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Lawman13

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    Alan Rudakoff

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  1. This is precisely why I like this forum so much. Ask a question and get a practical solution. And quickly at that. I tweaked the bar a bit and *presto*, the slide made it all the way to the primer pick-up point. I just loaded 200 problem free rounds. Thanks fellas. Problem solved. I am obliged to you.
  2. I've got a technical question re my 550. I've had it for 6 months now, have loaded thousands of problem free rounds. It's all been good. Today I've switched over to load .45ACP. All has gone fine except - the primer slide will just not align with the primer magazine. It gets into the housing but always stops about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch short. Frustrating. I need to give it that extra little bit of help by tugging it by hand to make it align and pick up the primer. Obviously not very handy for progressive loading large batches. I've gone through the manual. On page 9, figure 12 there's a reference to adjusting the set screw (part 13961). I've adjusted this screw in and out - seems to make no difference whatsoever. I still don't have the primer cup picking up the primer from the tube. I've also measured the height of the cup and it's correct. So my problem just seems to be getting the slide to make that extra tiny bit of travel that it seems not to want to do without me helping it by hand. Any suggestions/solutions??? Thanks.
  3. My two cents........... I had a very similar problem. I had not been trimming. My problems were occuring with cartridge OAL in the 1.750-1.760+ range with once fired civilian brass. I then started trimming to get the cartridge OAL down just a shade below 1.750, usually in the 1.742-1.749 range. It seemed to make all the difference in the world. Haven't had a single problem yet. Hope this helps you out.
  4. I've had excellent success with 5.0 gr of Power Pistol. I've loaded several thousand and all have been flawless.
  5. I'm new to reloading too and I've had good success using Power Pistol. I've loaded about 2,500 rounds of 9mm using Win brass, 124 gr FMJ-RN bullets, Win small pistol primers, and 5.0 grains of Power Pistol over the past month. Results have been outstanding with extremely tight groups, and not a single misfire. I've also heard nothing but good things about Unique. While there are no doubt thousands (millions?) of different combinations and recipes out there, from a newbie's standpoint, this worked out exceptionally well for me. I will be trying different bullets and loads as I build up my experience and confidence, but for a "first-timer" such as myself, this was simple to do and produced great results. Good luck and enjoy.
  6. Hello all. I have picked up a bunch of .223 Rem cartridges at the range lately, keen on reloading them in my 550. I've been reading all of the differing opinions on these posts about sorting brass, etc. I was about to post a question because I couldn't identify some of the headstamps on the brass that I've liberated from the range. Before doing so, I did some research online and came up with the following link which seems to define and identify hundreds of headstamps. While I am in no position to vouch for the accuracy of this list, it does seem to be pretty complete, and it certainly answered my questions. I'm hoping that others will find it to be of value. Here is the link: http://cartridgecollectors.org/headstampcodes_bottom.htm
  7. I agree with those who suggest mounting as close as you can to the front of the bench. You'll have better clearance that way and won't find yourself leaning forward for hours at a time while you operate the press. I also suggest mounting it off-center. I've got mine mounted on the left side of my bench, allowing me much additional workspace for lubricating cases, trimming, operating my vibratory cleaner, having manual open to check powder loads, etc. Just my two cents. Good luck and enjoy!
  8. As a follow up and to close the loop on this, I just spoke with Dillon this morning. They advise that my difficulties seating .223 brass in my 550 is probably a defective .223 shellplate and they're sending me another immediately (and free of charge of course). Good service as expected! While I was online with them I also purchased the Super Swage 600, so hopefully my crimped primer issue will also be resolved. Thanks to everyone for their input and guidance. More questions (dumb and otherwise) will no doubt follow in due course.
  9. Thank you very much for the useful advice/information. As I said, I'm new to this. Very new. And new guys do make rookie errors no matter how careful they are. So...as a result of your advice this evening, I've just measured the cases that weren't loading. All appear to have been between 1.754 and 1.757. I note that the Hornady and Lyman manuals all refer to the "trim to" length as 1.750. What I've learned tonight I guess is that I need to trim all my cases down to that 1.750 level before carrying on. To test this, I've just loaded half a dozen rounds all with cases trimmed to 1.750 and they all chambered without a problem. I guess that you've all solved my first problem. (Though in my defense, I will say that none of the manuals - and I've read them all - are particularly clear on the matter of trimming - while it's true that they talk about doing it, they don't say in a clear and unambiguous fashion that one should trim to the cited "trim length" as a standard practice before proceeding). Anyway, as usual from these forums, I've learned an important lesson tonight and I am obliged to all of you for your valuable comments. I will also contact Dillon this week to ask about that shellplate that isn't routinely accepting my cases. Any other suggestions in the meantime would be appreciated. Still hoping to get some guidance on this American Eagle primer crimping issue. As I said, I've got thousands of those AE brass cases, but I can't seem to use any of them due to the primers not seating. I'm figuring this has to do with the way in which they seat their primers at the factory. Hoping that you guys can give me some ideas how to deal with this so that I don't have to waste all that brass. Thanks again. You'll be seeing more rookie posts from me as I continue to learn my way here. Cheers.
  10. Hello everyone. I'm new to reloading. Got the Dillon RL 550B for Xmas. No problem setting it up. Started with 9mm. I've made 2500 problem free 9mm rounds. All went very smoothly. Decided to start making .223 Remington rounds and have had nothing but problems. Hopefully someone out there can help me out. Having purchased all of the correct gear (dies, conversion kit, quick change kit) I made the switch over to the .223 set up. I followed the 550 and die instructions to the letter (as I did with my problem-free 9mm set up), but now here's the problem(s): 1. The ammo that I'm pumping out *looks* good however it doesn't seem to want to fit in my rifles (CZ 527 Lux and a Stag Arms AR-15). The C.O.L. is dead-on the Hornady and Lyman manuals (no more than 2.230). I've measured them also in the Dillon .223 case gage and they fit perfectly. I've held up the finished rounds next to factory ammo and they look identical to the naked eye. The factory ammo loads effortlessly in my rifle as they always have, however my reloaded ones seem to jam in the chamber as I work the bolt (ie I can't close the bolt; I get close but not close enough). To my (uneducated) mind, that suggests that I'm off on some dimension, but I can't figure it out as they fit perfectly well in the case gage. I am stumped. And frustrated. Especially after my excellent experience with thousands of 9mm rounds. Any ideas? 2. It has been a challenge finding .223 brass (I live in Western Canada, The Great Leftist Frozen North). I either get once fired military or I have a few thousand Federal (American Eagle) rounds that I've fired and policed up the brass. Two problems here - the once-fired military has a hit and miss success ratio (about 50%) when trying to seat them in the shellplate. It seems that they don't want to slide in. They catch and will not seat. I wonder if this is common and that perhaps having come from some automatic weapon, their dimensions have been altered down there. The second issue is with the American Eagle stuff. I understand they they apparently have crimped primers. Is there a way to machine these out? Do I need another device? I've got about 2,000 of these cases and I can't seem to use any of them the way they are now. Again, frustrating. So, lotsa questions here. I'm loving my Dillon press and want to start making thousands of .223 rounds so I'm hoping some of you folks out there with experience can help me out. Much obliged to you all in advance.
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