forkliftHIFI

I have some just like that on mine and I love it!

The AFC 18 rd mag bodies are slightly longer than the current OEM mags. I'm sure that even when mecgar was the supplier they made them to whatever specs sig wanted. They are different I'll take pics tonight

Hey I also have an apex tactical basepad which is described as passing the 140 mm gauge but I believe that may be if it's on a factory mag body. I have it on a mecgar body and its 23 rounds but its definitely longer than the mecgar 20 I just pictured for you. I gotta go to work now but tonight I can try switching that apex base pad to a factory tube and measuring it, I'm guessing it'd hold 21 easy maybe 22 crammed. That said the apex basepad is so expensive you might just stick with the mecgar 20 which can be had for about 25 bucks shipped if you know where to look. The mecgar 20 will actually hold 21 if you cram it in anyway.

It's not a real magazine gauge and I don't shoot USPSA so you be the judge.

I'll measure one right now for you

Yes but you can get some basepads that are 140 mm and hold a couple more. You will be paying for it though.

Sounds good Gbertolet! I actually went ahead and ordered a DAA funnel already which should be here any day. Not knowing the DAA dimensions I also had comissioned another funnel being custom made with the intended diameter of .358 which should be here in a couple weeks. I guess I'll see which works best. As for bullets I got some acme 147 gr bullets which measured .357 I managed to load some smoothly with the stock dillon funnel depending on headstamp. Some headstamps were too rigid or thick and I couldn't get the bullet to seat without shaving. The ones I did get loaded shot really well from my barrel that slugged .357 I'm guessing they will make for good shooting if the replacement funnel allows for reliable seating. I'm going to go ahead and try some .358 bullets too and see what works best. I'll hit both funnels with calipers and try loading some oversized bullets and report back.

Ok update. I got some lead fishing weights Not sure if it was 100% lead but I was able to scratch it with my fingernail through the plastic bag so it was soft. Factory barrel slugged .357 in the grooves. Aftermarket threaded barrel was .358 Should I look at getting larger projectiles?

Ok I set the sizing die to only size down to about the bullet seating depth, then adjusted my bell back to a normal amount, and slowly ran 100 cartridges paying very close attention to what was happening. As you said everything went MUCH more smoothly, especially the bullet seating, even with VERY minimal flare/bell. Many finished cartridges could have passed plunk test with no additional crimp but this was mixed headstamp range brass and some retained a little extra flare due to brass variations. I measured some pulled bullets and was still getting very slight swagging of about .001x on the base of the projectile but it was much less pronounced and a smaller length of the bullet was affected. Obviously neck tension has been greatly reduced because before it was sizing the base of the bullet down by about .003 or slightly more. My Dillon funnel measures .353 and as I understand it the MBF funnel expands to about .355? I would guess that with the MBF funnel/expander and .356 lead I can probably eliminate the bullet swagging entirely and skip the final crimp. I would also guess it would minimize variation of neck tension using mixed headstamp brass? Am I thinking on the right track here? Thanks again!

wimms, I never even considered adjusting the sizing die, I just followed the manual where it said "screw the die down until it just touches the shellplate". So by using too much sizing die I'm creating a tight necked case, and to overcome this I'm having to overbell, and then winding up with crummy neck tension anyway once that is removed? Meanwhile the bases of my lead projectiles are getting swagged down a few thousands and I'm getting poor accuracy and excessive barrel leading? Thank you for laying it all out like that wimms it makes a lot of sense now! I was beginning to get discouraged that I might not ever realize the benefits I had read about using these affordable lead projectiles. Off to adjust the sizing die and see how that affects the rest of the stations. Also ordering a MBF Funnel from Mr. Kozkela

I searched but couldn't find it anywhere but could someone tell me the diameter of the DAA funnel bellow and at the step? I'm not shaving so much as swagging a lot of bullets when I seat them. I already have the stock funnel set to a pretty extreme flare, so much so that the mouth of the case rubs inside the seating die.