njl

If you can't decap them by normal means, why bother? I did dig one out of my primer bin last night, and sure enough, it's got a tiny pin hole of a flash hole.

It didn't occur to me to check the flash hole, but I was reloading 9mm last night and ran into 2 cases (both Norma) that just absolutely refused to go into the Dillon sizing die. It felt like I was going to break my RL550B if I tried any harder. I tossed both into the spent primer bin...but now I may dig them out and try examining the flash hole.

Did he ever "modernize" the coating he used? Precision was one of the original coated bullet makers, but in my experience, his coating smoked significantly more than hi-tek coated bullets. I think I still have a few thousand each of his .230gr .45 and 147gr 9mm, after buying them by the case and then makers using hi-tek came along, and I switched to those. Accuracy in my Glocks was great, but I wasn't a fan of the smoke screen.

They were big back in the days of waxed lead. I still have some of theirs for loading .38spl. They shut down just as coated bullets were getting popular, but seem to have recently started the business back up.

Do you do anything to remove it, or are you using so little on pistol cases that there's no need?

Unless there's something wrong/broken on my RL550B, I think using lube was actually the issue. For loading pistol ammo, I've been using lube for years. What I use is Lansinoh lanolin cream. I rub a little between my first finger and thumb and as I'm handling cases on their way into the press, they get lubed. I usually end up with too much, and wipe off the excess on a folded paper towel that sits next to the press. Often, rather than dispense from the tube, I can just pick up some of this excess, rub it between my fingers, and go. I don't know if lanolin can get too old (and what's in the tube goes bad?), dry out sitting on a paper towel, or maybe what was on the towel collected some "decapping crud", but I'm guessing something about that lube caused my problem. What I don't get is, I haven't changed anything about how I load, and I've been doing this for years (low tens of thousands of rounds). My largest tube is left over from when the one of the kids was a baby...so it's got to be at least 16 years old. I'm going to stop using old lanolin that's been sitting on a paper towel, but if it still happens again, I may need to change lubes or buy a fresh tube of Lansinoh.

I ordered one of those, but ended up not needing/using it. I got over to my friend's house and we used a machinist's vise to hold the dies and a scrap of round bar steel as a punch and a hammer to tap the cases out. I cleaned the dies with brake cleaner and then isopropyl alcohol, put the Lee away, and the Dillon back on my press. I haven't loaded any ammo yet, but I did size a couple dozen cases and though a few felt like they wanted to stick, none did.

The one in my Dillon die is FC. The one in the Lee die is IMI.

Unable to get over to a friend's house for the next several days (to use his vise), I went ahead and just ordered a "spare" Lee 9mm carbide sizing die, figuring it wouldn't hurt to have a spare. It arrived today, and I installed it tonight. Second round through it, the decapping pin pushed up. So, I had to take the die off the press to reset that. Two rounds later, I rip the edges off the head of another stuck case!?! So, now I've got 2 9mm sizing dies with stuck cases. I've been loading on this press (and the Dillon dies) for 15 years...tens of thousands of rounds of 9mm, and never had this happen before Monday.

I've run into exactly the same issue tonight while loading some 9mm. I tried doing that except using slip joint pliers on the case head and a crescent wrench on the top of the die. All I managed to do is rip up more of the case head. I'll contact Dillon tomorrow to see what they advise...but figuring I'm not going to get this fixed fast, I just ordered a Lee carbide sizing die. I figure I can use that until my Dillon is back in business. I even tried letting it soak in some BlasterPB, figuring I can always wash it with alcohol later...this FC case does not want to leave. I tried pounding it out (off the press) and got nowhere. I've got some ideas involving tools I don't have...and don't have time now or in the next few days to go to a friend's house/shop and do more battle with this thing.

I've shot a lot of brands of coated bullets. Brazos Precision 135gr has been my favorite for the past few years, but they've raised prices, and it looks like I may be going back to Ibejiheads 138gr when I run out of Brazos.

Yeah...it does get louder when its tumbling just brass. IIRC, it came with 2 plugs for the autoflow. I'm into my second one now, as the first eventually deteriorated (or maybe I killed it with media additives back when I experimented with that).

I'm curious if anyone has figured out / built a setup to solve the problems inherent in Lyman's autoflow tumblers. I've been using their Pro Magnum 2500 AutoFlow for years, and have struggled with the autoflow feature (remove a plug in the bottom of the bowl, run the tumbler, and it lets the media drain out, separating it from your brass for you. The issues are: The catch pan the tumbler comes with is comically too small. The geometry of the tumbler and any catch dish is such that it's very difficult to actually catch all the falling media. Media falling into the edge of the catch pan has a tendency to pile up and overflow the catch pan rather than spread out in the catch pan. The tumbler sometimes walks around as its draining. I thought I'd solved most of this using some pavers and 1x2 wood scrap to prop up the side of the catch pan catching the media and to pin the catch pan in place...but I just had to clean up a bunch of spilled media. I'm wondering if it's worth trying to build a platform to raise and secure the tumbler and hold the catch dish under the tumbler such that the media flow lands more toward the center of the catch pan? What I've been using for a catch pan for most of the decade+ I've been running this tumbler is a Little Giant HP8 2 gallon feed pan. I found it a local feed store, and it seemed like it'd do the job.

I think you just agreed with my earlier speculation as to why the rule about fault lines extending to the stage boundary was changed. Under the old rules: "3.5.2 When cover is available it must be used, while engaging targets, unless the shooter is “in the open” and must engage targets “in the open.” Shooters may not cross or enter any openings (doorways, open spaces, etc.) without first engaging targets visible from those locations." Under the old rules, SP is technically behind cover. Under the new rules, it's not.

You're applying logic rather than the rule book to support your position. What if the stage were: T1 T2 T3 _________ / POC \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ ___SP___ At SP, you're not exposed to any of the targets, but if you wander just a bit to either side, you can be exposed to / get a clear shot at least at T1 and T3 while still remaining inside the POC fault lines, which have been exaggerated to demonstrate the "extends to the stage boundary" old rule.