[Acceptable standard deviation for .223]

Here are my thoughts....

Unless you are sorting brass by weight or volume.... neck turning.... neck sizing etc.... don't get wrapped around the axle over spreads up to and a bit beyond 50 fps. Actually, 50fps is pretty good. We're talking extreme spreads here in a sample of 10 or so rounds. The temp of the barrel and the rate of fire will have an effect this measurement. The pace of your shot string... the temperature... the volume of powder in the case and the position of the powder... lots of variables.

Your loading bulk in a progressive machine and dispensing powder by volume. Your doing very well to get those spreads considering all the balls in the air that are out of your control.

If you don't feel confident that you are producing pretty good ammo... try this experiment. Load up 20 or so rounds... and measure the powder by weight. Intentionally vary the load by a few 10ths every other round or so... of course be safe... don't conduct this experiment on the edge of max charge. Now on a nice day... go the range and set up a target at 300 yards or so. Set up you chrono and fire your test rounds. Go down range and police up your target. You will feel pretty confident then.

Incidentally, I feel like I've hit on a pretty good load when I can get SD's in the 10-11 or less range. That however doesn't mean that you have an accurate load for that rifle.... not by a long shot. You need to fire the loads AT DISTANCE in good conditions. Look up latter testing. It's a process that will teach you what you need to know in order to produce the best ammunition for that particular rifle. Targets don't lie.

Ill edit this in... When you begin to get serious about producing accurate rifle ammunition, you have to realize that it's a whole new game with regard to handloading. I would bet that at least 90% of all handloaders of rifle ammunition either never produce ammunition any better than off the shelf bulk stuff or get real lucky and fall into a load that surprises them. The trick is to understand that you have to build the ammo for the rifle.... and if your lucky, it will work well for another rifle too.

The experiment I suggested was intended to demonstrate how little some of the elements (like powder charge or SD's) have any real effect on accuracy up to about 300-400 yards. They don't matter much. Finding the node of your rifle will be FAR ,FAR AND AWAY more valuable to increasing your accuracy. This is the secret that will allow you to produce the most accurate ammo for your rifle and will show you the potential accuracy of the rifle itself. Don't fall into the 100 yard groups for accuracy mindset or the magic number on the chrono crowd.

Good input.

The charge I was using is my sweetest load for general range accuracy. I normally can get 1-1.5 inch groups with my non precision shooting ARs. The one AR I have that is a more precision built I can get a little less than one inch.

Since I am doing it in bulk I am not bothering with separating the projectiles or cases out by weight. I know if I did that the accuracy would improve.

I trim on a Giraud and of course have the Dillon powder dispenser, which has some variation on it.

I also only separate brass by headstamp and not year.

I am capable of reloading percision on my single stage press and I do it for my .308 loads but since I shoot so much .223 I just do it in bulk.

I am trying to get a handle around how important the velocity varaition is. I would expect it to be directly tied to accuracy but if it is then I haven't seen it in my groups. I have been shooting these loads for awhile and only last week did a chrono on it.

[Acceptable standard deviation for .223]

I have been reloading .223 for general range use, not precision shooting. I use a Dillon 1050.

I do bulk reloading of a couple of thousands at a time. Usually 55 grain FMJ Hornady on LC brass using H-335 or CFE 223. I usually get around 3000 FPS out of a 16 inch barrel.

This last week I did some chrono testing.

I did several groups of ten based upon the brass that was used. Everything else was the same (powder, load, primer bulltet OAL etc).

For the strings of ten I was running there was somewhere between 24-28 FPS standard deviation. One of them was 32 FPS.

Does anybody have any good thoughts on what would be an acceptable standard deviation? I remember a few years ago testing some factory ammo and getting a 40 FPS SD.

I know for precision shooting single digits SDs are desired but I am looking for range use bulk reloading I am wondering if my 25-30 FPS SD or so is considered acceptable.

[Question about leaving powder in a hopper]

If its longet than 3 weeks for some reason, do you have hopper marked with what powder is in it? Its easy to pour it back for me just to be sure i never accidentally mix up powder. Thats just me though

I am about halfway through the process of reloading 8K rounds of .223 with my 1050.

Everything is set up just like I want it for when I resume in about three weeks.

I know that it is not that big of a deal to empty the hopper but I don't want to do it unless I have to.

[Question about leaving powder in a hopper]

I finished a run of .223 a couple of days ago and left about a tenth of a hopper (Dillon) of H-335.

It will be another couple or three weeks before I can resume reloading.

For those of you with more experience than me is it OK to leave the power in the hopper or should I take it out and put it back in the jug?

I'm thinking that it doesn't hurt anything as long as direct sunlight doesn't get to it.

I don't think it will corrode anything or clump up in an AC enivronment.

What say you?

[1050 that works fine ?]

My 1050:

The primer system has always worked fine. Whenever I do have a problem is because of the brass and not the machine.

The case feeder has always worked fine.

The powder system has always worked fine and even better with the upgrades.

I always have a problem getting the swager right when I use it, probably because I am a dumbass and not because of the machine. I'll figure it out one of these days, maybe.

There is a magical tightness point for the case plate. Too tight and you have problems. Too lose and you have problems. The trick is to find the right tightness.

All in all a great machine.

[Reloading for a 16 inch barrel AR -10]

I reload .308 for my M1As and FAL for general range use. I usually go with 150 gr Hornady bullets and about 45.5 grs of BL-C(2).

I just recently picked up a Sig Sauer 716 Patrol AR-10 type carbine with a 16 inch barrel.

I will probably continue to still use 150 gr bullets since I have a lot of them on hand.

For those of you that experience loading for an AR-10 does the 16 barrel present any unique issues? Do I need a faster burning powder than the BL-C(2) like maybe CFE 223 or H-335? You can use them both for .223 and .308.

I am worrying about the velocity out of a 16 inch barrel. It kinds of defeats the purpose of having a more hard hitting .308 over a .223 if the velocity is going to be low.

Any words of wisdom from anybody that loads .308 for an AR-10?

[650 vs 1050 to gradually automate]

I don't reload enough in a year to warrant a 1050 but I got one anyhow.

It makes reloading my .223 fast and easy.

I like to do reloading in batches of a couple of thousand every few months and the 1050 does it right.

I wouldn't worry about the warranty. That should not be a deal breaker. The machine is sturdy and well made and if you occasionally have to replace a part it is not going to break the bank. I had a couple of parts that needed replacing after the warranty ended and Dillon didn't charge me when I explained what happen.

If you can afford one pull the trigger on it and you won't regret it.

[Dillon 1050 tool head stands]

A 1" piece of PVC epoxied to a piece of wood, a 1" PVC coupler and then another short piece of 1" PVC will give you a usable stand for less than a dollar.

[Had my first primer detonation]

I had one a couple of years ago on my 1050. Scared the crap out of me but did no real damage.

[1050 Shell Plate Roller Bearing]

I bought the roller bearing kit a month or so ago and just today go around to roloading some .223 with powder. Before today I was doing some case prep but not loading powder.

Before using the roller bearing I had significant powder spillage.

Today I saw absolutely no powder spillage.

The roller bearing really worked.

Thanks for the suggestion!

[Busted Spring on 1050]

^{Dillon does seem to be shipping small parts quickly. Springs got here in about a week so I am back in business. With spares.}

I ordered some small parts for my 1050 on Wednesday and got them on Friday.

[DILLON 550B OPERATION.]

The 550B will only wet your appetite for a Super 1050. Trust me, I speak from experience.

However, in the meantime enjoy your 550. It is great progressive reloader. You did good.

Think about getting a case feeder for your pistol calibers. That will greatly speed up your operation.

[What's the best bullet puller?]

I have tried on several occasions to use a collet type and I just can not seem to get to work! For pistol caliber's I use a kinetic bullet puller and for rifle calibers I use my press and a pair of side cuts! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

You use the upward stroke of the press to bring the cartridge in contact with the collet. Ease your bullet into the collet and then tighten down on the bullet. Then use the downward stroke of the press to pull the case away from the bullet that is locked into the collet. After the bullet is pull loosen the collet and the bullet should fall out. Easy.

After you get the hang of it you should be able to do 8-10 per minute.

[1050 Shell Plate Roller Bearing]

The instructions from the kit said to make the locking ring tighter than normal and that there should be a slight resistance on the upward stoke of the handle.

For you people that have installed the bearing does this sound correct?

[1050 Shell Plate Roller Bearing]

I just bought the kit.

The instructions says to pack the bearing with grease. Do they mean both sides or just the top side?

[1050 Shell Plate Roller Bearing]

Could somebody post a couple of pictures of how it is installed on the 1050?

[My super cheap 1050 tool head stand]

I understand there are much better tool head stands to be made. I put this together quickly and cheaply. It didn't even cost a dollar. I'll make a better one later.

Surprisingly the JB wield has held up. I did let it cure for 24 hours

[My super cheap 1050 tool head stand]

An old board laying around in the garage. Looks like it came off of a wine crate.

Some one inch PVC pipe.

A 1 inch PVC pipe coupler.

A little bit of J-B Wield to epoxy the PVC to the board.

It ain't pretty but it works and didn't cut into the beer money.

http://images.photo2.walgreens.com/232323232%7Ffp537%3A%3B%3Enu%3D325%3A%3E2%3B5%3E2%3A9%3EWSNRCG%3D3%3A93963%3B94328nu0mrj

http://images.photo2.walgreens.com/232323232%7Ffp53889%3Enu%3D325%3A%3E2%3B5%3E2%3A9%3EWSNRCG%3D3%3A93963%3B93328nu0mrj

[Popped primer on my 1050]

I have crushed primers. I have seated sideways primers. I have seated two primers and "mated" them together in the primer pocket, but I have NEVER had a primer go off. I also have never "felt" a primer on any of my 1050s--even JUST seating a primer.

How fast were you processing? It takes an IMPACT, or it is supposed to, to set off a primer.

You can feel them if the only thing you are doing on the machine is priming. At least I thought I could. I was 6/7 right.

I could feel the resistance as the primer was being forced into the unswaged pocket. Since I knew there might be a few and I could feel them I did the dumb thing and didn't swage them.

I had a bunch of brass that I had prepped long ago before I got the 1050. I wanted to prime the brass and store it away for some future loading.

I only posted my mistake so as to give other people the benefit of my lesson learned. Maybe I am the only person in the entire US to be stupid enough to do it.

No damage was done to the machine but it was not a good thing.

[Popped primer on my 1050]

I don't get it. You were priming brass that you knew had crimps, on a machine with a built-in swager, but chose not to use it?

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express

Lesson learned: Use the machine for it was designed for.

I could feel when the primer was hard to go in. Six out of seven ain't bad, is it?

[Popped primer on my 1050]

Well I finally joined the "popped primer club".

I was priming a few hundred rounds of .223 LC brass. I was only doing priming. I knew that about 1% of them were crimped. I didn't set up my swaging station because I felt I could feel which ones were hard to seat and stop it before forcing the primer too much.

I was successful for six of them but the seventh blew on me.

I don't want to experience that again.

No damage done but my ears are still ringing. It scared the crap out of me. My wife chewed my butt for being an idiot.

I will use the swager from now on.

Lesson learned

[powder hopper]

I think if it is in an AC controlled environment it would be fine for a few days. Putting a plastic bag over the top with a rubber band wouldn't hurt.

[DILLON ON EBAY!?]

I got a 1050 back in December so I recently put my Dillon 550B and a Dillon trimmer up for sale on the ARFCOM EE.

Because I wasn't that anxious to sell it I asked only a few dollars less than a new press and trimmer.

Nobody even responded to me, which was fine.

[1050 Anyone know what size]

It is 15/16ths.

Lowes has an extension socket head that fits on a 3/4th socket that works great and it is only a few dollars. A 15/16ths wrench is kinda of expensive by its self.

[Turn around time on recent orders of presses]

Shipped today. I canceled my cyanide capsule order. And my wife also reports that I seem happier today...

Darn! I was hoping to score with a widow with a NIB XL650.