dloader

I've never seen a 1050 up close before, but from the drawings I gather that the priming system functions more like the LNL in that the primer comes down the tube and is pushed along a slide into the priming station, as opposed to the 650 which puts a ton of primers in close proximity on the primer wheel. I assume for this reason that when you do detonate a primer in the 1050's priming station it is less likely to cause the remaining primers in the tube to detonate. Is this correct?

In what state did these guys operate? Incidentally, it doesn't surprise me that they got out of the biz, since the only way to make money in loading ammo is in high volume. One person cranking / monitoring a press cannot possibly sell enough ammo to cover the overhead, at least in an expensive metro area like the one I live in.

Easy? Inexpensive? Not in my experience. The Feds are relatively easy to deal with. It's the state and local approvals that are difficult to get. The first thing the ATF will do when you apply is call your state and local officials and inform them of your request to operate an ammunition factory at the location you specify as the "place of business". This cannot be your house unless your town has no zoning laws or by some freak of nature "ammunition production" is an approved use in a residential zone (hint: it isn't). If the state and local officials haven't already approved your request, the ATF will deny the application. The kicker in all this is that you need to own / lease the "place of business" BEFORE you apply at all levels, so that means floating the facility costs out of pocket until the approvals come in...usually a year or more. Since the biggest sticking points are zoning related (yes, Mr. Zoning Officer, I'll be discharging 338 Lapua in my on-site test chamber and generating lots of noise and lead waste in the process), that means you have to apply at the local level first, get the zoning approval, then apply to the state, and finally, the ATF. If anyone thinks they're going to submit a form and a check for $30 to the ATF and be in the ammo biz, I have a bridge to sell you.

I'm in the R&D phase of an ammo biz and found this out on day 1. The only way you can produce ammunition legally is to do it yourself using components you purchased for your own use. However, as some have pointed out, there appears to be nothing in the law that precludes you from being in the "reloading equipment rental business" so long as your "customers" bring their own components. If anyone finds out you're loading ammunition in any other way they'll come down on you like a box of hammers. Not worth the liability or jail time.

Could have sworn I saw something like this in one of the standalone apps for Windows I saw in my early research. I have to admit that the initial plan (i.e. version 1.0) does not include full ballistics analysis, but it is on the wish list. Thanks for the input.

The one thing that will keep this simple is the lack of time I have to spend on it. But I also want to make sure it's useful to the average reloader, hence the reason I asked for ideas on what is important (and also what is not).

My design so far allows provisioning of "generic" components (say, for example, you don't bother tracking your batches of brass), so you could define your cartridge merely in terms of caliber, powder brand/wt, and bullet brand/type/wt and negate all the other traceability features. Nice to hear the perspective on the KISS approach.

The concept of inventory and the resources required to produce a given set of bullets in a reloading "session" was already in the mix. Tracking costs was outside the initial design scope, but once I'm tracking inventory it's not that much additional work. I had thought about supporting "specifications" and some statistics / QA information as part of the process...since I know I'll definitely want to produce a batch and then measure N cartridges then do some statistical analysis over the short and long term (within a given batch and across multiple batches)...data that might be helpful to track parts wear or alignment on the press, etc. I'm definitely limited on my understanding on the full scope of statistics that would be helpful, so if anyone has any further info, please volunteer it. Thanks for the input.

Interesting. That brings up the point of data import/export. I had already planned CSV, JSON, and XML export (since I believe users should always have ready access to the data they enter into any system) but importing could be a challenge simply because I don't know what people typically store in their spreadsheets. Perhaps someone can post one that is popular (as opposed to a one-off that someone made)?

I've been a gun owner for almost 20 years and am new to reloading. I've been doing a lot of reading, watching videos, etc. to come up to speed on the process. Since I make my living in engineering (software), I'm naturally a bit OCD, but that's not a bad thing when you're talking about the creation of something critical like ammunition. So it should come as no surprise that I've thought about how I could use software to help my reloading efforts. My first thought was to make the software capable of tracking all the inputs that ultimately result in my completed cartridges, as this would make it practical to search the data for trends or obvious issues (like manufacturer, lot number, etc.). I have also considered designing it to allow both individuals and organizations to share their load data among "subscribers", so this would work for components manufacturers, shooting associations (IDPA, etc.) and even local clubs. This would make it far easier to search load data and share the results of specific cartridges...right down to the specifications (PF, COAL, etc.). As this is a part-time project my primary goal is to avoid scope creep but it would help to know exactly what new features the average reloader would find helpful during the design phase of the software. Hence the topic of this thread: If you could use software to track or otherwise help you reload, what features would you like to see? How would you want it to work (i.e. process flow)?

Dillon already chimed in on the other thread and said that they couldn't do a bullet feeder because it would somehow prevent them from shipping to international customers. And they also said they don't believe in wet tumbling so that will never happen. All I want is a clone of the ammo-load presses for a reasonable price ($3-5K). It would be based on linear motion, include additional stations (say 10 or 12) for validation and tolerance checking, and also be easily adaptable to an auto-drive. Commercial loaders would jump on them in a heartbeat and I would too. I don't need 4000 rounds an hour, but I do need reliability and automation.

Great guys...thanks for the responses. That pretty much means I'm not going to make a decision on the 1050 vs 650 based strictly on the time involved in a caliber change. Thanks also for the caliber conversion link...that's an awesome tool.

Bummer, was really hoping that would work. Anyone know the amount of time it takes to do a full caliber change on a 1050 vs. a 650? Everyone seems to say it's a royal PITA, but really...how much worse could it be? I know the costs involved and that's why everyone says the 1050 is more or less a single caliber machine with the exception of those cases were you don't have to tear down the bottom end...I'm just curious about the time.

I was watching a youtube video by OBXSOLWIND...can't post a link yet but the video id is 14i2WYE3aLk and he pointed out that his 1050 uses the same shell plate / bottom end to support 45 and 308 so caliber conversions are as "simple" as swapping the tool head, case feeder parts, etc. I was wondering if it's possible to do the same with 9mm and 223. Anybody know?