lockmup68

There's a match at the range every Sunday, http://www.the-range.com/, click on calendar. I tend to focus on the Saturday matches, apologies for that. ZAP match tonight at range37 in Bunn Level, NC. I should be heading over. zombieshootersassociation.com.

For central NC, there is probably a match most every weekend within an 1-1.5 hour drive. I'm in southern Wake County. A good place to look is the calendar on triangletactical.net. JohnZ keeps a bunch of matches listed on the ZSA calendar as well. zombieshootersassociation.com. Every match we've been too has been fun to shoot and everyone accommodates new shooters and their comfort level, offers advice, and even modifies stages so the shooter is comfortable. We have a great time. Just for example for this week, there is a ZSA ZAP match Tuesday night at Range37 in Bunn Level, (range37.com), yesterday was IDPA up at the Range in Oxford, Saturday is Tarheel 3-gun at the Range in Oxford (tarheel3gun.com), 2nd Sat IDPA at H20 Fowl Farms in Coats, NC, Coharie Shooters League has 1st and 3rd Sat (csl-idpa.com). Plus Tues night IDPA at DCWC in Durham, plus IDPA at Caswell Ranch a couple of times a month, plus rimfire matches. etc. Enjoy.

Thanks.

read the spring threads, but wanted to ask for specific advice on springs. Daughter just moving up to 9mm from 22 converstions. She's been shooting the 22 conversion on a Glock frame (pink cerakoted BTW). She is very good and uses this combo for all the IDPA and ZSA and rimfire shoots we go to. She wants to move to 9mm, but shooting a G17 in 9, is just too light of frame for her. Shot a guys 9mm 1911 after a match a few weeks ago and the heavier frame really helped and was much easier for her to shoot. So I bit the bullet and picked up a Dawson CRP STI Spartan 9mm 1911. Curious as to spring package I should start with for the girls (11 yo). I plan on putting together some powder puff 9mm loads for them to get started on to keep them learning proper form and technique. I'll up the power factor on the loads as they get more practice and comfortable with the 9mm. Any suggestions? Appreciate the help. Shannon in NC

long time lurker, mostly for the Dillon info. Finally ironed out the 1050 primer feed issues with help from the forum. Working like butter now and fell back in love with it. Got into the shooting sports a couple of years ago. Started with IDPA, now shoot various IDPA, rimfire, ZSA, and a couple of USPSA matches. I'm not a gamer and just shoot for fun. Shoot a basically stock G21 with TFO night sights. Mostly shoot for practice. Good thing is my wife and two daughters shoot with me also, mostly the youngest, daughters started on gas blowback G23 knockoffs and moved to 22 conversions on glock frames. Just picked up a Spartan 9mm CRP from Dawson for the girls, Posey Pink CZ grips of course. Love shooting 3 gun in the ZSA (ZombieShootersAssociation.com) that started here in NC. So much fun. Girls shoot 15-22, 410 pump mossey, and 22 pistol. 15-22 is pink camo of course. Buddy made some pink kydex holsters and mag pouches as well (silverstateholsters.com). Love my girls. Anyway, thinking about doing more 3 gun, getting the 1911 bug too. Just have fun reloading and shooting. Glad to have found this site a few years ago when I got my first setup from Brian. In all the matches, the folks are great in working with my girls, letting them shoot the gas blowback bb pistols to start and then moving on to 22. I love showing up to a match with 80 guys and my little 11 year old with all pink gear. They love it and I love it. Thanks, Shannon

Targeel3gun.com monthly matches in central NC.

Update #2, cranked out another 1500 rounds in last couple of days during conf calls (best way to pass time on a listen only conf call). NO smeared primer problems and only 2 spit out primers during 1500 rounds. Thought I would time myself for kicks, so pulled my phone out and while navigating over to the time, saw the surefire timer icon, so fired up the surefire shot timer. I only had 3 primer tubes filled and ready to go, so this is based on 300 rounds. This included filling up the case feeder (mine doesn't like to be too full, so only about 100-125 cases at a time or it won't turn). and I stopped to fill up the bullet tray twice, fill the primer tube twice, and take out the occasional bad brass (in my case, mostly primer rings stuck in the primer pocket). I also had one 9mm case stuck inside a 45 case that I had to remove. That said, I found that the surefire timer, if placed right under the bin where the completed rounds drop, with the sensitivity all the way up, it would record the round hitting the bottom of an empty bin. Slow and steady wins the race, so wasn't trying to be fast. Some interesting findings: 1. 300 rounds, total elapsed time 19.61 minutes (avg of 3.9 seconds per round if my math is right) 2. For all the rounds recorded (like shots), range was 2.19 to 4.06 seconds per pull/round hitting the bottom of the bin. 3. For the interruptions (brass not advancing or the swager finding a primer ring in the brass) 5-7 seconds seemed to be the norm 4. there were a couple of 15-21 second spaces, which I assume is the primer refill (about the right time in the order) HTH, Shannon

Ok another update, cranked out ~2500 rounds in the last week since I did all the recommended tips on this list last Saturday, What has made a difference for me? I believe it was the rubber hose on the primer slide tray (took it off) and adjusting it as Brian mentioned with a surefire light and lining up the primer pocket exactly with the primer tube, polishing the slide tray primer pocket, adjusting the swager with a case cut in half, and adjusting the decapping die so it just barely touches the plate without driving down into the bottom plate. All of the issues I have had in loading the 2500 rounds, all happened in station 1 and 2 and you can feel it on the downstroke of the handle, take the case out, and keep on going. Each time it was a brass/old primer issue: either a) the primer getting pushed out, but hanging on by a corner and not popping all the way out in station 1 and hanging down where the base plate will not rotate around on the upstroke. To fix, simply pull the handle back down slightly, remove the pin for station 1 and remove the brass. Sometimes you have to use a pair of pliers as the still hanging on primer is down in the pocket hole. And it is a good idea to remove the brass that was just fed from the tube so you don't crush it on the full downstroke. The other issue is found in station 2, swager, where the handle feels really "squishy" on the downstroke, but just the last 1/2 to inch of the stroke. I have found that this is either a) a primer "ring" still in the pocket (the primer pops out the bottom, but leaves a ring in the pocket) or a small primer piece of brass and a large swager rod trying to go in (in my case, the occasional 45 GAP brass getting in. In the 2500 rounds, I had four primers spit out. I think each was my fault as I either cycled too fast on that stroke, or I was fixing one of the brass problems in station 1 or 2 and didn't compete the down stroke as needed. Out of the 2500 rounds, I had two primers that were upside down in the round, and 4 no primers (spit out), but no smeared or double primers. I'm pretty sure that if I was using new brass, I wouldn't have any issues, or if I deprimed first and removed all the brass where the primer wasn't fully removed (no ring left) and removed the occasional 45 GAP that gets through the shell sorter trays, it would work fine. I do wonder about those with the autodrive how it works and if they preprocess or do different/singlular brass inspections before loading. Knock on wood, but for right now, it is working as expected; although it has been a frustrating process, I'm glad it is working at the moment. I have about 3k more components to load in this batch, then I will cal change back to 40 and see if I can get that operating smoothly. Now that I think I know what to look for, I have high hope it will work better. Again, appreciate the help and the tips. Thanks and have a great day, Shannon

OK, I had waxed verbose in a reply and it didn't post. So here goes the condensed version. Saturday was a rainy day, so decided to drag myself to the bench and try and get the dang 1050 running. Report: 1. started over, break down and clean, clean, clean (it was already clean, but went through the motions anyway to make sure I didn't leave a piece out somewhere) 2. polished (again) the primer pocket in the slide with the dremel and a polishing wheel. Nice and shiny. 3. polished the primer slide "alley" where the slide resides; smooth as silk 4. as suggested, took the rubber off the primer slide tray and adjusted the half moon stop out to align the hole with the tube, with some homemade shims (business card cut up for washers); took four business card widths to get the tray lined up perfect using my surefire as light and looking for the shiny cup at the bottom of the primer tube. 5. used a cutoff wheel on the dremel and cut a case in half to properly align the swage station; I had lowered it (out of use) as per one of the calls to Dillon previously. (I think this was a contributing factor to primer seating issues, more later) 6. realigned and retightened the main tool head bolt 7. primer slide tray action "arm" is parallel to the tray and adjusted properly 8. adjusted the rotating base plate for not too loose and not too tight; just right 9, adjusted the depriming die to just barely touching the baseplate as detailed out in the owner's manual Ran one piece of brass at a time for about 10 pieces, did good. Then tried two at a time for about 10 tries, did good then tried three at a time for about 5 runs, did good. (I was trying to determine what other station might be in play causing issues, therefore the multiple "several at a time" tests) then four pieces at a time, then five cases at a time, then six at a time....eight at a time, all stations occupied, so far so good. (knock on wood) I did have a couple of hiccups, but I think these led to some a-ha moments. Since I have not loaded 45 in over a year and a half, the brass was clean, but just sitting in ziploc bags for a long time. The swaging station was discovering several cases where the primer was getting punched out, but was leaving the ring of the primer in the pocket. This might have been contributing to the smashed primers. I can feel when the swager doesn't go in the last 1/2 inch of the handle pull, just pull the tab off station #2, and sure enough, case with the primer ring in it still. So decided to do 25 in a row a few times, by this time I am pounding on the wood and knuckles are getting bloody. Haven't had this many in a row with no smeared primers in so long, I didn't know what to think. By this time, I had loaded a couple of hundred rounds. Really happy. More pounding on wood. So today, I knocked out about 1000 rounds in a bit over two hours. I was not trying to go fast, just slow and steady. I only have 5 primer tubes, so had to stop and fill them up half way, also had to fill up powder once and of course keep the case feeder and bullet tray full. One primer was spit out in 1k rounds. I don't think it has ever been this consistent. Had some issues with the primer "rings" left in the pocket, and a few primers that did not pop out all the way and had to pull the case out of station #1 manually, but other than that, worked pretty good. In thinking about it, I think two things made the difference: 1. taking the rubber off the slide tray. It is more consistent this way and doesn't slowly wear down moving the primer slide tray adjustment out of alignment. 2. Using the swage station finds the several primer rings left in the pocket after depriming. I guess the brass is old and just not allowing them to pop out? I tried digging a couple of those rings out with a pick and they will not move. I cut one case in half and it seems like the primer is corroded to the brass in the pocket. Don't know what I can do about this. I appreciate everyone's suggestions. I'm sure I'll have to refresh when I do a caliber change over back to .40 after I knock out the 4k more of 45 I have to go. Thanks, Shannon

Can you explain a little more, and/or include a pic? How does putting a spacer in prevent the spring "recoil" of the decapping pin that you mentioned you believed was the culprit? I'm still struggling with it. Can't go 10 rounds without a smear of double primer. Really frustrated. Thanks, Shannon

when you take off the rubber hose on the primer slide tray, how do you adjust the half moon stop to keep the primer hole lined up? It has to be adjusted in, right? Do you have to grind the half moon stop shorter? Just trying to understand the adjustment there. Thanks, Shannon

Can you explain a little more, and/or include a pic? How does putting a spacer in prevent the spring "recoil" of the decapping pin that you mentioned you believed was the culprit? I'm still struggling with it. Can't go 10 rounds without a smear of double primer. Really frustrated. Thanks, Shannon

Background: Super 1050 brand new, about 3 years old now. I have setups for 40 and 45. I go in spurts, won't load anything for 6 months, load off and on for a couple of weeks and then nothing for another 6 months. Total round count on the machine is about 10k. 4k of 45 and 6k of 40. Had the various primer issues discussed, most noticeably with 45 (toolhead setup from factory). 40s seem to go smoother. But still get 4-10 smashed/crooked or no primers per 100. 45s were more like 15-20. Got so bad last spring, I didn't take the cover off since last March til the Christmas holidays. Just didn't want to deal with it. Spent lots of time on the phone with Dillon, super nice guy, but I'm not getting any more reliable loading, shimmed out the slide stop half moon, shimmed it back in, polished the cup, polished the primer slide "tray", cleaned, recleaned, recleaned, adjusted, tightened, Dillon sent me new tips and primer slide trays, did BE's 10 in a row single primer drops again just yesterday. 10 in a row work, but then 12-14 do not, reshim and adjust, 8 in a row work, then next 5 don't, etc. I was going to load over the holidays, but couldn't get 10 rounds to load in a row. So left it til yesterday. Found this thread and tried everything again. It will only go 5-8 in a row til it starts spitting primers, missing, or crushing them. Over the holidays, when I couldn't get the 40s to load, switched over to 45 and it was worse. I keep getting double primer feeds or smashed primers. I've tried swage, no swage, rechecked and changed dies to flush with plate, to not touching plate, primer push up rod bushing is flush, spring seems good, changed tip on the primer tube, etc. At this point I'm just done. I have components to load about 4k 45 and 6k 40s sitting here for over a year, want to get them done. Also want to add .223 setup, but I need to get it working first. Any thoughts? Would sending it in to Dillon help? Other info, it is bolted to a 3 inch solid countertop, bolted to the wall and on a concrete slab. Brass is all clean, even tried depriming, tumbling, and visually checking primer pockets for a bunch of brass to see if that made a difference. tried winchester, federal, federal match, and cci primers. Any thoughts appreciated. Full disclosure, I'm not a pro, I'm not a machinist, I'm not even that great of a shooter, but I do love it, love to tinker, do some mechanicing, fabing, and woodworking for fun. I don't think I'm an idiot, but sure do feel like one since I can't get this to work. Thanks, Shannon NC

For .40, MG and PDs are pretty close in price, MGs ship practically same day, waited 12 weeks for PDs. For .45, MGs are more expensive, but ship fast. Zeros ship pretty quick at less cost. PDs are cheapest by .01 cent, but take a long time to ship. All are good FMJs IMO. MGs seem to be closer in tolerance for weights. BTW, Zeros are purchased through their dist, www.rozedist.com.

Is there a reason not to use the Dillon .40 dies on Glock shot brass? I have a slight bulge next to the rim every once in a while that won't case gauge, but other than that, seems to do fine with the Dillon dies. Most of these are Glock fired, out of my Glock. Thanks, Shannon

Thanks for the info.

anyone load .40, 165gr MG FMJ, and WST? On the Hodgons data chart, only info for WST and 165 is this: 165 GR. SIE JHP Winchester WST .400" 1.125" 4.5 916 26,400 PSI 5.1 995 33,300 PSI Yet, I've seen a few posts with 3.8g up to 5.9g of WST. Just wanted to check the collective knowledge first to get in the ballpark. Shooting out of a G22, G23, and G27, just an all around good plinking round. Thanks, Shannon