noylj

The seating die only contacts the bullet and case head. There is no way any die can minimize COL with just those two points of contact. I find that using jacketed or swaged lead bullets minimizes COL variation since they are so consistent in dimensions and weight. I find that keeping a case in the sizing die helps to minimize shell plate flex. I find that for almost all reloading purposes, all most all COL variation is the bullet and where you measure it. Rotate the round by 45° and you'll almost always get a slightly different COL. Finally, why not just load 10 rounds as normal and then load 10 rounds by first seating a bit short of your COL target and then adjusting the seating stem until you just get your COL so you have 10 rounds that have been adjusted for COL as well as you can and then shoot them and see how velocity varies between the two groups and decide if sweating COL is worth it and let us know.

Put a weight on the bottom plate so they drop on the bottom. I was going to say to try another magazine...

Deerassassin22: Did you verify the ACCURACY improved? As long as you are head spacing on the rim (moon clip?), it won't hurt. I tried with .38 Spl, .357 Mag, and .44 Mag and saw NO improvement in accuracy out to 50 yards, and consistent velocity does not equal better accuracy in a handgun at 50 yards or less for any gun I have owned.

If the case head-spaces on the case mouth, then trimming just increases head space and leads to worse accuracy. Pistols already start off with excessive head space from all cases being too short and it just gets worse. Many Bullseye shooters who shot .38 Super only loaded a case three times, as by then it would have shrunk enough to upset accuracy. Bottleneck cases grow because their is a SHOULDER pushing forward while the base is being pushed back. No shoulder, no stretching—though I have been told that hot .45-70 loads can grow.

1) I put some blue Lok-Tite on the bolt for the shell plate. After 5 years, the residual Lok-Tite on the bolt still keeps it tight. I also tighten the bolt until the shell plate doesn't move and then loosen it until the shell plate just turns smoothly. 2) I found that putting a dime/penny over the worn divot did nothing. I found that I simply had to ensure that I felt the primer seat fully. It was my understanding that Hornady had improved the primer seater punch. I preferred the old system with a swing-arm as you could see that the primer had been picked up and I always got fully seated primers. 3) If you seat the primer too deep, you can crack the priming compound and, when the firing pin hits, there is no compound between the anvil and cup to ignite.

What is .45 SS? Coated lead: Precision Bullets Jacketed: Precision Delta Plated: If you must, look for 0.452" bullets. RMR is good place to start Powder: N310, Solo 1000, N320, 231/HP38, AA2. Anything faster than AA5 works well. Major PF: Use your manual and calculate PF. Hard not to shoot major with the .45. You can load down to reach whatever PF you want with the fast powder you'll be using. You can even look at a 250gn JHP and ~4.5gn of AA2...

You can't bulge bust with a sizing die. You need a die like the Lee FCD that has a carbide ring close to minimum chamber dimensions. The .380 FCD is too small and the 9mm Mak is too large, but you can always TRY the 9mm Mak die. It should ONLY contact a bulge, since it is a smaller diameter case. You're not going to hurt anything.

Coated lead bullets load the same as lead bullets, since they are lead bullets.

I intentionally broke the adhesive seal so I could get it off. From then on, I intentionally used two strips of masking tape to keep it on. It makes cleaning out a lot easier when you remove the hopper from the powder measure.

If I could order, I would love to try 1:20, but anything from 1:12-1:16 is probably just as good.

.40 is NOT a round to "play with" and you should use a slower powder. Below is data I have and you can see that 165 is just barely achieved at MAX loads. Great powder for .45 Auto, .32 S&W Long, and .38 Spl. Bullet Weight Powder Weight Velocity Note P.F. Lead 180 Solo 1000 3.4 761 137 Lead 180 Solo 1000 4.0 850 Start 153 L-TC 180 Solo 1000 4.2 893 161 L-TC 180 Solo 1000 4.3 904 163 L-TC 180 Solo 1000 4.4 902 162 Lead 180 Solo 1000 4.5 925 Max 167 L-TC 180 Solo 1000 4.5 898 162 L-TC 180 Solo 1000 4.5 906 163 L-TC 180 Solo 1000 4.6 908 163 L-TC 180 Solo 1000 4.7 917 165

>There seems to be a powder jumping form the case with just 5.8 gr of silhouette powder. Seems like when I will try to load 9mm major the there is no way the powder is going to stay in the case. Just wondering what presses folks are using to load 9mm major loads. 1) As the case leaves the powder die, put your FINGER over the case mouth. This has worked for countless numbers of folks for decades. 2) No press is the end-all. One could argue that the press you should use is a Forster Co-Ax. One could argue that the press you should use is a 1050. One will argue that whatever press they use is the best press or they wouldn't have bought it. One could argue that your issue is best addressed with a powder measure with long drop tube and is not a press issue at all.

All barrels sold in the US should be to SAAMI specs unless they are clearly marked differently. SAAMI can't force the issue, being a voluntary group, but any one NOT doing so opens themselves up to severe liability.

I really don't care for TiteGroup, but I had no special difficulties with it and Precision Bullets. Maybe just my lot of powder, but it tends to throw fairly wide variations in velocity/recoil even with weighed charges and is not very accurate compared to Bullseye, Red Dot, AA2, or Solo 1000. It does burn HOT.

Here is my story: I have a Ruger .30-06 that can shoot 0.75-1.25" groups at 100 yards if I do my part. I sorted by cases and got 0.75-1.25" groups. I mixed my cases up and randomly shot them and got 0.75-1.25" groups. I loaded rounds for my pistols and then I would sort them by head stamp and shoot them (without looking until each group was fired) and in all cases (.45 Auto, .38 spl, .40 S&W, and .38 Super), the mixed cases had a slightly lower average group size and smaller Std. Dev. I wondered about things since in EVER instance, the average group size for the mixed cases was very slightly lower—but not statistically significant at 95% confidence interval. If you go to Bullseye matches, you'll only find the "consistency in anything means accuracy" groups sorting cases, and then pretty much only for 9x19. In fact, the most common sorting for 9x19 for accuracy is to take the longest cases (no matter the head stamp) and save those for important matches. In all shooting sports, accuracy is effected by head space "slop"—and then I read about folks trimming cases that head space on the case mouth, and are already shorter than optimum, because "consistency means accuracy." They would never push the shoulder of their rifle rounds back 0.010", but think NOTHING of doing it to 9x9 and such. Finally, if it make you feel better, do it, but I REALLY recommend that more folks test and not just assume.

Get a Lee Taper Crimp Die (not the FCD). >This will turn the FCD into a traditional crimping die. Which is good for diagnostic purposes in this case. If you leave the carbide ring, you will find that over-large bullets, like my cast lead bullets, will get swaged down. If you remove the carbide ring, the FCD is a great crimp die. Taper crimp is NOT to hold the bullet—and too much will bulge the case and you'll lose bullet tension. All you want to do is remove the case mouth flare. Just for any one's information: How to adjust a seating die to seat and crimp (not recommended). 1) Adjust seating stem all the way UP 2) Put expanded/flared case in shell holder 3) Raise Ram 4) Screw die down until you just feel the crimp section contact the die mouth. 5) Screw the die body up 2 full turns and apply a small amount of lock ring tension so die doesn't move easily 6) Place bullet on case and raise ram 7) Lower seating stem (make sure die body does not move) until it just contacts the bullet. 8) Lower round and screw seating stem down one turn to seat the bullet. 9) Adjust the seating stem until target COL is achieved. 10) Raise seating stem completely out of the way 11) Screw die body down until it just contacts the case mouth 12) Lower the round and screw the die body down 1 turn. 13) Raise ram and crimp round 14) Lower ram and inspect crimp. Best is to remove barrel from gun and ensure that the round "plunks" when dropped in chamber. If any case mouth flare is visible and round won't plunk, adjust for more crimp. Diameter at case mouth should be close to 0.378-0.380" and straightedge placed along the case body should not show "air" at the case mouth from residual flare. I assume you could use a case gage, but I've never used one. 15) When crimp is good, with round in die, lock the die body down tight with the lock ring and lower the seating stem down to just touch the bullet. I found that even with a single-stage press, using a separate crimp die was easier and testing showed that my accuracy was better when the steps were separated.

Since 1974, my favorite bullets for 9x19 have been 0.356-0.357" jacketed or 0.357-0.358" lead. Accuracy, for me, tends to improve in 9x19 with the larger bullets. Where to find them? Precision Bullets makes fantastic swaged/coated 0.356" bullets. The 125gn L-FP are $225/3500 and the 147gn L-FP are $215/3000. These are very accurate, being as consistent in weight and dimensions as jacketed bullets. All of Missouri Bullets 9mm cast bullets are 0.356", but I prefer the Cowboy #2 125gn L-TCFP at 0.358" for $36/500.

Pictures. These stories are better with pictures. 1) Virtually any COL that feeds and chambers is "safe," provided you do your load work-up at that COL and re-work the load if you change COL. Now, if you take a load developed in ANOTHER gun that used a 1.200" COL and you needed a 1.000" COL and did NO load development but just dropped that powder charge in your gun, then, YES, you will have a problem. Most likely not a KB, but problems none the less. 2) Do a Plunk test: Take the barrel out of the gun. Drop rounds in until you find one that won't chamber. Take that round and "paint" the bullet and case black with Magic Marker or other marker. Drop round in barrel (or gage) and rotate it back-and-forth a few times. Remove and inspect the round: a) Scratches in the ink on bullet--COL is too long Scratches in the ink on edge of the case mouth--insufficient crimp c) Scratches in the ink just below the case mouth--too much crimp, you're crushing the case d) Scratches in the ink on case at base of bullet--bullet seated crooked due to insufficient case expansion (not case mouth flare) or improper seating stem fit e) Scratches in the ink on case just above extractor groove--case bulge not removed during sizing. May need a bulge buster. 3) If the case mouth was jammed into the throat (not the rifling), you would have very unsafe loads—but I'll bet you don't. 4) Your COL (Cartridge Overall Length) is determined by your barrel (chamber and throat dimensions) and your gun (feed ramp) and your magazine (COL that fits magazine and when the magazine lips release the round for feeding) and the PARTICULAR bullet you are using. What worked in a pressure barrel or the lab's gun or in my gun has very little to do with what will work best in your gun. Take the barrel out of the gun. Create two inert dummy rounds (no powder or primer) at max COL and remove enough case mouth flare for rounds to chamber (you can achieve this by using a sized case—expand-and-flare it, and remove the flare just until the case "plunks" in the barrel and lock the crimp or seater/crimp die body). Drop the inert rounds in and decrease the COL until they chamber completely. This will be your "max" effective COL. After this, place the inert rounds in the magazine and be sure they fit the magazine and feed and chamber.

You have the ONLY progressive press that puts the charged case under your NOSE for ease of inspection, but you decided that you needed a bullet feeder so you can't look in the case. You could put a camera looking down into the charged case before the bullet gets placed on it. Is there a bluetooth camera that could feed live pictures from station 3 to your computer/smart phone? Personally, I wouldn't think a bullet feeder is necessarily a great idea for a new reloader and the idea of putting speed before safety, as so many do, scares me.

Remove the ratchet and raise the tool head and find out what is wrong.

The only way I can see a progressive being of any advantage for bottleneck cases is with the RT1500 installed. Otherwise, at least for me, the operations are: 1) size/decap 2) on or off press: prime 3) remove case from press and measure case length and trim as required 4) charge case (bench-mounted, since case is out of the shell holder/plate any way, is just as fast and inspecting the charge in the case is a LOT easier with the case in hand) 5) Put case back on press and seat bullet. This almost as fast with a Forster Co-Ax, and there are no toolhead or other cartridge specific parts to replace. I find batch processing to be quite fast enough. At this point, you can argue that a Lee turret press or even the Pro 1000 would be just as fast as a 650/1050. I love my 1050s, but I STILL use my Co-Ax for most all bottleneck rounds. So, your budget will determine where you go.

The die has almost completely resized the neck before the shoulder section of the die ever contacts the case shoulder. All removing the decapping assembly does is make it so you can't decap or expand the neck back to the proper dimension for bullet seating.

An easier way to do what--get the powder from the ChargeMaster and into the die? I haven't found one. I use a Lee PTE die and a Lee powder funnel on top of it. Seems to be as good as it gets for this operation. Does Dillon even make a part for the powder die so it can operate separate from the powder measure? As RiggerJJ says, you raise the ram, and, with the case in the powder die, you pour in the powder. My ChargeMaster does a good job of keeping up with me, but I don't load for speed.

Now, if accuracy claims came with pictures and references to distance and group size... Any fast powder from N310 to 231/HP38 will do the job. For me, accuracy in 9x21 doesn't even start until I'm up to Unique, with Power Pistol giving best accuracy so far (<2" at 25 yards, c-to-c). If "clean" is important, then look to N310, Nitro 100, AA2, and Competition. I don't care for any of them except AA2, but they all seem "clean" and they are fast.

I run 9x19 cases through a Lee 9mm MAK FCD and Bulge Buster kit. I had one (1) case that stuck one of my P-08 "Lugers" and I needed a gunsmith to get it out. It had that "raised ridge" just like in the Lee Bulge Buster picture in their ad. My assumption is that any sizing die, even a U-die, would have taken the slight bulge that must have been there and rolled it down the case to form the raised ridge. Unless the U-die sizes below the shell plate, it couldn't size low enough to iron out the raised ridge. Since using the 9mm MAK FCD and Bulge Busting, I have not had that problem again.