Chills1994

That means I would have to get a 1050.

My hearing is still good enough that I can hear a cracked or split case when it is in the media separator. It has a tin-ey sound to it. When I am sure I have enough of whatever media out of the cases, I will take the outer lid off the separator. Then take off the top perforated “clam shell”. Then just rock the bottom part back and forth and listen for that “tin can” like sound. Then pluck out the offending case.

E3 is another powder I have NOT heard much about lately either. The SL900 does crank them out really fast. So I had to practice some restraint the other night and only cranked out about 30 shells. I got my first 650 back before 2008. Then I got my second 650 when Dillon announced the 750. So my learning curve was probably way shorter with the SL900 than other people who have only used Mec’s or a P/W’s.

Yesterday, I was doing a search for “SL900” over at the trapshooter’s forum. One of the threads I found, somebody had contacted Ponsness Warren to ask about automating an SL900. Supposedly, their response was “Yeah, sure, send me your machine and we’ll see if we can get it to work.” The guy commenting in that thread said P/W never would quote him a price. So he never sent them his SL900 .

No Red Dot in this price list.

I splurged. I bought a Dillon SL900. It is light years ahead of my Mec 9000GN. The hull feeder + the tip out wad guide means your right hand can stay on the roller handle the whole time. I had to make a few minor tweaks here and there, but I am anxious to try out my first 25 shells that came off the SL900. Once the “test drive” goes okay later this week, then I can really start cranking ‘em out.

Are there any say “already in the popular lexicon” exemptions to trademark law? For example: ”I just replaced my formica (see the little “f”?) countertops with Corian counters.” (see the upper case C?) Formica (with a large F) was/is actually a brand name of laminate countertop material. Example #2: ”Hey, I’m headed to the concession stand during intermission. Do you want a coke?” ””Yeah, can you get me a Dr. Pepper?” Wasn’t it either Guns & Ammo magazine or Handguns magazine which tried to get a trademark on the word “racegun” in the mid-1990’s? How did that work out for them? Wasn’t it about 15 years ago that somebody was trying to push their copyright or trademark on the song “Happy Birthday”? Let me guess…they were really successful with that campaign, and are now diving into their royalty payments like Scrooge McDuck???

I know it is NOT exactly an oranges to oranges comparison, put here is USPSA’s revenue vs. the Amateur Trapshooting Association’s revenue: What the shotgunners pay to shoot all the various “matches” at the ATA’s Grand, I have no idea. I also have no idea how much of the Grand in July/August is “subsidized” by regular shooters shooting registered birds in say April.

I SO’ed the 2007 IDPA Nationals (near Allentown, PA). Then I RO’ed the 2008 Single Stack Nat’s at PASA Park, IL. I got way more schwag and free clothes/uniforms from the IDPA nat’s than anything I got from USPSA. In fact, there was a hotel room SNAFU at the 2008 SS Nat’s. Nobody wanted to do anything to fix the situation until somebody higher up on the food chain overheard me on the phone giving driving directions to my girlfriend to come pick me up (after the RO only day of shooting in the mud and rain before the regular competitors got to shoot the match….not in the rain.) And then on the last day for the RO only schwag and gun drawings, my name and my carpool buddy’s name were intentionally left “out of the hat” because I raised a stink about the hotel room situation. That was the last time I SO’ed/RO’ed a Nat’s level event.

There is an old saying….it tries to make a joke about the current level or status of anything: ”I used to be apathetic. Now, I just don’t care any more.”

I wouldn’t know. The last match I ever shot was on April 22, 2012 . Yeah, you read that correctly. So over the past 12 years, only things like this latest dust up and that +2 fiasco have popped up on my radar.

I get it, man! I really do. Nobody wants to leave a match feeling like they got screwed over. Not to go all “ Million Dollar Baby” on you, but the first rule is “to protect yourself at all times.” (You will be at some match with complete strangers and you have zero knowledge about their proficiency or lack thereof with firearms and safety.) Like I said, as a potential CYA maneuver, you can always email the MD ahead of time and ask “What is your process for handling X, Y, or Z?” And of course, that can include asking what to do if you dispute one of the RO’s calls. How thick was the USPSA rulebook about what? 8 to 12 years ago? That didn’t stop an unscrupulous RO from +2’ing shooters he didn’t like. And how long did that go on for before he finally got caught? And to put an even finer point on things, you can have all he rules in the world and a 1 inch thick rulebook. That still “ ain’t “ gonna force people to be honorable and to have integrity, and to do the right thing. I really don’t see these local club matches being much more than a “league” or a “league night”. Much like bowling, or men’s softball, or a trap league. It is supposed to be fun…. With friends, camaraderie, and like minded people. Nobody here is asking anybody else to sacrifice their integrity for anything. A Denali, a $15 particle board plaque/trophy, or just simply bragging rights.

When I first became an MD, it was at a new IL DNR range. At first, the majority of the shooters were from another now defunct club. So, at first, we did things their way which was to have dedicated RO’s stay at their stages. This one particular RO was a retired Illinois State Police trooper. One of the shooters in my squad was the Missouri section coordinator. He had also been a CRO at various nationals. He got done shooting this stage, and this ISP trooper RO was scoring his targets….”Alpha-Charlie!” “Wait? Would you pull your overlays out for that?” The trooper’s answer was a very stern “NO!” The was the last match where RO’s stayed at their stages. After that, I went with open squadding . People could squad with whomever, and anybody could be the “ timer stand”. A few months later when I was at my assistant MD’s house punching scores into EZWinScore, I brought up that incident. My AMD goes, “Oh, yeah! I remember that. That trooper guy was laughing and bragging to me how he screwed over the Missouri section coordinator.” My point being shenanigans can and will happen….regardless if the rules are just one page long or make up a book a half inch thick.

On another forum I am on, there have been a flurry of USPSA related or match shooting threads and polls. One of the questions asked in one thread was “What to do with shooters who won’t help paste targets and reset the stage?” My answer to that is as long as somebody steps up as MD or as Co-MD and puts it into words either via email or on the club website at the start of the season that it is expected of everyone to help paste and reset and the consequences are X, Y, or Z, then, IMO, that would be the best course of action. Listing other expectations would be good too. EDIT: like don’t break the 180, or that’s a DQ. Sssssoooo….conversely, such communication can go both directions. A potential new shooter can email the MD way before the match and ask some question like “What happens if I clearly hit a full size pepper popper and it fails to fall? Is that considered a range equipment malfunction? Do I get to start that stage over?” If the MD ignores that email and never replies OR the answer is deemed inadequate by this potential new shooter, then he can always vote with his pocketbook by going elsewhere to some other match. We are all supposed to be adults….with guns. This stuff doesn’t have to be that complicated. EDIT: if you’all could point me in the direction of these local outlaw club matches where it would seem a brand new Denali is on the line to get this wrapped up about outlaw matches’s rules (or lack thereof)….yyyyeeeaahhhh, that would be great. Thanks!

OMG! How dare these guys NOT pay any fees or per capita taxes to the NBA!? Shame on them!

When I put on outlaw 3 gun matches, I used time plus scoring. I was a USPSA and Steel Challenge MD at the time. Since we were using 40 yard deep pistol bays for 3 gun, we used reduced scale cardboard targets for rifle targets. One hit in the A zone with a rifle = it’s down or neutralized. Or two rifle hits anywhere = down. Full sized cardboard targets were THEE pistol targets. ”Two in the brown, it’s down.” Then for the steel targets (shotgun or pistol), it was “All steel must fall in order to score.” Any target not neutralized added 5 seconds to your score. Scoring each shooter’s run went extremely fast. And I could tally up everyone’s score at lunch. No calculator needed. No scoring software needed either. All money stayed in house to pay for more targets and better props.

There are many ways to skin a cat. Whichever way you choose to trim, you can always use the mandrel die after trimming to knock the remaining burrs off the inside of the neck. Some guys will put whatever mandrel die or a Lyman die in at station 1 of their load toolhead.

I would drop that resized miscellaneous range brass into a case gauge. Back when I first started reloading .308 Winchester for an M1A in the mid 1990’s, I bumped the shoulders too far down, and there was a little bit of a ridge at the shoulder that made the rounds difficult to chamber. The Dillon case gauge has a step milled into the headstamp end. If the resized brass’s head stamps sat below that lower step, you done squished the cases down too far and you would have excessive headspace. If the head stamp sits proud of the whole Dillon case gauge, you didn’t resize the case down enough. (Or there a speck of grime or a media granule/kernel stuck inside the case gauge) Flush or slightly below flush, but not below that milled step, that’s perfect. That is the Goldilocks setting.

If or when I get my RCBS X sizer die put back together, then I can put the X die in at station #1 (with its mandrel screwed down some). H Put the Dillon PM back in at station #2 (still use the tension springs AND the failsafe rod). Leave the #3 slot empty. I like to position a mechanic’s inspection mirror just right above that #3 hole. I also hang a flashlight off the left side of the PM. Then with my Mark 1 eyeball I can see the powder in the case as it comes up through the toolhead. Station #4 is the Redding micrometer adjustable seating die. And if the bullets have cannelures, a Lee Factory crimp die goes in at station #5,

Oh! DANG! DUDE! Sorry, I didn’t mean for you to go out and buy the Redding S die. What I do or how I do things with Single Pass Rifle Reloading is….ummm….err… [i]different[/i]. I mean if that is the route you want to go. What I do is definitely UNconventional or UNorthodox. With a retrograded Dillon Powder Measure at station #4, and a bullet seating die at station #5, I am not really able to see the powder level in the case before seating the bullet. So I do the bowling ball polishing method with a rubbing alcohol dampened terry cloth towel to get the lube off my loaded rounds. Then I weigh each round on a digital scale. That’s how I QA/QC my rounds to make sure they are not short of about 20 to 25 grains of powder. Then I case gauge every round. Does it take longer to weigh every round versus using a Dillon RT1500 equipped case prep toolhead, tumbling the case lube off, and then running that batch of brass through the press a second time through a load toolhead? I don’t know. Anywhoooo….moving on now…. Yeah, you can certainly use whatever mandrel type die like a Lyman M die to open the case mouths or case necks back up. BBBBBbbbbbuuuutttt….in my mind, that is just working the brass too much. Like taking a wire coat hanger and bending it back and forth, it finally gets work hardened enough that it breaks in two. The advantage with the Lyman M die is that it does have a slight step “up” on it, that if you screw the mandrel down far enough, it does put a very slight flair on the case. That comes in handy any time you are using NON-boattail’ed bullets. It makes it easier/more convenient to get the flat base bullets started in the case as it is about to go up into the seating die. For the guys who have bullet feeders, I hear/read that the little flair also helps keep the bullet on the case mouth as the shellplate moves or rotates to the seating die station. If you get the correct sized neck bushing in the first place, you [i]shouldn’t[/i] have to open the mouth back up with a mandrel die or a Lyman M die. As a side note…. I think that… The guys who are into Benchrest type competitions or F class type competitions will say that without neck turning, what you do with a neck bushing is push all the neck thickness irregularities to the inside …. To where it actually grips the bullet and tries to provide the correct amount of neck tension. These same Benchrest or F class competitors might then also say that without neck turning, all a mandrel die does is push the case neck thickness variances to the outside. I think…in short, that without any neck turning these anal retentive competitors would say that your neck tension will be all over the place. These same guys might have say 10 pieces of brass that they bring to the match. They reload that same brass between strings of fire or at lunch. And if my memory is correct, since the brass is going right back into the same chamber it was shot in, all they do is neck size. They do NOT full length size. Or at least that used to be the norm 10 to 15 years ago. Another side note…a reminder… For the case prep toolhead process on my 650, I put a Swage It tool in at Station #2 where the primer punch would normally go. That gets rid of the primer crimps. Single Pass Rifle Reloading only works on once fired commercial civilian brass or TWICE fired Lake City brass That primer crimp has to be gone. And you have to be pretty sure that whole batch of cases is 1.760” or shorter.

Thanks man! I might be heading back, again, to my local reloading store today. So I will ask them if they have any of the alignment tools.

When I get back to my reloading shop, I will have to check out the latest virgin Starline .223 brass I bought. There is actual like documented in an US Army manual instances of Lake City brass being thin on one side of the body. Upon firing the round, the case develops a curve to it like a banana. And that shows up as bullet runout or concentricity issues. I have a picture or screen shot from the manual on my phone, somewhere. In my case, I think it might be a toolhead alignment problem with this 20 year old 650. I haven’t bought the Dillon alignment tool yet. I am going to try reloading some .223 on my newer, 5 year old 650. And see if that helps with the concentricity issues. If I am still having runout issues, then I will revert back to my single stage and check for concentricity again. But for what we are doing with .223 in AR gas guns, I am thinking that variances in case neck or case mouth thickness aren’t going to make that big of a difference at the distances we normally shoot.

The problem….that I think….there is with traditional decapping rod/pin and expander ball asemblies is that pulling that neck over the expander ball can: A. Stretch the case B. Pull the neck or case mouth off center leading to concentricity issues. In theory…. Which is one of the reasons I went with just the neck bushing in a Redding S die. (There are some regular traditional full length sizing dies where you can get a carbide expander ball replacement that would help with the stretching of the neck and reduce the possibility of pulling it off center. Otherwise, you should be getting enough lube inside the case necks. And properly tumbling that lube off.) Conversely, you could use a universal decapper to knock just the old primer out. Then take the decapping rod assembly out of a traditional full length sizing die. Then use something like the Lyman M die to open the case mouth/case neck up just enough. Somebody on another forum clued me in about Single Pass Rifle Reloading (SPaRR) and moving the Dillon PM to the #3 or #4 station in the 650’s toolhead. Me? Personally? I am trying to avoid: 1. Trimming brass or at least going through the motions of inserting brass into a trimmer. 2. All this on the press, off the press, tumbling the lube off, back on the press rigamarole. If I had a huge batch of once fired LC19 or LC16 brass, then yeah, I would go through the trouble of running it all through the toolhead with the RT1500 mounted. anywhooo….just to illustrate that there are several different ways to skin a cat. But on topic… Did you buy the Hornady case comparator tool yet?

Yep! I already watched a couple of videos. I saw one guy just sprinkling it on with a spoon with a tub underneath to catch the extra grit that fell off.

I had to do some digging, but Delta did make a dust collector fitting for their combo 12” disc and 6X48 stationary belt sander machine. That helped alot….to keep the dust from swirling back around with the disc and being ejected back up into the air. Now, I always wear a dust mask inside if I am sawing, sanding, routing. Cedar, like for fences and decks…. If that dust gets trapped under my watch’s wristband or under my cuffs if wearing long sleeves, will have me itching like crazy in about 5 minutes.