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MALiberty79ks

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About MALiberty79ks

  • Birthday May 9

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    South Central, KS
  • Interests
    Shooting, fishing, SR platform precision shooting, 2nd Ammendment, LIBERTY.
  • Real Name
    Faust

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  1. Haha. I'm glad to read this, it is exactly what I've been telling myself. Looks like this is my fourth of July gift to my neighbors! Ha. Now to find good cracker recipes - without making the NSA nervous.
  2. A friend that reloads told me that I would be happier using an RCBS SB 223 FL die, tried it out, wasn't impressed, and switched back to the Dillon dies. Good move. Same results, much better die. IMO the Dillon die is better made, and so far the only thing I'm running into after I re-set the die to cam-over is cases with incorrect head space. Most of what I'm reloading are previously reloaded American Eagle 5.56 brass so I'm learning about trimming and swaging as well. Good times. I've been out four times in the rain in the last two weeks. Not once did I tell myself it was good training. All four times I turned around and went home. My poor attitude needs adjusting! Thanks.
  3. Ok, so I was loading some .45 on my 650, and a friend came over to ask about life. Since he was already interrupting an energetic and productive reloading session, he went ahead and asked me to show him how easy it was to switch from said .45 to .223. Fun! Here's the rub: I should have said something to the effect of "hey its easy, but I'm a dud mentally and can't keep my head above water when you switch things up on me so let me show you later, ok?" but no- I quickly swapped the lower end, primer system, and went to dump about 300 grains of HP-38 into it's bottle, and proceeded to dump it into a jug of 5620grs worth of A2460. Now, I am wondering if I can still load the 2460/HP38 into some .223? I'm no expert but I would like to think that if I ran minimums I would probably be ok; But I am hoping that someone much more knowledgeable than myself can chime in. Have I ruined the 2460? I realize that the hp38 is a much faster powder, but I am unclear as of yet what the pressure differences would be, and perhaps the risk is not worth the reward. It will sit, probably, until I come up with a good use for it, or unless someone in the know says I'm being overly cautious.
  4. If I have a case sized, then trimmed to length which still will not pass the gauge because of headspace, should I just throw it away?
  5. Have not been able to go check operation due to local weather, but hope to soon. In the mean time, I am going to swap back over to some straight case loading to make some food for my new 45. Thanks to all who have commented.
  6. I was having issues chambering the brass, but have found that since I started sizing with the die touching the plate just before top-dead-center, the brass passes the chamber gauge fine. It was late last night before I finished the brass, so Ill check the cambering this afternoon. If it chambers, I will load up a few and go "chootem" to make sure of function. Will update soon.
  7. Using my XL650 and a set of steel Dillon 223 dies. I find that I cannot get consistently correctly re-sized brass that passes my Lyman gauge. 10% failure rate from once fired American Eagle brass. 5% from Hornady brass. I am trimming after I re-size/de-cap. At first I could see that the neck was only getting crimped about half way to the shoulder, which corresponded with the seating failure depth in the gauge, which I did confirm is clean. I re-set the FL die to actually touch the shell plate and still had failures, although it was reduced by half to roughly 1-2 fails out of 15. The neck then showed a full sizing. I turned the FL die another 1/3 turn down, and tried 30. Almost 100% passed, but the die actually contacts the shell plate with about an inch of travel left in the handle. I think this puts too much stress on the press and I wonder if I'm doing something else wrong. Any advice from the previous graduates of BEginners University of Hard Knocks and Handouts?
  8. So, an update: I called Dillon a couple weeks ago, and asked what it would cost to have my well used 550 "gone through". I was told "Get it to us, and we'll make it new again. Send a $67.95 money order in the box for the fees and shop costs." So I did. I got it back last Tuesday and actually thought I had gotten a brand new press back from them. I was upset - that old press had seen more cool things than I probably had. Then I figured out I was wrong, and that they had just cleaned it so well it looked like a brand new press. And for all intends and purposes, it was. I had it on the bench by Tuesday evening, and started in on my first small batch of 9mm. Wednesday morning I got a call from a guy who I knew through the grapevine that was aware I was looking to start reloading. He just so happened to be getting out of reloading and had a 650 with a case feeder completely set up for 9mm, and wanted a couple of items I had posted for sale on FB. Well, I now own a 650... Long story shorty, I now have to say goodbye to everything 550, and convert to 650. It's a good problem to have! Wednesday evening I set the 650 up on the bench in the strong mount, and ran off 250 rounds of 9mm in about 45minutes. (I don't know etiquette for posting loads, forgive me if this is bad) 124Gr Berry's FP .356 bullets, CCI 400, 4.8gr VECTAN Ba9. Thursday I happened to be home from work, and guess what I did... My Sig MK25 chewed up those 350 rounds like it was hungry. I am irrecoverably addicted to this new facet of gunnery. So, now I have a 9mm 650 on the bench, and today I hit the end of the first 1000 9mm material I have on hand. (ok, it's 965 rounds, I didn't ever count the brass until now, I just assumed it was more than 1000...lesson learned) I now have more ammunition on hand than I have ever owned in a single caliber at one time. Another first. And all because of this guy named Dillon carried his passion into his work and made an average guy like me believe in the American Dream again! I am sure I will be back soon for another update. Thanks for the help so far guys! P.S. The 650 came with 6 brand new pounds of HP38... oh what ever will I do with those?!?
  9. This was really helpful. Thanks for the pointers. This is what I'm hoping to get, the insight and wisdom of those who have gone before. I bought what I thought was a 550B, what it turns out to be is a 550RL. I called Dillon on it Friday, and sent it in for a factory tune. Hopefully it comes back as the RL I sent in. It's cool to own a piece of history. I guess now, it's all about waiting to get it back. It's hard not to just sit here and sigh, but now I have the chance to go make a space on the bench! Thanks for the input folks, keep it coming!
  10. I don't know what to say. My very first post and I get noticed by the man hiss'elf. I don't want to make too much of a thing out of the post, but I really don't want to let it go unnoticed. Thanks Mr Enos, and yes, I've been perusing that area already, and will continue to visit there I'm sure.
  11. I shoot my Sig Mk25 every time I go out. So, 9mm, 223, and the 6.5 Grendel are my current big calibers.
  12. Hello folks, My name is Branden and have been shooting non-competitively most of my life. My first blood was a chickadee with a .177 Crossman pump I shot while waiting for dad to find the dove he had shot over yonder. My dad got me out in the field as often as he could, and Boy Scouts, hunting, and other outdoors recreation naturally led me to love shooting anything that God would help me to hit a target with. I want to shoot more. I'm not good enough yet to throw myself into competition, but love the atmosphere. Dad has started shooting in a club and my son and I tagged along with him on an informal evening shoot. I am a staunch proponent for the Constitution, and have a firm grasp on it's purpose. I understand the 2nd, and why it was 2nd on the list. I want to preserve my country and my freedom, and want to pass on the ability to do so to my sons and daughter. I want to impart on them the burden of responsible citizenship, gun ownership, and the joy of training those related skills. A friend told me that if I want to start shooting more, that I need to start reloading. I asked around and discovered that one company above the others was truly great at this thing called warranty service. Made in America too! Not imported from Timbuktu and assembled here mind you, MADE in America. So, good stuff, made in America, and great service? A unicorn, where? Sold, Dillon Precision it was. Well, I guess I'd bite. I bought an elderly friends Dillon 550, and a few of his other pieces. I started getting my bench cleared and making appropriate plans for construction - and a shopping list. I am, after all else fails, good at buying stuff. I looked up Dillon's website, discovered that there are lots of things I didn't get with my "new" press, and started my "Google" reloading education adventure. I bought a book about reloading, which was quickly lost to a magazine stack in a waiting room... duh Homer... and went right back to the internet. I watched every video I needed to understand how to set up a new 550. I watched videos on how to lubricate and care for a 550. I watched videos comparing the 550 to the 650, and yes, I know the 550 is right for me right now. I got so pumped about reloading that I went ahead and bought my first AR. I mean, hey, now I'll be able to afford the ammo. (this was two years ago...) Looking at 223 prices I'm getting offers on in the mail today makes my press seem more like an extra step now. Ammo seems to be coming down to reload price! So much for saving money making my brass effective again at home ... Good I like a challenge. After buying the first AR - a Smith and Wesson M&P15 PSX (piston operated S&W AR with Troy Mfg. furniture... cool, right?) It was so pretty I shot 5 or so rounds through it and put it back in it's box. The guy at the range I went to said that it's likely to become a collectors gun because they stopped making it, and because of the awesome S&W rollmark on the lower... I don't know about that, but I knew I had to own another good AR, and one I could shoot the crap out of... I bought a BCM recce mid from Brownells and put a handguard and stock on it. I've fallen hard. I immediately thought to myself, "Self, how cheap could you build an AR?". Back to Google. Somewhere in the waves of pages I saw a new button. "Wildcat" it said. Hmmmm. Long story short, my new "cheap" build became a 20" stainless ARP15 build in 6.5 Grendel. And now, I'm in love all over again. But I've gone down the rabbit hole, forgive me. So, here I am, old 550 in a box in the garage unused while I've managed to spend what it would have cost me to build a bench with a 1050 with an auto drive... And my boss calls a meeting to let us all know that our new company (merger/purchase) doesn't know what our future looks like, and Damn. So, now I realize that if I am to shoot at all, it will have to be making my own. And am now re-beginning my reloading journey, and I discovered the Enos board. I read the rules, and got a feeling for the intended purpose of the site. And, after reading more about some of you in similar circumstances, and some of you whom I would like to emulate, I joined up. I posted something last night in the Dillon thread about suggestions for my new bench and equipment. Today, being off work, I plan on changing the oil in two cars, and doing some more cleaning getting my bench ready to don my press. I am really glad I have found this board, I hope to use your collective wisdom and experience to my advantage. Thanks for reading, see you around.
  13. So, I've decided that I want to begin the next chapter in my shooting career, and am intending to set up a 550 press very soon. Firstly, I need recommendations on a potential gear list for a new-to-reloading guy with a 550 series Dillon. I am a mechanically inclined, do it yourself-er. I am shooting about 5 thousand rounds annually, with two main calibers, 9mm and 5.56. I also want to reload my 6.5 Grendel which may for all but CQB steel replace my 5.56 BCM. I want to improve my shooting mastery, and find a load my Grendel really performs with. I have spent dozens of hours reading forums and PDF manuals, pulling the handle a few times with my buddy on his 650, picking his brain a little, and discovering the joy of losing yourself to the monotony of making your own ammunition. What I am looking for are the "I wish I would have bought that when I started" - reading material, equipment, modifications, bench tricks, lighting solutions, etc... Feel free to throw out even the slightest thought. And next, I wonder if you all have any advice on my equipment. I have an old and well used 550, and a 600 swager. It came with 4 quick changes with .44Mag/spl, 357/38, 45acp, 30/06 and the corresponding shellplates. There are dies for 30/30 and 308 as well, but not on tool heads. SO, I need dies. Which ones - Dillon? Lee? RCBS? etc... I will get two quick changes for 9mm and 5.56, maybe a third later for the Grendel. (I will keep and someday use the previously mentioned quick changes) I think want to wet tumble... advice? I need case gages, calipers, etc. Are the cheap digital versions from Amazon OK, or do I need to spend a lot more? I need a scale... what about Frankford Arsenal digital scales? I am thinking about sending the press to Dillon, do I need to do anything to have them go through it? I.E., do I need to get an RMA? Is sending it in even necessary? The guy I bought it from said he thought - doing the math in his head - that the round count was "more than 150, less than 200,000." I don't think there are any of the new mods to the press, the guy said he bought it when he got home from being deployed and bolted it down, "and there it sat since." I don't know how long this was, Dan is an old guy. I'm making a list of mods from Dillon and Inline for the press, handle, mount, light, tray, empty bin, etc... (covered above). What about loading with a fan blowing on/at your back? I'm using my Garage, and it's gonna be hot in the spring/summer. Press cover? I've got it wrapped in a pillowcase at the moment, thought that would suffice? I'm not sure where to mount this thing on my bench. At this point I'm thinking about the far right end, any reason not to put it at the end? What about mounting it to a piece of (XXX) I can clamp onto my bench so I can move/remove it? Perhaps lastly, though, in a day or two I'm sure someone will spark another train of thought... There is an old furnace at the left end of the bench which warms my shop in the winter, I'd be a minimum of 15 feet from it. The old man (who knows my bench) said it wouldn't pose any danger. He said that smokeless powder doesn't create dust, so there was no worry of ignition just because there is a pilot lite in the room. Was he right? Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any time you take to throw your two cents in. I know I'm probably overthinking this. I come from a long line of perfectionists. My Dad's youngest brother says that my dad is "the only guy I know that has to warm up his bicycle before he can go for a ride". Maybe the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
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