straightshooter1

NoTenX-I really appreciate your post-answers some questions/issues for me. I have really considered the 650, but with all the calibers and loading for mostly rifles it doesn't make sense right now. I have toyed with the idea of just putting both 550s and all the stuff except dies and some powder measures up for sale here or on Ebay and then getting the 650 or even a 1050. But apparently caliber changes, especially for the 1050 are kind of a big deal and I really use, of the 19 calibers I load, at least 10 fairly regularly. I am somewhere between 10 and 17 months from retirement and, assuming the Lord leaves me here, plan to get back into more pistol shooting. As I read the various posts and "which Dillon" it seems to me that the 650 and 1050 are best for the pistol calibers and maybe 223, but the 550 shines for rifles and fast caliber changes. I think I see a sale of one 550 in the future with a bunch of handgun stuff and the purchase of one of the bigger ones (not sure which). Bob

WOW! I think you may be even more physically messed up than me. What I discovered about massage is that, and I am not sure how to say this without sounding like some jerk, is that the best therapists are "mature women" not the petit little bouncy blonde cutie. I find that the bigger women are (1) strong enough to work deep in the muscles where they need to get (as in ouch) and (2) have their minds on their business and not on flirting, etc. for a tip. If you can find a strong female massage therapist that is into the holistic-healing scene, you might benefit from it. I would, perhaps, take your wife along so she sees it is not you and three babes in a hot tub, but real therapy. Some folks I know swear by acupuncture. I have never tried that and don't know anything about it. Good Luck, Bob

Cuba 71-I am sorry to hear of your problems with the 650. But I will bet if you call Dillon they will walk you through the problems and get them solved. One of the reasons I like them so much is that, in the beginning, when the 550 was relatively new, I called them lots of times and they always were very helpful, never talked down to me (I handled that myself) and always solved the problem. I never upgraded to the 650, mostly since I load 19 different calibers and the painful reality is that it would simply cost too much to duplicate this with the 650. Loading mostly rifle, I find the 550 to be plenty quick. Starting to load some handgun again, and, to tell the truth, am thinking (only thinking) about dumping one of my 550s and getting a 650 for small pistol (9, 40 & 38). I mean, really, that wouldn't be all that expensive, would it? Probably won't though, since I have lived with the 550 so long I don't seem to ever have a problem with it that I can't handle (here's the point where I shot my mouth off and probably will have some impossible problem with one of them next time I try to load). Seriously, very seriously, CALL DILLON! Bob

First of all, I am a lawyer not a physician and I am not trying to diagnose anything. Having been blessed with a muscle disease which has similar symptoms, and which have gotten worse as I have gotten older, I would first ask if you are sure that what you have is, indeed, tendonitis. What I mean is perhaps you had an episode of tendonitis and, thereafter, having similar symptoms, you now assume that it is the same problem? If so, please have a doctor confirm what it is that is causing the problems/pain. Assuming it is tendonitis, I have found that, in my case, thereaputic massage and otc pain relievers work best. I had so much pain in my wrist and elbow that I could barely lift and often could not hold a revolver or pistol. Theraputic massage relieved that and now, with only an occasional massage in the wrist and forearm area, I have no problems with that area of this old body. I have a prescription for Celebrex, but have found otc pain relievers to work better for me. I have to make sure I don't take them on an empty stomach (we had a fellow in our Church that had to have surgery after taking Advil for an injury for a while, most of the time on an empty stomach. Apparently it had caused a hole in his stomach). You have to be careful with otc drugs and I would ask your doctor for his/her recommendation as to what and how much. The theraputic massage I mention is painful in itself, but works so well for me that I have two per week and that keeps the rest of me, which is a bit of a mess because of the muscle disease, functioning fairly well. I am hoping that you can find something that will help you with the pain-I know it is miserable. Bob

They sold very similar ones on EBay about 4 years ago for less than $10 with shipping and I bought two. They worked great, sadly I sold one. Why does anyone need a counter? No one really needs one, just that it's nice to look down and see how many rounds are loaded. Bob

Flyin40; I used to say that, too, until the day I "fixed" my ingrown toenail. About three weeks later, after the infection was under control, and after the doctor had released me.... That was 20 years and several knives ago. At work they still tease me about my "self-surgery." Bob

revchuck-exactly and thanks for the tip. tightloop-didn't think it was a personal attack. I don't really think we are disagreeing but I think we may be talking about different things. OAL is really important-too long is a REAL big problem and too short can cause malfunctions too. But, and you may disagree, assuming correct sizing, right crimp and correct oal, I believe from my experience and from watching lots of others in all kinds of matches from bulleye in the 60s/70s to the current games, the LRN is gonna be the most reliable. It doesn't care if you have an old WW2 GI 45 with an original barrel, a Glock 21 with a factory barrel (unless they have changed them in the past three years, they don't feed SWC well at all), a 70s top of the line Swensen, or a brand new Kimber. They just work. TCs, in my experience, work almost as well. SWCs must have a barrel that will feed them. The newer guns, Paras and Kimbers, for example do. I haven't bought a new Colt this century, but the last LW Commander with all the fancy factory Colt doodads I bought in the late 90s would not reliably feed SWCs without my gunsmith's attention. Again, I agree with you about OAL. Crimp, too, in critical I believe. Regards, Bob

I've loaded 45ACP for many years and the 230 LRNs are the best of the lead for sure-fire feeding. Used to be able to find 200 grain LRNs but I haven't seen them for several years. They worked just as well as the 230s and, of course, were faster w/less recoil. The TCs are ALMOST as reliable and the SWCs work in MOST guns nowadays (never worked well in my Glock 21s) but if you don't have a newer gun or a barrel throated/polished for 'em, the SWC will stop up the gun way too often to use and enjoy even in casual plinking let alone any match. Making a 1911-type feed SWCs used to be the bread and butter of most local gunsmiths along with the 3, 3 1/2, or 4lb trigger pull that used to be the Holy Grail for 1911 triggers. I still tend towards the old 230 LRN just because, if I do the rest of the loading job correctly, it's one thing I don't have to worry about and every gun I have works 100% with them. Bob

Larry and bierman are right-the stuff is used for all kinds of things. If you've read some of my posts, you'll see that I am, uhh, well, mechanically challenged is probably how we'd say it today. Two left feet, clumsy, etc. is what we called it when I was a kid. I would get a rusty fish hook stuck in me and the spot would get infected so Grandad would put that drawing salve on the infection, and in a day or two all was okay. Same for nasty splinters that were too deep to pick out with a needle. No doctor, no antibiotics, just the drawing salve and, as noted before, it must have worked as I'm still here. Seems by the late sixties/early 70s everyone went to the emergency room or doctor with these things and people apparently forgot these "home remedies" that worked. Like castor oil for example. But that's another story. Bob

Former: Police Officer Current: Assistant State Attorney (17 months, 28 days to retirement-or less) And: Concealed Weapons Permit Instruction/Adult Sunday School Teacher Bob

Sorta surprised to see this topic on "What I Hate" since almost everyone I know loves it. I go to work in the dark regardless of whether it is DST or EST here in sunny Florida. What is nice is that there are more hours after work to do things outside. I guess it doesn't matter if you go out to bars or movies or even to eat, but outdoor activities are much better when you can, for example, see the ball. I do visitation on Thursday evenings for our Church and trying to locate a house or address is really hard in the dark, even when you are relatively familiar with the area. Plus, even though I know most of the folks I visit, I don't like to knock on doors or ring the doorbell after dark. Lots of these folks are old, ill, etc. and I want them to be able to see it is someone they know at the door and not some burglar or robber. Sadly the burglars and robbers like the nice weather here just as much as we do. Working in the yard is much more pleasant when you can see what you are doing, i.e. weed vs. flower. I noticed someone said they don't like to go to bed when it is still light. Even in the middle of summer, the longest days of the year, it is dark by a few minutes after nine here. DST-my favorite time of the year. Bob

Exactly right on the spare parts kit. That is the secret to no down time. Something breaks (and any man-made part can/will break and always at a very inconvenient time), you grab the spare parts stash, replace whatever broke, and, at your leisure you contact Dillon and they restock your part for no cost. Bob

I have a similar problem but it is a muscule disease in the MD family. I have found massage by someone who can really work deep into the muscles is far better for pain relief than any of the muscle relaxers or pain medicenes. Hard part was finding someone who could do the type of massage I need rather that the relaxation type that the therapists usually offer. I found one and get the massage twice per week, helps me live a relatively normal life. Hope you get past this. Bob

Derek-maybe, just maybe mind you, that was my problem-the PACT just isn't up to the others' standards. Yours is exactly the same model I had. OTOH, seems some of these posters are talking about Dillons and others shutting off, etc. Bob

AlamoShooter has not yet replied to the question as to why he didn't like the Digital Scale. I have the same feelings about them as he apparently does. My experience was with the PACT and I didn't like having to continuously zero it, having it "turn off" during reloading sessions and I felt particularly stupid as I was verifying its accuracy with my balance beam scale (B4 I read some of these posts I thought I was the only one doing it). Why on earth do I want something that costs more, is more difficult and time consuming to use and which I have to verify with the cheaper tool I already have? I sold it at a small loss and was happy to get back to my balance beam. In the interests of full disclosure, I am mechanically challenged and kinda old and, I suppose, set in my ways. I still like the balance beam-just verify zero when I start, set the weight and check the charge. Simple and easy. Bob

The Commercial Reloaders "roll-size" these 40s and that takes the "guppy belly" out of the Glock brass. My guy here in the TampaBay area charges me about $10 per thousand to do it so it means that the initial cost of the brass has to be cheap to be cost-effective. However, once done, and unless fired in a Glock with a Factory Barrel again, you are done messing with it and can use it as long as you want. My main concern was that the initial lot of brass be genuinely once-fired. I don't know of any place to purchase once fired 40 that FOR SURE hasn't been fired in a Glock. Bob

One of the things that sometimes happens-and I am NOT saying it happened in this case-is that sellers have shill bidders, their buddies, who bid on items from their computers and run up the price. Sometimes they miscalculate and actually "win" the item. Then the seller tries to contact the person who came in "second" telling them the first guy wouldn't/couldn't buy it, offering to sell at the last bid price the person bid. Ebay and Gunbroker are smart enough to catch this if the Seller uses his computer to make the bid, but if it is another machine and they (the seller and bidder) are not computer connected in any way, then they can get away with it. Had a "friend" who did this on Gunbroker. He'd call his buddy in Missouri or in a city south of us and get him/them to bid an item up or against someone who wanted the item. Sometimes they would end up winning and this "friend" would have to figure out how to keep from paying the GB fees since it looked like a legit auction. GB got smart and required a seller to file a non-paying bidder and leave negative feedback to avoid the fees so this "friend" had to quit his games. Still goes on with others, though. I was doing some work for this "friend", but quit doing anything or associating with him because of this. I think GB has recently made it hard or impossible to contact a non-winning bidder as a result of these types of schemes, but I am not sure. I always check the bid histories of past auctions to see if the same bidders bid and never win. If so, I just assume the seller has a bunch of shill bidders and I don't play. I am sure they have gotten even more sophisticated in their cheating by now. Bob

Jeff Barlett is excellent to do business with, pleasant, reasonable and prompt with shipping. Also a great guy to buy bullets from. I buy 30 caliber, but he has quite a bit of 223 GI stuff. Don't have any idea how well it shoots, never a problem with his 30 caliber stuff. Jeff is at: www.gibrass.com Bob

If he uses the name "executioner" that is him. The grips certainly look like his. I have never bought from him. I have considered putting a set on a Smith K frame Model 19 I have had for many years, but never got around to it. Keep buying rifles and Glocks instead. Bob

I see someone revived this thread. I had the Dillon RF100, absolutely hated it. Only Dillon product I ever felt that way about. Got this little gizmo and am absolutely thrilled. It works, it works quickly and is foolproof especially if you skip their tube and just use the Dillon primer tubes. Great product! Bob

Not sure if you are still looking for stag grips or not, but the fellow who sells them is listed in the Classifieds on the Smith forum today and a picture of a pair he made for a member is shown-beautiful work and the price is far below the commercial guys. I don't know him and haven't purchased any grips from him, but the folks on that Forum who have raved about the quality. Bob

Lpaterson: As to your Paypal request to update-check out the threads here (on What I Hate) about Creditcard scams. The message you got is one of those scams, so don't reply. Bob

The initial poster sounds pretty young, at least to me, maybe mid-30sish or so. As he (and you) will see, the body begins to change, at least by the mid-40s. Another decade and it sometimes hurts to get out of bed, or to bend this way or that. Minor injuries no longer are so easy to ignore and take longer to heal. Pain in various joints suggests artritis! You actually have pills you are supposed to take every day! You never seem to have enough time to get all the things done that need doing. You begin to think about the "R word" (retirement). And, yes, you are no longer competitive IF you compare yourself to the folks ten, twenty or thirty years younger than you OR if you compare your current "bests" to those of your past. That being said, if you still love shooting (or golf or softball or...) why on earth would you pass up an opportunity, even infrequently, to play? Did you play just for the recognition of others you bested in the sport, whatever it is, or because you loved playing the sport? The probable answer is that it was for the love of the sport, that feeling we get when we do our best and the pleasure we get in being with other folks with whom we share this common interest. (Yeah, I know, we all like to be recognized as THE winner, but...). Therefore, the answer seems obvious. Enjoy the family, spend time with the kids' sports but, when the opportunity presents itself, enjoy the shooting sport you have always enjoyed. As to work, we all have certain responsibilities, but I have never yet spent time with someone who, as they near the end of their days on this earth said, "I wish I'd spent a few more hours at the office." Bob

I bought my first 550 in 1987. I later sold it and bought three Square Deals, one for 38s, one for 9mm, and one for 45s. Then I started loading rifles and bought two 550s, one for small primers and one for large. More or less, that's what I've kept consistently. I can't tell you how many times I have called them, especially in the early days, with some minor (major to me) problem, or because I'd broken something or didn't know how to work something and had them patiently take time over the phone to walk me through it or tell me they'd send the part right out for free. I have never experienced service like that from any other company and, because of that, I will always be a Dillon customer. You are gonna like those folks at Dillon. Bob

That one has been going around for a while. Sometimes, however, they do check their grammar and spelling. Some of those are pretty hard to detect so you gotta figure every single one is a fraud (which they are). Locally, we had a lawyer who was taken in one of the Nigerian Scams-all this money is available, just need an account in the States to deposit it in and you will get x percentage just for letting me use your account. Send your account number etc....and he did and they emptied it. There are several versions of this one. I know most of you probably don't have a lot of sympathy for the lawyer, but my point is that, apparently at least, anyone can fall for one of these. I mentioned on another thread the ebay message from a bidder asking about something you bid on or asking about something you have for sale. When you see it, you think this is a mistake, you click to reply, it asks you to log on, password etc.... and you just gave away one of your passwords. Keep going and you will log in at Paypal (giving them your password) and pretty soon you'll have a lot in common with the lawyer. The only way to be safe is to never reply, never give up a password and, even then, we see a lot of victims from using a credit card in a restaurant or department store. Maybe it would be safer to go back to using cash.