amlevin

It's not the media that's directly breaking pins in a lot of instances. If you have a clump of media stuck in the case and it's off to one side the rod itself can be bent with some makes (Forster for me). You don't necessarily notice it when it happens as the expander ball will still follow the inside of the case neck but the next time into the case, assuming the rod is only slightly bent and the expander ball enters the case with out hitting the case mouth, the pin may be just enough off center to miss the flash hole and "Twink" it's broken. This occurred to me right after I added some more polish to the corncob and ended up with a "clump" in the case. Now I use SS Pins exclusively, de-priming before cleaning. Good old Lee Universal de-priming die. The pin is strong enough it it that I once punched a center flash hole in a berdan primed case just to see if I could.

Rather than screwing around with Tempilac I just use the heat crayon from the same company. A Tempilstik that melts at 750 degrees. Just touch the case on the shoulder area immediately after it leaves the flame. If it melts and smears it's just right. Start out with a slightly faster speed or lower flame and work up until the crayon JUST starts to melt. After you've set the speed and flame, just anneal. Don't bother checking each case. As for dumping in water, all that does is give you a wet case. Brass does not "temper" or "anneal" by quenching. Just heat and time. Once the case is out of the flame then it cools rapidly enough to not damage the case head (area).

Sierra published BC's are adjusted by speed range. Nosler's are not. A big part of the answer, which is better, is going to depend on the bullet. I load 175 gr SMK's and am working down my old supply of Nosler 175 Custom Comp's. Both are similar but I find the Sierra's to be more consistent for seating depth. The base-ogive/base-tip measurements are more uniform with the SMK's For my .223 Bolt Action that has a 1:10 twist, the best bullet I've found for it is a Berger 73gr Match.

I load LC brass until it fails by splitting or showing an impending case head separation. I anneal it regularly and 10X is about average for my "near max" loads.

I just finished some extensive testing with CFE223 in my .308 5-R Milspec. It's great! Meters as well as any powder out there in all my powder measures. Nice and Fast without having to resort to compressed loads. Haven't tested it yet in my AR's but if it's as good, and accurate, as it is in my .308 it will become my "go to" powder for those two calibers. Cleanup is just what is claimed. A wet patch with hoppe's, a 10 minute or less "soak" and two or three dry patches make a nice clean bore. After a couple hundred rounds, same treatment only using Sweet's makes all copper that has managed to build up, go away. My Dillon powder measure meters this stuff to just about a perfect load, every time. Only a rare drop of .1 gr more or less.

I went to the local Auto Parts store and bought a piece of Radiator hose with a 90 degree angle molded in it. Goodyear P/N 60425 As I recall it was less than $10. The short end on the trimmer and the long end pointed down alongside my 650 with a vacuum hose just plugged in. The plastic piece on my Shop Vac Mini fits nice and snug as well as the hose to the trimmer. No clamps required.

If you pay good attention to detail when inspecting brass, and you're loading on a progressive with a reliable priming system, then don't bother with hand priming. If you tend to get rushed and don't fully inspect cases then hand priming does give you another shot to toss out brass that shouldn't be loaded again.

It's pretty much the same overall as the Hornady but not sure the MG's are really "Match Grade" Good bullets though. The cases I've bought have had pertty good consistency of weight/ length, and cannelure placement.

I use the LEE Case Trimmer for calibers I can't use my Dillon Power Trimmer for. I chuck the cutter with pilot in my CHEAP Harbor Freight Drill Press ($39 on sale). I then just chuck the shell in the holder which I have attached to an old drill chuck I had laying around. The old drill chuck makes a good handle to hold the shell up onto the cutter. I can trim 5-6 rounds per minute if I put my mind to it.

It means it has 5 lands and a right hand twist. Same as the M-24 Sniper rifle only 2" shorter. Remington offers this type of barrel in their 700 SS. I bought one several months ago and found it to be extremely accurate with either 168 or 175 gr bullets. This design claims to be easier to clean and doesn't deform bullets as much due to the rifling being "hammered" rather than button cut.

I have had excellent results from Accurate 2495 BR (formerly XMR-2495). Lots available locally at reasonable prices. My favorite load is 41.7 gr under a 168gr SMK. Regularly get groups less than "dime sized" @200yards and "50 cent" sized @ 300 yards from my Rem 700 SS 5-R Milspec. Also get similar results with 39.5 gr under Nosler 175gr.

You are correct that there is a "ring" around the primer pocket. When the primer is removed from the pocket this crimp will leave a sharp edge on the mouth of the primer pocket that will also make the pocket slightly undersized. It will cause difficulties when trying to seat a new primer. If you have a lot of crimped .223 brass, like I do, buy a Dillon Super Swage 600. This tool will take care of this military crimp in a blink of an eye. Easy to use and fast. Makes it easy to use the brass that lots of others throw away.

I just received a case of these from Powder Valley. Upon inspection I noted that the thickness of the cup (as measured at the open edge) is thicker than standard SR Primers. I also noted that there does not appear to be any coating on the anvil/primer compound such as on Federals, Winchester, and CCI's. Will this make them more vulnerable to variations in humidity prior to loading??? Don't know here, anyone out there with info on this?

I too use AA2230 and had the same issue. I now "meet" the case with a bullet as it is approaching the seating station. By holding the bullet in the case mouth as the shell plate indexes it dampens the movement enough to keep the powder from being spilled from movement. By holding the bullet in place at station 4 powder can't spill here and the dampened movement keeps it from spilling at the powder check station (3). I gave up on trying to regulate the snapping movement by shell plate bolt tension.

And to think that everyone at the range made fun of me for sweeping up all their 9mm brass that they were just throwing away. Had one shooter, after I asked him if he was saving his brass say "why, it's only 9mm". I now have about 6k pieces that should keep me for a while.

Take a fine threaded tap that will fit inside the case and start to form threads. Not so large that it cuts through and scars the inside of the die though. Work the tap until it is firmly engaged inside the case. Then, with a suitable sized drift punch inserted through the top of the die gently tap the tap and case out. Patience and care required. The tap will cut threads and not wedge the case tighter like a screw will.

I just changed from H-335 to AA2230. Much cleaner in my rifle which has only a 11.5" bbl plus 4.5" flash supressor. I load 26 gr under a 55gr. MG FMJ-BT. Also, AA2230 is much cheaper here with an 8# keg going for $105 (no shipping or hazmat required).

Check with Dillon. They may be able to send you the small "clip" that is on the new ones. I had the same problem with my casefeeder and moving this clip in order to catch the neck of the cartridge and force it to fall base first was the solution.

Another vote here for using a separate toolhead with die for sizing and decapping only. I would also recommend swaging primer pockets on any "foreign made" brass as a general practice. For example I ended up with a bunch of S&B brass. It had a tendency to be a little hard to uniformly seat primers. Once over with a Superswage 600 and no more issues.

If these items were only nickel and dime items. For me it is usually More Dollars, More Bigger Dollars, or Lots of Bigger Dollars.

I'm too old to train new brass . I only use "experienced" brass

I use a LEE Factory Crimp Die on my .223 ammo. Just enough to start the case mouth into the cannelure. The LEE die is a collet type that crimps right at the cannelure. Enough to prevent setback if the round meets any resistance during the chambering process.

I just loaded and shot some CCI SPP's that still had a $.97 price tag on them. That makes them at least 20 years old and they worked just fine. If they are kept dry and at reasonable temps they should work fine.

A quick suggestion. Run a magnet through all the S&B "brass". They have recently been selling a copper plated steel case in 9mm (perhaps other cals. too). Looks the same as real brass.

The only time I de-cap as a separate operation is when I have a bunch of once fired military 5.56mm brass and I have to swage the primer pockets. I use an old Lee progressive with a universal de-priming die for this operation. When the brass is de-capped, swaged, and cleaned, it then goes into the XL-650 I just bought to replace the old LEE Progressive. As for the spent primer crap, I haven't found that to be a big issue with all the other rounds I have loaded on the 650. I use a cheap paint brush and an air hose from my compressor (I reload in my garage/shop) to keep everything clean and neat.