Alan Adamson

I understand a too thick of a needle bearing thrust washer would cause clearance issues between the shellplate/case/brass button interface but a thin one shouldn't cause too much issues. Alan, How thin/thick is that needle bearing thrust washer? Really, there are *no* issues with this... Ok, well, it could be that the bolt head sets 5/64 of an inch higher than it did before, but everything else is in alignment... Now you are going to go make me check a few things that I didn't this afternoon. I *dont* believe there are any clearance issues... if there are they will only be because the thrust bearing/washers are 15/16" in OD and the head of the bolt is 3/4", and the head of the bolt will be higher by the 5/64" as mentioned. There are plenty of threads so there is no issue there. I know the sholder still resides fully in the shellplate so there should be no issues there... The locking allen screw still contacts the sholder so no issues there. But the thing I do need to check is the crank down, shellplate to toolholder clearance... Again, I don't think there are any issues there, but it's worth a follow on check. I've attempted to take all the play out of my 650 setup... I use the Uniquetek toolholder upgrade and screw the toolholder in taking all the slack and up/down movement out of the toolholder to press interface... Now by using this bearing, it should take all the play out of the shellplate and I'll just be left with the play of the case to shellplate interface, which there isn't anything that can be done about, nor would you want to or case insertion/extraction would be too awkward. Ok, pictures to follow... I promise... Alan

yes to both above...the brass buttons are not effected whatsoever by this mod. I make no change to the order of the spring, ball, shellplate, so there is no adjustment needed in the dies.... Well, I should say, I suspect there might be a little tweak that will be needed... I haven't loaded anything yet, expect for a couple of test cases... I'll take pictures and load some tonight (actually 200 for a local match this weekend). I do expect that the tolerances will actually be better as this takes all the play out of the shellplate. So it shouldn't allow the plate to move whatever it was moving when used without the bearing... Just to confirm. assembly would be. - spring in hole as stock - ball on spring as stock (both of these form the detent) - place the Shellplate on the ball/spring and pressed down to ease bolt insertion. - Then on the shellplate bolt, place .032 washer #1, then the needle bearing, then .032 washer #2, this should fit up against the head on the bolt. .. a little light oil will help with keeping low friction against the shellplate to bolt interface, which will still be there. - Now insert the bolt into the shellplate just like you did with out the bearing and tighten down to finger stop tight. Now back of just a micro smidge, it will still be snug, but not to the stop tight. - Cycle the handle a few times to make sure you have no tension on the shellplate and if not, tighten the setscrew that holds the shellplate bolt. You'll find that you can incrementally get this setup more snug than without the bearing and the entire rotation will seem to be *way* smoother and jerk free, especially at the ball detent stops. It will also sound noticably smoother and less *notchy*. More with pictures later tonight. Alan

I kinda borrowed a fix, but it appears to work just great... For those that might not know... When loading .40 or 9mm Major on a 650, the case get's kinda full. As a result, when the press indexes to the next station, there is a spring and ball detent that holds the shellplate into the next position and it seems most of the time, that ball "snaps" the plate into position enough that it causes powder to go flying. There have been various fixes - cut 1/2 - 1 turns off the spring under the ball detent, tighten or loosen the shellplate bolt, etc. None of them seem to *really* work. What I found was a needle thrust bearing and a set of washers that are a perfect fit and appear to have solved the problem. This bearing allows you to *almost* tighten the shellplate bolt all the way and still allow the shellplate to turn freely. As a result, it takes all the play out of the shellplate and instead of the ball snapping the plate to the next index, it actually "glides" to that index. The parts are local if in Atlanta, or if not, they are easily available via the web. If you order one day, they usually arrive the next. So here's the fix. Go to www.mcmaster.com (McMaster Carr - an awesome, just about has everything, parts supplier, that doesn't have a minimum order!), and get these parts. 5909K31 1 Each Steel Needle-roller Thrust Bearing Cage Assembly For 1/2" Shaft Diameter, 15/16" Od 5909K44 2 Each .032" Thick Washer For 1/2" Shaft Diameter Steel Needle-roller Thrust Bearing That's PARTNUMBER, QTY, DESC Mind you this is an open bearing so you'll need to make sure and keep it clean and lubed, but it should work. Now, where did I borrow this... well Uniquetek makes a roller bearing mod for the 550 and while it requires a new "star" for it to work with this bearing, I figured, hey, there's no star used with the 650, so this should work and work it appears it does nicely. I've made no other mods and will keep you posted as to my results... but *I'm tired of getting powder* all over occasionally. Adjustment seems to be tighten the bolt to the stop finger tight, and then just a very small *smidge* back, then lock the allen screw. YMMV, Alan IMAGES ADDED Below

As a data point on Zero's.. A local re-manufacturer who purchases *lots* of Zero bullets, was told by them directly, that the 9mm JHP's will be out of stock until the fall... They only batch produce them and they were told that they wouldn't see any until at least Sept... Probably more likely Oct/Nov. Not to start a whoreding effort, but that's what we were told locally... Alan

Thanks to all that have posted, and to the moderator for locking my cross post in the open forum. For the sake of the next guy... rather than create a poll... I'll create a small table of counts for 2 things out of this thread. a) powder in use bullet in use Might be fun to know what the counts are for the various items... I'll give this another day or so and then will create that count and put it in the original post and keep it up to date from time to time.. Thanks again, keep em coming...At first blush, looks like either Silhouette or VV 3N37 is winning in the powder category ... Alan

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=86404 Figured I'd try to drag those 9mm Major guys over to comment on my query without double posting... Thanks in advance, Alan

Disclaimer - yes I've run the search. Seems there is some information, some of it tends to be rather old. So, I'll ask the question. With component availability always at issue recently, I figured I do a little planning ahead for a 5" (not shorty) 9mm Major gun that I've got in the works. And what begging load to start with and work up from. I've got 124gr MG JHP's that hopefully will work? I've got primers in the pipeline (CCI and Win SPP) I've got gobs of brass So, question of the moment is *what powder* to use. I've seen the following powders discussed in somewhat recent terms. True Blue Silhouette Other older references to VV 3N37 VV 3N38 I'm planning SV mags, so I should be able to utilize good OAL, if the 124gr JHP's will feed at those longer lengths. So to maybe help and startup a freshened version of 9mm Major loads thread. Anyone care to point me at good existing load info. or care to share a good starting point for the above basic gun description? Thanks in advance, Alan

I heard from Mike again today... Looks like things are making progress, but as life *happen*, seems he gets buried easily with life and all kinds of other stuff. I bug him on behalf of those that have contacted me at least once every couple of weeks. I won't commercialize the forum around this topic, but if you'd like to get on my list drop me an email as listed above. Here is Mikes response as of today... As always, more as I get it. Alan

I just had to post one other comment... Rick is really a great guy... He had hear of a few field complaints around the die on the bullet dropper/seater... called me, prior to mine arriving, told me what to look for, if I had a problem he'd have cross shipped with me. As it turns out, no issue found... Now to get this thing setup... It's an awesome piece of construction and very simple indeed... He's got a huge backlong, but if you get in the queue, he's really good in returning email, etc with update status as you move in the queue until ultimately you get one. Great product, great service and excellent workmanship... Alan

Wooo hoo, just heard from Rick, mines on the way... .40 and 9mm!!! awesome guy, very good with comms and while very backlogged, will keep you posted on progress... www.mrbulletfeeder.com for specifics, etc.

I found that 4.0g of N320 under an 180gr Rainier TC loaded to an oal of 1.125 gave a PF of 140 and was a very sweet load... droping to 3.9 would probably even be better maybe even 3.8. Or try that same 4.0 at an oal of 1.145 (pretty much longest that will feed thru the magazine) Alan

FYI, all that end up here... I talked to Dillon this morning, while the primer mechanism does neet some form of timing tool... The entire set of things that set on top of the ram, can be moved ever so slightly by just removing the shell plate and loosening the 2 allen screws that hold the assembly to the ram and twisting it. By doing this, it does not effect the timing on the primer station. That's what I did and all is well again Took a couple of times, the first time I didn't get it far enough. Alan

It seems that my entire shell holder assembly is slightly out of adjustment. With a shell fully seated in the shell plate, it's off by maybe 1/16-1/8 of an inch. Means it hits on the sizing die, and the power funnel catches on the edge of the case on each stroke. Anyone slighly bumped the entire assembly one way or the other? There seems to be 2 large hex screws under the shell plate, that I think if I loosen and turn the entire assembly every so slightly clockwise, will remedy the issue... All station are off just a small amount, but each is off the same amount. Curious if anyone else has seen this? Btw, brand new 650 that I'm just setting up. Oh, and yes, I always don't lock the lock ring on any die until it has a case seated in it. And it doesn't matter if there is only one case making the rounds or the entire shell plate it full, it just seems to be off about 1/16" of an inch and needs to be turned clockwise by that amount.. Thots? Alan

If you go search for gizmo or read the other threads, you'll also see a solution that supports the case as it's going into the lee die... this is much better than just simply pushing an unsupported case into the die and prevents the case from being deformed slightly with any sideways motion. Not as cheap as the GRX, but a better solution and the contact info to purchase was included in a post that I made, they also have a 45 conversion Alan

Thanks for the link, however I don't believe that Brazo's will build a 9mm Major gun, they only do 38 super/comp or at least that's what I've been told. Alan

Ok, so try as I might, I can't make my eyes work with iron sights. So I'm thinking of diving in the big end of the pond. I've done a little tire kicking locally. Looked at a few guns and now need some opinions. Assuming that I understand the pay to play concept and that I'm a new uspsa shooter, but I don't want to throw good money after bad, what would you all recommend as a open gun that I can grow with/into? I looked at lims and some suggest that they aren't the leaders they once were. I really like the looks of the svi imm. But perhaps they look great but shoot that well? I'm also leaning strong towards the 9mm major side unless for some reason I shouldn't. I've scanned the search resuts, but am looking for some current info. Ok a new impressionable shooter needs some help If you'd prefer to offer it via email, pm me and ill give you my email address Thanks in advance, Alan

So, I need a simple education... I've asked Johnny in email, but haven't received a response yet. So, there are Dragon, Razor and Tiger - Cats.... the pictures that I've see all suggest they are basically the same... *what* are the differences? Is one more specific to a specific displine than another? Just curious... Alan

Ok, so I obviously didn't do this right the first time... Means watch the classifieds for an "eagle" DOH blade-tech with tek-loc But I digress. Ok, so I have a 5" short dustcover, STI that I want a DOH for. However the dust cover is also full width (matches the width of the slide exactly - unlike normal). What Blade-tech do I get for it? The Edge version and just deal with the fact that the Edge has a full length dust cover? Or is there something else. The problem with what I got... One for an Eagle, is that you can see where the dust cover molding is slightly narrower than the slide and even with the screws all the way out, it still rubs too much for my liking. For those in the know, please let me know. For those interested in a *brand new* STI - Eagle, DOH with Tek-loc... I'll post it sometime over the weekend in the classifieds... Thanks, Alan

Just a quick update. I talked to Mike agian Friday. He's got most of the materials together and asked that I compile a bit more information for him. If you haven't provided me with your caliber choices, please do so to my email address above. Thanks and more to follow as more info comes available. Alan

I'll dig up my Chrono data later, but I went thru this just recently. While I"m still not there... 4.0gr of N320 at 1.125 OAL and a 180gr Rainer TC plated, in a 4.5" barrelled XDM (semi-auto - but still should be applicable) was *barely* Minor (around 130-135) !!! I'm now up to 4.6gr with same bullet, however, I've gone to 1.145 OAL (longest that I can feed in the magazine). I've not chrono'd those yet, but 4.5 was ever so close to major at that OAL. BTW, as I understand it there is another advantage to long. The closer you can get to the rifling lands with the bullet, the more accurate (to a point) But enough of that. At 4.0gr, I'd be curious, but I suspect you'll be fine, its a sweet shooting load for .40 as well and I'm probably going to go to 3.9 for a minor (production) load if I ever shoot production. Alan

oh, will be significantly a better price per hole... no problem there. Thanks for the info tho, I didn't know that one existed... I'd see the one with 1 hole each for 9-45, but not a 7 of one hole.. Alan

A friend of mine is working with a machine shop to make a 50 hole 9mm case gauge. I've checked into doing something similar with 40 S&W as well. Sure would make testing a bunch of reloads quicker and can be used for sorting headstamps once loaded if required. Approx cost has been basically worked out and is dependent upon a minimun qty. In order to honor the rules of this site, I'll elect to not provide price/timing/or conduct any specific business. If you'd be interested, please drop me an email with contact info. adamson (underscore) alan at hotmail dot com. I can provide more details directly. Admins, if this already broke the spirit of the rules on this site, then I'll take my lashes and feel free to deep six this post. (sorry in advance, but I hope I'm ok with this type of query). Alan

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=81412 Gizmo is very much alive and well, it works awesome... I cancelled my order for the Redding after I got one of these. They also have a conversion kit for .45. Not as cheap as the Redding, but IMHO better it lots o ways... see that little delrin shelf, it has a liner that keeps the brass perfectly lined up in the die. The Redding you rely on the base of the brass to maintain side to side alignment. Pushing cases thru that are slightly deformed would be much easier with the Redding than the Gizmo... Again, YMMV. I've done probably 2000 cases with the Gizmo and every single one passes my case guage prior to seeing the sizing die on my 550 (A "U" die for good measure. The conversion kit for .45 includes a new delrin to match 45 case sizes and the new 45 FCD - that's all that on top of this is a Lee FCD in .40 with the guts removed. Note, my one simple mod listed at the end of the link above. Alan

it's listed in the note that I posted with the picture, etc. Alan

I really like this setup... I think it's better than the Redding because there is some support for the case during alignment and insertion in to the sizing die. I runs flawlessly in a Single stage Lee press that I have. I also took a small rectangular tupperware, drilled a hole in it with a uni-bit and fit it onto the top of the FCD, then cut a square hole in the bottom at the end and placed a larger bucket under that. I can size 300 cases is about 15 minutes and not have to touch the top of this setup. NOTE: one modification that I did make... because there are threads inside the FCD that are exposed, and because the cases aren't supported above the sizing insert (only about 3/8 of inch in the bottom of the die), the threads will catch the top of the case as they stack up in the inside of the die. I took a 3x5 card, rolled it on a pencil, and cut it so that one wrap, overlapped, would slide down inside the die. This protects the brass from the threads and doesn't effect anything else. This is really a great setup... I'd like to see it in 45 and 9mm . Never had a stuck case, and I'm not using any lube whatsoever... a little wax in the tumbling prior to sizing is all. Hope this helps, Alan