njl

I don't AFAIK, the downsides to ultrasonic are very small batches, and you'll have to dry the brass (shouldn't be a problem in AZ...just give it a few hours/days on the balcony). I don't think I've ever counted, but I'm pretty sure my Lyman 2500 can do >1000 9mm at a time. Also, I doubt the ultrasonic cleaner is going to be quiet. Maybe not as loud as a vibratory tumbler...but it's got to make some noise.

Whats wrong with these Jack? A-Merc is well known for being really crappy ammo/brass. Much of, if not all, the NT stuff (non-toxic primer) is crimped. S&B tends to have tight/sharp edged pockets. I find that RWS doesn't take a bell. IMT/Ammoload has the internal ledge. RP tends to stick to my powder funnel horribly. I think if you load mixed brass for a bit, you'll quickly find which headstamps are ok, and which are best avoided.

I wouldn't do it indoors. Another issue you'll likely have beyond the noise is the dust cloud produced when you pour the media/brass out of the tumbler and again when you pour the media back into the tumbler. Perhaps wet tumbling indoors is your best option...and then put the brass out on the balcony to air dry.

You might even get your stock 1911 to function on 185gr bullets in the 700-800fps range...but a 147gr 9mm in the mid 800s will be even softer.

Only if you're a machine and paying minimal attention to everything going on on the press. Realistically, I think you should cut that [500] number roughly in half. 500/hr is a round every 7.2s...which may sound slow, but consider that in those 7.2s, you need to 1) look into station 2 to make sure the powder drop looks good 2) advance the shell plate 3) grab a case, put it in station 1, if loading .45, you might check the case head on the way to the press to make sure the primer size is correct 4) grab a bullet, put it on the case in station 3..if using plated or coated, take extra care to make sure its reasonably squarely seated so it doesn't get damaged on the way in 5) pull the handle down 6) pull the handle up 7) press the handle forward to prime (did that feel right?...if not, do you just press on or pull the case from station 1 to examine it?...it may need a bit more force to fully seat a proud primer) 8) repeat 100 times...oops...out of primers, gotta stop to load some more...how's the powder hopper look? Then there's also setup time. Some say it only takes a minute or two to do a caliber change...I think they must be on speed. Though for me, the most time consuming part of setup is usually powder bar calibration. i.e. dialing in exactly the number of grains I want for the load I'm doing. I keep thinking about getting the Uniquetek kit to supposedly make that easier. My first/only press is a 550, due to a combination of cost, simplicity, not wanting the extra bulk/noise of a case feeder, wanting to load pistol and rifle, etc. If money is no object, and you just want to make the most efficient use of your loading time, skip the smaller presses and get a 1050 If you're like most of us, it's a choice between the 550 and 650, and the deciding factor is usually how much you shoot. If you compete regularly, and need quantity, you probably want the 650 and a case feeder.

You mention case gauges, but not dies. Since you said "gauges" plural, I assume you're going to load multiple calibers...so you'll need caliber conversions, and for pistol, one extra tool head per caliber (so you can leave the dies setup in a dedicated tool head). For rifle, you'd generally want 2 tool heads per caliber.

I've done a bit of loading recently with titegroup and noticed it clumping when pouring it into the hopper.

I think you owe Magpul and apology.

I'm surprised nobody else has questioned this yet. What powder can even fit a 4x overcharge in a .45acp case? I just loaded some Titegroup and found that a mid level 230gr JHP load, 2x fits, 3x fits in the case without overflowing, but doesn't leave enough room to seat a bullet. If there's a powder that would fit a 4x charge, I suspect it would totally fill the case, pressure would be insane, and either the case or barrel would fail.

For 9mm, Universal Clays works well, meters well, and doesn't cling to everything like WST does.

I can't really tell from the pictures, but if you're using an impact bullet puller, the bullet often flies out, bounces off the the inside end of the hammer, then flies back into the case mouth where it will get scraped or gouged. It may be that's whats happening, and your bullets aren't damaged until you pull them. I haven't noticed a smell issue with Hi-Tek coated bullets, but I suspect it depends on the powder being used and the procedures used to apply the coating. I've used Universal Clays, WST, and Promo in 9mm, and have used WST, regular Clays, and Promo in .45. For Hi-Tek coated bullets, I've used Bayou, Black and Blue, and Missouri Bullet. Also, for .45acp, I've found Black and Blue to run a "little wide" and order them sized to .451.

Pretty sure there are no Gen2 34s. So these are very likely to be mixed serial guns where a 34 upper was put on a Gen2 G17 or factory replacement frame. If you don't care about the frame/upper serials matching, $350 is a great price if it comes with some mags and you like Gen2. Personally, I much prefer the finger grooves and thumb rest. As mentioned, early Gen3 17's and 34's did not have the locking block pin. My 34 and first run GSSF special edition 17 are 2-pin frames. They switched to 3-pin between the first and second batches of 500 in the GSSF special edition 17.

I had this issue with Xtreme 147 RN and certain Glocks. I tried various alterations to the load, but never figured out the cause. I just don't buy that bullet anymore.

Select Home Depot's stock the press-on plastic knobs. But Home Depot will let you buy them online with free ship to store. If you have the Home Depot iOS app, search for SKU# 561556.

I too can't understand why they left out the witness holes. Sure, they're not totally reliable, but they at least let you see +-1 round how many are in a mag and are much more accurate that estimating loaded round count by feel. If they want to sell an aftermarket mag, I think it needs to be both cheaper and better if they want much in the way of sales. Leaving out such a basic feature that's been in Glock factory mags since the beginning just seems really odd.

$4000 Glock? Isn't that a VW bug with a G30S in the glove box?

If the primer slide is empty (didn't pick up a primer from the magazine), you need to pay more attention and figure out if it's getting full travel and a primer just isn't dropping in from the magazine, or if it's binding in the magazine housing, not getting full travel, and therefore failing to get into position to have a primer drop into it. Only then can you work on fixing the actual problem.

Some gets spilled here and there, but 15% loss seems like way to much to explain that way. Some powders, the "1 lb" size is actually only 14oz (Clays is one of these). That would get you 875 rounds from the bottle. That seems close to explaining what you're talking about.

I had something similar (squibs with unburned Clays) first time I loaded SP .45 brass. So, I'm curious...was this LP or SP brass?

That plate may not be entirely flat when you hit it too. If shooting outdoors, was there any wind? If they were really tumbling, you'd see some much longer holes.

Those are very respectable scores for a first-time GSSF shooter. GSSF matches have lots of random awards too...so it's kind of like a lottery where you also get to shoot They usually get the preliminary results posted online days after the match and wait about a month for any corrections to be sent in. When the final results are posted, prize winners (both performance based and randoms) will be indicated...so only then will you know for sure if you won anything.

You're probably just not consistently pushing hard enough on the up-stroke.

AFAIK, that's effectively resizing the HAP bullets smaller. That's not necessarily a good solution to the problem you had. Did you try just loading some to at least 1.1"?

I think the vast majority of blown guns we read about are from reloading accidents rather than pushing the envelope too far. i.e. attention lapse causes a double charge or squib, accidental use of the wrong powder, etc.

Xtreme supposedly has relatively thick plating, but are they using unusually soft lead? It occurred to me that I don't shoot my G34 a whole lot, so I wasn't entirely sure Bayou 147s weren't tumbling from it too. So, I took it to the range today and ran several full mags each of Bayou and Black and Blue (both nearly the same 147gr FP coated bullet), and none tumbled.