TGibe

I would have to say adding a light directly above the powder die and having my main focus be on making sure there is powder has taken care of my squib problem. Like some others it took a bulged barrel to make it really hit home. Since that time if I am not sure I checked the powder on a round it goes into a seperate bin and only gets used in slow fire mode or I pull the bullet and then reload it making sure. I have not had one of these "unsure cases" end up without powder yet, but the pain of paying for a new schuemann barrel was enough so that I don't take any chances. Cheers, Allen

#14 on Open wait list... Had a couple of typing goofs that slowed me down. I guess I'm a "C" typist

OK - good point. I certainly didn't mean to hijack the thread in a different direction, but after searching this looked to be a similar enough thread. Probably should have started a new one.

Thanks Mark. The Super gun has been 99.999% reliable so I can't complain.

I am sticking with Super brass, but my question was whether I should switch to a 38 Super specific extractor vs. staying with the SC one that is tuned for both. I am thinking that I should switch for overall reliability... Thx

I am currently running an open gun in 38 Super and picked up a backup open gun that is 38 SC. My 38 super gun runs great and I am sitting on ~5k of new super brass. I went ahead and bought the SC gun because it is supposed to be tuned for both Super and SC. Before buying it I fed a full mag of 38 super through it without any problems. I plan to do more testing with Super in the gun but wonder if I should just convert it to 38 Super exclusively due to all the brass I have on hand. So would you guys suggest leaving it as it is or buying a 38Super-specific extractor? Thanks!

Yes, you are able to pull a case out of station one to inspect it using your left hand without advancing the shellplate. I don't find it difficult and it takes just a couple of seconds to pull it out, inspect, and return it to station 1.

I never thought about this, but I am a lefty as well so keeping my right hand out of fine motor skill areas is usually a good idea. Funny thing is that I shoot right handed Which probably explains my "C" classification Cheers, Allen

I load .40, 9mm, and .38 super on mine and can't imagine doing it without the casefeeder any more. It takes me about 7 minutes per 100 rounds with a smooth pace. For me that is plenty fast enough. I load up 10 primer tubes and make sure I have brass and bullets ready for 1000 rounds. I have complete toolheads setup for each caliber on stands ready to switch out and it takes only a couple of minutes to switch out the caliber specific case feed ramp, tube adapter, shell plate pins, and the toolhead. Since all of my setups use small primers and the same shellplate it is pretty easy to switch back and forth. FWIW - some of my friends have problems with their casefeeder, but my experience has been good so far with about 15,000 rounds loaded with it. YMMV If I gain 200 rounds an hour in output, but it takes me 30 minutes to switch calibers when I go from 9mm to .40, or if I have issues with it working right, is the casefeeder really going to benefit me?

Quick update: Was able to chrono at the range yesterday and the 180gn. JHPs chrono'd about 4PF higher than the 180gn. RNFPs with the same amount of powder. The OAL on the JPS is 1.190 vs. 1.180 without modifying the die setup. I am guessing this is due to the shape of the bullet, but the JHPs fed fine in the gun so I probably won't change it. Because the JPHs are about 0.030" longer the space in the case is reduced by about 0.020", which probably helps get the pressure up. The strange thing is that my RNFP load of 5.1g of VV n320 at 1.180 only chrono'd at 165.3PF when they have chrono'd higher at matches. Probably weather conditions although it was perfect yesterday (60 degrees and clear). The JHPs chrono'd at 169.3 (940.89fps avg) with a sd of 19.93fps. The string used for this data had 28 measurements in it and I am assuming all bullets would weigh the full 180. Now I just need to remember stats enough to predict my chances of falling below 165PF Just thought I would share and would love to hear comments or concerns from the more experienced folks out there. Cheers, Allen

Thanks everyone... The Montana Gold JPHs are about 0.030" longer than the RNFPs that I am currently running. So as G-ManBart points out there will be that much less case volume at the same OAL. I don't really want to mess around with my AOL too much as my gun has been running awesome since I got it back from Claudio at Briley so I will load up some and get them under chrono over the next week or so. I will probably load 10 rounds at 5.0g and 10 rounds at 4.9g just to see what the trend line might look like. Thanks again, Allen

Going to try 180g Montana Gold JHPs for my limited setup. Current load is 5.1g VV N320 @ 1.180" OAL = 167-169PF in my Briley Signature 5" What can I expect if I keep everything the same? Should I reduce the powder amount or just load the same recipe in 10-20 rounds and chrono it? Are there seating differences\considerations for JHPs vs. FMJs? Thanks, Allen

I love my case feeder and purchased the "deluxe quick-change kit" from BE along with the caliber specific stuff for the case feeder. This lets me keep one toolhead completely setup for .40 and one for 9mm. I plan to add a .45 quick-change kit this fall (after buying a .45). I only load around 1000-1200 rounds a month... It takes me 5-10 minutes max to change and start loading the other caliber. The one mistake I made when purchasing was that I bought the "large pistol" package, which meant I needed to buy the small pistol casefeed plate to load 9mm. It is ok though as I know I will be loading .45 later this year and I won't have to buy the case feed plate when I add that caliber. As Brian mentions on his ordering page, if I "knew" when I started that I was going to get a casefeeder I would have gotten a 650 instead, but with the complete toolhead kits, switching calibers on the 550 is really simple and easy. YMMV - Allen

Field, Bummer on the jams... After a few problems early on I now case gauge every round even though I use the EGW undersized die on my 550. I have not had a problem since taking the time to do this. I find about 3 rounds per thousand that don't gauge properly and usually the problem is a burr on the bottom of the case. Cheers, Allen

Went ahead and added the caseffeder to my 550 and it is really cool. I have not had a problem with the EGW undersized die through a few hundred rounds. I don't think I am that much faster right now, but can see that I will speed up over time... The only drawback I can see is that there is not a way to lock the actuator back when I want to check the powder drop amount (I do this every time before loading a batch and again at the end. I may drill a small hole in the flat part so I can still a cotter pin or something in there to keep it from going forward on the upstroke. Cheers, Allen

I'm considering a casefeeder for my 550 and am running a EGW undersized die (in .40 S&W) in station 1 as I end up with glocked brass. Currently I need to make sure when I place brass in the first station that I position it properly so that it enters the die smoothly. If I don't it won't enter the die, etc., etc. I have learned how to do this through muscle memory (about 8k rounds) and if I run at a smooth pace I on't have issues... Is the casefeed assembly capable of being setup to "hit" the smaller EGW die or am I asking for trouble trying to amke it work on my 550? Thanks, Allen

Midway has Federal Small Pistol available @30.99/k with a 5k limit. http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=733657 Pricey, but available...

Finally got around to switching out the pads on my Sordins. What a pain, but once you get a good grip and some leverage they do snap out... Cheers, Allen

Very interesting... Looks like I will contact Wolf...

I recently bought some wolf SP primers after using mostly federals. My limited gun started having FTFs with what appeared to be light strikes. Since I am new to reloading I figured it was the wolf primers being hard, etc. Last night at a practice I had a couple of these and I had an experienced buddy of mine take a look and he found many of my wolf primers were "high". They were not above the surface, but he said they needed to be deeper and some of mine were even with the bottom of the brass. Fortunately, I had some federals in my bag (my match ammo) and all of those were fully seated and to know ones surprise worked perfectly. For some reason I am not fully seating the Wolf primers, but am fully seating the Federals. Add to that the fact the federals fire easier (my buddy said his hammer was so light that only federals would reliably work in it) and I at least feel like I know why I was having my problem. Not saying this is your problem, but it certainly was mine. For revolver I would try Federals - I bet they'll work... Cheers, Allen

Very nice looking gun. I am considering one of these in 9mm, but am concerned because I hear a fair amount of them need to be "tweaked" a little before they run solidly. Maybe I am only hearing the trouble stories? Thanks, Allen

I will give that a try this week assuming I can find the gel inserts I bought. I have a hard time keeping track of things lately...

Mine came with 1.3 loaded so I got a class 6 8GB card, which gives me 343 minutes of recording time. I plan to start it recording as the guy in front of me finishes his run. This way I have time to get mentally ready. Eventually, I will need to get that version... That is 1.4, right? thanks, Allen

Hi Flyin, I will admit part of the draw for me is the fun factor, mostly because I haven't found a gadget I don't like... But I will say that getting myself filmed in the 3rd person has really helped me see some things I can improve on - I hope I will see more with the POV. When I first brought the camera to a match I wondered if I would act differently knowing I was being filmed, but to be honest I am so focused on the shooting that it hasn't crossed my mind. Will the hatcam be a distraction? Time will tell. Cheers, Allen

Wondering how you made out with those gel pads... I am ashamed to say that I haven't even tried after the initial attempts. Do you know the secret way to get the standard ones off?