Thomas918

So yesterday at about 5000 rounds on the press. I broke a bearing on the indexing arm. It happened when a Ginex primer, which are on the larger side, got caught in the primer wheel instead of falling into its hole in the wheel, and got crushed. I muscled through it and pushed too hard which puts alot of pressure on the bearing that the cam action rolls on. Now this is a known issue which will be replaced under warranty I'm sure. So long story short. Don't use Ginex primers if you are really cranking high speed on the press. Half the rounds I have loaded have been with CCI and the other has been Ginex. The Ginex has hiccups every once and a while. The CCI feed and seat like butter though with no issues.

I just didn't have the time to cycle through the powder. It took my Lee auto drum multiple pounds to get coated and for it to rub smooth. I didn't want to order graphite for just one use but I'm glad I did. I went a long time dealing with certain powders clinging to surfaces. Even after cleaning and wiping with dryer sheets.

MR. ZIP Extra Fine Graphite Lubricants Bottle 2 Oz - MZ-21 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HAEMPM?ref_=cm_sw_r_apann_dp_NEHN3V0KQBGKM6R1HA41

I had really bad static cling with my powders inside all the surfaces of the powder measure and hopper. I emptied the powder and put graphite into the hopper and coated everything. Cycling it through the drum and out the charging die. I made sure all the loose graphite was gone and filled it with new powder. When it was time to empty the powder at the end of the session, I had no static cling. I've used dryer sheets and it holds no flame to ultra fine graphite. It removed all static cling for me. Since graphite is used as a dry lubricant in many bearings, I felt it helped with the drum rotation also, since the drum surface has some tight tolerances.

I would recommend it because a Dillon 750 with a case feeder and conversion kit is about the same price as the X-10. The press is new so it's hard to find custom and aftermarket parts for it. A guy on Instagram b_team_engineering is working out some automation already using his motor from his 1050/1100

I just loaded another 1500 rounds on it. The only hickups I had this time were cases were stuck at the top of the case feeder tube that I just stuck a pick into and it cleared up(the feeder has a slot in it just for clearing cases). It's my first motorized case feeder so I'm not sure if that happens with them or not. I also haven't adjusted it since the first time I set it up. The stroke is long but not bothersome at all to me. It doesn't slow down the rate of loading at all and it doesn't have any resistance except at the bottom 10% when the cases enter the sizing die and such. The handle with literally fall down into position if you let it. Now with using more powders with it and putting graphite all into the powder hopper everything seems to have tightened up variance wise. I have a little bit of variance with n300 series powders though which doesn't surprise me. Surprisingly enough AA#2 doesn't leak very much at all despite it being the smallest and finest powder I've used to date. I have 8 positions filled with dies. 2 decappers, a sizing die over the swage station, a hold down die over the prime station, Lee universal expander, powder dropper, then an empty station that will eventually be filled with a powder die or checker, then a seating die, and a taper crimp.

I just got my press. I've loaded about 500 9mm rounds so far. I'm not convinced the powder measure is better than my Lee auto drum. It leaks onto the shellplate as the case exits. It leaks a small bit onto the top of the shellplate. It has a decent size variance of about ±.2 with sport pistol and ±.1 with CFE-P. My Lee auto drum meter those almost perfectly at a variance of ±.05. The cases sometimes hang up on the case inserter. The other issue I have is the shellplate sometimes hangs up on the upstroke. It happens when no case is present on the case inserter so I know it's not that. I think it's the primer wheel gear catching or doing something. On the good side the indexing is great. My swager and primer station both have hold down dies in them so they are incredibly consistent. The press has an overtravel stop opposite of the sizing station which helps with tool head stability and prevents rocking. It's time consuming to change calibers. If you want to clean up powder or brass shavings you have to remove the powder drum, tool head, and primer assembly. All which use lots of bolts so it's kinda of a pain. The shellplate also uses a nice bearing which may get debris inside which can make the shellplate rotate roughly in the future.

My goal is make around 128 power factor. The problem is with the large extreme deviation I can't be at that level because it will dip under the minor power factor threshold. The fps dip low and I can feel the recoil difference too. I may have to do some more testing but I don't have too much confidence in how much deviation it has at a normal load level. I could drop the grain by .1 and seat deeper by .020 to increase some pressure for more efficient burn. I can understand a real light bunny load having high ES but it's a normal power load. I will stick to sport pistol and n320/330.

I have 4lbs that I got for $24 for each pound and was working up loads. I had a large extreme deviation on a lower power factor load(134). Also the load data lists 3.5gr(822fps) to 3.9gr(902fps) for a plated rainier 147gr. My 3.5gr had a fps of 894 and 3.7gr had no real change in FPS. I always feel uneasy when my load doesn't line up with published loads, at least somewhat closely. Also worked up a load for coated lead at 3.2gr and got a fps of 700-750 which is way off the published data. Anybody have experience loading with this powder?