Baragasam

Just got tracking info on the carbide 9mm dies! A little over 11 month lead time. Very excited.

@Farmer @Service Desk thank you guys for the great help! I think I'll lean more towards WSF if I stumble upon it. I have a lot of loading to do before I run out of powder but definitely interested in switching things up to improve/streamline my inventory as well as processes.

@Farmer @Service Desk would you guys lean more towards WSF or Universal? Once I'm done with all my powder I would gladly switch over to those powders. I reload for 12G anyways so having a single powder would be beneficial in my opinion. I do agree that I also experience leading as well even with well powder coated projectiles. How much do you guys pay per lb for the Universal and WSF powders?

Ugh, that's why I moved away from lubing bullets. Just way too messy and smokey. Gets my reloading press, magazines, ammo cases and hands all sticky.

I haven't been able to get my hands on Universal powder yet. I have a bunch of titegroup powder left. I saved the WST big jug for 12G instead. Have you ever tried titegroup?

Last I remember they dropped at .356 exact (I think) but after powder coating them they came out to around .358/around the neighborhood of .360 (I have to check on that)

@George16 thanks for the picture and reply. After tinkering around yesterday with the trimmer and my standard Evo toolhead there is no way a 223 case will clear the tool head, you are right. I am working on getting the offset tool head from M7. I just wish I knew sooner when I was inquiring their CS back then about my whole reloading process. Nice setup!

Thank you @Squirrel45

@dillon ship 'em to me pleasseeee

Right, I've had no problems with them replying me with updates on my shipment so far and I heard they are good at warranty broken parts as well. I definitely regret not getting the RL1100 instead...

Lyman acquired Mark 7 a year or so ago. And indeed Lyman made their own trimmer for Mark 7 presses. But the Bosch one is just a kit they piece mealed together with Dillon vacuum housing kit, Lyman pro trim die and their version of the honey badger trimmer adapter. In several ways I wished I would've just gotten Dillon everything and get the Mark 7 auto drive. The M7 powder measure hardware also broke on me with their custom machined bolts snapping. I've gotten 50/50 customer service since.

Oh I see, so you use the trimmer dies to do the final sizing step while the initial sizer does the majority portion of the sizing. Back in 2020 I was inquiring M7 about what I need to start trimming brass on my press, they told me to just get the Bosch trimmer kit as it has Bosch's warranty on the router motor. Come to find out the die that came with the kit fits way too deep into the tool head so I think I may need to get their offset tool head now. Had they told me back then....

@3gunDMD the instructions for the trim die states that they recommend running a sizer first though https://www.lymanproducts.com/media/catalog/product/7/7/7700978_trim_die_instructions.pdf

Update, I still have not received my 9mm carbide die set from Dillon yet....going on almost 1 full year since date of order.

I also have the Lyman trim die that comes with the Mark 7 trimmer kit. I can confirm that it does size, to what degree I don't know. I sized a case on a dillon carbide sizer die and it fits very snug into the Lyman trim die, almost doesn't fully insert. I would assume it sizes even further than the Dillon sizing die. Which makes me think that I should use a universal decapper on the initial station and have the trimmer die do the sizing for me. I hope someone can confirm on this for us.

I size to .356, I tried .357 on the Lee 125gr 2R and was seldom having feeding reliability issues out certain pickier guns. I'll try to get my hands on a .357 sizer to try again on this TC projectile. Do you powder coat? What is your method?

I've tried WST, accuracy was very poor. Titegroup still did the best for me and I get about the same group as you with an occasional flyer. I believe it's the powder coating consistency that hinders accuracy.

I've read on that too. I use range scrap which is probably why.

My MBF funnel has worn out after several 10K rounds of 9mm as well. It's gotten to the point where it doesn't seat the 9mm projectiles without them tipping over and also getting shaved bullets too. I have since gone with a standalone Lee universal expander with no problems. But I do like how the MBF expands deeper allowing for more of a seating cup than a mouth flare.

I tried the 95gr 380 acp bullet, my bullet feeder didn't like it at all. The MBF typically likes longer bullets and I just tuned it to feed the 120 tc well. Saving some lead with the 95gr was a cool idea though. I also used that lube method you mentioned, made my reloading equipment extremely messy so I went back to powder coating and sizing with a lee push through sizer.

yes sir

Definitely a training gap and I would have to agree that a single sight plane will always be quicker than a double sight plane. Target focus vs optic/irons focus is where the gap is in my experience. Both have their merits for me. In a controlled environment (corrective lenses) optics are almost always faster for me but I have to agree with the mental processing of confirming that the red dot is actually "accurate" as a problem for myself too.

That's news to me, I'll definitely keep that in mind. Although I've decided to move towards Dillon Decap/Size combo dies instead now.

@ddc also, it is generally a good rule of thumb to let the powder drop station do only a singular task and leave the expanding for another station/another die as this would separate tasks, create less margin of error and also would be more cost efficient to use a separate die instead of getting special powder funnels.

100% agreed. The MBF wears out quick I find. Also, using the Mark 7/Lyman powder hopper to also expand was not a good idea. The bolts connecting to the actuating arms to the powder drum snapped on me. I know this is unrelated to the Dillon but just worth mentioning that their hardware isn't the greatest and Mark 7 wasn't willing to warranty the issue....so I got Lowe's grade 8's LOL