AZ-Ranger

Another +1 on Tiger Valley. If you know someone with an FFL and who will order for you: Black Hills shooting supply

Dear God why?

I could have sworn I heard a faint pig squeal when I saw a flock of strange birds flying over my house...

ok the M&P is good, and many folks like it. but i don't see how you can say "better". while the M&P feels good i like the glock better. while the facory triggers are about the same, to me a little polishing and the glocks better to me. +1 I also polish the internals on my Glock and with the wealth of aftermarket parts, I can do my own trigger job. Off topic I suppose but I wonder how hard it would be to do a trigger job in a M&P?

I really like the Lyman manuals for the in depth case preparation and tips and tricks. That being said, I also own the Lee and the Speer manual. If a load isn't listed, for instance 62 grain .223 loads (only in the speer manual but powder choices are lacking), I go online to the powder manufacturer or I come here. This site contains a plethora of reloading info and data.

I recently tumbled some .308 brass that developed black spots. I ran out of Dillon case polish and decided to use a car polish instead. I read in another thread where someone mentioned that black spots meant brittle brass. Is this correct? Should I just sell the brass as scrap?

I have taken several classes via GCC. Jerry McCown and company really run a top notch program. I even took a Carbine class taught by ex-Gunsite head Bill Jeans. For twice the price, the classes are a bargain.

My load is 4.5 grains of WST with a Winchest large pistol primer and a Remington 230gr FMJ. I received 11lbs of WST when I purchased a used 650 from a local guy on another board. He also included 5k primers and a ton of brass. For my load, recoil is manageable and my Glock just eats it up. I do get my projos from a local guy who sells me the Remington projos for $110 per thousand. Currently he is cheaper than buying cast or plated bullets.

+1 Lee pistol dies are okay. Dillons are better. Now there rifle seating dies are very inconsistent but I have never had a problem with the Lee pistol dies.

I learned by reading the Lyman manuals. As someone stated previously they are not company driven. They mention Dillon by name. I can recommend the Lyman manual for those who don't know the first thing when it comes to loading. Not only is load data included, but the manual walks you through the entire loading process and provides tips and tricks. IMHO the Lyman manual is an absolute necessity.

I bought a 1k Remington 230gr .45ACP projos for around $110 from a guy named Gary Blount who lives in the far east valley (Phoenix area).

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. +1 I find that even the S&B .45 brass a pain (most of the time) when I seat primers. I am lazy though and don't wanna screw with the .223 adjustments so I just deal with it.

Dude YOU rock!

+1 I have a 650 but am contemplating buying a 1050 as I currently use the 2 tool head set up to load. This does not include the swaging of military brass. The swager alone makes the 1050 king in my book, however when you add in the fact that you can trim/load on the same tool head, what more could you possibly want?

I read a review on Midway and the reviewer states the X die does no better than their standard SB die. Can you give us any info on how many loadings/trimmings/experience you have had since using the X die?

I had a Ciener conversion that I installed in an old Colt M16 upper with a 20" 1/12 twist barrel. I originally purchased the conversion for my son as he still finds the .223 a little intimidating. To say I was disappointed would be to put it lightly. Accuracy was pathetic with anything other than Aguila 60gr sniper subsonic (accuracy was mediocre). To top it off, the Ciener conversion got dirty very quickly and couldn't more than a couple of mags before it was caked in soot. I even polished the rails with the hope of increasing reliability, but alas no dice. I sold the conversion and the upper and purchased a Ruger 10/22. Needless to say, I haven't looked back. The Ruger was cheaper (I bought the entire 10/22 for just about the cost of the Ciener conversion), and my son can run mag after mag before it cakes up and won't function. I use Steel Lips mags and function is 100%. I can throw either my Tac-16 or Tac-65 on the gun and it sounds like a pellet gun with either 22 CB long, Remington subsonics (quite a few duds), Aguila Colibri (won't cycle), Super Colibri (won't cycle) and Aguila SSS. To top it off, I had enough money left over to buy a Ruger Mk2 w/threaded barrel.

I am a novice reloader and need some advice. For quite some time I have been using Lee dies in my Dillon 650. After reading quite a bit in these forums and listening to a friend who shoots quite a bit of NRA HP, I have decided to change to Dillon Carbide .223 dies due to the fact that the Dillon is a small base resizer. Though I must admit, the Lee FL sizer has not given me problems in any of my loads, I want to avoid any problems in the future. That being said, the Lee seat die is all sorts of wacky. I find that if I seat a bullet and it is over magazine tolerant length, I must run the round through again and the problem usually corrects itself on the second time through. The Lee seat die is not consistent in the least bit. The loaded bullet seems to be pushed deeper when I run it through the second time. Has this happened to anyone else? Also, I want to be able to load match ammunition as well as plinking ammo. I want to avoid the seat problems that I am experiencing with the Lee. Should I purchase a micrometer type seat die separately? If so, any recommendations?

I would also check the EE on ARF.com. All of my Leupold optics were bought from that site. Don't rule out Nikon's. My buddy has a Nikon Tactical and it seems to be a very nice scope for the money.

One of the best (and cheapest) finishes I have ever applied is Parkerizing. You can do it in your backyard with a hotplate and a stainless tub. For extra protection, buy a small airbrush kit and paint the KG Gun Kote on yourself. You will have to bake it but you will save yourself a buttload of money. KG goes on way thinner than Duracoat. It will have to be baked though so I would not use it on plastic parts. Gun Kote on Park is bar none the best.

+1 Why people even bother with that anemic round just confuses me. When you compare BC's and velocities of the 6.5 projectiles, you get the all around perfect round. Velocities are respectable so a long barrel life can be expected; this coupled with the higher ballistic coefficient of the projectile makes it a very accurate rifle that won't burn out a barrel quickly. I regret selling my 6.5.

I would look for a used Dillon (I always buy used due to their warranty). Don't bother with a single stage or any machine that is not blue. Bulk reloading on any sort of single stage is maddening and time consuming. I bought a used Dillon 650 from a local gun board and it included 45acp lead projos (I shoot Glocks so I sold the bullets) 5k primers, tons of brass, 11lbs of Winchester Super Target, spare parts, and some reloading equipment. Living in Phoenix, I have a distinct advantage of being able to return the machine for warranty work if anything goes wrong. I love Dillon!

+1 I usually pick up extra brass at the range. Not for reloads but to use as either trade in or sell for scrap. The only picks up I actually load is .45acp. Too much pressure in .223 for me to trust anyone else's gun/brass/reloading practices. If someone next to me is shooting a caliber I can use, I verify that it is in fact new brass and I ask if I can keep it. Usually the answer is yes.

I have my 650 on a strong mount, mounted on an old desk. I find that I like the ability to clear/inspect the hopper when I have thrown too much brass in. Mounting it lower also allows me to sit rather than stand when I reload. This comes in handy when conducting an all night loading session.