m627

I found a great deal on walnut shells at Harbor Freight. And I far prefer the electronic scales to the beam style. Personally, without the case feeder much of the pleasure and sheer massive volume of reloads will be decreased. I ran a 550 for nearly 20 years and was amazed at what I had been missing prior to upgrading to the 650. You can get along without it just as a 4 cyl will pull your butt around the desert, just not as slick as a V8.... It takes a while and some experience to develop a sense of what you can get along with/without, and what you prefer in your hobby. Reloading doesn't save you money, it DOES give you a whole lot MORE ammo for a given amount of money... And I've come to appreciate having more ammo with less work...hence the little tricks that ease production a bit. By now you probably have run a few trials, what are you loading in that 45?

I've had to resort to the kinetic puller over the years, usually only for a few odds & ends, sometimes a dozen or 2 adding up over a period of time. A few months ago I made a horrid mistake and had to tear down several hundred overcharged acp rounds. While feeling like an idiot, the process goes fairly rapidly and you only have so many ways to kick your own butt. It does reinforce your skills at setting up properly to NOT have such mistakes happen. And it becomes part of the Zone that B Enos speaks about in "Beyond Fundamentals"...as applied to other aspects of training and doing.

I've used Starline in many pistol calibers for decades with excellent results.

My 625 seems particularly susceptible to leading regardless of recipe or components. And at times it is extremely difficult to clean all the lead. I was advised by a S&W factory tech to "use different bullet heads" to avoid the problem. Considering I use those same cast slugs from 4 different sources, in other firearms with no problem, I was less than satisfied with that as a solution. It does seem to handle jacketed slugs with little issue. I've loaded cast lead for years in everything (except Glocks ) and don't understand the problem. I've used JB paste and a host of other de-leading chemicals; they all work to some extent. Even Lewis Lead remover can be cumbersome. Metrics of the bore/chamber is within spec, and it is very accurate....until the lead fouling gets to a certain point.

Any users/ pro/con comments on electrochemical barrel cleaning? How about the old "ultrasound cleaner" for pistols???

Has anyone here actually had issues using the 4-die Lee set with a Dillon 650? And has anyone any first-hand experience with a weak 9mm case rupturing during subsequent reloading/firing use? I talked with the Lee tech guy today and got a lot of information I'm trying to process. ....so many cases to reload....so little time.....

RE: "The FCD has two primary issues as I see it. One, it works the brass twice as much...it's already been resized and then the FCD squeezes the entire case again, from top to bottom and then bottom to top. It would seem that has to factor into case life somehow. Since it squeezes below the bullet it can actually cause less neck tension...think about what happens when you squeeze a tube in the middle....the ends open up somewhat." Appreciate the warning. However, I wonder about the 'toothpaste tube' model: as the pliable brass is stress-formed by the initial resizer die, which for some mfr's do not remove the hump we are concerned about and leaves the mal-chambering defect.... Initial sizing via smaller/closer tolerance die which contains/controls both length and diameter, no? And rather than 'open up' as if the circumference were not constrained by outer die wall, and differing from such deformation in a more pliable tube, wouldn't the extra force be as likely to generate a tighter crimp as it 'grows the brass' in the only new direction left, which is inward???? Just asking. Perhaps I don't understand exactly how the U die is different than FCD.....I had been told the U die was basically undersized a .0001 or so, while the FCD is par-spec, and therefore generates less reformation stress on the brass....but perhaps I'm misinformed... In any case, the mysteries of resizing are certainly complex.....I've recently been trying to settle an issue with a 'match-tight' custom XP-100 308FL and old reloads....I used to not have any issues with my brass....haven't used the pistol for many years, and find the new dies were sizing most cases such to not fit the chamber...while standard case gauge and Rooger m77 rifle had no issue with same cases. Got the folks at RCBS to straighten me out on that and now it works fine. Want to avoid headaches on the 9, so I appreciate your observations. I'll be checking out the U dies as well.

Thanks for the information!! I'll see about ordering some 124JHP to get started. My concern on the Lee 4 die set, which I was looking at, was prior experience with difficulty on 550 progressive with Lee. I do favor their FCD for taking the bump out of the Glock/etc empties so I can use them in a 610. I have not found conversion kit for 650 for under ~$71 plus a tool head. I need a dedicated one because of other caliber uses, and that part runs around $21 IIRC. Some have mentioned "U" dies instead of FCD....any comments? Thanks again for the responses.

Have 650 Dillon and many other calibers. Plan loading 9mm set up; best cost I can find is Dillon dies $58; conversion kit & tool head about another $100... My best price for local plated 9mms are ~$137/1000. New to speed steel with G34. Have 40 S&W reloading parts but G23s are not so good a choice for that. Any real advantage to beginner loads bullets of 115 vs 124?

I've shot revolvers for years. Went to use an auto a few weeks ago for a little extra practice. Reminded why I left the bottom feeders in the first place.

....just what IS the difference between "Zen" and "Zen like"?

Recent reasearch in Autism shows that one of the factors in the disease is an inability to create and access abstract objects. An interesting test involved showing text to to test subjects that contained duplicate words, which are common and difficult to find errors in text while proofreading because of the human mind's ability to abstract. Test subjects had portions of their brains zapped with strong magnetic fields to temporarily disable the portions associated with abstraction in the left hemisphere. Subjects showed a a much better ability to pick up duplicate words, because their minds were just "seeing" rather than seeing and compartmentalizing data into abstract concepts. Now, did you see where the repeated words were? I had a few duplicate words once when my brain was zapped when splitting firewood and a piece flew suddenly and forcefully to my forehead and I heard the sound of one one hand clapping.....

New guy here....shooting ICORE & speed steel at Saddle Butte near Shedd Oregon.....using 4" 610 with astounding performance.... loading cast lead 180 RNFP and FTCs with good effect; prefer Unique powder at this point. Gotta go, will be back...

.....?"686 44 mag"???? ....."9mm 627"????? geez......that's going to be quite a pistol match!!! Yes, there is ICORE being resurrected at Albany....It is scheduled monthly for sure.....check the ARPC website for sure.