bossharley

I bought a new M2 tactical this spring without the pistol grip stock (not comfortech). I really wish I had waited until I found one with the comfortech. The cost of the comfortech (from Brownells if they ever get them in stock) was something like $500 when I last checked.... half the cost of the entire gun.

I have dies from Hornady, RCBS, Redding and Dillon. I load for both pistol and rifle with the Dillon and have found that I love Dillon dies. One of the best aspects is the ability to drop out the inserts and clean the dies without removing them from the toolhead. This way you don't have to re=adjust the dies when you put them back.

I too shoot in a winter bulleys league with a Pardini (Don Nygord Master) and love it. Very different than action shooting and can be humbling. The best I have mustered was a couple 287's. We have many shooters in our league that shoot with Ruger Mk I, II & III's, and they can be very competitive. In fact one of the top shooters (averages in the mid-high 290's, and regularly shoots 294-295 with a Ruger). The accuracy is definitely there, but much work must be done on the Ruger trigger to make it a good bulleye gun. A store in ME took over when Nygord passed away and I believe is the best (maybe only) source of new Pardini's. One thing I can say for sure about my Pardini, is that it just plain shoots. I have had one alibi in 6 seasons, and that was after tempting the gods by saying before the match 'you know I have never had an alibi'! What was I thinking.... Most Pardini shooters I know feed high end ammo (I feed RWS target in mine - an it loves it).

I believe the Dillon is only for 223 or 308 brass, not sure if there is a way to make it work for pistol - thinking that some of the ingenious members here may have already. (of course I could be wrong about everything, and usually am - especially if you listen to the little woman).

+1 definitely look at the cam that slides the shell into the casefeed. Adjust so that it just gets the shell all the way in, without any 'tilting'. Also, use smooth strokes. If the bench isn't really really solid, and you use a jerky stroke, it can cause the shell to slide a little, as well as spill some powder. The shell plate tightness may also be an issue, as if it is too tight it tends to really snap into place. This can cause spillage of powder, especially with a ultra-high-volume powder like trailboss. Some people place the bullet on the case when it is in the 3rd station, but I see you are using a powder check (very good idea, especially for a beginner), so you can't do that. To sum, check the cam adjustment, the tightness of the shellplate (I can only hand tighten mine), and use smooth consistent strokes. Good luck, and welcome to the big blue nation. J

+1 on checking out each in person, try to find a shooting buddy with each. Additionally, autoindexing is nice, but many find that the difference is not all that great. I have a Dillon 550 and 650 and find I load at about the same rate with each - taking my time to ensure I everything is as it should be. As for dies I love my Dillon dies, and I also have Horady, Redding and RCBS (and Lee in the past). As far as ranking them I would say Redding>Dillon&RCBS&Horady>Lee, but all are excellent products and there is nothing wrong with Lee. I really like the ability to clean the Dillon dies without having to re-install and adjust again (inserts that drop out). Thank you for your advice and comment. I am currently waiting the sale of my MECs on E-Bay. I will also list them here. As far as my decision about the Horndy Loader, that came after I spent a good half day watching YouTube videos of both in action. And I am not comparing the Loc n Load to the SDB or 550 I am only looking at multi station progressive presses with auto indexing. Thanks again

I have found that many have burrs inside the area where the primers drop down. I did a little 'forming' with a dowel and sandpaper and a little carving of the burrs and mine worked much better. I like it so much that after it 'broke' (no longer vibrated) I pulled it apart to see what the problem was or if I could replace a part.... I found one of the leads had broken off the board - a little solder, some electrical tape to hold it all together again and I am in business.

I shot Nemacolin a couple years back, what a great set up and crew. I had my entire family with me (father, stepmon, brother, and sister) non of which had every shot sporting clays. The guide/instructor was fantastic and had everybody really enjoying themselves. Moving from station to station on golf carts, multiple setups at every station - just awesome. Have a great time, I plan on going back as soon as I can swing it.

+1 on Starline. I have loaded Starline brass for 32 S&W, 38 spl, 45 S&W, 45 ACP and 45 C with starline brass. I have loaded 45 C (& S&W) black powder. The BP really heats the cases up!! and I have not retired a split case yet (7 y 10+ loadings). Turnover from donating to the brass gods on the range (I find it averages 10% regardless of the circumstances.....) is more of a problem than wear and tear.

Thanks

Thanks for the info

I picked up a used 550 and was wondering what the difference is between the original and B model?

The Redding T7 turret press is a good option. It is a single stage press with a turret on top that allows you to install and set up each die in a seperate 'station'. It allows for hand priming - which I also recommend. You can even get additional turrets if you reload multiple cartridges....

+1 for all of us to be polite and patient. I got my 45's in less than a week, and are beautiful - First time MG customer - very satisfied.

Another point is that the official Dillon conversion kit may not be available, but it may be that parts from a different cartridge kit will work (assuming reloading dies are available). This will depend mostly on the size of the case base (for shellplate and buttons), and the diameter of the bullet (for powder drop). I would recommend calling Dillon (the customer service is top notch) or Brian Enos (also great rep) and ask about the 'oddball' cartridges you want to reload. +1 for the 550, but Brian and/or Dillon will also chime in. Some calibers were common years ago and have now faded, or owners find that when you only shoot 20 a year that reloading doesn't pay. So the best place to look for these off-size reloading dies is in the used classifieds. You'd have to be some kind of Kamikaze to wear out a die set for 7.7Jap, even over 20 years!!

+1 to CED M2 Recently purchased on, and have used it indoors only so far (with IR screens). It wil pick up a .177 cal pellet without a problem, never have had it miss a shot. I highly recommend the Competition Electronics ChronoPro Digital. I had a new Chrony F1 and had a very tough time getting reliable readings under any circumstances. It was so bad I thought it was defective, so I exchanged it for another. Same result. Then I returned it and got a ChronoPro Digital. It's like night and day. The thing just works. Sunny or cloudy, in a covered area or open sky (never tried indoors). I mean it work EVERY shot. No fiddling, no muss, just set it up turn it on and shoot. The shot string review and average/SD functions are kind of handy too. You can shoot a string of 10 or whatever, then go up to the chronograph and record them all. I have a friend who bought one after seeing mine, he's very happy with his too. Both of ours are within 1-2fps of each other, and they read the same as or if anything just a few fps slower (which is a good thing) than the high-end ones they use at major matches.

Thanks for the support, always a little nervous when trying something new. John John, Rest assured that Connecticut Sport Shooter SOs at the Hartford Gun Club on Sunday will be very familiar with revolver shooters and the applicable IDPA rules. You have my word on that. Good Luck, Craig

Since this was my first testing of my own loads with a new Chrony I wanted to be sure I wasn't doing something completely wrong. The shooter who gave me the 4.2 g Clays load said that he sees quite a bit of spread using clays as well - which is why he settled on the 4.2 g for a good safety margin. 4.1-4.2 was what I was planning on trying. Obviously differences in individual scales, weather, etc may influence outcomes. Are the precision delta's lead / plated or jacketed? I have heard that some bullets (Moly coated etc) require more powder for the same velocity. Not sure why this would be as I thought the 'coatings' were actually lubricating .... Thanks for the input and your experience. J

Thanks, next month there is an IDPA in the morning and ICORE in the afternoon - instead of shooting both with my revolver I thought I might try the XDM as well - we will see. John

Hello - not sure if this should be posted here or in reloading section I just set up my new chrono (CED M2 w/IR screens) and ran some new reload/test rounds through. indoors S&W625 revolver (4") 45 ACP, Win brass, Fed primers - Clays Taper crimp 3.8, 4.0 & 4.2 g (hand weighed each charge on digital PACT scale) I got a large extreme spread, I feel it is unacceptable - what is an acceptable spread? I just purchased a profile crimp die (all rounds will be fired thru the revolver). Does anyone think it could be the crimp? Unfortunately I didn't bring any factory ammo to test - next time I will to see if it is my loads/chrono Charge 3.8 String 1 Feet Per Second Power Factor 1) 659.8 -22.1 151.8 2) 657.1 -24.8 151.1 3) 694.5 12.6 159.7 4) 709.4 27.5 163.2 5) 701.2 19.3 161.3 6) 645.2 -36.7 148.4 7) 653.9 -28 150.4 8) 686.5 4.6 157.9 9) 711.6 29.7 163.7 10) 700 18.1 161.0 High: 711.6 163.7 Low: 645.2 148.4 E.S.: 66.4 Ave.: 681.9 156.8 S.D.: 25.3 95%: ±19.1 4 String 2 1) 718 -9.9 165.1 2) 736.6 8.7 169.4 3) 729 1.1 167.7 4) 719.5 -8.4 165.5 5) 716.3 -11.6 164.7 6) 742.2 14.3 170.7 7) 741.3 13.4 170.5 8) 733.1 5.2 168.6 9) 702.7 -25.2 161.6 10) 739.8 11.9 170.2 High: 742.2 170.7 Low: 702.7 161.6 E.S.: 39.5 Ave.: 727.9 167.4 S.D.: 13.2 95%: ±10.0 4.2 String 3 1) 731.4 -25.9 168.2 2) 748.5 -8.8 172.2 3) 790.5 33.2 181.8 4) 741.9 -15.4 170.6 5) 761.5 4.2 175.1 6) 753.4 -3.9 173.3 7) 753.7 -3.6 173.4 8) 738.7 -18.6 169.9 9) 783.8 26.5 180.3 10) 769.3 12 176.9 High: 790.5 181.8 Low: 731.4 168.2 E.S.: 59.1 Ave.: 757.3 174.2 S.D.: 19.2 95%: ±14.5

Thanks to all, I was hoping that was the way to handle it. Wish me luck! Going to be slow and safe. J

Thanks I am really looking forward to this!!

I am a new shooter and will be shooting in the next week or 2 with S&W625. I was reading the rules regarding reloads. I was wondering if you all might share some expertise. The rules state that Tac-reloads should be planned such that less than 6 rounds are expended prior to the reload (revolver neutral). However, the classifier calls for 2 stages with 6 shot strings/ tac-reload / 6 more shots. Does a revolver shooter just retain the empty moon clip holder? Also, when retaining the holders does the shooter pocket them, put them on belt/moon clip holders? My local club is shooting a classifier on Sunday - would it be insane (even allowed) for me to shoot my first shoot as a classifier? Thanks very much. John

Is it necessary to size the cases a second time? I thought the trimmer sized/trimmed the cases in one step? (I just bought a used Dillon trimmer and have not yet set it up) Thanks John

I am going to try my first IDPA shoot this weekend. I have a XDM with its included holster and mag pouch. Are these IDPA legal? (I tried the search but didn't find anything). Thanks John