Jimk60
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Posts posted by Jimk60
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I do not have an MBF, I have what was known as the DIY bullet feeder, no longer available due to cease and desist order on possible patent infringement from AA. Hobbyist didn't have financial means to fight in court.
Having said that, I load both plated, lead tumbled in lube and lead with lube ring.
I use the bullet feeder for all plated.
For the lead tumble lube, I use a rotating tube bullet feeder designed to fit on my Hornady bullet drop.
For the lead with a lube ring, I use the Hornady metal tube designed for their bullet drop dies.
Why do I do this rather than place each lead bullet? Easy, I can load my tubes (4 on the rotating one, 3 separate ones for the individual), clean my hands, and not touch a lead bullet for up to 100 rounds.
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A question, why are you lubing your pistol cases?
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I had this happen once. The cause of my problem was the case feed arm return spring had broken, and the 2 pieces were binding up inside the return spring hole. That kept the case feed arm from moving far enough to drop the case.
Check the spring. Ya just never know.
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I've sold all my Dillon tool heads and replaced with billet, so I can't show any pics.
But I received my press used (about a year old at the time) with 3 Dillon tool heads.
I purchased a 4th tool head and notice they were different. Dillon had beefed up the tongue on the new head, it was a little thicker, plus it had a bevel to aid in insertion. This may have been an attempt on their part to to reduce the toolhead movement.
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Original question was what recipe do you use, not should I wet clean.
I don't understand the mix of Dawn and Wash and wax. The logical side of me says this won't really work. Dawn strips everything from the metal. Most car detailers will wash a car with Dawn to strip all wax and dirt prior to a good polish and wax, or just a good wax. So mixing the 2 just doesn't make sense TOO ME. YMMV.
I have a home made tumbler that holds 1.5 gallons. 10 lb pins, plus 8 lbs brass works best.
2 Tbs Armor Wall Wash and Wax with Carnuba, 1/4 Tsp Lemishine, pins, brass, and fill with water. Tumble 2 to 3 hours depending on how dirty, Usually 3 hours for .45 ACP because the powder leaves a lot of residue. Less time for 40 and 9mm.
If you opt for the car wash, make sure it is a wash and WAX product rather than wash and clean, or wash and shine, or you will get little benefit.
With the Wash and Wax you get better lubricity when sizing and belling pistol cases. Plus they will resist tarnishing for a very long time. I have some 40 cases I cleaned 4 years ago that look like they were cleaned yesterday.
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Check their website, they should have that info.
Their magwell is listed as legal for single stack 1911,s. but I am not sure about double stacks.
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Have 650, case feeder and bullet feeder. 1050 not in my future, so have to work with whats available.
As far as amount of effort to pull the handle, I have 3 comments:
1. Inline Ergo Handle. In fact, when I pull it in the down stroke, About halfway through the stroke, I will add my left hand to the equation, not because of added strength, but because of the additional control force, it makes the stroke smoother.
2. On the upstroke, you pause slightly just before seating the primer. Then an even push to seat. I can easily recognize issues. Such as seating a primer in a crimped case, or a primer seated sideways. This is all through experience and feel.
3. I wet needle clean all my brass. If you follow the standard recipe for cleaning, Dawn, Lemishine, water and needles, you end up with brass that screams for lube to reduce the amount of resistance required to go through the 650 process. I have changed my recipe to Armor All Wash and Wax with Carnuba, Lemishine, water and needles. The Wash and Wax leaves a hard slick surface inside and out. Makes sizing, belling, and using the FCD much easier. A side effect of the W&W is that the brass is super shiny, and will not tarnish. I am using brass I cleaned 2 years ago that looks like I cleaned it yesterday.
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Currently on gun broker:
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Steve RA, I have the same tumbler, only it says RCBS.
Lots of info here. I currently have enough brass to last a while, so I wont need to clean any for a while.
I have been wet tumbling in a Big Dawg design tumbler that I built myself. As far as I know, the original post from Big Dawg on his design is till up and available, and includes a list of all parts and some links to buy.
I can tumble 8 lbs of brass at a time. That's also about as much as my dehydrator holds when I dry them.
The standard for cleaning with pins is to use Dawn along with Lemishine. Dawn strips ALL oils from the brass, leaving shiny, clean brass. The downside is that you have to lube the straight wall cases, or suffer sticking problems in the sizing die, AND the expanding powder funnel. Some have started spray lubing their cases to ease this problem, but there is still an issue with the powder funnel.
I have started using Armor-All Wash and Wax with Carnuba instead of Dawn, along with the Lemishine. I tried other products, both listed as Wash and Clean, and Wash and Wax, and the Armor-All worked the best for me.
The benefit of using of the A-A product is twofold. First it puts a shiny hard surface on the brass and significantly eases the effort required in re-sizing and belling at the powder funnel.. Second, the wax coating leaves the brass very shiny for a very long time. It will maintain that shine and lubricity, and will not tarnish over time.
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Just received the current issue of FrontSight magazine, the official publication of USPSA.
They had articles on the 2016 Revolver nationals, and the 2016 Single Stack Nationals.
They include a lot of statistics that were pretty amazing,
In Revolver class, 82% of reloaders used Dillon, 27% 550, 23% 650, 21% 1050, and 11% SQD.
In the Single Stack class, a whopping 90% of reloaders used Dillon. 38% 650, 24% 1050, 24% 550, and 6% SQD.
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I have 5 of these from Tom Sziler at CNCshooter
Excellent quality, non anodized. They have a raised portion to provide a platform to allow easy tightening of the die nut.
He will also engrave any caliber you want, or leave blank.
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You need the XL650 manual from Dillon from here.
The online manual will contain all the info you need to set up your machine, and/or determine what parts are missing.
Since you seem to have a large number of conversion parts, I have also attached an Excel spreadsheet that contains a cross reference list of all conversion parts for all DIllon machines.
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I do not now the owners, I have purchased a few things from them that were delivered in a timely manner.
Keep in mind this is small, family run business. The are dependent on some suppliers for the parts they sell.
Also, they are in Mid-Southern Illinois. The term "Sooner or Later' is short hand for "I'm doing the best I can, and will get it too you as soon as possible'.
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Plus 1 on the Lee die sets, the Lee FCD is worth its weight in gold. Solved chambering problems for me.
Check out the parts available for the 650 from In Line Fabrication
Highly recommend their Ergo handle.
I have the Dillon Riser, but all reports are that the InLine is better. Your press may not fit on your bench, if mounted directly, depending on how your bench is constructed. For that reason you may need the press mount.
The LED light is a must.
The Mr. Bullet feeder is expensive. There are gravity feed options from Lee and Hornady are good. The Bully Adapter allows the Lee feeder to be used with a hornady feed die.
You can check out Bully Adapter for options.
I use the gravity feeder for lubed lead bullets. They don't work well in my DIY feeder.
I also highly recommend Billet tool heads from Tom Sziler, Join the Dillon Reloaders - The Blue Group and search for Tom. His billet toolheads are $25 for a 550 and $30 for a 650. There are other billet heads out there, but I don't think any of them are equal to Tom's. I have 5. He will also engrave the front with the caliber, or leave blank.
Wet needle cleaning is the only way to go. it can be a lot of work if you have a small tumbler and a large amount of brass as Sarge did. I have cleaned over 25K cases in the last 2 years. I use Wash and Wax with Carnuba instead of dish soap. For pistol cases it leaves a slick surface, and I never have to lube the ultra clean cases. I have tried other Wash and Wax's without Carnuba, and they did not work as well. I have cases I cleaned 2 years ago that look like they were cleaned yesterday.
Always remember, ask 10 reloader's a question, and you will get 11 different answers!
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Check out this article from Brownell's Bench Talk. Go to the part where they talk about sear spring prep, and how to adjust the spring to improve trigger pull weight.
This not only worked on my Bullseye gun to bring it down to a consistent 3.5 lbs, but also 2 different 1911-22's, which are also now set at 3.5 lbs.
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Have you tried firing the CCI that had the light strike? Didi they fire? Then you are not seating at the full depth.
Pull the handle forward, raising the shell plat and cases into the dies. Push the handle forward to owers the shell plate.
I continue to the point where the shell plate rotates, slightly pause to allow the shell pate to complete rotation, the give a firm push on the handle to seat the primer.
The more you use this process, the more "feel" you will have for the primer being seated. Primers that don't feel right will be very evident.
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I feel like I can sell processed/300 blackout brass for more cash and the press would pay for itself.
Good luck, the market is in the crapper. Ive got ~70k pieces of 556 brass sitting because its not worth my time for the measly money I would make. Guys are selling converted 300blk for ~100 per thousand for mixed. ~130 for all LC brass is also about the going rate right now. I end up with about 4 hours total work into each 1000(pre clean tumble, process, post clean tumble, bag up, ship out) and from the other guys I talk to that do it 3-4 hours per thousand is about average.
Ive been selling for 2 years now and still havent broken even on my initial investment from a pure 300blk perspective. I sell more processed 556 brass than 300blk brass in the past year.
That is a very valid point. Unless you can get the brass extremely cheap or free, the time it takes to process is going to work out netting you a few bucks an hour. You'd be better off getting a part time job at McDonald's. .
Also depends on what you would be doing if NOT cleaning sorting etc. If you would be sitting in front of the TV or a computer screen, both of which cost and don't produce revenue, then, hey, something productive is worth it.
How do you clean your brass? Wet needle clean? Get one of the home made or make your own, A double, with 2 6 or 8 inch PVC tumblers, You might increase your output by 50%. Do you package by weight + a handful? I packaged over 10K 9mm in about an hour. Don't give up, work smarter.
But you are right, the market is pretty saturated with sellers. The ones I see on Facebook are pretty aggressive with specials, free shipping, etc.
$.02
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Started to read this thread and realized everyone has some differences/preferences.
I load 4 pistol calibers.
For 9, 40, and 45 I use Dillon for sizing and seating. I don't care for the Dillon seating dies, they are to hard to adjust accurately. I will change them out someday, just not now.
I use Hornady bullet feeder dies with my DIY bullet feeder.
The last die in all my sets is the Lee FCD. This is a crimp only die with a carbide sizing ring to make sure the entire loaded round is within diameter specs.
For .380, I use all Lee dies(purchased used for $13), plus the Hornady bullet feed.
If I didn't already have the Dillon does, I would have probably gone with a Lee. They are outstanding dies at a reasonable price, plus for a small fee they will make custom bullet feeding stems for any bullet shape.
I also have a tool head with a Lee universal de-primeing die only. I deprime all of my brass prior to cleaning. Yes I have to occasionally clean my bullet feeder and tube, but it works for me.
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I got a Dillon 650 about a month ago. I purchased the primer upgrades immediately, they actually arrived before the Dillon did to I've never used the press without them.
What "primer upgrades" are those ?
Look on ebay, also look up the ball upgrade under the shell plate. Don't waste your money on the bearing for the shell plate in really doesn't work well.
While the bearing ON the shell plate does not stop the jerk, it does reduce it. One other thing the bearing does is to allow you to tighten down the shell plat more than you can without it. This reduces shell plat flex when sizing, seating, crimping etc.
Oh and OP, I loaded close to 10K rounds in the 3 years I've had my 650. Friday I forgot to replace the spring clip on the pickup tube before loading the with primers. So don't feel like the Lone Ranger.
Spent primer attachment a must. I use a home made one ( 650 tips and tricks for ideas), that drops the spent primer down plastic tubing into a jar under my bench.
Upside down cases and bullets from the MBF are mostly caused by excessive movement of the press when cycling rounds. Not only does your press have to be secured to the bench, but most 650 users secure the bench to the wall, and sometimes the floor as well.
Good loading.
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Misread your original post. You mentioned Dillon tool head and I interpreted as the Dillon press. My bad.
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Always great to read about inexpensive improvement. All of my tool heads are clamped with the exception of the tool head that contains a universal depriming die only.
The UniqueTek version taps the tool head and you insert a stainless spring. I believe it is similar to a HeliCoil.
This allows you too clamp the tool head without drilling a larger locating hole in the press.
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The station 1 locator just sits in a slot on the platform. This allows movement of the guide as the case is pushed into station 1. Occasionally the locator will rock as the case is dropped and pushed along the guide, creating different feed issues. One of which is the case falling over.
Try putting a drop of grease on the back side of the locator on the end away for the the shell plate. This will bring more stability to the locator, and hopefully cure your issue.
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+1 on Dawson's, Plus, if you get the sight set, they guarantee POA = POI. If not they will replace front sight free of charge. They even state that if they do not have the correct size, they will make one for you. Never used the guarantee, but it is a pretty awesome one.
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XL650 Bullet Feeders (non electric options)
in Dillon Precision Reloading Equipment
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I looked high and low for those tubes locally and could not find them. I did not try an aquarium only specialty store, so that could be where I went wrong. I'll have to look for one locally.