roxfo

Yes. It will. ..

Redding small base body die (with the top cut off), then a Sinclair floating carbide expander.

I'm confused how you deduced that he wants to trim during loading. I don't see any mention of it in the OP.

You really can't use dies in the stations beside the trim die/trimmer station. That depends on the die. This one fits. For some applications I take off the primer magazine and move the trimmer to #5, leaving 3 stations available after the trimmer.

I use a .308 Redding comp seater with the sleeve cut flush with the die body. It works well for the range of bullets I have to work with on my S1050.

I used a standard M die for a while and it did solve the problem, but in my quest to reduce runout (even though the ammo shot incredibly well) I now use the following: Dillon Trim. Sinclair floating expander die with carbide mandrel. Lyman M die with custom mandrel (.304/.311). The thin part of the M die is undersize, so it doesn't touch the neck after the Sinclair has done its work; the M die just does the flaring part (the progressive alternative to chamfering). An alternative to the Sinclair die is the expander from 21st Century which several have reported to work well. It uses a TiN treated mandrel rather than carbide, but is otherwise similar, from what I’ve read. Another alternative to try is the Dillon trim die from CH4D. They are said to be less tight in the neck, but you'd probably still need to flare a little. I bought one but I'm happy with my current solution so I haven't tried it yet.

Same here. According to my notes: The thread for the lock nut is 13/16-20. The Dillon part number is K25-13559 (Upper Die Lock Ring for RT 1200). A good choice for the set screw is 6-32. ..

As mentioned, the Trim die is a sizing die, and one with a relatively tight neck. Even if your cases are already sized, they will have sprung back a little, so they won’t slide into the trim die like they would into a chamber or gauge. The moral of the tale? Make sure you lube your brass before it hits the RT1200.

Thanks for posting this - I was thinking about getting one, but was then put off by some bad reviews.On the subject of the station 1 misfeeds, do you have the Casefeed fix cam? It solved my station 1 issues completely on my .308 press; maybe it will help yours too. It is discussed here in this thread: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=162927 They can usually be found on eBay by searching for: "Dillon Super 1050 case feed fix plate". ..

Thanks for the comments. I'd prefer not to cam-over if I can avoid it. Any particular reason to use an additional sizing die in preference to shaving a few thou off the dillon size/trim die? I was thinking of using a Redding body die, so that at least the neck isn't getting worked-over twice, and to leave some 'grip' in the dillon size/trim to resist case-spinning. Does this sound like a good plan? ..

Hi all! It seems that if I am to size brass anywhere near SAAMI min (headspace dimension) the Dillon trim die needs a firm contact with the shell-plate, such that the press cams-over. Is it really ok to do this? Previously I've managed to slightly bend a shell-plate during initial attempts to free a stuck case, so I want to be sure I'm not going to damage another one if I set the die to give a firm contact. I guess that the shell-plate is supported from underneath but can I be sure of no ill effects of camming-over? or would I be better-off shaving a few thousandths off the bottom of the die? Loading .308 Win for a club Palma team using once fired Lapua brass. 2-pass loading on a S1050, Prep pass uses Dillon trim die with RT1200. Thanks for your thoughts and tips! Bob.

I use a Redding 'Competition' micrometer seating die (with sliding sleeve) for .308 on my S1050. I did have to machine the sleeve flush with the bottom of the die to allow the shellplate to index without interfering with the bullet. I guess it may also depend on the type of bullet being used and the seating depth/COAL required, and whether the bullet is dropped before the seating die or at that station. I'm very happy with the runout I'm achieving, but it has as much to do with what has happened before the brass reaches the seating die as the die itself. I've been thinking of trying a Forster ultra die for my next project, but now I'll see if I can borrow one first. I've used a RCBS mic die (with side 'window') but only on single-stage presses. The die I have requires a special shell-holder extension, which would render it incompatible with a progressive press. Edit: After a little more research I found that the RCBS 'Competition' micrometer seating die requires a shellholder extension, and is therefore incompatible with progressive presses, but the RCBS 'Gold Medal' micrometer seating die does not require the extension, so it is compatible with progressives in that respect. ..

I use a 1050 to load 308 ammo for Palma and international 300m competition at a fairly high level. It's taken a while to get the process just right, but I can't find any parameter that is demonstrably worse than I achieved on a single stage press (trim length, shoulder datum, length to ogive, bullet runout, for example). I mostly use Redding and Sinclair dies and I drop precisely weighed charges (from my own dispenser), which limits loading to about 200 or 250 per hour while case-prep runs at 1,000 per hour. I can't comment on how this would compare with a 650, but I'm very happy with the results from my 1050.

As suggested, this is probably due to imbalance in the press as the shellplate empties. As well as the previous suggestion you could: Load them and put the last 7 aside for fouling shots, barrel warmers etc. They will probably go in exactly the same place as the rest (as long as the length is within safe limits for your gun). Leave the last 7 cases in the press, so the press is 'primed' ready for the next loading session. Stop loading when the shell-plate is about to start emptying, recover any unprocessed cases and ditch any partially processed ones, or put to one side for development work etc. This assumes that you only see the variance at the end of the run. I recently noticed that 2 out of every 8 rounds were 0.004 to 0.005 shorter than the rest. Turned out I'd tried too hard to unstick a case and bent the shellplate. Luckily I noticed after about 200 rounds, so I measured them all to the ogive and batched them into 'short' and 'normal'. Shot them at 1000 yards and they all went in the same place anyway. Still, I learned my lesson about letting the alcohol evaporate off the lube, and to dismantle the shellplate at the first sign of a stuck case. ..

Finally had a chance to run some case prep on the 1050 for the first time since installing this mod. Running a few thousand .308 at 1000 per hour and the tube was essentially full at all times; just one space immediately after each crank, which was quickly filled. I think the 'run-on' has more benefit than preventing the motor from stopping while cases pass the microswitch - in fact since the tube only ever has one space, cases don't fall *past* the switch, they just fill the one space and then after a small delay the motor stops.

The timer was about $20 from eBay. The camera and light are for visual powder checks, similar to this thread. I also do a lot of loading with weighed charges, so the camera helps avoid a messy double-charge when dropping a weighed charge into the measure (which just acts as a case-activated drop for the pre-weighed charge). ..

While prepping .308 brass on my S1050 I sometimes find myself waiting for the case-feeder (I don't think I am cranking particularly fast). I checked the RPM in case I was loosing some speed due to our 50Hz (240V) supply, but it was right on 4 RPM (strangely the speed is exactly the same on fast or slow). I'd noticed the feeder briefly stopping as falling cases pass the micro-switch so I added an off-delay timer so the motor doesn't stop until the switch has been actuated continuously for a set (adjustable) period. I don't expect to gain much speed by this, but stopping and starting a motor unnecessarily is never a good thing, The motor now doesn't stop when cases fall past the switch, and a side-effect is that the delay can be adjusted so that when the motor stops the next case is almost ready to fall as soon as the micro-switch is released. The timer fits neatly inside the casefeed housing. Also visible in the picture is a mini camera and LED light.

I have these on my press too, and elsewhere on the reloading bench. I only found them in Ford colors though. ..

I had an issue that might just be related. The ram was stalling part way through the cycle, but it did then resume and complete the cycle, unlike your description. I pulled out the main shaft (11061) and the key (13475), cleaned & reassembled and have had no problems since. Might be worth a look. ..

What do you need another die on the toolhead for. Should only need decapping and Trim dies I want to run a Lyman "M" die to bell the case mouth a slight bit for flat base bullets. How do you de-lube? I find that if I run an M die on the prep/trim toolhead then tumble off the lube, the flare is practically removed by the tumbling. I've moved the M die to the loading toolhead now. Due to the absence of lube I run a custom expander that doesn't touch the case neck ID but just flares a little - 0.304/0.312 from memory. If neck expanding is required I still do that on the prep/trim toolhead with a Sinclair floating expander with carbide mandrel. This is for .308 Win on a 1050, and I have to leave both stations adjacent to the RT1200 empty. ..

Well oddly enough: I will not be in front of my loader for a few weeks... I'm out of town. I've checked my archive of gunroom photos and none of them are from the right angle to illustrate the problem.

My 1050 casefeeder doesn't seem to be exactly vertical, It is most apparent by the clear plastic case tube, which 'leans' to the left. I wondered if it was due to the thickness of the bracket for the bullet tray, but it seems to match the thickness of the washer/spacer that the bracket replaces. I'm glad you've asked the question - I've been meaning to as well. I hope we find an answer so our presses can sober-up and improve their posture <hic>! ..

Is it likely that the same goes for the .308 version? Is anyone using the .308 Mr Bulletfeeder (new version)?

So did you manage to fit a die in an adjacent station to the RT1200? That would be interesting to see - can you post a photo of the modification? ..

It is often recommended in accuracy circles not to reduce the neck diameter by more than 0.005" in a single step, otherwise the neck reduces by more than you intend and runout can be introduced. Consequently I run a bushing neck die before the RT1200 to do the first 0.004 or 0.005 of neck-down (Redding comp neck die with TIN bushing). The Dillon trim die then does the body, shoulder and final few thousandths of neck sizing, but it still requires an expander afterwards due to the tight neck dimensions of the Dillon die. A new trim die from CH4D is headed my way today. The CH4D dies are compatible with the RT1200 but have more normal neck dimensions. I still plan to expand a little, but by 0.001 or 0.002, rather than 0.004 or 0.005. Curious if anyone else has experience of these dies. Also, while I understand reasons to neck down in two steps, I'm not sure why to FL size twice.