808win

It's still hard to see past the neck unless you press is mounted pretty low and you lean over to look. I have both the skylight and LEDs on the side and I can barely see the powder and I have to really look. For 223 my load comes up to the shoulder so I'm primarily looking to make sure that I can see something and that powder is not overflowing which would be obvious with my load. Thanks Dirty Rod. I read a comment from someone else that the Skylight didn't help him see his .223 Remington powder charges either. Unfortunately for me, my bench is rather high and my press in mounted on a Strong Mount exacerbating the viewing angle problem. The Skylight probably works great for larger mouth rifle cases and most pistol cases. I saw a forum thread where someone rigged a small video camera hooked to a video monitor to view his powder charges. Maybe I'll consider that if I find myself with extra money not better spent on something else.

What caliber(s)? Are you planning on gauging every round?

CCI specifically manufactures and sells CCI No, 41 "military" rifle primers for use with "military-style semi-automatic rifles". Here's what they say on their website: http://www.cci-ammunition.com/products/primers/primers.aspx?id=30 Curious if anyone has experienced a AR-15 "slam-fire" with properly reloaded ammunition used in a properly functioning/maintained rifle when using "standard" small rifle primers?

Can someone using a Skylight with a 550b let me know if it's lights the inside of a .223 Remington case sufficiently to allow you to visually check the powder charge? Thanks.

That's awesome Tom. Here's a Giraud "hard" at work.

The Giraud Tool Company cartridge case annealer, which I think is a great design and I wish I owned, reportedly has an in-flame cycle time of 6 to 9 seconds, so similar to the one in the YouTube video I posted. Admittedly, a big advantage is it's automated case feed and quality construction. jmorris, I noticed your annealer has a significantly shorter cycle time. I like the way you adapted a Dillon casefeeder to your annealer. Most "turntable" style annealers I've seen require hand feeding cases. Wow, 9 pages in your CB forum thread with many compliments.

The operating handle is at rest in the up position, you index the index sprocket and "hear a small (tink)". Possibly the "small (tink)" is a primer dropping from the primer magazine flexible orifice large (#14003) onto the primer slide assembly large (#14281) at that time. The flexible orifice "looked ok". I may have misinterpreted something you described. You may want to check that the flexible orifice is properly/fully seated into the primer housing and shield (#20263) and that the primer shield cap (#13957) is properly secured. You may also want to check that the primer feed stop pin (#14051) and primer feed stop spring (#13979) are clean and not worn, and the primer feed stop spring screw (#13964) is secure. Refer to the Dillon Precision Products, Inc. (Dillon) instruction manual and verify any corrective action with a Dillon representative.

Thanks. I was going to refer you to the following thread, but you said that it's happening on your LNL too. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=161319

So your problem was solved by cleaning and lubing?

At what point (station/die) does the damage to the case mouth occur? 1. At belling/powder drop? 2. At bullet seating? 3. At crimping?

So this is happening at your powder dispensing station?

Which station/die is this happening at? What kind of bullets are those?

Came across this clever homemade annealer. Has anyone tried to make one of these?

Also, try Google "dillon die not depriming" or "dillon 650 not depriming".

Don't know if this thread will help: http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=157763

jnr88, need more information. Do you mean that the decapping pin is missing the flash hole, hitting the inside of the case instead?

Bulged brass? What resizing die are you using?

Smokecloud, as I understand it, Lee FCD dies for bottleneck cartridges such as the .223 Remington (unlike the Lee Carbide FCD dies available for a limited number of straight wall cases) only crimp the bullet in place and do not size the body of the case.

You probably saw this already. Not the one you're looking for. It's titled "RL550B Auto Casefeeder & 300BLK" but contains some references to .223 Remington. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=157578

Came across this YouTube video recently. You might be able to contact him via the comment section.

Came across this YouTube video recently. You might be able to contact him via the comment section.

jayjay1, please note that bigedp51 said that his "Hornady gauge read minus .011 when I measured the Colt colt gauge". In other words, he determined that his Hornady gauge was off by 0.011" and "calibrated" it by using his Colt field gauge as a "calibration standard". I'm highlighting, not challenging something bigedp51 said in his post. A case gauge, as I mentioned in my earlier post, can allow one to quickly check the case head face to shoulder datum dimension relative to the minimum and maximum dimensions. If you need to know the specific dimension, then you may need to use one of the caliper based tools such as the Hornady Lock-N-Load Headspace Kit or Sinclair Bump Gage, micrometer style tools such as the RCBS Precision Mic or Pacific Tool & Gauge SAMMI / Benchrest Case Gauge, or dial indicator style tools such as the Redding Instant Indicator Headspace and Bullet Comparator or Innovative Technologies Digital Headspace Gauge, etc. I can not attest to the accuracy of these tools. Note: Again, check with the gauge or tool manufacturer to verify that their gauge or tool does specifically what you want it to do. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions.

By "shoulder height", is the “earlier reloader” referring the dimension from the face of the case head to the case shoulder datum at a diameter of 0.330” for a .223 Remington case? The SAAMI (Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute, Inc.) specification for this measurement is 1.4666-.0070 inches. Refer to the SAAMI cartridge drawing for the .223 Remington. YouTube has several videos of individuals demonstrating the use of a .223 Remington case gauge or case gage to check this dimension relative to minimum and maximum dimensions. Case gauges are manufactured by Dillon Precision, L.E. Wilson, Evolution Gun Works, JP Enterprises and others. Note: Not all case gauges check the case body diameters. Check with the gauge manufacturer to verify that their gauge does specifically what you want it to do. Note: If the case shoulder was setback too far, it could create a undesirable condition known as “excessive headspace” that may result in a dangerous event known as “case head separation” when fired in a gun.

GSI says that the vacuum port "will not work with the Dillon dies at the present time", however, they are "designing a ported toolhead that will work for the other dies".

I agree with Steve RA's suggestion above. Just curious, what is the primer pocket depth of the FC cases? What are you using to measure the depth? A depth micrometer would probably give you a more accurate measurement than a caliper. According to a SAAMI drawing I saw, the primer height specification includes the "proud" anvil. What's interesting is the 0.115" - 0.125" primer height specification and the 0.117" - 0.123" primer pocket depth specification. What happens if you get a primer at the higher end of the specification and a primer pocket at the lower end of the specification? Still have to take into consideration that the primer height specification includes the "proud" anvil before the primer is seated. I think I'll research what depth primer pocket uniformers cut the pockets to.