Livin_cincy

Elvisammo on YouTube just did a video measuring the velocity of the three types in three of his guns. He also linked in the comments to Fourtunecookie 45's video where he did a similar test.

Better/ easier lubrication with grease fittings and grooves.

I can use a 9mm shell holder to separate out 380 brass when I hand Prime. Not sure about the other calibers mentioned. I found that inspecting cleaned & deprimed brass makes me sleep better. While I hold it in my hand I go ahead and Prime it.

Question about the Lee Factory Crimp Die. So if you pass your cartridge thru a FCD: Do you find they do not pass your case gage ? If so, which brand of case gauge ? Do you find they do pass the infamous 'plunk test' ? I find they all plunk test. I don't own a case gauge.

Once you climb over the reloaders that fainted from seeing shelves full of Primers at my local Cabellas you can find the pistol size ones...

I had posted about how the Forester, new MEC Marksmen and Lee Cast Turret have play/cant as part of their design: The Forester has shell holder and die movement. The MEC Marksman has floating shell holder "patent-pending shell holder self-centers each cartridge" Lee has an indexing turret that has some play that aligns to the shell holder. Dillion Precision current design uses the same idea to make their match grade presses. The Earlier Dillon Presses had threaded holes in the casting over the shell plate.

The Classic Turret with the arrow shaped base is very simple to use. * The primers drop down the ram like on a Redding to a tube or container. * The lever arm can be adjusted to a shorter stroke for pistol calibers. * The AutoDrum powder measure is wonderful in that you buy a $4 drum for each load and save it for next time. * The Safety Prime system is safe and simple. * Turrets are less than $15 The Turret Play/ Tilt is by design to ensure the case aligns. The Brass and die are both round so they work together to self align if one has some play. Forester Coax has movement in their shell holder and die so that they align. The new MEC single stage has a floating shell holder to align things. The die & case are not intended to be secured down like a single stage or a progressive working on multiple cases. This confuses many people. I size and deprime my brass before I clean so I can examine the primer pocket before loading (see pic). So I have a turret set up just for his. I also have started hand priming while I am holding it in my hand to inspect. This way I can inspect the primer is below flush and sitting correctly. I would pull the case on the press to insect anyway. I have a Hornady Bullet feeding die on mine in the open station. I just drop in the top of the die. It holds (7) 9mm I think. Inline fabrication makes a cartridge eject system that is interesting. I have not bought one. Lee claims 250 per hour which is doable for pistol I imagine. With a bullet feeder and an cartridge ejector it is with in easy reach. Lee also recommends a progressive if you load more than 500 per week. Keep in mind that 500 per week is shooting 25,000 per year. Spending an hour of 'alone time' loading 200 per week will yield 10,000 per year.

This photo was posted in another forum. The question was to scrap or reload. Note that this was found because the user deprimed, cleaned their 9mm brass and inspected it rather than depriming on stage 1 during their progressive loading.

I think this is why Brian recommends the 550. It works well and has fewer things that will consume time from pulling the handle. You can make 36,000 rounds per year spending 15 minutes making 100 per day.

I like the prime on the forward stroke design. Being a separate motion from the dies. You can verify it by feel. It is worth the two manipulations of the lever arm per round to me (Fwd and then down). The Dillon 650 gives a very positive feel when priming to the operator. I liked that a great deal.

He was doing a cartridge every 3 seconds. So he was doing 1200 per hour when he started pulling the lever.

The magical world of YouTube has a video of a guy with the set up I described: I prefer to deprime and then clean my brass so not deprimin during loading on the press is not an issue. Hand priming during brass inspection is not an issue as I have already picked it up to exam it.

I was graciously invited to see Sarge's 650 set up. I had never seen a 650 up close. He has a real nice set up that can produce his annual ammo supply in short order.

I would say look for a different 147 grain bullet. The Eggleston's do not seem to chamber for safe. You are on the very min OAL on the Hodgdon CFE data with no room for case variance. http://www.egglestonmunitions.com/load-data.html These are comparable in price: http://www.xtremebullets.com/9mm-147-RN-HPCB-p/xc9mm-147hpcb-b0500.htm

There are YouTube videos to get cast bullets to function. You end up using a file and polishing it down to work. It will not run FMJ or Plated after you do this. So a second set of internal parts would be needed to do FMJ.

There are some YouTubes on how to file and polish the Hornady to get cast thru it. It will not run plated after you do it. I am not sure if you can buy internals only or not.

I have the Hornady die on mine. It holds 7+ in the die so I just drop one in each time.

I have a Hornady bullet feed die and Inline fabrication makes a case kicker set up. I remove primers and resize before I clean so that die is not in the turret. The AutoDrum powder measure makes caliber changes only $4 vs the cost of a Dillon powder measure for each caliber & load. You might look into it.

Smart ass answer... "Shoot more so you don't have left overs " The humidity if absorbed by the powder will change the weight per given volume of powder. I am not sure how much. Also not sure how much it changes the burn rate. This is why the factory ships in an airtight container and gives you a gasket under the cap. I suspect that the NFPA and your insurance want it stored in the proper container and not on the press. You see plenty of discolor on Dillon pictures that indicate that it is commonly stored on the press.

I was reading the SAAMI manual and they are only concerned with Flush or .008" Below. "PRIMERS TO BE SEATED FLUSH TO 0.008” (0.20) BELOW FACE OF CARTRIDGE CASE HEAD " on page 26, http://saami.org/specifications_and_information/publications/download/Z299-3_ANSI-SAAMI _CFPandR.pdf#page=10

I would save 3 pulls per round doing it this way vs my 4 die turret press. 1000 Pulls = 250 rounds on a turret 1000 Pulls = 995 rounds on a 5 die Progressive. So I would definitely gain production.

It seems to be hit and miss. Some people can and others cannot. Hornady says the press does not.

The depriming certainly adds lever pulls to the process. But, it is the only way to exam clean deprimed primer pockets. I like inspecting clean brass so I am picking up each piece at that time. So I am looking for crimped brass and damaged ones. So using a hand primer adds some but not a great deal of time. I suspect I like the added safety of a turret and single stage reloading. I would just like fewer pulls per round. Another option would be a 550b set up with powder drop on station 1. Set the primer then load powder and proceed. I do like the 550's manual index.

I currently have a turret press and am considering a progressive. This topic is about an alternative method of using the LLM and not the way it is set up in the directions. There are plenty of resources on setting up the Lee Load Master according to the manual. As I look at all colors / brands of progressive presses there are Common issues. Spent primers & spent primer residue/ gunk jamming up the press. Nobody claims to have primer seating problems but you read about the solutions. So they must exist. Squibs Separate stations for bullet seating and crimp. The spent primer and residue gunk problem is easily solved by preparing the brass before you clean it. If you deprime first you get clean primer pockets as well. This is out of line with how a Progressive Press works. They save you time by doing this as part of the process. But this creates problems with the primers and residue. You also never look in the pocket before you reload. So lets remove this from the process and use a single stage to resize & deprime before cleaning. So now we start with clean, deprimed brass. So now we have priming. Priming always has a certain number of issues on a progressive do to the operations in the other dies. The primer seating correctly is very important. I look at the various hand primers and ponder why not hand prime ? You have clean brass so you can do this in the living room while watching TV. You also gain that each ones seating has been checked. So this is a win win solution. So when you look at the press designs they do not start on station 1 with flare & add powder. But now we can. This opens ups stations for other operations. So if we think outside the box we could set up a LLM to run differently. The LLM is unique in that it has manual or auto index. Case Feeder is standard Price Point. So set up your LLM with case feeder & Stations like this: Install your AutoDrum Powder measure with case expansion die. I use it on my turret without a chain and it works fine. RCBS Powder lockout die. The primer system is removed. It will be hard to see inside the case in this rearward position so this die solves that problem. Hornady Bullet Feed die. This is where the powder drop is normally. Bullet seating die Lee FCD The benefits are You do not have primer residue mess to clean up and jam up your press. So it this is time saved in cleaning and frustration. The depriming and resizing operation requires significantly more force than any other operation, This causes that ever so slight shell plate flexing and bench flexing. You have a powder check die to remove squib problems. You can focus on the powder measure and watch it move smoothly or not to ensure consistent throws. A reliable, simple bullet feeder. Separate seating & crimping stations. So you could use a micrometer seating die Your thoughts ? **** Please do not post a comment explaining how the stations on a Lee Load Master are set up according to the directions. That was answered in the title of this discussion. ****

I was told that a Hornady LNL is not designed to seat primers below flush. Since below flush and a range is typically given in loading manuals this seemed odd. I sent a message to Hornady and asked. They got back to me. The answer is, " The AP will seat primers to a flush fit position.". Is this a deal breaker problem with this press?