Alan550

http://www.chicagoscrews.com/ They have them in plastic, steel, aluminum, pretty much anything you want.

That separator is a Dillon.

If you're running really hot loads that make the barrel start to unlock before the firing pin has retracted, leaving smear marks on the primers, you might consider a stronger spring. Steel FPs are slower to retract than a Titanium FP with a stock spring. If you use a steel FP, a stronger spring may be needed for running Major loads, but not necessarily. If you're not getting "firing pin smear" don't worry about it.

Try using the diffusers. They are included for a reason. It makes for a consistent "picture" for the photocells.

I agree about Damien! I got an email response from him yesterday, after inquiring about National Record discrepancies and he said that the new person in charge of that doesn't know the difference between a course of fire and rimfire! We are contemplating NOT getting our local AP events sanctioned to save the $4.50 they get for every gun at an event. No need since they take months to classify a new shooter or re-classify an experienced one! I always said that AP is the "red-headed step child at NRAHQ", and you just confirmed it! Thanks, Tom for all you did! Alan~^~

Patience is a virtue with any Dillon equipment. It's man-made piece of machinery and once in a great while, they aren't perfect. I had one of those and it took me a week of fine-tuning to figure it out, but it ran like a Swiss watch after that. Sold it to a friend and he has nothing but praise for it.

I beg to differ. Try shooting a revolver for 6 months, then switch to a GLOCK. It will drive you nuts 'cause the GLOCK won't come to point-of-aim that you spent the last 6 months using! The reverse is also true. POA will change with the grip angle, and to learn to switch between different ones is, at the very least, challenging. The grip used on a revolver is much different from any semi-auto for most shooters, and that can enter into the picture as well.

I use the Wilson mags and replaced the pads with the metal ones from Wilson. Adds some weight to help with removal and they fit in the Protocall Prone Pad.

I have great admiration for those who have to partially disassemble their gun to reload it and do it at speed! Round-gun shooters are the best!!

Tom, Rule 9.1 Changing Equipment- The same equipment, including fire-arm, optical or electrical sights, holster and ammunition will be used to fire all matches in the same tournament. Magazines used must be the same capacity, dimension and design in all stages of all matches in the same tournament. Kinda vague, but I guess it's like robbing banks..........not a problem unless you're caught? There's no equipment check at Bianchi after the original at sign-in, and no way to really compare how the gun looked then as opposed to when you show up to shoot a match. Back in '98 Ken Tapp was questioned about having different length mag pads. Their thinking was that he used them at the different distances on plates going prone. He just grinned and told them to check them in his gun..........none protruded below the prone pad! BTW, he finished in 2nd overall that year!! Alan~^~

Another reason to seat/crimp in separate stations would be if you're loading lead, plated or coated bullets. In the final fraction of an inch on the stroke, the crimp process will shave some off the bullet as it's being seated, especially on "roll-crimped" ammo. Seating by itself and applying the crimp later prevents this from happening, as the bullet is as far into the case as it is going before the crimp even begins to be done. This can happen with jacketed as well, but not as much........usually. Alan~^~

Flame cutting was a major problem with the Model 60 S&W revolvers back in the day. The B/C gap allowed powder to "flame-cut" the top strap to the point that they recommended not shooting a steady diet of .357 Magnum ammo in that particular model. I had one and it didn't like too many Magnum rounds. Sold it ASAP after I found out the problem.

One of the handiest is a medium size (4") magnet! If you ever drop a metal part in gravel or grass, it's really handy!

Spare batteries............for timer & optic.

They can also be affected by changes in the power supply. I can have it out of any draft, heating, etc, but when the furnace in my house comes on or shuts off, there's a power drop or surge, respectively. It's only minor, but as sensitive as these scales are, anything that changes the current will affect them.

I talked to one of the AP Rules committee members last night. They will have a meeting in Jan/Feb to finalize the details for the Cup program. Everything so far was done by a teleconference meeting. The next one is an "in-person" meeting at NRAHQ.

Well, ya' got me with the title of the post! Here I thought you were looking for a trade!

The Dillon de-capping/sizing dies for pistol calibers have a spring on the top that compresses on the upstroke of the ram (550/650) and releases with a snap at the end of the stroke to kick the spent primer off the tip of the de-capping pin. Never seen one on any rifle dies, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I'm not familiar with the SD press, so I don't know if they are made the same way or not as the regular Dillon dies.

It's not a good idea to eject over the area you just bombed.

That would depend upon how "hot" you plan to load the 9x23. For Major PF or factory load levels, you'll need a pretty stout spring. For Minor or 9mm equivalent loads, just use the standard 9mm spring setup. That's one of the beauties of the 9x23. I shoot it in NRA Bianchi level stuff with a Minor PF load, (~137 PF) and only run a 6-7# recoil spring. When I change over to the factory stuff, everything changes! Recoil spring goes to 15#, and I put in a heavier FP spring since I run a Titanium FP. I forgot once to change the FP spring and it went full auto on me! Not a fun experience and I'm glad I only had 7 rounds in it!

Break Free LP....not CLP. Says on the bottle that it was designed for "intensive and sustained fire for rapid-fire automatic and stainless firearms".

That would have been the last thing it ever did That's how the pet graveyards got started!

Double............

Be careful doing the tumbling routine with HP pistol bullets. Corn cob can/will get stuck in the HP and come out at the most inopportune time during a match, tying up a semi-auto. Don't ask how I know, 'cause I ain't sayin'!

A "detailed cleaning" should include the removal of the firing pin stop, firing pin and extractor so you can clean out the the firing pin & extractor tunnels. You'll be amazed at the carbon buildup in those areas.