Doc Hunter

1050 what's the problem.....?

ano I've had a P10 since they first hit the market. Mine did not like certain bullet profiles either. This is not the best solution, but you may want to try some different recoil spring weights. Doc

GARN Nothing wrong with Bluedot in the 10. You may want to try AA#9, Longshot and Ramshot's Silhouette, if you can find those too. I've avoided plated bullets in all calibers. But your experience may be different. Doc

Get the right tools to read and set up your die - Sinclair Int. is your friend. Also, the book "Reloading for Competition" will put you light years ahead of the curve.

What brand bullet. If they are Priv-Part you are wasting your time and money. Mixed brass will also be a fail.

The real question is how accurate is your scale? If it is an electronic scale. Measure something and then weigh it again in five mins.. See what you get. You just might be surprised. So be careful blaming other parts like the powder measure. It is likely more accurate than your scale - you just don't know it.

I've never had a issue with Dillon's lube.

What Rob said - Although I went with the Mil reticle to keep from adding confusion with everything else I run. A 50 yard zero seems to work best for me as well.

Nice!

Are you seating on the 550? I got away from seating rifle primers on a machine a long time ago. A Lee hand primer tool will do a better job, and you will be able to feel the primer seat. However, with the 550, if the shell plate is too loose, the case has room to move up away from the primer punch. Try to tighten the shell plate down until it will just turn and see if that fixes it.

The damn things are dirt cheap - get one. Or maybe two if you tend to shoot low.

Ha! Bubba, I don't like any variation. However, for the most part that is unrealistic. For one thing consider this - your scale. How accurate and reliable is it? There is likely variation there as well. So, my plan has been this. For progressive loading, with a stick type powder, I try and stay will small kernel stuff. I'm not crazy about ball powders, however they have their place. Either of these will do well with the Dillon measure. For anything as large as say Varget, I think that the RCBS with the Sinclair baffle mod works ok. Not great, but acceptable for most stuff. Now, and this is the important part, what range and application is the load designed for? The longer the range, the greater the variation of velocity will impact vertical dispersion. Your standard deviation will give you a number to work with, and that is what I would suggest you use as your point of reference. Also, some loads hit a sweet spot and the variation has some range that keeps the load still good. Lastly, primers play a role. When I shoot groups for accuracy testing, I shoot a 10 round group, not the three round that tells little.

bubba04, thanks for the information. Looks like your worst low throw was with the improved baffle. I've been using the baffle upgrade to the Uniflow (using the RCBS Uniflow with the linkage kit) from Sinclare International. It converts the Uniflow to the same baffle and bottles as the super accurate Harrell's type, its not expensive. I've seen some real improvements. Also, powder throw variation is important, however, if my loads show a low SD, even with some powder throw variation - I'll take the SD numbers every time. Additionally, with any manufacture's measure, as the amount of powder per charge increases, such as for a large cartridge, a variation of powder throw becomes less of an influence as the percentage of variation of the entire load is less. For example. a .05 average grain throw variation in something like a 25gr charge for a .223 is significant. That same .05 grain average in a 100 grain charge for a 338 Lapua is no so.... So, you pick your battles. As I said earlier, the Dillon Magnum Measure has worked well for me also.

The Magnum Powder measure has worked well for me with up to 100 grains of Ball in a 338 Lapua on a 550. Holds within a couple of tenths. Have not tried it with a stick powder, but a "short cut" version may work.

RULE - if it does not feel or sound right - STOP and see what's up.

The regular powder die will work.

No although I guess you could if you changed out some fittings. It comes set for the small standard "buy it anywhere" propane tanks. I've done at least 1000 on a tank. Very high quality torch assy... There are videos on Doug's site of it in operation. It's a damn fine machine.

Do a search on how David Tubb sets up his 550. You might be surprised. If you don't know David, you should.

I run mixed through my 1050s, I do pause a little longer on the stroke to give the crimp material a little time to move. Seems to help.

Yes, if it is not LC or Win., on short range drills with AR-10/SR-25 (mixed brass, all its good for) - I just generally leave it. The big Gas Guns are hard on brass anyway. You play around too much with questionable brass and a case head separation is inevitable. For a bolt gun, some of what you have listed will work if you separate by head stamp. Still, for me it is just easier to keep it simple with only LC and Winchester for most 308 work. I run only Lapua in a AI-AX 338 and also some Lapua in a 308 McMillan T2K "Special-Tactical-Long-Range" and also a Sako TRG. Only NORMA in a 6XC McMillan T2K "Special-Tactical-Long-Range" - but what fool would leave any of that brass on the ground.

The Giraurd trimmer sets its length based on the shoulder. So differences in shoulder set back, will effect trim length, unless you reset the trimmer die.

I stick with LC and Win Commercial for anything requiring precision - these I will spend a lot of time on. Federal Brass, great in a factory SMK load, does not hold up well in the long run - especially in a gas gun. All the others you have listed, I would load and leave them during short drills. In other words, sort for the best - leave the rest. Don't waste good powder or good bullets in them. Oh yea, get use to the idea of crimped primers - it takes what, maybe 2 seconds to process one. And trim your cases too!

Having a tool head "float" some is not a bad thing - every station will find its center.

TOTAL WASTE OF TIME

The standard Lee die has always worked for me. However, get a couple of extra knockout pins. Some 9mm cases have really small flash holes and the pin can and will get stuck totally messing up the pin. A few extras on hand is a good idea.