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g56

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Everything posted by g56

  1. I returned my old powder measure to Dillon and today my Postman handed me a box from Dillon with a brand new powder measure. THANK YOU DILLON!
  2. This is the old model, there is a shoulder bolt that screws into the housing, it doesn't have a bolt that goes all the way through like the newer powder measures. Normally the bellcrank rotates on that bolt, but this one has apparently worn down till there isn't enough clearance. when you tighten the bolt, it locks up the bellcrank, which locks up the powder measure. I called Dillon, they asked me to return the old powder measure and they will send me a new one, can't beat a deal like that!
  3. I was trying to load a few hundred 9mm last night, I've got several Dillon powder measures but this was one of my older ones, if not the original from 1985. It has served me well but last night it was giving me fits, the pivot screw was constantly coming loose, I'd have to stop every 20 to 40 rounds to tighten it again, it would get so loose the little square nylon thing would jump out and the whole thing wouldn't work. I'm not quite sure why this has started doing this. Any ideas?
  4. I was recently having a problem with high primers, I found my shell plate had loosened up. Tightening it took care of the problem.
  5. It took a couple of days, but I just went to the shop and adjusted it, loaded 100 just to check function, worked perfectly, thanks again!! Note: Objections such as "the grass isn't growing that's just weeds", doesn't work as an excuse to keep from having to mow...
  6. I had my first and only squib about in 1974 before I got my first Dillon. I was loading 9mm on a single stage press and each and every case was checked for powder charge before the bullet was seated, and yet it happened. I've loaded probably over 100,000 rounds on my old Dillon 550 and have never had a squib, but I am exceptionally careful when loading is interrupted, that's when a mistake is most likely to happen on a Dillon. I was out on the range shooting 9mm, one time I got a pop instead of a bang, I knew instantly what it was, and sure enough there was a bullet stuck about halfway up the barrel, sure glad I didn't try to jack the slide and shoot it again. That pistol is sitting in my nightstand right now, beats having blown it up.
  7. I saw the hex you referenced, I had no idea that it was adjustable, I'll check that out tomorrow and hopefully that should take care of the problem. Thanks so much!
  8. I needed to make up some new 9mm loads with a slightly higher powder charge so they would function properly. Last week I loaded 100 9mm loads on my 650 and it ran flawlessly, finding I still needed to make another change to the powder charge I came back this week and all of a sudden my case feeder isn't working right. It drops the case into the green plastic sleeve, but it doesn't drop the case through the aluminum feeder tube. One week it worked fine and the next week it wouldn't, all I changed was to go to a 115 gr bullet from a 124 gr bullet, which has nothing to do with case feeding. Getting up where I could look down through the hole with the handle all the way down I could see a small lip on one side, so it appears all I need to to is move that arm a tiny bit more. I read all the 650 tips and alignment was mentioned, they said to be sure everything lined up, but never said anything about how to adjust the throw, just to make sure you had that cam is turned the right way for pistol cartridges, and it is turned the right way. How can I adjust this for just a little bit more throw so it will drop the cases? I can push on the little arm with my finger and it will drop the case, but having to reach up and do that for every case gets tiring. Reloading for 51 years Reloading on a Dillon 550 since 1985 Reloading on a Dillon 650 since 2015
  9. This shellplate advances very smoothly, no powder spillage by that problem which I have heard about, unless it snapped just one time, which I wouldn't expect, although anything is possible. All the rounds have primers, I box them up primer side up to double check for missing primers, inverted or crushed primers. I've certainly had that happen from time to time, both on the old 550 and the new 650. Its always a pain, you start boxing them up and there's spilled powder in the collection box coming out of the flash hole, hate when that happens!
  10. I've been loading on a RL550 for 30 years, but just recently treated myself to a new 650. Yesterday afternoon I changed it back to 9mm and ran off 200 9mm loads using WW231 powder. Near the end of the run I noticed powder on the shell plate around one of the locations, only one cartridge location. This machine indexes smoothly, it doesn't spill powder, I'm guessing there was somewhere in the area of 1-2 grains by weight of powder just around that one location, I have NEVER had that happen ever in all that time on a Dillon. Now I'm trying to figure out what the heck happened, 231 flows so well I wouldn't expect a bridge in the powder measure making the powder drop late and miss the case, or the thing that scares me is the possibility for some unknown reason I might have gotten an interuption, somehow managed ro drop a double charge which overflowed the case, maybe even a little off the top when I put a bullet on the case for seating. With the auto indexing I don't see how that could have happened, but there were a few interuptions where I had to stop to fix some small problem, which is always the place where a mistake can be made. I don't have a powder check die, it looks like I might want to go ahead and order one. The thought of possibly pulling down 200 rounds to check for a double charge or a squib is disturbing, but I don't like the idea of a small grenade sitting in one of those boxes just waiting to destroy a pistol. Any ideas on what might have happened or an easy way to sort through that bunch? I tried to search for a similar problem but kept getting a "Server error".
  11. When I first started reloading in the late 1960's I didn't have a source for fired brass, this was obviously pre internet, so I ordered fired brass out of the classifieds in the back of the American Rifleman. When I got the brass and started sizing and decapping I ran into a bunch where the bottom would punch out leaving the sides of the old primer in place, there was a greenish corrosion evident in the primer pocket suggesting they had been cleaned chemically and chemical residue caused the corrosion, I have also talked to people who have found brass that might have been rained on, and the moisture combined with some residues might have caused the corrosion that caused the primer bottom to punch out. I tried a lot of different things and never did find a way to salvage that brass, I had to toss about 10% of that original order due to that problem. I have rarely seen this problem since then, I'll see one every couple of years or so.
  12. Digging this old one back up with some observations. On the Hornady powder measure there is a special pistol rotor and special pistol micrometer that don't come with the powder measure. I'm guessing you are using the universal micrometer and rotor drum that came with the powder measure, those are both intended for larger powder loads for rifle calibers, they don't work worth a hoot for small pistol loads. If you want to throw small powder charges consistantly, you need the special pistol rotor and micrometer intended for pistol loads, see link below: http://www.hornady.com/store/Pistol-Rotor-and-Metering-Assy-1-Each/
  13. If you want to know what your powder measure is doing, throw 10 charges and weigh that, then throw another 10 charges and compare the weight, if there is much difference you might want to look at a different powder. You didn't mention what powder you are using, some meter better than others, WW231 is extremely consistent, the MOST CONSISTENT powder I have ever seen is Trail Boss, every single charge is exactly the same, but Trail Boss isn't always the powder you need, great for revolvers, I don't think its much good for auto loaders though. When I fill the powder measure, I always throw several charges and dump those back in the hopper to settle things down, before I weigh one to double check everything is where I left it.
  14. What kind of velocity were you getting with that load? It will depend on the temperature, BLC-2 has the reputation for being the MOST temperature sensitive powder in general use. In Glen Zediker's book "The Competitive AR15" he points out BLC2 for particular attention, unfortunately it isn't a recommendation, in the entire book he only warns against one powder for 223, and that's BLC2, he calls it "spooky under the sun", not exactly a glowing recommendation! If you want to use it, it's temperature sensitive so keep your loads on the moderate side. http://fulton-armory.com/thecompetitivear-15byzediker.aspx
  15. g56

    W231

    I have standard deviations running (on average) under 20 fps using 231 and Winchester primers, last I checked, that was pretty darn good. If you have excessive deviations in velocity using 231, you might need to change your brand of primer or check your crimp, its not the powder.
  16. I haven't found the newer style powder measures to be clunky, I've got 5 or 6 Dillon powder measures, they represent 3 different generations of Dillon powder measures, starting with my original which dates to 1985, before they ever came out with the safety rod. When I first got the current style powder measure I did find it clunky, now none of my powder measures are the least bit clunky, I'm not sure if its just that I learned to adjust them better, or that they broke in, but none of them are clunky at all.
  17. g56

    W231

    If you couldn't get WW231 to work in 40 S&W (or any other pistol caliber) you were doing something wrong, it is extremely consistent in velocity and there's absolutely no problem igniting it with standard primers. A significant percentage of pistol match shooters load it for competition shooting, they wouldn't do that if it didn't work.
  18. A 1911 should not fire out of battery, it has a disconnector to prevent that, the hammer will not fall if it is out of battery.
  19. Virtually all 223/5.56 brass is crimped, both commercial and military, in the past Remington commercial wasn't crimped, but I have heard that current production Remington is crimped, I can't confirm that since I use a Dillon and rarely (if ever) buy factory ammo for any of my firearms.
  20. My experience is the same, I don't get the clunking. I bought my RL550 there was no return rod, that came out later, even though I hadn't had any problems I thought the rod was a good idea, so I got the upgrade kit. I have at least 3 different generations of Dillon powder measure, including the current generation, and they all work just fine. When I first got one of the newer generation powder measures it was a bit jerky, but as I used it the jerkiness went away, I guess it just needed to be broken in, none of my powder measures are jerky.
  21. I've been loading on my 550 using Dillon dies in S&W40 for several years and several thousand rounds, at least half the 40 brass I've got was originally fired in a Glock, and I've had no issues whatsoever loading for my M&P 40.
  22. My crystal ball is on the fritz right now, a top end for WHAT?
  23. I've been using Trail Boss in 38 special for the last 3 or 4 years, I tried it for 38 spec loads for Cowboy Action and I really like it. On my 38 special loads I intentionally dispensed a double load to see what it would look like, it filled the case to the very top, leaving no room for a bullet, so it assured me that there was no reasonable way to double charge a case except intentionally, since you would have to compress the powder just to set a bullet in place. I need to load some more 44 mag loads for plinking and shooting at paper targets, and figured I'd try Trail Boss for that. As far as cost is concerned, I had read on some of the cowboy forums about how people thought it would be more expensive to load than most other powders, 231 as an example. So one evening I took the time to figure out how much it would cost using my standard 231 load, compared to my Trail Boss load in the same caliber, the price difference was pretty substantial, it was about 2 or 3 cents per hundred rounds more expensive to load Trail Boss compared to 231. Moving up to 44 magnum plinking loads, cost would probably skyrocket to maybe...5 cents a hundred. Now I'm pretty cheap, but I figure its worth the incredibly small difference in cost, if nothing else for the 0.00% chance of a double load happening.
  24. All you need to line it up is your primer slide and punch, I have the "tool" and quite frankly using the primer punch is more accurate and faster. When I have tried using the alignment tool invariably the primer punch will try to hang up as you lower the ram, so you end up using the primer punch to get it perfect.
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