nwsnowbum

I have tried a number of things and finally bought a few dozen of the Sterilite 4 Gallon Stackers. They are great, they stack well, you can load them up with a lot of brass, but not so much that aren't still easy to move around. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-4-gal-Stacker-Box-Black-6-Pack/44785756

Call Mike from CasePro. He has an automated version. He doesn't list it on his web site for retrofits, but will sell you one if you send your machine back to him to be modified. If you don't have a CasePro yet, you can just buy a new machine setup with one.

I've picked up a number of these from my Costco over the last year. They usually go pretty quick and they are pretty spotty on when they restock them.

I pushed a piece of brass into my finger. That put a nice hole in it. Just going to fast...but I was wearing my eye pro for all the good it did me.

I just finished a large batch of 223. I had to occasionally clean the dropper die when it would stop dropping reliably. I've never had a similar issue with pistol bullets.

I've been having a lot of issues with CCI #41s in my 1050. I replaced the blue tip today for good measure and only had 1 spare so I ordered a dozen more from Brian. Wish I had seen this post first!

In case anyone didn't know, Mike from CasePro is manufacturing solid copper 55gn projectiles. I've been playing around with them lately and have been very pleased. They run longer than a traditional lead core 55gn bullet, so less powder is required. I've been using them with VV N133 and they make for a very clean burning round. I've only used them in a newly built 10.5 suppressed upper, so I am still putting together some benchmarks for accuracy. He is packaging them in 1000 round quantities and is quick to ship. You'll have to call him for retail pricing.

I've got a couple of the IIs and I like them enough. I could easily live without them. I do like to be able to see my exact round count as I'm loading and also like to keep an eye on my current rounds per hour so that I keep a consistent pace. The current state has come in handy a few times when I've had to clear a jam while processing brass. If you're tight on money I'd say save your money for a mr bulletfeeder instead.

I've read that about EGW in the past and forgot about it. Thanks guys!

I'm looking at the EGW .223 50 round case gauge and the Tooth And Nail Armory 100 round case gauge. I've contacted Shock Bottle a couple of times over the last year to see how their .223 case gauge is coming along, but it doesn't sound like it will be ready anytime soon. Besides the obvious difference in capacity (and the high price for either), I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with both...or either a rave/negative review of either. I'm not interested in smaller gauges, just these two gauges or if there is another gauge of similar capacity. I use Shockbottle pistol gauges now...I keep them clean, and anything that fails is separated out, inspected, and usually shot during practice. Most of the issues being with the rims. I'm not really interested in the merits of gauging or not. Thank you!

My new vacuum showed up and it really sucks! The difference in suction between this and my old one is night and day. A nice benefit is it is actually quieter too. The only downside is that it uses a 1.5" hose. I have it jerry rigged for now, but do have a new hose hitting on the way. With this and the clear braided tubing I have a nice collection of shavings in my vacuum and not in my brass or anywhere in the line. I went back to the Dillon blade and it is producing "messy" case mouths. Like an idiot I tried to clean one off and managed to smash my finger and take a nice 5.56mm diameter chunk out of it in the process. I'm going to try a different edge on the blade or one of my other blades to see if it does any better. That and maybe sending the brass on a trip through a tumbler afterwards. Thanks for all the tips!

I'm picking up some 1 1/4" id braided tubing from the hardware store right now to try as vacuum line.

I installed the Ballistic Tools blade. I ran through 750 pieces of brass at different . The cut isn't nearly as nice as what I'd get with the Dillon blade and double stroking. I still get coils in my brass, but they are much shorter. I'm going to try a new vacuum. http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Vac-5872510-Professional-Portable-Vacuum/dp/B001A4FKVE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458083192&sr=8-1&keywords=Shop-Vac+5872510 I think I just need more power.

I use a Magnetospeed V3. Works great and easy to take to an indoor range.

I had a chance to play around with things a little more. I tried the different trimmer blades I got off of Amazon. That didn't work at all! They just mushroomed the case mouths and squealed with every cut...yes I was sure I had it on the right way. They are noticeably not as sharp as the blade Dillon provides and I assume they can't handle the speed the trimmer runs at. I ordered a couple of blades that Ballistic Tools sells just to try out. Going back to the Dillon blade, removing the swage backup rod (since it was crushing case mouths at faster speeds), speeding up the cycle rate to 1200 rounds an hour I was getting very nasty case mouths. Double stroking roughly .25 of an inch cleans them up nicely but I am still getting coils inside of my cases. I ran about 1000 cases this way. Next step will be to upgrade my vacuum. It is a little 2 gallon 1.5hp Craftsman that is brand new...but was free. So I am going to look to something that can move some more air and probably switch to a clear hose/tube that is ridge less. When I receive the Ballistic Tools blades and have a chance to test I'll post my findings.