hmp32

Livining the Seattle Area, I like the bullets. Took me a while to find a good power/brass combo. I currently use Clays 4.3 over the 200gr Sprial point. Winchester and CBC (Magtech) work best. Stay away from R&P brass with this bullet (poor seating).

Is this a lesson learned personally? Luckily, the closet that the table I have is sticking 1/2 out of is on hardwood so I can just sweep up.

Maybe... I don't think so, but anything is possible. On my Lee Turret press, I do know 9mm gets stuck in the die and the rim pulls through the holder. Well, I shoot pretty standard pistol calibers (.45,9mm,38/357) and I honestly don't see that changing. If I need an expirimentation machine, then I might get the 550. If I get into rifle enoughh that I need to reload, then a 650.

Hope this helps you find your primers! I am now down to 5 I cannot account for. And they are not in the machine, I b the primer assembly apart and used a flash to verify the tube was clear. Also, I noticed some of the primers have off center enlongated dent/marks. What could be cause that? I am using Winchester WSP primers with R&P headstamped brass picked up from the range. thanks!

My new to me (used) .45 Square Deal B arrived today! Within 1 hour I had it up and runnig I did order a maintence kit and extra primer tubes from Brian though! Postive Sucess: 1. I loaded 92 rnds =) 2. I found it easy to setup, particularly once I realized the spring/washer goes between the bracket and wingnut on the power release arm 3. Overall the machines operations is *smooth* compare to the lee turret press I have been using. Not so postive things: 1. I got 1 piece of brass way up in the re-sizing die -- PITA to get out. However, I have had to deal with this on the Lee, so I view it as the nature of the beast and not a Dillon specific thing. 2. I can not account for 6 primers. They are not in the pickup tube. If they are in the primer feeding tube, they are not feeding.... Any thoughts here? Newbie proceedure things.... 1. Placing the brass in station one correctly is critical. If it is not aligned correctly, it will jam on the stroke and everything will be off and you have to reset it. 2. remembering to press the handle all the way back so it will prime the case... 3. Going slow... Now I may need to play hookie from work to try out my new ammo =) Loads are based on the lee loads I had developed. Thanks for the awesome info I found here. I think I made the right choice for my needs.

Sorry, to impulsive: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1 I should have that one by the time your auction is over.... Thanks!

I am pretty close to making up my mind and ordering an SDB. Currently, all I load is .45 and 9mm and I am more the 'setup up and leave it' than I am always expirimenting. Anyway, my current setup is a Lee 4 station Turret Press with indexing disabled. Currently, my process. 1. Clean Brass 2. Using Lee Die, deprime/reform case (I do this as a seperate step to my brass) 3. Prime/Charge Case (this is also done until I fill my 2-50 case bullet trays) 4. Seat/Factory Crimp Die I can do about 200rnd/hour this way. I generally like to make 1000rn or so at a time of each caliber. But, I want to save time. With that background, here are my question: 1. How much force is needed with the Dillon SDB to shape/deprime the case? With 9mm, I am using a awful lot of force depending on the case (I am assuming the smaller surface area means the force is distributed over a smaller area kind of thing)? WIth .45 brass, I don't normally need to apply as much force as the 9mm. 2. Is there a sleave that fits around the decapping shaft? 3. Per my earlier Post, I assume the spent primers make it into the cup? thanks!

This is a great set of responses! And, I would like to hear more stories about where the spent primer ends up in relationship to the machine (btw I take my spent primers to my gun club and deposit them in the brass bucket after removing the brass I want to keep). My goal is to find out if there is difference between the various Dillon machines in handling spent primers as part of my decision process on which machine to get. I detest the fact that my my Lee Turret Press lacks the ability for the primiers to go into the spent primer hole. I have to deprime my cases seperately after removing the primer arm and placing a barrier around the the base of the turret press. thanks!

Where do your spent primers end up? That is, out of every 100 rounds you load, how many of the spent primers end up in the collection tray? Please tell me which dillon press model you own too. thanks.

4.3 Clays over a 200gr Spiral Point Bullet from Master Blaster. Gets me 170PF with a nice soft, controllable load out of a 5" Government like 1911.

It might be your brass. I have been revising my reloading protocol using Master Blaster Bullets (200gr Round Nose Moly-Coated I get locally) and found that .45 brass stamped R&P followed by PMC and CCI brass were inconsistant with bullet depth. The R&P was so bad, I stopped using it with the Master Blaster bullets. The Winchester Brass, for example, is always spot on. Anyway, it is a thought I hadn't seen expressed here.... The softness of your brass combined with the bullet type may actually be the problem. I am not using an SDB, btw. WHat I am really trying to say is that different manufactures brass may have different pliability.

I find if I have just what I need to get going, it doesn't effect me. But, I also discovered bring a thermos of coffee to a match is not a good idea... I do get the jitters from that. For cold weather matches, I have switch to having a non-caffine tea such as pepermint.

I don't see why you should feel bad about DQ'ing the guy. If not for the muzzle violation, for failing to be a sportsman. Personally, in that *other* sport, I got DQ'd at a qualification match. The RO was actually partly to blame. He stopped using range commands when I failed to re-load properly. He used a familar, you messed up tone of voice: "Oh Henry...." and I turned around pointing the muzzle you know where. However, I am still the one with the gun in my hand. If there had been an accident, the overwhelming responsiblity is mine. Sure, he did some thing to encorage an unsafe situation. But so what? Again, I have the gun in my hand. At the end of the day, I certainly learned two things: 1. I am now more aware of the environment ROs create. 2. When being an RO (not just for IPSC/IDPA), but just at the Range I belong to, I have a real appreciation for handling people I know just as I wold anyone else at the range. Keep to the basics of range commands in and RO situation and do not let personal familularity change that discpline.

This is all great info and I thank people of making this an informative thread for me, and I hope other shooters as well! =)

200gr vs. 230gr Bullets: why do you prefer one over the other? My goal is simply to understand why some folks like 230gr bullets and why some like 200gr bullets. The brand/type (ie lead, molly, plated, jacketed) would be interesting to hear about, but I am less interested in brand, and more interested in simply why one weight vs. another.

This is prehaps a little different, but I share it =) I have been shooting IDPA all year, but had 1 IPSC/USPSA match as a non-member last spring. I joined IPSC/USPSA in September. Due to the timeing and what not, my first match was about 40 miles (1.25 hour drive due to various local road issues). Anyway, I get out, go through the normal ritual of paper work followed by match fee and joining a squad. When it was my turn (and this was my 2nd IPSC match), I got through the first 6 rnds on the course of fire and suddenly felt what was a like a kick to my right calf muscle. I contined until the course of fire required me to stop (about another 3 yards) and realized I had really hurt my self. I stopped before finishing the course of fire. I realized after moving to the next stage I just should not be handling a gun because the pain was enough to distract me. I ended up withdrawing from the match after not completing my first stage. I visted the doctor the next day and found out I had "tennis leg" and had a "type 2" injury where the large calf muscle and its legiment had not ripped, but had been strained. The Doctor explained this can happen wiht stop/start/rapid changes in direction such as occurs in tennis. There are two things to learn from this: 1. I am an under 40 something or rather in decent health. However, I should have warmed up a little (streching) particularly after a long drive. 2. In 2 subseqent matches, I discovered where my my accurate speed is vs. trying to go fater than I should. Because I don't want to re-injury myself, I actually shot slower and hit around 85-90% "A" targets in IDPA and IPSC. But, I went about as fast as I am "A" zone accurate. Of course, at least in the IDPA match, I could have done have done better on certain parts of the course that are moving target-to-target. But, I can better distinguish those issues now mostly because I had a injury that forced me to re-evulate how I shot. I also appreciate those Senior shooters even more and my hats off to them!

What tool do I use to figure out the # of spring? I know about Wolf's article. But, I prefer to be able to meausre old springs myself. Not just recoil, but others too. How to the 'smiths do it to check if the spring in tolerance?