pmclaine

I just finished reloading some .223 and was watching the primer shuttle operation. Do check that the plastic hose is over the tit that the actuator pushes on. This little "tit" is part of the primer shuttle. The plastic hose will go flat where the actuator arm pushes against it over time. I have rotated mine once or twice in 13,000 rounds and will have to change it soon. I suppose this plastic could also crack, deteriorate, and go missing on the machine. If missing it will prevent the actuator from pushing the shuttle all the way in to the shell plate area and I could see where the shuttle could end up the thickness of the hose short of where it is supposed to be - perhaps an 1/8th inch or some small amount.

did you have the blade in contact with the trim die. Carbide on steel will spark. maybe something broke inside the motor from the stress.

is your piece of plastic hose over the tit that the actuator arm runs on? If that little piece of plastic is not there I suppose it could keep the actuator from pushing the slide in by the wall thickness of the hose and the punch will hit the shuttle. Hmmm. on second thought from memory Im think the plastic hose is behind the arm and would not add to the "push" on the shuttle. I hope to load tonight. ill take a look and see what comes to mind. Occam's Razor.

No need to size after the trim die. It will really squeeze your brass. I run two sizing dies the first one is set for about 80-90% sizing and I run the expander ball to clean up the necks. The trim die is set to size based on readings from a Hornady headspace gauge. The brass is good to go after trimming. Just check to make sure the necks are not so tight you shave copper jackets. If so you should chamfer/debur or use a mandrel to get proper neck tension.

...and when you call them ask if they ever intend to release any for sale to the public. Its unobtanium.

Dillon, The phone call service went great. The on hold music kind of sucked but the updates on where I was in line were appreciated. I moved from 13 to a CS rep pretty briskly. Im glad you guys did some thinking for me. I went through the exploded parts plan and pretty easily located what I thought I need but the shield wasn't a part I thought of. Im happy to change it as stated better safe than sorry. For certain issues on the press you should have a basic menu. pmclaine to Dillon rep - "Hi sir I just had a 37B (chain reaction primer explosion in my S1050) could you hook me up with all the parts needed and a recommendation for cleaning white skivvies. Dillon rep "Parts are in the mail. Just throw them away. Good day sir!." Click

Sounds like you haven't had your machine apart at all. I think taking them apart for maintenance and cleaning is a good thing. You really learn a lot about what all is going on when the head drops by doing so. If you have to take it apart to maintain it you could always do a caliber change at that time. Make sure you pull a years supply of ammo of what ever caliber you are presently set up for than change over and pull a years supply of your next caliber. Tear down, clean and repeat. Caliber changes are really not as scary as its made out to be and its nice having the machine run super smooth again after cleaning out all that primer residue, slivers of brass from the swage station, and spilled powder that makes it into the nooks and crannies of the machine.

Though not a frequent occurrence I guess it does occur that a primer magazine can light up on an S1050. I got to experience it yesterday. No great damage, the imprint of a Speer 45 ACP case head in my ceiling (from the empty case I have over the plastic button on top of the primer low alarm rod), some parts already ordered from Dillon and a laundry bill, otherwise all is fine and the safety features of the machine worked perfectly. There were probably only 10 or so primers in the stack when it went but it was loud. Totally my fault. I have been loading .223 WCC 08 and WCC 10 crimped once fired. I have the swage set up on my case prep tool head and don't ride anything in the swage station on my loading tool head. I noted one or two smeered primers and figured I could roll with it on this batch of ammo but I guess not. Dillon was great to deal with on the order. I have a new small primer magazine and a few miscellaneous parts coming. The magazine shield appears fine but it sounded like the person I was dealing with at Dillon had included a new shield in my order. Anyone have this happen, is it standard OP for Dillon to want to replace the shield when the primers blow? Im not concerned with the cost aspect of it better safe than sorry, but it looks like I could just push a swab through the shield to clean out the debris and it will be good to go. I order a second swage backer rod. My reason for not running the swage on my loading head is because after my prepped brass leaves the trimmer I prefer not messing with the necks more the chamfering and deburring. I don't want the swage backing rod to expand the case necks of my brass at all. Im assuming a drill and some emory cloth will allow me to turn the backer rod down an appropriate amount so as to clear my case necks without expanding them at all. Anyone done this? Is my thinking correct? Thanks for your time, be careful when having fun at our hobby.

I can load 77's on the S1050 with a Forster micrometer seater no problem. I couldn't load 30-06 on my S1050 with 168's. This even after milling the bottom of the sliding tube so it was flush with the base of the die. I bought parts from Forster (they actually provided a couple free to help me out) in order to convert my 30-06 mic seat die to .308. Havent had a chance to try it yet but I hope it works because I really like using the mic die for seating .223.

Note you won't be able to use Forster micrometer seat dies with 30-06. Unsure about the other similar designs.

I heard some grumbling about Larue with the new XTRAXN (spelling) chambering maybe it does something similar.

Okay, $50 and I'll pay shipping.

Bushing driver comes with. The bullet tray really is a nice add. Rapid Fill in both primer sizes would be an nice accessory.

Wow, sorry to hear you had to go through these troubles but glad you made it out physically safe and it seems without too much damage. Fire can be cruel.

Have you been sanding sheetrock? It looks like everything has a coat of white gypsum dust on it.

When you dropped the conversion into the powder die was it the right side up? Groove at top? Not trying to insult in anyway by asking the simple question. Im loading CFE223 and that stuff is almost like talcum powder and I dont see that much powder loss, just a couple of flakes here and there.

I just started loading .223 this week. For powder work up I have used CFE .223 and IMR 8208XBR. CFE .223 is like miniture ball bearings and flows through the Dillon drop the same way. My pulled loads were very consistent. I see a lot of flakes of CFE .223 on the bench after a session, Its so fine it migrates. 8208XBR looks like miniturized Varget. It was way more consistent through the Dillon drop than Varget. When I load Varget (30-06) I pull and trickle each load. I am confident 8208XBR will be consistent enough to run it on a powder check. I also have TAC (a ball powder). I expect it will pull similar to CFE .223. I am loading 77 Nosler CC's and these powders are reported to work well with the heavies. Varget can work for you but you may have to really check your drops. Even after polishing, shining, and smoothing the drop I never felt confident my loads were dropped consistently and that is with the benefit of a large 30-06 case for those logs to drop into. I can only imagine .223 will present more problems if you want to go full progressive. If you can pick up any of the 3 powders I mentioned or BLC-2, or AR Comp or RL15 you may get better results. In this era of the powder drought though consider yourself lucky you found Varget - its like a Unicorn these days. ...but to answer your question, Yes use the large powder bar.

Sweet. Thought this would be the answer but wanted to see it had been proven.

I have one machine and load 5 calibers on it. I try to load 3-4000 of any caliber at a time. When Im done with one caliber I like to break down and clean the machine anyway so performing a caliber change is no big deal. Taking the machine apart and maintaining it really gave me an understanding of how it all works.

Just starting to get into .223 loading. When I develop a load I hope to be able to bulk load on my S1050. I'd like some peace of mind regarding my powder drops and hope to use a powder check. With the little testing I've done it seems the powder check does not work as nicely in .223 as it does in .45 ACP or .38 Spcl. Not surprising as the brass sensor is just slightly smaller than the neck opening on the .223 case and alignment has to be perfect. Anyone have any tricks for using the powder check when loading small necked cases?

My solution here http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=185490 I had a set screw installed in the lock ring for the motor. It allows me to swap th motor from one caliber to the next without loosing my setting, it made setting the trim cut easier, it allows me to snug the motor better to prevent it torquing loose on start up. Just an idea for you.

If your only looking to expand the neck you may want to use a mandrel die as sold by Sinclair. I've considered doing same. Thing is I think the brass comes out more consistent with a two die sizing process. Spring back becomes more controlled? When I operate the press for trimming and size it's not a fast process. I count three Mississippi when the brass enters a die and I hesitate a second or so when the handle is at full stop. This allows for the trimmer to work, th vacuum to clear swarf, as well the size die to get and set its compression. Just my hypothesis derived from others with more experience.

The neck is tight coming from the RT but I don't crimp so the little extra tight is okay by me as it ll goes through an auto loader. I also inside and outside chamfer. A total pain in the A but I was unhappy with the copper shaving I was getting right from the trimmer. My reason for doing it this way...I like the consistency of my brass coming from the RT without having the expander ball have any impact on the shoulder of the case. Likely your ammo will shoot as good or better than mine and passing the ball through the neck after the RT may allow you to get away with not having to debur and chamfer but my OCD prefers my method. I learned this when loading 30-06. I'll be shooting my first ever reloaded .223 ammo tomorrow and will be hoping for good results.

Regards the swage backup rod dinging cases. I had the same issue. What I found was that some spilled powder and other goo had gummed up the ball detent under the shell plate. The ball was not seating in the shell plate setting the alignment. Clean your balls and you may find your rod works better.

I like to have my brass hit the Rt last. On my set up (1050) I use a Dillon size due in position one and the RT is in 5 or 6.