it. I called Dillon and they said send it in. They completely rebuilt it for free, free! They knew I bought it used they didn’t care. It had their name on it so it had to work.

I may own a bunch of single stage presses of various makes, I like RCBS, but I won’t own a progressive that isn’t blue.

 

I have an RCBS as well. I only load practice and some competition ammo on the Dillon.

Yes, Dillon as great customer service. I was setting up for 9mm, and just couldn't get the powder dump right. I called Dillon, and the guy was on the phone with me for 45 minutes, until we got it right. He was really friendly, and I learned a thing or two about the press.

Oh, the 9s that I loaded are more accurate than the PMC factory I was shooting!

 

I had the same experience with a used Dillon press I boat a yard st. Called them up for part and they told me to send it in. Got it back in 3 weeks and the main body was the only original part on it when I got it back. They even gave me a new powder drop. All for no change. Blue for life. You can’t beat their service!!!!!

 

Couple of pics of my setups. Loading some 45 with 200gr GDHP that I got in exchange for some primers. Usually use Berry's but will see how these shoot. Really liking the Sport Pistol in 45, low smoke and only $180/8lbs is cheaper than most powders.

The Redding single stage is inside and loading some test loads for a new 308. Want to change out the top piece of mdf and move things around but I am lazy and this works.

 

Supertrickler came in today. Averaging about 8 seconds for a charge on initial testing of powder. Desert tech hti also came home today- won that on a local raffle.

 

anybody have a lg rifle mag primer connection? fed 215 ?

 

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/984756841

Not cheap that the have them.

 

Primers are still way to expensive!!! but in stock here.

https://www.armorally.com/product-c...148833458&mc_cid=6e5980d1ae&mc_eid=4259442959

 

Since I'm going to be incapacitated in the near future for several months, I thought I'd get busy and start reloading a bunch of ammo while I still can. I'm not a "speed" reloader, I take my time and check all my steps. Pic of my progress is shown below. 45acp on the left, 9mm on the right. Pay no attention to the date on the photo, it's not correct.

I have a question for all you reloader's. I've been rolling my own since about 1999. I learned the basics from a long distance shooter who went to Camp Perry every year and traveled up and down the East Coast. I've always prepped my brass wether it's for pistol or rifle. That includes sizing, trimming, and primer pocket cleaning. He told me the most accurate ammo was made this way, and I've always done. But I must admit, that I hate "Prepping" pistol brass. After some research on a couple or shooting forums, I see that the majority of reloader's don't really prep their pistol brass.

What say you TW members, do you trim you brass after resizing, and clean the primer pockets. Curios minds want to know.

 

Never trimmed straight wall pistol brass. Never clean pistol primer pockets either. Walnut tumble it while primed with mineral spirits, then put it in the LNL case feeder. If I'm setting up to load 9, 45 or 40 I'm doing 2,000 min. Trimming 2000 cases is a hard no.

Bottleneck cases grow, straight wall, not really.

 

if brass oal is in spec i dont trim. We tested out some 308 and it didnt stretch with 3 reloads. I do however check new brass bought in bulk.

 

I just tumble and load all pistol cases after they are sorted.

I do take the time to it inspect for anomalies during sorting.

The exception being 500 S&W I reload for (with) a friend. We team up and check every case and prep them like rifle cases.

 

I would have to agree with you on this. I usually do 50 at a time, but after reading that most don't trim, I decided to give it a try. So far every round has checked out okay, so I'll see how they perform next Monday at the range. Thanks for all the reply's

 

I don’t trim Handgun brass. I do check them for any defects. I do clean them between Reloading’s.
O rifle rounds, I check the length and will trim if needed. I prep the primer pocket just once and then don’t worry about it again.
I understand the need for the extra prep in the precision shooting world but that’s not me.

 

Since both 9MM and .45 headspace off the case mouth, I'd check the case length of the cases. A few random checks in a batch - if OK, don't worry about it. If you find one too long, look at a few more.

They probably haven't stretched, but a little caution is never a bad idea.

I used to clean primer pockets with every reload - now, maybe after 5 cycles. I usually check length as well (after 5 cycles too).

 

I guess you could say I'm a little OCD when is come to reloading ammo. I've never had a squib or a"Kaboom" so I must be doing something right. I've seen pictures of Kabooms that have removed digits from shooters hands, and guns that been totally destroyed. Just don't want to experience that, so I guess checking each powder charge isn't a bad thing after all.

 

Well, its time to finally get back to reloading as I've shot up most of what I had "stockpiled" awhile ago. Part of that being I need more "m80" ball type ammo (147gr 308). So decided to pick up some new 147gr bullets. I still have some m80 pulls but not enough. Since this is just plinking ammo out of battle rifle type (CETME< G3, ect) stuff I went with inexpensive stuff.

Picked up some Armscor 147 FMJ and some X-treme Bullets 147gr FMJ. The Xtreme ones are definitely different. Shorter, and fatter base while the Armscor is more like the M80 pulls i have. Going to be interesting to compare the two.

M80 pull on the left, Armscor middle and Xtreme on the right.

 

Loaded some 30-30 150gr pointed Hornady interlock bullets over the weekend for our Savage / Stevens / Springfield bolt action rifles (have 3 of them, 1 is mine & 1 for eack of our daughters). Going to use this for deer season this year since I don't have my trusty 30-06 sighted in since changing the scope.