IanL

Thanks D Manley, that is a weight off of my mind!

Thanks Vulture. I checked and there is no ring around the bullet. The only thing that looks a little weird is that the brass had a little "waist" (the opposite of a bulge half way down the brass case). It is happening in the first stage with the resizing/depriming/priming die. Is it that it is not resizing all of the case just half, or is it entering too much? In other words do I have the die too high, or too low? The die is not quite touching the shellplate.

Thanks Guy. I found that very helpful. Unfortunately the link posted by Brian came up as an error, saying: "Sorry, the link that brought you to this page seems to be out of date or broken".

This is without question, the best hobby that I have ever had! I love it! I successfully loaded and shot about 25 rounds 9mm 115g fmj with about 4.2g of titegroup. They were a pleasure to shoot, but I did notice one flyer (it could have been me, but very unusual if it was) It was pretty difficult to know how much bell and crimp to adjust the dies to. I suppose if there is too much bell, I will be putting undue stress on the cases, resizing, belling, and crimping all the time! The crimp, I kind of just winged it from looking at some factory rounds. They all passed the gauge test, and there were no loose bullets. What are the signs/ problems caused by too much/ too little crimp? Is it very important? Is the bell amount very important? Also I spilled some powder, due to measuring using a brass case without a primer and I notice that the press is sticking just a little. I tried brushing it all away, but I suppose some got trapped under the index plate. What needs to be dismantled, cleaned, lubed if anything? Many thanks. Ian

Hello all. Excited newbie having just ordered our first press, need some help and advice on what to buy and where to buy it. Unfortunately don't want lead bullets (stock barrel, and don't clean so often), so need some kind of jacketed bullet, with a soft shooting powder/primer combo. Min. power factor 125. I am thinking that a middle weight 124, 125 grain would be best, as we do have a lot of steel. Am I correct that a heavier (124-147) would knock down steel easier? Many thanks. Ian

Thank you people for your very interesting replies. However I was still not sure which way to go. Spook: Good question! My wife and I finally started to take our shooting seriously, so we are shooting twice a week, instead of once a month or two. But you are correct, we have never loaded any rounds whatsoever, and decided, shooting this much, we have to learn to reload. I have just come off the phone with Brian (an absolute gentleman ), and I made him laugh by asking him if he would recommend for us a Square Deal or a 1050 I was thinking of maybe just get the Square Deal to start with, then when we move to a bigger place, get the ultimate 1050 for 9mm, and keep the Square Deal for 45. Now though, until we move, probably the 550 would be better suited to us. I will discuss it with the wife, and order one soon.

My wife and I have decided to start reloading. We will be loading at least 3,000 9mm (9x19 Luger) every month, with maybe a few 45 ACP. These are the calibers that we will be shooting for years to come in USPSA, IDPA, steel, and classes. We do not own a rifle. Brian says in his FAQ etc. that he would not recommend a 650 for a newbie, so I was leaning towards a Square Deal. We seem to pick things up very quickly however, and were wondering what sort of problems we might encounter as complete beginners starting out on a 650.