RoGrrr

I had a 380 light off in my 9, and now, get this - I had a .40 light off in my 1911 (45) ! Extractor held them both against the breechface.... I saw the .40 slug tumble towards the paper. It keyholed at only 5 yards. Do you want me to post a pic of the case ?

I use a French Fry basket like they use at McD's. I don't remember if I got it from the local scrap yard or at a goodwill store. Cost me a couple bucks.

We learned that at FRONT SIGHT last year. It WORKS.

FRAG I agree with you (and everybody else) about the exorbitant (as Rush would say - CONFISCATORY) price. But on down the road, I know I'll get most if not all my $$$$ back. And knowing that this precision machine will turn out uncountable precision bullets, I'm quite comfortable with my decision to go with the D650 as my first progressive press. (GAWD, I hate referring to anything concerning SHOOTING as "progressive", especially when those gun-hating/grabbing libs are now calling themselves progressive) You mention this - "there are things about the Dillon I don't like". Tell us what those things are. Not that I'm looking for something to diss you about, but I have ideas which I think are great. However, others offer advice which makes me realize that maybe (some of) my ideas might just not be so great, after all. I'd like to know what to look for/be aware of when using my 650. I can't say I'd be all that anxious to trade it for anything else but as another close friend once said, something about "inquiring minds want to know".

kmitchl You mention blast media. What about tumbling in aluminum oxide ?

Update on backer I stopped at a Home Depot and scored several big boxes. On my way home I stopped at a body shop and hit the jackpot. Mgr there told me I could have ALL the large cardboard boxes I want. I loaded up on it and strapped it onto the roof of my car and went home happy. When I ask for large cardboard boxes I explain that it's to support targets so they understand what I don't want. The shop mgr told me about a sportsman's club about 25 miles from my house which I didn't know about so I'll visit there Sunday to join. I have a source for combat-size targets rather than paying $1 each. I set up a "light table" using a storm window with a couple of fluorescent lights under it. Then I taped a combat target on the underside and trace the outline onto a piece of butcher paper with a magic marker. Lowes, HD and Gordon Food Service have paper to do this with. It adds up to about 15 cents per target. Then I stopped at a shop that sells lawnmowers and scored some of his shipping crates made out of relatively thin wood to make my target stands out of. I have to disassemble to but that's not hard to do with a crow bar and hammer. Now all I need is a piece of excavator's "road plate" to make a big 45 degree trap with.

Babaganoosh Thanks for the heads-up on the slip sheets. The nearest Costco is about 60 miles from me so it doesn't look like I'll be getting around there for a while. I was also thinking about stopping by a furniture store to see what kind of shipping boxes their mdse comes in. I'd bet there are more furniture stores than Costcos. So here's my list so far: grocers body shops furniture stores (Costcos) I'd bet walmarts put their cardboard in recycling dumpsters so they can sell it. So, they probably wouldn't turn any of it loose....

Good Answer ! It's been so darn long since I was by a body shop that I'd forgotten about those big boxes. I'd say for a 12 Pack, I could get them to save me a life-time supply. Thanks for that one, Wade.

Friend came over last week after I was done shooting some targets in my front yard. I still had my target stand up with several post-it notes I use on it. He was bragging about he and his wife shooting all the time and how he could hit a rabbit with his pistol at 50, 75 yards (those were his EXACT words). So I said, "Let's shoot some" and I brought out my Ruger 10" target pistol. He was impressed and asked what kind it was, AND what caliber. [roll eyes] I loaded the mag and handed it to him. He asked what should he shoot at. I said to shoot at the lower left post-it. It was 25 feet away, since that's bowling pin distance. He said, "I NEVER have shot at anything THIS CLOSE !" I told him to try it. Of the 10 shots, he missed the target stand 4 times. He said to let his wife shoot, since she's a good shot. Long story short, she didn't even know how to hold the gun. So after a couple minutes teaching her how to hold it, I then ax, do you know what to look at ? She said, TARGET. I told her if you look at the target, you will miss the target. Look at the front sight and I spent a few minutes explaining that to her. She was able to hold a 4 inch group with 10 shots. When the gun locked open she said that she wanted to see me shoot. So I loaded up another mag and proceeded to hit the post-it 4 times in a row. There was a wasp flying around the target so I calmly said "I'm going to shoot the wasp". It was still flying when the trigger let go and there was a brown spray on the target. I didn't admit to them that it was pure luck, but they were quite amazed and he quickly said that they had to go. Into the car and down the lane they went. I'm still amazed that I managed to hit the wasp and probably couldn't do it again in ten years....

I've been hanging a backer board and then taping a piece of fish wrapper (AKA newspaper) on it. Then I tear off a piece of blue painter's tape (1-1/2 wide) and stick it on the paper. I put 4 or 5 rows of 5 on the paper and shoot them from 25 feet. The reason I use 25 feet is that's where we shoot bowling pins so I figured that should help my pin counts. It seems to. I was using post-it notes but after running out of them and finding out how expensive they are (I had gotten some from the office when I was working) I decided to look for something else. Hence the tape. I shoot 10 shots at each one so in a short time I can eat up a few boxes of ammo. I buy a case of 10 bricks at a time now. Anyway, the newsprint hides the damage to the backer with each additional page but eventually I need to change the cardboard. I tape targets so I understand that but eventually there's not much left of the board. I'll check behind the grocer's now. I hadn't thought of that one. Thanks.

I'm fortunate that I can walk out my front door and practice. Consequently, I shoot several times a week so I built a target stand. I also bullet trap since I cast my bullets. I had picked up some 24 x 30 inch cardboard which I use as backer board. Several years ago a contractor was installing rotary files in our office building and I was able to score their scrap 'board' so I carried it home. Now I'm almost out. After several hundred shots into it, there's a big hole so it gets replaced every week or so. I'm now running out of it and wondering where I can get more of anything to use. What do you fellas use and where do you get it ?

After using my 650 for about a year now, I'd noticed that the (9mm) case would not always go into (line up with) the sizing die, because it didn't completely seat in the shell plate, causing a jam on the upstroke. After a bunch of loads, I began to sense a certain frequency of jams so I started counting strokes between the jams. It turns out that there was enough powder being bounced out of my 9's (I load Bullseye, which splashes out of the cases at positions 3 and 4) I began to suspect that there was something in the plate to keep the case from seating all the way home. I removed the plate and sure enough, there were a bunch of powder grains in the shell grooves preventing the cases from fully seating. Cleaned the stuff out and no more problems there. I don't have this problem with the 45 setup (yet) even tho I load Bullseye in them too. I also have some problems with some of the allen screws coming loose, or when I change calibers, having to find the right size allen wrench. I solved the problem by taking a fine point SHARPIE marker that marks permanently on ANYTHING and wrote the size next to every allen on the machine. Makes for quicker, easier change-overs. I don't have a powder check assembly for each of my different caliber setups so I have to use my one check assembly but with different rods for 9 and 45. (I also have only one of the check rod sleeves) so I put 2 jam nuts on the check rods UNDER the sleeve (Dillon shows them on top of the sleeve) and set the proper depth and locked them in place. Now all I have to do is take the sleeve off one rod and put it on the other so it always stops at the right place with no readjusting necessary unless I change to a different powder. Makes it a lot quicker.