ezra650

Let me start by saying I do not use a slow index for any of my automated dillons. If you are having to use the index dwell your press is not setup/upgraded perfectly. That's fine if you don't want to perfect your setup, but that is the truth. I also find there is a double edge sword using the index dwell. It can retard the index of the shellplate and the primer slide so much that it causes jams/hangups. Especially as you run the machine longer and things get a bit dirty. Bottom or top dwells can be useful for picky bullets and wobbly casings and also for brass trimming. Processing 556 2000rph. 2500rph if you have perfect lube coverage and no machinegun brass. 2000 will run all day requiring minimal attention. No dwells or index Torque 9-12. Depending on speed and brass lube. I use 2 sizing dies so my torque is high. Loading 556 2500rph or 3000rph. I've even ran at 3500 before but the casings start to get peeled mouths going onto the powder funnel. Overall too violent for rifle ammo on the dillon and not worth the headache. The DAA psp brush is required IME at 3000rph. I use them from the powder drop all the way to bullet crimp. You still may not be able to run at 3000 depending on the powder level in your casing and the bullet type you are using. No dwells or index Torque is as low as possible. 3-5 Processing 9mm 2500rph-3000rph. At 3000 you may occasionally have casings fail to insert into the shellplate and cause a jam. Usually this is due to the shellplate getting dirty and will eventually appear at any speed. 2500 is the walkaway speed. No dwells/index. Torque 5-7 Loading 9mm 2500rph-3000. 3000 is just as smooth as 2500 if you have a low fill and/or dense powder. The DAA PSP brush helps with this. Bullet type and how expanded/belled your casings are also come into play. With some bullets like JHP I just run 2500 because the bullets don't have much bevel and fall off too easily. TMJ/Plated will run at 3000 smoothly. For something like 9mm major you will want to run 2000rph because of the powder fill. No dwells/index Torque 3-5

Be careful with the lizard bedding. They are the perfect size to jam in flash holes. Not an issue if you decap after tumbling or use a decapper die on your press when loading. I found the walnut dust really agitates my allergies. I've been using the 20/40 grit corn cob from Zoro. Comes in a 40lb bag and is cheap. A 1/2-1 cup of mineral spirits in your tumbler will help keep the dust down quite a bit. Treating the media with 1-2 tablespoons of nufinish on occasion is worthwhile also.

I load commercially on a small scale. Pricing is to the point now that I will be using all viht powder the next time I restock. Occasionally I might get lucky and snag a batch of imported powder from the few companies bringing it in. But otherwise the prices for H powder are not worth it. Alliant has always been high price and difficult to get consistentlyso I never touch it. The western powders (now owned by Hodgdon) were a economic safe haven in the past. However, now they are so close to viht powder you might as well pay a few pennies more per round to get the performance gains. The Russo/Ukraine war is one of the main contributing factors I believe. Read up on the artillery shell usage from both sides and you will see where all the gunpowder/raw ingredients are going. Pretty insane volumes in play.

Ah yea I completely forgot about another issue. Those using autodrives with a toolhead guide rod brass bushing at the back. The armanov head bottoms out on that also. At least it did on my bushing. Mine was homemade so maybe the Immortobot one is shorter but I'm not sure. There is a new aluminum toolhead out now that uses normal threads and has a threaded priming station. They are $200. I will dig up the link and post it here.

The armanove toolhead is a waste of time. LNL bushings....suck. Furthermore, because of the gap between the toolhead and shellplate on the 1050/1100 you must run your dies deep in the toolhead to reach the casings/shellplate. This is the same case for dillon heads. But the Armanov head is thicker and then the bushings cover even more die threads. You will have one or maybe 2 threads available to secure your dies in the LNL bushings. Especially on your sizing dies. The armanov is machined nicely and has some neat features but falls just short of the mark in my opinion. I would use the armanov without the ratchet tab. Those are terrible also. Removing them from all toolheads regardless of brand is the best option for operators comfortable with the machine.

I have a design idea to make a Probe primer sensor that uses a sprong loaded brass rod that has a beveled tip. When depressed the rod would trigger a prox sensor mounted on the back of the machine. When the Probe rod springs up into the primer pocket (or an empty station) the prox would no longer be triggered and would e stop the mk7 autodrive. The sensor would use the remote e stop port on the drive. Mounting would be a custom mount 3d printed. Really no reason to add cost of an aluminum mount. The rod goes thru the drain hole on the platform. 1050 users would have to drill this hole in the press. On the 1100 it is already there. The mount would be secured to the square U shaped frame behind the press. I spent a few hours designing it and taking measurements of a spare 1100 I have. Even ordered the brass rods from Mcmaster. The one concession is that the index roller and index lever arm would require ultra low profile bolts so the rod could mount into the press drain hole. A special bushing (likely brass) would be need to center the Probe rod in the press platform. 3d print may also work for that part. Unfortunately I have just been too busy with my day job, business, and family to prototype further. It was mostly a fun project for me to toy with and see if it works. Perhaps sell units later but I don't forsee a large market for the sensor. Maybe I'll pick this idea up again one day. Posting here in case anyone would like to run with the idea more.

I forgot about that judge die. I should set one up for my 9mm processing. Moving the decap to die station 2. What funnel are you using to catch spent primers? The 2 mounting bolts would make it easy enough to mount a 3d printed designed or otherwise for sure. Just curious what you had planned as I may set my CP up in the same configuration. I like the modded FW die. I bet that works well when running 223 since the Judge die is only for pistol cases. 22lr stuck on 223 necks is a major pin killer.

What brand sensors are you using for the debris check and stepped case? The debris check especially interests me. The #1 break down on my cp/mk7 brass press is from debris inside casings.

I also strongly suggested this to Dillon. It's a no brainer to use the same CP2000 frame, but with the priming cuts. I really wish as a company they were more innovative. About the toolheads. You can absolutely use an 1100/1050 head on a cp2000. You will simply need to unscrew the primer depth bolt/pin and press/hammer out the primer alignment toolhead pin. The best way to remove the pressed pin is to strip the toolhead (yes even the triangle case feed cam, its sharp) and lay the toolhead straddling 2 blocks of wood. Beat the pin out with a 3lb mini sledge. You'd think it would damage the pin, it doesn't. I did it with nothing to protect the pin. Probably best to use a leather glove or a 3lb deadblow if you have it. I've done this to several toolheads to make them into brass prep heads for the CP. Remember that the CP2000 doesn't come with 2 sets of swage assemblies. If you want to run dual swage you will need to build out an entire 2nd swage sub assembly.

Call Mk7 tech support, they are very helpful. Also make sure your tablet has the new software. 2.17 I believe is the new version.

I sold mine for the same reason. Extra thickness of the toolhead prevents a full press travel due to contact with the brass guide rod bushibg. Also, setting up the dies in the bushings is a major pain. You barely have any threads exposed for your lock ring, even on dillon dies. I have had nothing but great experience with Armanov and am a supporter of their company/brand.... but they need to ditch the LNL bushing idea. Even being an aluminum head if they simply did all threaded stations (with the priming station threaded) I'm sure they would sell way more heads and be able to produce them even cheaper.

THIS is the info I've been looking for. Thank you!! Hard to find someone who has tried the SVI and LSI. For a while I'd been hearing the LSI felt smaller but I wasnt convinced since it is not advertised that way. Now I just have to decide between limcat and SVI for my tiny mitts.

Something you have to specially request? I was going to go with the SVI small hands smooth/grip tape grip. But limcat might be the better option?

Build one from a Brazos short block kit. With a steel grip you are around $3500-3700. You can save even more by using a plastic grip. Use all of his internal parts and you will have very little detailed fitting to do. Extent of fitting would be, tension the extractor, possibly tune the ejector and thumb/grip safeties. Maybe the firing pin stop if he doesn't include that with the short block kit. Either way all can be done with a simple needle file kit and sandpaper. You will learn how to work on your own gun in the process also. Also allows you to build it exactly how you'd like. Beyond that my recommendation is to look for a deal here on the forums. There is an ad right now in the classifieds for 2 matching. like new. Benny Hill guns in 38 super (easily tuned to 38SC) and they each come with 5 mags. 2500 for each gun/package. Literally all you need is ammo and a holster/belt/pouches to go shoot. PS: btw I bought one of those Benny Hill guns so you will have to settle for only one of them

I've printed that blue tip protector and used it for a while. Great idea in theory. Terrible idea in practice. It doesn't give any space for the primer slide/cam to discard crushed primers etc. If something gets drawn back its going to be very tight spacing and likely to damage the blue tip or set off all your primers. Maybe not as bad on manual operation.

Toolheads are all the same except the ratchet "gear tooth" tab which can be easily replaced. If you even are using the ratchet tab. None of my machines use them. Something to note. Toolhead to shellplate distance WHEN at bottom stroke. Are all different between the the 3 gray dillon presses. IE. If you have size setup to touch shellplate on RL1050. Put same head on 1100 or super 1050. Your die will either be short of touching the shellplate or too far down to allow a full stroke. This is why I stay in the same family of dillon presses.

A few things to unpack here... 1. If your press is setup correctly and you don't do dumb things (like i have in the past)the Dillon shellplates work great...even for most typical automated operation. 2. FW does not release sub par products. I would buy anything from them with confidence. 3. Aftermarket shellplates, typically, reduce the pocket size where the casing is retained. This can cause case insertion issues and especially so when running mixed HS brass. The companies making the shellplate do this to decrease the case wobble as the press runs. 4. Since I have setup dealer access to TNT I have picked up a couple of their plates. Primarily for brass processing as sometimes if crap brass gets onto your press the autodrive can damage/stress the shellplate. 223 is the worst. 9mm on the other hand I've went thru 150k plus and haven't had any dillon shellplate longevity issues. Due to a minor pricing difference it made sense for me to get the TNT over a bare Dillon plate and I always have wanted to give them a shot. I have noticed the TNT is more difficult to get just right on tighteness with the shellplate lock ring. However, I'm sure the tool steel will pay dividends over time on my automated brass processor. Oh I just saw your comment about the index roller... that's a whole different post hehe. I wasn't aware of any company making a new bolt or roller for the index mechanism?

I made a short video about a few things I have found helpful when using a Dillon 1100/1050. Especially with an autodrive. Obviously this does not cover everything. Mostly just what goes on under the shellplate. If anyone has anything to add please do so!

Purchase a smooth bore rubber hose off Amazon. The larger ones are usually reinforced with metal wire.

It's a common/known issue of the 650/750. It's one reason that Dillon size dies are flared and if you ask them they will simply tell you to use their dies...LOL It's a poor design and the major Achilles heel of the 650 IMO. There is no case retention on that station. The index ring clicking into place or any other vibration or disturbance can cause the case to slide back out enough to hit the die. Even with dillon dies. Straight walled cases all do it. The longer the case the worse it gets. Don't even try to load 38/357 on a 650 using a non dillon size die. Instant rage and headache. One other issue is the entire platform can be warped/damaged if you have this jam occurring repeatedly and the press crunches the case. It could also just be the platform is loose and you need to tighten the 2 allen bolts holding it to the mainshaft. I fought this issue for a while on an older 650. Eventually I upgraded to 1100s and have never looked back since.

Yes. Chain drives with a VFD are pretty "easy" for most machinists/engineers to assemble on a 1050/1100. Mounting a dumb motor isn't the hard part of automation. It's giving the system the ability to "think" and the user interface. If you just want a drive where you hit a button to go and a button to stop that wouldn't be too difficult. You will probably break/damage a lot of parts if you don't implement some sort of clutch. If I were you I'd just buy the mark 7. It's quick, easy, and it works. My main complaint is the bullet sensor is pretty dismal for a $300 sensor. But running preprocessed brass helps a lot and the bullet sense isn't really necessary at that point. Also the Mk7 has a large footprint and it can be limiting on where to mount standalone bullet feeders.

That seems really slow. Fine for personal use I guess... I was going faster than that when I hand cranked my 1100s.

Yep the sweet spot I found was 2300+/- for loading pre processed, but not primed, brass. IIRC i am getting an output of 3k maybe more, when just processing 9mm. The idea crossed my mind of going to no lube or an evaporating lube like one shot and priming also on that processing pass. And therefore on the loading pass bump up to 2600-2800rph. I can load 9mm at 2600 now with my current setup but the only issue is missed primers. The only true solution here may to simply dedicate another press to priming only. But I'm not to that point yet of adding yet another machine. My work space is shrinking as is haha!

How fast are you priming on the 1050/1100s? The dillon priming system doesn't seem to like running much above 2300rph output. I would like see 2800-3000 on priming. Any tips?

I'm also having the same issue with case spin using the whidden trim die for 300blk and the RT1500. I also noticed running the machine faster prevented the spinning (as mentioned above via Dillon tech support). I could run the trim die lower to touch the shellplate and size earlier, but then I would not be able to fit vacuum shroud under the trimmer and I do not want to mess with designing a low profile exhaust shroud at the moment. For now I will run the press at a faster pace to prevent the spinning. Exploring a double sided short trim head setup sounds like an option with a rough cut die and 2nd trimmer later on.