adouglas

Because my current gun is used for bullseye competition.

I'm seriously considering buying a second 1911. I shoot lead SWCs out of my current gun but want to use FMJ reloads in the new one. So, I thinks to myself, wouldn't it be cool if all I had to do was flip the insert in my Dillon 45 acp seating die around and not have to reset it for a different OAL? Anybody try this? I would but I don't have any FMJ handy at the moment. Just an idle question, really. I do realize that the answer will depend in part on the exact bullet profile. Just wondering if it's in the realm of possibility. Thanks!

NPR here. I listen to the radio whenever I have the chance, reloading or not, though if I'm doing something that requires me to pay close attention the radio is more of a background thing than something that I focus on. I find the mental stimulation actually helps me focus on the press. Reloading (especially with a progressive press) is repetitive and dull. That's a recipe for loss of concentration. I also say the mantra.... CHECK the charge PLACE the bullet and feel the case (one guy I shoot with uses 9x21s and I often find his cases mixed in with mine) Insert a new CASE WATCH for the primer as you pull and... SEAT the new primer.

I've just bought an RL550B. Initially I'll be loading only one caliber (9mm) and using my Lee single-stage for the other caliber I shoot (45 ACP). Eventually I'll get the caliber conversion kit and so forth to load both out of the Dillon. Question: Assume I don't want to buy an entire new powder measure assembly, but want to use different powders for the two calibers. Is there a simple, elegant way to empty the Dillon powder assembly? Is there a simple, elegant way to empty the primer system? Short of just running them dry, I mean.

I'm fairly new to reloading, so bear that in mind. This is information I've gained from doing exactly what you're doing....asking around on the net. Plus a few things I've learned on my own..... AFAIK if you load Rainiers too hot the plating will come off. This may be the source of what you've seen regarding separation. These are not jacketed bullets...they're plated, and Rainier tells you to use the load data for equivalent lead bullets. http://www.rainierballistics.com/loaddata.htm I've read in many places that you should stick to midrange loads at most. 1200, 1300 seems WAY hot for a plated bullet to me, but I'm a relative newbie. I don't know about flat points, but for 124 RNs I'm using 4.0 of HP-38 (which is identical to 231...compare published data to confirm this) with an OAL of 1.125. The OAL for flat points will probably be less because of the different shape. Here's why I say that: I learned a few things about OAL from loading cast lead bullets. The first batch of lead RNs I used had a shoulder on them, which made figuring out the seating depth easy...just seat so the edge of the shoulder shows, and you're done. That turned out to be 1.130. But the second batch had no shoulder and were a different shape...more rounded, less pointed, so the parallel sides of the bullet extended farther forward on the bullet body. Loading these to 1.130, I was having feed and stuck cartridge problems. Turns out the bullet was engaging the rifling before the cartridge was fully seated. In some cases the slide could force the bullet in and it'd work but sometimes they wouldn't feed fully....AND they'd get stuck in the barrel. The depth that finally worked with these bullets was all the way down at 1.09, and even at that, one of my pistols still has difficulty with it (normal variation in chamber dimension). If you look at the bullet profiles on the Rainier website you'll see that your FPs have sides that extend much farther forward than those on the RNs. This is why I speculate that you may have to have a shorter OAL. If you can't find any data at all for this bullet shape in lead, then I'd suggest starting with a case length that is clearly too long and checking the fit in your gun's barrel by dropping the round into the chamber. It won't drop in all the way initially. Then gradually reduce the OAL until it plunks into place easily. That will be the maximum possible length for your gun and that bullet. As long as you're over SAAMI minimum, you ought to be okay... but.... Another thing I've heard is that you have to be careful with 9mm, especially when loading it hot, to avoid seating too deeply. The case volume is so small that pressures will go WAY up if you seat a little bit too deep. In other words, there isn't much margin for error in a case that small. y'all be careful out there....

I just came up from the basement. Tonight I finished setting the press up and loaded my first 20 rounds. Turns out that what I thought was just barely enough while avoiding the bell shape was only .003 or so. I upped it to .010 and the bullets sit in the case just fine. It does have a bit of that bell/trumpet shape to my eye, but knowing what the allowable measurement is makes me a lot more confident. Thanks for the help, all.

Well, that's the root of my question. How much is too much? I can easily set the die so that I think it's got "only enough to set the bullet in the case mouth straight" but that seems to produce a bell shape. Going with what barely lets the bullet stay there avoids this, but it just seems too unstable to me. It's a matter of not knowing what proper adjustment actually looks like. Can you post a photo of a properly flared case?

Just bought an RL550B and am in the process of setting it up. I had been using a Lee Anniversary single-stage kit. My question has to do with the powder/flare (expander) die. My Lee expander die produced a basically straight-walled pocket. The Dillon die, however, seems to go directly from too-small-to-place-the-bullet straight to a trumpet-mouthed flare, which is supposed to be bad. Can anyone comment on this and give me tips on proper setup? Some REALLY detailed photos would be greatly appreciated. I've seen Brian's competition reloading video where he discusses this, but the images frankly aren't clear enough to really see what's going on.