Machine154

What is the longest you've held onto your ammo that was made up this way? and what powder are you using?

Thanks - I appreciate the offer. Do you know what is in it that makes it different? Maybe I could retry the test with some of that, some W231 and higher # of primers. I could bring by 10 primers and we can shoot them with One Shot. I think I am going to skip case lube on my pistol rounds, even though it makes it easier. For .223 rifle rounds, I will use up my Dillon case lube, but then tumble after sizing in soapy water and stainless pins. For 50 cal, I am using imperial sizing wax. I never noticed a problem until I got into older stock, so if I just ease off of stockpiling in the winter, I shouldn't have problems anyway. I just though I would share these indications, since it was a brutal 6 months of working off the older lots with failures. The worst was 8 rounds out of 100 - made for very bad results in a timed stage. Even worse than my scores usually are.

Apparently I reached enough posts for photos now - yipee!

That's fine. Criticism taken. I didn't feel like reiterating the original post from THR, but the backstory here is that I was trying to figure out why a single digit percentage of my ~ 1 year old reloads weren't firing. Very frustrating in a competition stage. For my regular loading, I would spray the cases in a 1 gallon ziploc and shake them up. They would then be loaded (deprimed, new primer, etc) in my Dillon 550. I only seemed to have the issue after I got into my older stock, so I traveled down this path to research it. What surprised me was that 100% of the primers fired that I sprayed with case lube, but not if there was also powder included. Somehow the powder mixing with the lube is killing the primer, from my best estimation. The way I was spraying them (not all flat) and shaking them in a bag would easily lead to leftover lube inside the case. My presumption now is that the mixture of powder and case lube is killing primers. I would post pics of the real-world failed primers from my original post, but I don't have the senority here to even post pics, which is lame-o. Here is a photo of REAL WORLD LOADS: The one on the left is from one of my failed regular reloads and the one on the right is from another random round from the same generation. The primer on the left did not look like that when I put it in the feeder tube.

I have an update from the testing that I started 6 months ago on Dillon case lube affects on ammunition (thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=625875) [archived - You can see some up-close photos of the primers in the archived thread]: __________________________________Initial Prep____Prep______Load*___________Fired_________Total____Test_____Test Description - Prep in sealed bag________Date_________Qty_______Date____________Date__________Days____Pass____Pass% Primers with no case lube (control)_____11/16/2011______10______4/10/2012_______5/28/2012_______194_____10______100% Primers sprayed with Dillon case lube___11/16/2011______10______4/10/2012_______5/28/2012_______194_____10______100% Primers with W231 powder (no lube)____11/23/2011______5_______4/10/2012_______5/28/2012_______187_____5_______100% Primers with Dillon case lube plus W231_11/23/2011______5_______4/10/2012_______5/28/2012_______187_____2_______40% *Loaded with 4.5 gr of W231 and 124 gr FMJ Winchester primer lot: CBL131G (all) The failures are non-ignition of primers. I am actually surprised at what it seems to indicate. A direct spray on the primers seems to have no damaging affect UNTIL powder is added to the mix. The idea of testing with powder as additional variables was added a week after I started the primary test of just sprayed primers in a bag and a control group of primers in a bag. Now I wish I would have tested more of that group with sprayed primers plus powder. Oh, well. I think I have enough information to re-evaluate my loading steps. I realize that the test is a little extreme since I directly sprayed the primers, but I wanted to get some clear answers. Also, I suppose it is theoretically possible that the Dillon case lube had no influence and there were 3 bad primers out of the tested 5, but I really doubt it. If you think my test isn't fair, let me know why.

Hi, I have been wringing my hands a bit over what to get for reloading. I am very cramped in a 1 bedroom condo with wife and dog right now with no chance to sell it. I managed to clear most of a trunk for a planned reloading setup. I have no other space Obviously, this restricts my gear quite a bit. I saw a post where someone had mounted a Dillon 550 to what amounts to an upside down birdhouse Essentially iit was a U-shape on its side with end plates the bottom was longer and came forward for a better platform Now I was thinking that might be a good route. Any comments on this and should I skip the strong mount in this case? I am thinking the strong mount may hurt me in this case by giving more leverage against the mobile platform.

We have a winner! Thank you, all - I will check into your recommendations. It is good to know that the changeovers aren't as hard as they look.

I'll let you guess... I was referred over here from Pirate4x4 from a discussion I found by an internet search. Anyway, I am looking into the idea of reloading with a little hesitation. I don't have much space (1 BR condo) and not so sure about the complexity of the whole thing. I saw a Dillon setup at a friend's place, but we didn't have a lot of time to go over it. He was recommending that I might want to try the Dillon 650 if I was going to be reloading .308 (in addition to 9mm and .223). I downloaded the manual and am a bit put off by the amount of work to do a caliber change. Maybe it is easier than it looks...