Trekkie

Hi - I've had my XL650 for a few months, and haven't had a ton of time to work it. So consider it 'still new'. This is my 'third round' of ammunition through it. I am loading .223 from used brass that I've shot once from factory loaded ammo I purchased, usually American Eagle in the black box in lots of 100. I am having what i think is a larger than normal 'failure' of the primer into the primer pocket and looking for advice. If I do a 'batch' of ammo, out of about 150 rounds, maybe 20 have some time of primer issue. The primer either is missing/fails to seat when the ammo gets through the press, or in more rarer cases it's in the pocket, but either at a horrible angle, or in a few instances just 'not in all the way'. I can usually tell when this happens, as there is a rather 'crunch' feeling when I push the press handle back to seat the primer. In most cases the kinetic hammer will dislodge everything correctly. There are a couple pieces of brass I'm not sure what to do in that the brass is empty and the primer is goofed up somehow, and not sure what the best way to remove the primer is. I'm wondering if anyone has some tips on what I am doing incorrectly here. I am trying to decide if it's a 'how I put the primer in the tube' issue, or something else. What path should I take? Thanks.

Cool, so the 'limited' + my taran tactical extension would work for what I want to do ? nice. Thanks

Hi - I have a CORE M&P pistol in .40 and I'm looking for a Magazine Well. I am new to the competitive side and have gotten some TT magazine extenders and would like to get a magwell to put on my handgun as well. My challenge is either my google-fu is week, or finding a Maxwell online is hard. Add to that when I do find them, there seems to be what to my eye from the picture 'look identical' yet one says 'IDPA Box' and one says 'Limited 10'. I'm not doing IDPA or USPA type shooting, just local range competition. I don't know if I'll ever do the IDPA/USPA but the gun I'm putting this on is optic enabled so if I understand it right that would be 'open' class gun. So if it could later be used in an 'open' class at the official guys that'd be nice, but I don't have any plans to do that. I've sent emails to a couple shooting vendors asking 'what's the difference' and 'do you have one that fits M&P?' but haven't gotten a response so I thought I'd ask here and see if I could get some feedback.

8208 XBR is what I can find. Since I'm a bit of a newbie what are the full names of those powders so I can go look for them?

Yeah thanks I don't plan on being to aggressive. That's the reason I use it, I can find it. I made the mistake of buying the press and then going 'oh lets get some powder' only to be totally blown away with how hard it is to find. The 8208 was the only thing I found so far. I *just* got two pounds of titegroup. I bought my press in April... It mocked me for about three months in my garage. So it's pretty exciting to be doing something finally.

Thanks for the data. I changed my OAL and going to shoot some off today. I wanted to fix the OAL before I changed the charge size, made about 30 - 40 rounds and going to shoot them and see if the OAL makes much difference. baby steps

Thanks for all the feedback. I have lots to play with now, will make some more Friday evening and give it another go and post my results, hopefully with all 10 fingers too Slowly getting that confidence. It's pretty easy & very formulaic so I don't know why i'm a little anxious heh. I did manage to score some titegroup locally so I can finally give a pistol round a go! :toot:

OK. Thanks. I appreciate the information with all it's disclaimers I hate how we have to do that these days but understand completely. I feel a bit mad scientist-y doing this. I think I'll re-test with my chrono closer and then work with that data first.

Oh and the reason I chose 25 yards as it was the first time shooting through a chrono and I didn't want to blow it away. I was a bit anxious with all the 'firsts' there

Sorry I forgot to include my averages. Vel Average 2239.3125 Power Avg 123.16 Ft/Lbs Avg 612.795 So maybe my first change should be to change my OAL down to 2.18? I could see a large portion of the 'hash mark' on the bullet indicating seating depth so maybe I'm 'under' pressure? What primers do you recommend for AR15? I'm relatively new to this and didn't read anything that indicated that there would be a 'better' primer and just bought what was available on the shelf. Thanks

I should have clarified my goals For this, it's basically 'stuff to shoot'. I thought my speed was too slow because I compared it to federal .223 and it was doing 2700 so I thought I could add some more to make it like it was when I first shoot. So practice rounds, no competition stuff yet.

I'm using CCI small rifle primers. If I remember my abbreviations right my COAL is 2.260 which is what I got out of the lyman book. I was using my only AR-15 which is a S&W M&P Sport, it has a 16" Barrel and a 1:9 Twist.

OK. So after probably close to four months of anxiety, reading, laziness, 'it's too hot outside to work on the bench' isms after getting my Dillon 650 I finally sat down and worked all the kinks out and got my first 20 bullets of .223 loaded with 8208 XBR. I started with X-Treme Bullets 55 Grain FMJ and based on the limited data http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle?&CartridgeName=223+Remington&OrderBW%5B%5D=55&Manufacturer%5B%5D=All&Powder%5B%5D=IMR+8208+XBR had I started with the lowest number of 21.5 Grains. I only managed to crush one .223 brass while setting up the dies (the crimp die oops) and with no primer explosions even though I put them in upside down (sigh) and had to take it all apart to get them out of there I finally got the rounds loaded and looking good on everything I could measure with. I took them out to the range yesterday and fired them through my chrono. I accomplished the three important things. They Didn't Explode, I didn't shoot my Chrono (it was at 25 yards) and I didn't shoot the light stand I bought for my camera gear that cost more than the chrono. This is the data I got. My question is, other than 'knowing' from other sources that I should use more powder, is there some kind of math you would do to decide what grain to go to next to get up to the 2700 FPS range? I have the Lyman manual and the 'ABC's of Reloading' book and I read those once but I don't remember seeing that. Is it trial and error? if so, what's a decent number to increase your load by ? I checked all the fired brass and they looked no different from the production brass I also fired after for comparison. The primers were dented and not blown back flat, there was no splits/cracks on the re-fired brass. My brass was once fired by me in the same rifle and picked up and cleaned & re-used. Thanks for any comments.

I just started. I've yet to find pistol powder, I ordered some and it didn't end up shipping, so I'm on a wait list. I did find some rifle powder at a Bass Pro for .223, so i'm going to reload that instead while I wait for pistol powder. Primers were in stock at my local Bass Pro so I got those there. Bullets I found at Xtreme, FMJ .223. The brass is my once fired stuff I've been saving for months.

Oh right now, I'm just reloading to practice. One day I'd like to try three gun but I'm relatively new to shooting, it's something I've wanted to do for ages but finally started.

Yes. I have a bullet puller. Have several books. I've gotten the ABCs of reloading, and the lyman manual. Went ahead and got the dillon press DVD too. Followed its setup and test fit 10 .223 brass through it and put them through the sizing die. Fit flush surprisingly enough. That's it so far, still reading and waiting on the chrono and the bullets to get here.

Hi - I recently purchased my new press and am starting with reloading. I'm going to reload the .223 Rifle and .40 to start as that are the guns I own. In my probably childish exuberance while I was awaiting the arrival and decided that maybe I wanted things to get here so I could start playing. So I ordered some of these bullets: Xtreme RNFP HPCB 180 Grain (would link but can't, i'm too new) And I have some Titegroup on the way. I'd read several places that it was a decent powder to go with. Of course I'm having 'second thoughts' but I think I'll be ok for basic target rounds I have a bunch of Winchester and Remington brass that I once fired myself in my gun. I have a Lyman manual, and I'm having a hard time figuring out what I want to do. So I was hoping for some tips. I used the Hodgdon tool for that and there are two load options listed. I've asked on another forum and based on the Berry data that should be a good point for Xtreme bullets. I just wanted to see fi anyone had some suggestions. I'm still waiting on UPS to deliver my toys, but was hoping to understand where to star. Thanks.

Thanks for that picture. I spent twenty minutes trying to figure what holes line up

I'm a member over at Frontline Defense. I'm new to the shoot guns hobby, actually started beginning of the year. Its something I've wanted to do for years but never bothered. Co-worker took me to Frontline back in January and I've been blowing money on stuff ever since First AR-15 in February, Conceal Carry License by March + Pistol, Shotgun last month, a friend who's been reloading for years convinced me that it was worth it so, here I am waiting on delivery of my first order

I live outside of Raleigh in Wake Forest.

New to things. I just started enjoying the sport of shooting things that go bang beginning of the year, and got hooked. Have spent the last four months obsession about should I reload or not, and finally took the plunge and ordered this morning something from Brian. Looking forward to all the parts showing up in a while