milanuk

Where are you guys seeing that about the smaller trimmer in development from Mk 7? Sounds intriguing! I've got a HB w/ the Bosch 1617 motor... and in my unqualified opinion, a 2.25 HP motor is gross overkill for regular trimming. I realize they (HB) is probably looking at it from the point of commercial ops and/or forming 300BO... but for 'regular' work, I think a Bosch Colt or similar 1-1.25 hp 'trim' router would do just fine. Sadly, they aren't a *whole* lot cheaper (the motors), but they are a lot *smaller* on top of the tool head.

The funny part is... the people doing F-class and BR... have moved away from wet tumbling as well. Leaving a layer of carbon inside the neck helps keep the bullet seating force more consistent.

If it were me, I'd look at the RCBS Uniflow ($100). With the case-activated powder drop ($90), and micrometer adjustment ($50) and an extra large Dramworx pyrex powder hopper ($45) it adds up fast... but it's still way less than the Mk 7 option, and less clunky than the Dillon APM. Or substitute the corresponding red-painted stuff (Hornady, not Lee) and shave a few $$$ off the above.

Personally, I'm a fan of the match dies with the in line sleeve to keep everything supported and aligned as closely as possible during seating. Of those, I tend to favor the Forster Ultra BR over the Redding Competition. They both work well and do the exact same thing - but one costs considerably more. Even with the match seater, you may get a slight ring on the bullet ogive from the seater stem. Sometimes this is more a sign of excessive neck tension than anything wrong with the seater or the bullet. But assuming that the issue really is with the bullet, you can either send the stem in to the manufacturer with some sample bullets and they can 'hone' it to match for you... or you can do it yourself for free. Pull the stem from the die, and then coat a sacrificial bullet with an abrasive of your choice. Valve grinding or lapping compound gets it done faster, JB Bore Paste will get the job done albeit slower. Chuck one in a hand drill, and stick the bullet in the stem under light pressure. Clean up and check contact with another bullet coated with Sharpie. Continue until you are satisfied with the contact between the stem and the bullet ogive. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

In theory, with the right powder choice, you may be able to do what you're after. A ball powder like Ramshot TAC or Alliant 2000MR *should* meter with acceptable accuracy since you're talkin' smacking steel with a gas gun, not F-class. Some powders like 8208XBR are extruded, but very short cut, so they still meter decently. Bullet selection will be the next part - and most 175s, and even the Berger 185 Juggernaut will work acceptably at distance for the intended purpose. Depending on how hot the load, the 175s might not be crossing the 1k mark much above the sound barrier, but it's not like they're going to automagically fall out of the sky if they aren't. Done properly (in my mind), loading long range ammo on a 550 should involve two tool heads - one for case prep, and one for loading. My work flow (for bolt guns) looks something like this: Tumble clean Anneal Spray lube 550 tool head #1: Decapping die F/L sizing die Sinclair expander mandrel die Trim/chamfer/debur (Giraud) Tumble lube off 550 tool head #2: Decapping die (to clear any tumbling media from the flash holes) Powder die Seating die Whether you choose to prime separately after tumbling the lube off, or on press after decapping, is up to you. For most of my guns, the 'powder die' has a funnel and I use an AutoThrower / AutoTrickler setup, though if a Chargemaster or even a powder measure meets your needs, use it. I will admit, I have not had great luck getting what I consider acceptable consistency from the Dillon APM - even with ball powders like 2000MR - but some of that may be operator error (or so I'm told). I'd dearly like to get that resolved myself, as I have about 14 lbs or so of the stuff that I'd love to use for various things...

Are you lubing the cases? Not really required for straight-wall pistol brass, but absolutely a must for bottle-neck rifle cases. With properly lubed cases, any of the Dillon presses are more than capable of resizing rifle cases bigger than the .30-30. Some people may go so far as to use two dedicated tool heads (for 550/650 setups) - one for decapping / sizing / expanding (and possibly trimming), and another for priming / charging / seating, for their 'precision' loads. But for simple plinking ammo, I'd think you should be able to do it in one pass on the 1050.

So... recently been working with virgin Lapua .308 Palma (SRP) brass and Fed 205M primers on the old Dillon RL550B. Hadn't been having a problem before with my ~8x fired brass, but I needed to switch over to new brass, so... Started experiencing the occasional 'full stop' when I went to push the handle forward to prime the case. Pull it out, everything looks fine. Try it again... no go. Dig that primer out, cycle the primer slide to get a fresh one, and that one usually went in just fine. Tight, being brand new Lapua brass, but fine. I tried seating the 'problem' primer in another case - nope. Not happening. On one or two that I tried anyway the primer was definitely not going in correctly - almost like it was off center, hanging up on one side of the cup/pocket. The occurences started increasing in frequency, until last night - of course, last night when I really *needed* to finish loading ammo to ship out today for a match - it just finally was every single primer refused to go in the hole. Had to break out the bench-mounted priming tool and prime all the cases first, then run them through the press for powder and bullet. Not quite sure where to look for what the problem is. I took the shell plate off, and inspected both it and under it, to see if any grit or gunk had built up in the recesses around the case head and rim, that would preclude the case going all the way into the shell plate and lining up with the priming punch. Everything looked clean/clear. Had a chance to take things apart this afternoon and mess with them a bit... Yes, there had been powder spills, off and on. One of the 'hazards' of dealing with weighed charges, powder funnels, and other people interrupting me. They'd been cleaned up just like before, using ye ole shop vac, and one of those gun-cleaning two-headed 'tooth' brushes. IME, powder in the priming cup tends more to leave 'dents' in the primer during seating, rather than dick up the alignment. But it was clean, regardless. The sub plate was/is tight. The feed lips on the bottom of the primer tube look pretty much cherry. The feed plunger looks fine. Not sure how the primer cup could be out of alignment with the sub plate - there's very little clearance around that thing to begin with. Really weird, because nothing was 'adjusted', but the error rate kept getting worse and worse, until just nothing worked. Any suggestions on what to look at next?

I'd be curious to see what the actual arrangement looked like... Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Any results from the rifle shooters? Anyone using a clamped tool head ala UniqueTek or Whidden? Are you seeing the same sort of variance in shoulder set back and seating depth?

Do you think that range would tighten up a bit with a) more uniform brass and b) with a 'frozen' tool head ala UniqueTek/Whidden? Or do you think most of the variation comes from the shell plate?

I've heard that the shell plate and/or platform on the XL650/750 has a groove or track of some sort in it for the case rim to run in? And that it's not really possible to tighten down the shell plate to where it grips the case rim a little more snugly, like on the 550. Is this true? Any close-up pics? The reason I ask is that I primarily use my RL550B for loading precision LR ammo, and the ability to hold the case head a bit better is generally desirable. I've heard, but seen no empirical evidence, that the 650/750 might be theoretically less able to hold tolerances on ammo (we're talking F-class level of accuracy, not 'bang steel') than a 550. But I'm getting to the point where I'd *really* like to have a case feeder... Debating whether to get the 750 for brass processing (and loading other bulk ammo), and keep the 550 tooled up for charging/seating.

25 gn H335, pretty universal Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

I have the stuff to load my .300WM and .338LM on my 550... but I've never quite gotten around to it. It's on the 'to-do' list My biggest concern would be seating the bullets... not the precision, per se, as I have my 550 setup worked out to where it'll run right with my Co-Ax, but considerably faster... but that's a pretty tall case, and some pretty long bullets. Might have to do some maneuvering to get the bullet up into the mouth of the die and then lower it down into the case mouth just prior to seating. FWIW, have you considered other calibers? The 110 Elite Precision is supposed to be coming out in .300 PRC next year, and maybe .300 Norma. The thing that always kind of bugged me about the .338LM is that it's just enough different than anything else I own - different bore diameter, weird sized shell holders, etc. etc. etc. so new cleaning rods, new shell plates, new priming setup (back when I did that stuff by hand), etc. And you might luck out and find that your existing .30 cal can is magnum rated? That'd be a plus. I was very bummed to find out that my Gemtech Sandstorm Ti cans are not

There's a lot of people out there who would disagree. I'm one of them. With a couple of properly configured tool heads and an AutoThrower + AutoTrickler setup, you can churn out ammo suitable for PRS bolt gun matches as well as even F-class. It'll be a good bit slower than cranking out 'hoser' ammo, but a hell of a lot faster than plodding along with a single stage - and fewer 'touches' of each and every component along the way. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Even a 'Benchrest' powder measure like a Harrell is about +/- 0.1 gn with ball powders, in my experience. Most of the time less, but if you throw and weigh enough charges, you'll see it. Pretty much any powder measure out there is going to be similar with ball powders. Some, like the RCBS Uniflow with their case-activated powder drop (CAPD) have a big honkin' spring to cycle the handle, which makes a surprising difference with short extruded powders. Still not +/- a kernel or two like the AutoTrickler + AutoThrower, but more like +/- 0.1 or 0.2 gn with RE-15, for example - vs 0.3-0.5 gn for the stock Dillon APM. Whether that would carry over to a spherical powder... dunno. The original Lee PPM that the AutoThrower used works reasonably well with stick powder, but sucks out loud with ball - leaks so bad that it actually binds up. I thought I heard it mentioned that the v3 changed that somehow? If so, you could throw a lot closer to the target weight, trickle up faster and possibly more accurately with the much smaller kernel size. Then there's always the matter of whether a given gun/load can capitalize on ammo weighed to the kernel, or if you can find a fairly tolerant load with a wide tune window... it may not matter all that much! Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Recently dusted off the 223 dies doing some loading for the mouse guns An old nuisance issue popped back up, and I figured it was time to nail it down and be done with it. Specifically, the spent primers aren't making it all the way out. Sometimes it works as intended, and I got the audible 'tink' of the spent primer popping out and hitting the catch. Other times, no audible indication and when I lower the ram, the spent primer stays with the case. The way this shows up depends on the press being used. On the Co-Ax, the primer is sticking out of the case halfway, and I can pry it out with a pair of needle-nose pliers. On a press with conventional shell holders it's considerably more of a PITA. On the 550, it blocks rotation of the shell plate until it comes loose - at which point it falls into the primer slide feed cup (less than ideal). I've tried adjusting the decapping stem out as far as I can get it - to the point of bottoming out on the case web; it made no difference. The die is nothing special: a Redding Type S F/L bushing die. I've chucked the stem in a drill to check for runout, and I've polished the tip of the pin. Brass is Lapua match. One theory was that maybe the tip of the pin was getting wedged in between the anvil and the cup wall; hence spinning it to check if it was bent, and polishing any burrs. Nothing. Current work-around involves listening for the primer popping out, and if it doesn't then short-stroking the ram to air piston the primer out. It works, but it's a PITA. Ive tinkered with this off and on for a long while. I'm not sure what else to try, short of adding a separate decapping die to the process, or just getting a new sizer. Any suggestions or ideas? Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Nope. I had that problem *before* upgrading the bearing slide, because the slide would hang up and then snap forward and flip the primer in the cup - sometimes sideways, sometimes all the way over. If you're getting sideways primers afterwards... I'd look at the plastic tip in the primer tube. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

@Tom Freeman Did you do it yourself, or did you send it out somewhere?

Is the Dillon trim die (non-carbide) oil-hardened, or anything like that? If not, would it be feasible to modify one by running a die reamer (vs. chamber reamer) into one so it doesn't 'over' size the cases? Or at least have the neck honed so it's not working the brass as much?

How much are you having to flare the case mouths to get things to work? Are you applying some sort of follow-up crimp to smooth out the necks afterwards?

Just kind of spit-balling an idea here... how well do the various bullet feeders work with the longer, pointy rifle bullets like a ELD-Ms, VLDs, etc.? From some of the pics on MrBulletFeeder.com it looks like *someone* is using that sort of setup... but I hardly ever see/hear about them? Thanks!

Weird... I'd noticed considerable variation in seating depth even on smaller calibers (223/308), enough to be a problem for 600/1000 yd F-class. Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

Interesting... do you run them thru all in one pass? Or two, one for sizing and one for seating, so that the force required to size doesn't mask the feel of seating? If you already have a Prometheus, what do you hope to gain from an AutoTrickler + AutoThrower ? I moved to the AutoTrickler on my Sartorius GD-503 when they first came out, and eventually replaced it with the FX120i. Ah. I think I recall having to do something like that with seating on my Co-Ax, actually (been a few years). Good to know, though. Thanks, Monte Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

FWIW I don't have any intention of loading precision rifle ammo with the Dillon APM. If I set it up like my smaller cartridges it'll be with two tool heads - one for sizing & expanding, and one for charging & seating. Charges would be dispensed on my FX120i + AutoThrower + AutoTrickler. Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk

If you can, take 2-3 fired/cleaned cases of each make, number them, weigh them, and then fill them with water and weigh them again. Distilled water is best, but room temp tap water will work 'close enough' for a quick check. Given the average water weight (weight filled minus the weight dry), along with some other info (powder, how much, bullet, seating depth, MV of the original load) we can plug the numbers into a program like QuickLoad and give some ball park estimates. Sent from my SM-T710 using Tapatalk