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Questions about swaging mixed brass on 1050 and Super Swage 600


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Do you have to sort by headstamp, and run in batches adjusting the swage accordingly?

Or does the dimension from case inside to rear of case not vary enough to have the swage change that much?

Right now I am sorting my 9mm with a Ballistics Tools primer pocket gage (basically ID's crimped or not crimped, not sorting by headstamp) prior to loading on a XL650 (haven't loaded any yet press is too new). Previously I would find the crimped ones while hand priming and sorted as I loaded, and then cut out the crimp later from those cases.

Just wondering how the process actually works if you just dump in random cases.

thanks
bob

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That's what I had heard too. I assume the same applies to a 1050 (it would make me feel better about not being able to afford one)? Are you sorting them before hand, or reaming them all? I don't mind reaming complete batches of 223 but doing a 5 gallon bucket of 9mm just isn't going to happen. Sorting them with the gage is about all I can tolerate.

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Do you have to sort by headstamp, and run in batches adjusting the swage accordingly?

Or does the dimension from case inside to rear of case not vary enough to have the swage change that much?

Right now I am sorting my 9mm with a Ballistics Tools primer pocket gage (basically ID's crimped or not crimped, not sorting by headstamp) prior to loading on a XL650 (haven't loaded any yet press is too new). Previously I would find the crimped ones while hand priming and sorted as I loaded, and then cut out the crimp later from those cases.

Just wondering how the process actually works if you just dump in random cases.

thanks

bob

Do you have to decapp to use that tool?

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Do you have to decapp to use that tool?

The primer gage? Yeah because it's a go/no go gage. If the one side fits into the primer pocket, a primer should fit, if the other side fits, the primer pocket is blown out. I don't like sorting them but it's much better than doing it by eye. I find some that I would not have called crimped (S&B brass always seems tight, even if the gage goes in, so I put those in the "to fix" bin). Decapping does go super fast on the 650 though, and I don't even have a casefeeder yet. Of course, I comparing decapping on a single stage so just about anything would be better

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Do you have to decapp to use that tool?

The primer gage? Yeah because it's a go/no go gage. If the one side fits into the primer pocket, a primer should fit, if the other side fits, the primer pocket is blown out. I don't like sorting them but it's much better than doing it by eye. I find some that I would not have called crimped (S&B brass always seems tight, even if the gage goes in, so I put those in the "to fix" bin). Decapping does go super fast on the 650 though, and I don't even have a casefeeder yet. Of course, I comparing decapping on a single stage so just about anything would be better

How many times are you reloading the same brass?

Are you loading hot loads?

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Lighter loads and I shoot mostly 3 gun so I rarely get my brass back, I'm sure I get some but mostly other people's. actually the 9mm I've been processing is just about all someone else's because I don't shoot 9mm as of right now (9mm ar on the way). Since I just got the 650 I'm revamping my processing, which includes the gage. I check my 40s as well but so few are crimped its rediculous.

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I used to load .223 on my 1050 without sorting. Every now and then I would have an issue with priming. At first I refused to sort because I thought "that fine machine should just do it"... then I REALLY thought about what was taking place.

I sort all my .223 brass now (it isn't that hard and there isn't THAT many different ones). Priming issues are far and few between now.

Sorting the brass and adjusting the swage rod for each brand can be a pain if you don't have much brass. Once I got around 5k pieces of brass, I don't have to adjust very often. I think I have limited my batch to like 4 different manufacturers.

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I also run unsorted brass through my 1050 or Super Swage. There is a sweet spot though. I set it up using a cutaway case and then run some cases. If I get any sqished primers I crank the swage rod deeper in 1/8 turn increments until the primers all seat without problems. Once setup, I can run thousands of rounds without adjusting.

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I used to swage mixed brass on my 1050... then I realized that some came out "not swaged enough", some caused the machine to bind due to "over swaging" (which caused the toolhead to not come down all of the way, which causes other issues as you can imagine) and of course some came out "just right".

Then I started to separate the brass and adjust the swaging to each brass manufacturer. All my problems went away... especially primer seating.

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Ideally, you should sort brass by headstamp, and adjust accordingly. However, on my personal SS-600 swager, I set it to slightly overswage a primer pocket, and swage by feel. This means I won't be able to bottom the handle on the downstroke. I have learned to feel how much downward pressure is sufficient to remove the crimp.

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Ideally, you should sort brass by headstamp, and adjust accordingly. However, on my personal SS-600 swager, I set it to slightly overswage a primer pocket, and swage by feel. This means I won't be able to bottom the handle on the downstroke. I have learned to feel how much downward pressure is sufficient to remove the crimp.

+1 here. Its bad enough I have to sort by caliber let alone by head stamp. As Dillon stated, I do mine by feel on my super swage.

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On the SS-600 I can see using your feel. You just don't push the handle past a certain resistance. Your feel essentially adjusts for each and every case!

On the 1050 however, the swage rod and backup need to be set correctly... because you have to bottom the handle on every pull. On the SS-600 is ONLY swaging. On the 1050, you are ALSO doing sizing, priming, dumping powder, seating and crimping. If you don't pull the handle down all of the way, those other tasks are not going to take place correctly.

I realize everyone knows this already... I was just stating the obvious.

Those that do not have the 1050 may not realize the subtle difference.

The GOOD news is, once I loaded my 5k piece box of 5.56, I never had to swage them again! Once the "big sort" is done, sorting is only necessary as new brass in introduced.

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i swage them all the same in my 1050's.

Same here. Never a problem.

When I used the SS600, after a few thousand rounds you got a feel for the swaging. All I know is I'm glad I have my 1050. Reaming was killing my Lyme infested hands and the SS600 was very monotonous.

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I sort for convince. On my ss it's just faster in my opinion when your trying to swage 2-3k of brass. If it's sorted by head stamp you just adjust once and go at it I've rigged up a rubber band trick from someone else's idea that will retract the post every upswing

Genius idea makes it a lot faster process.

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