njd

The Devil wants me to declare all barrels soft-cover, but not until after I have filled them with sand

I use the RT1200 trimmer w/ .223 dies on all sorts of .223 / 5.56 brass - mostly Lake City. I do NOT re-size the cases first - the trim die does that. I use a Dillon case gage to set the die and One-Shot to lube. I have not yet stuck a case. You may have a bad die...

Because of spring pressure, the detent ball under the shellplate 'lifts' the shell plate right next to station 2. This causes an increase in the clearance available between the bottom of the shellplate and the shellplate platform in this area. This increased clearance can be sufficient to allow a case to tip when near station 2, especially a tall skinny one like .223 A possible fix: Tighten the center bolt that holds shell holder plate. Don't forget to loosen the locking set-screw in the side of the ram. If that 'straightens up' your cartridge, but makes it too hard to advance the shell plate... Remove shell plate and take out the detent ball (use a magnet to get the ball out). Replace shell plate. If you can get the cartridge straight -and- the shellplate loose enough to turn easily -at the same time- start clipping small sections of coils off of the detent ball spring until you get the detent ball spring tension 'just right'. You may want to have a spare spring before starting this project. You may be able to find a similar spring at a decent hardware store to start out with.

I use a 550B with a casefeeder for .223 Clean in vibratory machine. Lube w/ 1-Shot 1st toolhead: Universal decapper in Station 1 1200 trimmer / resize in Station 3 Run through wet-tumbler now that primers are out (this also cleans up any burrs from trimming) Sort for defects / headstamp / crimped primer pockets Swage primer pockets if needed 2nd Toolhead: Normal size die backed out in Station 1 - clears flash-hole and neck expands, does not re-size. Powder drop in 2 Redding Competition seater in 3 Crimp in 4 There are threads here on adapting the 550B case feeder to feed 223 cases (casefeed is a huge timesaver).

Yes, exactly. I have tens of thousands of cases to trim before I need to figure out which insert is the proper replacement.

^^^ This ^^^ @ DirtyRod ("I've found that making sure the lower block is properly adjusted helps a great deal in getting the Swage rod centered.") I had a slight issue with getting the case (primer pocket actually) centered relative to the swage die. To fix that I drilled a ~3/8" hole in a piece of soft plastic (1/4" thick polyethylene), cut it into a square that fit in the SS600 next to the adjustable block, then cut the square in half to make a u-shaped cradle for the case to nestle in. Check that the block still touches the case though. All cases get centered auto-magically This block is just jammed in the SS600 - friction holds it just fine.

Redding

Like you, I decap in 1 and trim (and full-length resize) in 3 with my 'trimmer' toolhead. I lube with One-Shot and leave it on the case. (oh Jeez - not this again) Remove primer crimp off the press. The Dillon tool is really nice. I have used others (CH Tool and Die). I then run a regular size / decap / expander die in station 1 in my second 'reloading' tool head. Die is set so it never actually resizes the case, just expands the neck and clears the flash hole. You could run an 'M die' if you weren't worried about the flash hole. M-Die example My RL-550 has a Dillon casefeeder with the 'adaptation' to .223 - really speeds this operation up. That thread is here.

There is a sliding tab at the exit to the feeder tub - did that get bumped while cleaning? This tab, if too far closed, would only stop the cases that are coming at it case-mouth first (unless closed really far). The cases that didn't drop would just keep going around and around. This would prevent any cases that happened to want to fall in the plate base-first from getting picked up. Here is a picture of the tab from a post about getting rifle casefeed working on RL550B's - ignore the 3/4" instruction (experiment with that dimension): Wait for Arizona to wake-up and call Dillon?

Please - not the bunnies!!

Optics are probably the best, here is what I would use if I had a Roadblocker (shown on an M1 Carbine though...) If done right, you might even be able to fit the chainsaw grip on there too.

I have an MGM SwitchView for the Meopta Meostar on one MTAC - fits and works fine. My other MTAC wears a fishing reel holder that works good too. $23.29 shipped (for TWO) I use the NC-1 model One thing about the fishing gear - if / when the lever hits the edge of a dump barrel it is unlikely the scope will be damaged The picture below is close, but not exactly what you get - on the NC1 there is a plastic flange 'inside' the flange the nut pushes on. This inner piece engages quite positively with the knurl on the MTAC zoom ring. After installing I cut off the extra 'tails' flush with the nut - there are plenty of threads left to get it back off and on.

Saw thread title - thought "He's using Varget". Ask me how I knew...

Case gage much?

In my Glock 17 there is absolutely no problem at all with Montana Gold 124gr JHP. I have run them at COL's of 1.080" to 1.130". The longer ones have caused live-round-extraction problems with one AR barrel of mine but no problems in the Glock.