Canuck223

Agreed!!!

In my opinion, the time it takes to convert from one caliber to another is not an issue. You should be taking the time to clean the press anyway. The biggest drawback is the cost. The cost of the converstion and toolhead plus powder measure is steep. It's also worth it. MY advice is to buy the 1050 if you can afford it. Just make sure you have enough brass to load a months worth of ammo per caliber.

Being a bit conservative, I always start with the longest OAL the mag and chamber will take and then adjust down if needed. The slight exception to the rule is when loading JHP or Truncated cone bullets, since they seem to benefit from a bit of running room. I tend to start them around 1.125

Scrap the brass. The brass is soft, and the rumours about primer pockets are true. Even free, it's not worth it. I used to process 1F police range brass. I sorted them by headstamp fortunately. Dies that produced perfectly headspaced and trimmed Winchester cases, had Federal cases dropping well below the bottom mark of the gauge.

My formula is simple. Diameter of the bullet + 2(thickness of the case wall) - .0005 = diameter of finished round at mouth. You want to eliminate the belling, and just a tiny fraction more. The bullet is retained by casewall tension, and sometimes helped by the coke bottle sizing effect of many dies. Crimp in most semi auto pistols isn't really needed. The bigger problem in my opinion is excessive crimping. While true jacketed bullets may not be hurt by it, the same isn't always true with plated bullets. The crimp can weaken or cut the plating. The plating begins to shed on leaving the muzzle. What could well be a decent printing load turns into a shotgun pattern

I read the article. It says the cheapest conversion starts at $650 and goes up rapidly. They quote $1,100 as the more likely cost. I don't know about you but that pretty much means I will never convert anything. Agreed, but it's nice to know that there are options when factory parts prove impossible to find.

Thanks for the link. I read the 2010 American Handgun article linked in the company website. At the time, they were selling cylinders. Cool stuff.

Steve, It's normal to have a bit of toolhead rotation. When you look at the toolhead coming down, you'll probably notice that the rotation begins as the casefeeder roller is being contacted. What I do when setting the machine up is to leave the toolhead nut loose by a full thread, then lock it in the full down position to snug it tight. That should leave you centered. As for the casefeeder probems, there can be a few simple issues you can check and improve. 1) Is the track the shellcase shuttle rides in clean? Tumbling media can cause issues. 2) Is the shellplate clean, or is the area underneath fouled with spilled powder and media? (Compressed air is your friend) 3) Is the shellplate snug without binding? (Full hand tight, then back off 1/16th - 1/8th of a turn) 4) Are you controlling the handle on the way up, or are you allowing the spring to let it race up? 5) Without any shells on the shellplate, does the shellplate index properly, or do you find that the indexing pins in the toolhead are shoving it over the last bit when approaching the shellplate?

So odds are I'm simply going to play with my new Model 58 as is. However, the thought occured to me, "What if......?" I tossed around the idea of rebarreling and converting this into a moon clipped .40/10mm. SHort of finding a spare 610 cylinder, or reeming a 27/627 cylinder, are there any manufacturers of custom N frame cylinders? I googled, but found few aftermarket cylinders for the S&W and none for the N frame. I half suspected with the number of smaller shops with CNC machines these days, someone would be trying.

If I recall correctly, the firing pin is held in by a roll pin.

I feel your pain. My only trivial observation about your families reaction is this; Either they have similar values, and quietly know they would have done the same in her shoes, OR They see her flaws and condone them, so your reaction is alien... Fugetabout it. You have to live in your skin, and answer to the guy in the mirror.

Ditto. The best set up I found was one dedicated processing toolhead, and a second just to load processed brass.

I wound up trading for a funky old S&W Model 58, and was toying with the idea of shooting the odd IPSC match with it. Making major with the 210 gr Berrys shouldn't be an issue. I have 6 speedloaders coming with it. Now I just need to think about a holster and grips. Yep, I know. 99 reasons, but a clue ain't one...

Yep, what he said. The small rifle primers are thicker and hotter, but fine to use. You need to back off your load and work it back up to your target velocity. You can't simply substitute one for the other.

My thoughts exactly.

I'm really not sure why you have a 1050 and load so few rounds/year? I'd go with two SD's set up permanently to .38 and .45, and a single stage for the few rifle rounds I reload. Good luck, Jack Sometimes people shelve the max/min equation and simply buy the best tooling without regard for the initial cost. My personal argument is that the cost of tooling is an upfront cost, but the costs of buying inferior tooling is an enduring cost. If you intend to reload for many years to come, sometimes it's wise to overspend upfront.

I agree. While it may not suit every personality type, I think that it pays dividends to know the press well, and detail cleaning it is the best possible way to learn. I wonder if many of the threads about 1050 issues would dissappear if people were not afraid to strip it down periodicly. I find detail cleaning some guns far more complicated than the 1050.

My suggestion, for what it's worth, is to buy a bit more brass and stock up on ammo. In the OP's situation, for 2k a year for the .38 Special, I'd just stick with the 1050. Instead of buying a second priming system, I'd just process the cases on the press then prime them with a hand primer. However, if buying a second press for the other primer size is an issue, I'd consider buying a 650 without the casefeeder, using the 1050's he already owns.

J'est suis maudit anglais, aider moi c'est vous plait! Mon cahier est jeune. Yep, I didn't make the cut for French Immersion. So have you taken your BB yet or are you doing it this winter? Got your gear yet? It's a good time to be a Canuck shooting a Shadow. CZ are sponsoring a team now. Welcome on board. Dave

With a bit of turmoil and upheaval at work, I figured it was wise to keep my toolbox full. There are two jobs coming up on the horizon that i want to be considered for. I wrote exams Wednesday for two jobs, both slight promotions. I didn't really want either, but our senior managers are happy to have us compete and then decline the job. The format is the pool of applicants are first screened with a written exam. The top four applicants move on to the interview stage. After the interview stage, come references. Apparently I still cut the mustard. Both contests were popular, and both had a large turn out. I snagged an interview for both. In a twist, it turns out my timing might have been perfect. I go for one interview on Tuesday. On Monday i find out if I'm getting stuck with a reject at my current location. That nugget of information might just make me want to turn a practice interview into a horserace.

The primers yes, are cheaper to produce...But the brass? The stamping and forming die costs are essentially the same. On the primer side, the tooling to stamp and handle the anvils would add considerably to the cost with no real benefit. The only negative I can see from the manufacturing standpoint in making berdan primed cases, is a slightly higher scrap cost when loading the primers into the cases. That's quickly offset by the likely lower scrap costs on the primer line. (As in the cost of the materials and time at the point the item fails QC.)

My guess is what they thought they saw, was slightly different than what happened. My guess is the guy commenting thought they were loaded. Every club is a little different. Some will have large, generous safety tables. Others have a spartan ledge. Often if the table is small, the unwritten rule is you put your gear on elsewhere, and use the table only to unbox the gun.

Advantage? Not really. It's more of a means to control disadvantage. You add more resistance, but trade off a gradual sizing in two steps rather than one, somewhat harsher sizing.

I generally won't take anyone to the range for the first time without a few minutes on hands on instruction at my place. I prefer to get newbies familiar in a less distracting setting, without ear and eye protection getting in the way.

My cousin asked a month ago if I could take her and the kids out shooting for Terry's 15th birthday. So yesterday we spent 3+ hours at the range shooting my GP6 and the STI Trojan, both in 9mm. His mother and sister also tried thier hand and had a hoot, but this was for a large part Terry's day. I started the day with a quick and dirty basic safety lecture at my place. When we got to the club, muzzle awareness and trigger control wasn't an issue. Using the current IPSC target at 15 meters, they all placed thier shots on the paper, generally C's or better. After the first hour, Terry was showing excellent trigger control and accuracy, so I started him riding the reset.