gatnfans

Just ordered 17#'s. Im done for awhile

Just a note if anyone has not tried this but after I wet tumble I put the brass in a cheap dehydrator for about 30-45 min and they are dry as a bone. I have two that I bought from wally world for $25 each and can dry 500 .308 rounds at a time. Only drawback is 9mm and .223 can fall between the trays to the bottom in the models that I have. But not enough of a hassle for me to change processes.

Dosent that defeat the purpose of the vacuum?

If the OP said its not convenient to transport tool heads back and forth why would taking the whole press be any better +1 for plan B

Just spitballing here but if the shell plate was not tight would that not affect all stations in a similar manor? If I am interpreting the op correctly its only station 2 thats affected.

I will sometimes load up to 1,000 9mm at a time, but my solution was to get a whole bunch of primer pickup tubes and comfortably sit at my kitchen table filling them all while sipping some coffee. Then I can just keep the reloading groove going without the interruption of filling up tubes, regardless of the method. That's what is most important to me, not having to stop. +1 +1

If you feel you need to do something put it in your dry media tumbler that has some brass polish (whatever you use) for 30 min or so and it will be fine. I wet tumble and don't see the need though.

I load on a 550 and have some IMR 4756 which is extruded and I use to make 9 minor. Do those of you that load extruded (if any) for handgun individually weigh? I only have it because I could not find any other at the time. I do check the measure about every 25 rounds because you hear the measure cutting the powder and grinding and I just want to make sure.

Nope either package is what you will need. Only suggestion I have if you know which components you will be using (really can obtain) get a couple of manuals for reference and bookmark handloads.com and others for reference. Oh and read a lot on this stuff. Welcome to the family.

Simple and inexpensive is great but if you are picking up brass you did not shoot you may get more brass that needs to be swedged. I would suggest that you spend just a bit more and get something that you can do mass qty's. Weather that is on press or off us up to you and your budget. A lot of advise on this forum on swedgeing. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

I'm a nubie but can you explain where they were only 7 fps apart? I'm just now getting a handle on what the chrono is telling me and this post kind of confused me. Sorry for the dumb question.

Thanks for the suggestion. What size is it folded up? Compact for me is carrying it with the chrono stuff and all shooting stuff to the indoor range. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

I have a ProChrono and I'm looking for a good tripod that meet a couple of requirements or is twice the price of the chrono. My problem is that I am 6'4' so it needs to extend to a comfortable standing height but also get low enough for bench shooting. The couple that I have found local don't fit the size requirements until I get above the $150 mark. Also they look pretty unstable at full height. Also I want it as compact as possible and that has ruled out several. Just wondering what you guys are using.

Thanks, thats was the direction I was leaning and I have processed all 1k to the same spec. When you say "load and leave them during short drills" do you mean load them once and discard? RT, my Hornady match primers were not crimped. Does your brass have the NATO stamp? Mine does not but I bought it loaded to get some base line on their production ammo.

Hey guys, I would like your input on how to use these different head stamps. I have about 1k total for these stamps and want to know if you have had any particular luck/disappointment with any individual head stamp. Also I was doing some research on casings and want to know what is the difference in the performance of the case between NATO and match. I will be using these for hunting and plinking. Is there one you would not use for hunting because of diminished accuracy? I did the research on where the stamps are from and found good/bad reviews on just about all of them. Thanks in advance for your input. Here is the list of stamps. All of these are NATO LC, WCC, CBC, SBS, PSD, TAA, PMJ, RA, WRA These are not NATO Hornady Match, FC, Barnes

The only problem that I have had is the decapping pin on my Dillon .40 die was deformed. I don't know if Dillon makes these or has an outside vendor do it but I had two of them replaced and when I called Dillon the gentleman went to the bin they were in and he found several that were deformed. No big deal just time waiting on new part. Other than that I have had no issues and I bought in the last year.

If you have to ask its to much

I second what "Dirty Rod" said that its they are complicated machines and they don't have the experience. Myself being a newbie (less than a year) into reloading I can attest to the machine not working "like it should". Not having a mentor thats close that I can lean on and just by getting my experience through trial and error has caused a few problems with the press. Now granted they were easy fixes and Dillon has been great with their service but they still do exist. I believe ego comes into play when folks post problems with their press and say they loaded "x" number of rounds without cause. This maybe true to some point but we all like to think were doing it correct until something goes wrong. Come to find out that the machine/accessories were compensating for inaccurate procedure or technique until they gave out. I'm guilty! I always look at the company and seeing Dillon replace a few items because of my doing says a lot about the product, not just the company but the product. Just my observation.

With this statement than only buying 4K primers does not make any sense. I don't know if you can swing this type primer buy but I would spend the $$ on the as much powder the you can. Realize on 1 hazmat charge you can only ship 80# per fee. Thats primer and powder together if you choose. With only loading 9mm you have it easy in your buying qty.

Sorry to sound stupid, I am at work and was looking at the schematic online and can't find the "crank pin". Do you know an item #?

What updated crank pin on a 550?

I have been loading for less than a year so I have been in just your spot not long ago. Even though the SD was not one of my options (550/650) I emailed with Brian extensively about the two. As he has stated many times in other threads he always recommends the 550 for newbies. If you have not taken a course on metallic reloading I urge you to do so unless you have a mentor that will spend the time with you. I purchased my 550 before my class and ended up buying a single stage for my 308 for better understanding of precision rounds for my bolt guns. That being said if you have multiple calibers and rifle to load your really only choice is the 550 unless you do the SD and a single station. If you only load 1 caliber and only buy the absolute bare minimum to load you will be at $800 and that is buying non Dillion items to get you to the bare minimum to be able to load. It comes down to if you don't load rifle now and want to stay below the $800 threshold than get the SD and look at either buying a 550/650 down the road for both cartridges or getting the 550 now and building on that platform for the future. I do highly recommend a single stage press though to learn on before going into a progressive. A lot of folks suggest that and I am very type A and a mechanic so my thought process is I can handle the progressive just fine. In retrospect I did handle the progressive ok but if it was not for the single stage (even loading some pistol) I don't think my loads to this date would be as accurate as they are. There is so much going on when that handle is pulled that you can miss just about anything. With a single stage you have to physically handle every step of the process and you see the do's and don'ts very quickly before you get into trouble. As stated by Hi Power Jack you MUST buy a chrono! That was not specifically instilled in me at first but quickly found out that no reloader should be doing this starting out without one. This is just my experiences and I hope you found value in them.

Yesterday I loaded 100 rds of .223 on my casefeeder equipped 550, and am headed out to the garage to load more. Sizing and de-priming is done on my single stage press, then over to the Super Swage. After that, into the 550 case hopper. Slight modifications to the machine will allow the casefeeder to work. Can you post pictures of the mod? With the mod does it still feed pistol cases?

Lets hope it never lets you down like the politician will. Oh, thats right we actually care for our weapons

I have a 550 and was having the same problem and used a Hornady Sure-Loc die locking ring on the trim die and tightened it as tight as I could before stripping the allen screw. Then I used the locking nut that came with the trimmer to lock it to the die and since then I have not had a problem. I marked the locking nut and trimmer with a sharpie so I can see if the trimmer has moved when I am trimming my brass. As for the trim lengths my first thoughts is are you using the same pressure/speed/consistency during the trimming phase. I know if I get in a rush sometimes I don't bottom out the shell plate and I can get a longer case.