1050 for 223 and 9mm or 1040 and 650

[bundyloco]

I'm a little stuck and would like some advice. I have been reloading for a while with a Lee Loadmaster and single stage. I shoot an AR and mostly 9mm. I'm really leaning towards a 1050 set up to trim/prep on one toolhead and load with another toolhead. I was planning on going all the way and getting a Mr. Bulletfeeder as well. Since I also shoot a lot of 9mm, I was looking at getting all the conversion pieces to do 9mm on the 1050 as well, including the conversion for the Mr. Bulletfeeder. However, when I looked into it (created a spreadsheet to compare costs) I can buy a 650 with casefeeder and do the 223 prep and 9mm on the 650 AND buy a 1050 for almost the same price (~$100 more for the two press setup). I like the 1050 because of the swager and reportedly improved priming system.

I thought about just getting the 1050 for 223 and using the laodmaster for 9mm, but I really hate the LM. I spend so much time monkeying with it and the quality of ammunition is lousy.

I would like to get up to 1-2k 9mm/mo and maybe 500-1k 223/mo. I know those are meager numbers for the 1050, but it is the swager that has me leaning that way. Handling each piece of brass is time consuming. I am using mixed range brass for both the 9mm and 223 so I do come across crimp 223 AND 9mm. Actually, a surprisingly high amount of crimped 9mm (~10-20%).

Any thoughts/recommendations?

[rrflyer]

My previous post dissapeared.

If you feel you really need the deswager for both I'd get

A 1050 setup for 223 and 9mm

A 550 setup with the power trimmer

I would think that becuase you have to leave the case in the trimmer for a few seconds anyhow that the time savings provided by having a casefeeder and auto-index wouldn't be realized. In fact a 1050 for volume and a 550 for smaller runs is probably the perfect setup.

Right now I have two 650's and 550 but have owned a 1050 for a short time and miss it.

[benos]

Since swaging will be involved for both 9 and 223, I'd go with the 1050.

Also, seating the primer on the downstroke is a HUGE plus for the 1050.

Brian

Toll-free: 877 219-5598

[Hi-Power Jack]

I would like to get up to 1-2k 9mm/mo and maybe 500-1k 223/mo. I know those are meager numbers for the 1050, but it is the swager that has me leaning that way. Handling each piece of brass is time consuming. I am using mixed range brass for both the 9mm and 223 so I do come across crimp 223 AND 9mm. Actually, a surprisingly high amount of crimped 9mm (~10-20%).

I've been buying "range brass" for three years, and find 1-2% crimped 9mm.

I would have thought you'd bump into much more .223 crimped brass??

With all that crimped brass, though, you have a choice of discarding the

crimped brass, or spending a lot of money to save it. Guess it depends

on how much money you have - I'd throw away the brass.

And with the small numbers of rounds you're reloading (you can reload 2,000

rounds in a few hours on a 550), I'd get one 550 for the .223 and one Square

Deal for the 9mm and you'll be way ahead.

Or, buy the 1050 and load up a year's supply one morning of each caliber, and

let the machine sit idle for the next 363 days.

Do you know anyone who'd like to share the machine with you?

Jack

[benos]

I would like to get up to 1-2k 9mm/mo and maybe 500-1k 223/mo. I know those are meager numbers for the 1050, but it is the swager that has me leaning that way. Handling each piece of brass is time consuming. I am using mixed range brass for both the 9mm and 223 so I do come across crimp 223 AND 9mm. Actually, a surprisingly high amount of crimped 9mm (~10-20%).

With all that crimped brass, though, you have a choice of discarding the

crimped brass, or spending a lot of money to save it. Guess it depends

on how much money you have - I'd throw away the brass.

That is a good point too.

[Fireant]

Loading both on a 1050 is soo easy and almost fun. I have the exact setup you are looking at 1050 and bullet feeder set up for both calibers. I hate getting a crimped piece of brass in my 650 and have not used it for almost 2 years now. Get the 1050 and never look back.

[bundyloco]

Wow, lots of good points/counterpoints. Right now, I think I need to keep doing some homework. I think the reason I run across so much WCC 9mm brass is because my range is inside a major urban area and all but one of the PDs utilize it for training as well as FBI, reserves...even secret service during a recent presidential visit. Thanks guys.

[whistlepig]

I have a 650 dedicated to large primer and a 650 dedicated to small primer... I seperate crimped primer stuff and swage by hand every so often. It works for me.... I do load for several calibers and converting a 1050 is not a simple task. I find that the ability to swap a toolhead on the 650's is good for my uses.

Having read what you want to do and if you are sure you will be sticking with those two calibers, I would +1 the above posts for the 1050. I have used one and it is nice. The ability to handle crimped primer is a big plus. That would be a big time saver for you, if that is a consideration.

[mleeber]

Late to the party but....

I used an LM for many years (as well as a turret press and a pro1000) and will tell you that the LM is a good press. You need to know everything about how it works to get it tweaked and running smoothly but my 650 and 1050 are no different (in fact I just posted pics tonight of my broken 1050 RAM). I recommend an LM over a 550 all day because an LM auto indexes and it is very hard to double charge on an auto-indexing press. Red Lee .vs Blue Dillion is a religious issue so many opinions you get are heavily tainted and spewed by those who have never seen a Lee press. I had an LM on the bench with a 650 and 1050 for quite a while and only sold it because I was downsized to a smaller reloading room so several presses had to go. The only two problematic parts of the LM are the primer feeder and the priming station. I ordered a second sizing die from Lee, removed the decapping pin, and put it in the LM priming station. This lines up the case and holds it tight before the primer is inserted, makes a world of difference! There is lots of other good info on the web that will make that LM sing!

If you get the quantity you need of 223 and 9mm brass for free then the swaging station on the 1050 is important and long term the 1050 may make sense. If you have to buy brass to supplement your free brass then it is easier to buy swaged brass for a few bucks more in which case you do not need a 1050 (or a 650 cause the LM will do what you want). Add to that the fact that rifle brass must be trimmed and now it makes even more sense to buy cleaned, sized, swaged and trimmed brass. Keep in mind that conversion kits for both the 1050 and 650 are as much as an entire LoadMaster because you need a "conversion kit", a "quick change" kit, and dies. All my tool heads have Lee dies in them except the one that came with the 1050 (I got a great deal on my 1050 used or I would never have bought it). Another significant issue is that while the no BS warranty may be good on the 550 and 650, the warranty on the 1050 stinks and you will end up spending money when a part breaks; they consider it a commercial press no matter who you are and how much you use it; the prices on the 1050 parts hurt.

My 2 cents...if your wallet is fat the 1050 is great, I prep my 223 brass and load 9mm and 40 on mine while the 650 loads 223, 45, and 380. I do all my other rifle calibers on a Lee Breech lock Challenger. If you like to shoot then get the LM working well, buy brass that is already prepped and load it on the LM; at the end of the day you will have a lot more money to shoot. I would however NOT invest in a 550, that is a step backwards from the LM.

[freakshow10mm]

I would go 1050 and trim the .223 on a single stage. Just as fast as a progressive with case feeder due to dwell time on the trimmer. The swage is nice but the real deal is priming on the downstroke. You don't realize the value in that unless you load on one. I load .40 S&W as well as 9mm and .45 ACP. I swage for 9mm but not for the others. I still love the downstroke priming. I'd never want to step down to a 650.

[smokshwn]

I would like to get up to 1-2k 9mm/mo and maybe 500-1k 223/mo. I know those are meager numbers for the 1050, but it is the swager that has me leaning that way. Handling each piece of brass is time consuming. I am using mixed range brass for both the 9mm and 223 so I do come across crimp 223 AND 9mm. Actually, a surprisingly high amount of crimped 9mm (~10-20%).

With all that crimped brass, though, you have a choice of discarding the

crimped brass, or spending a lot of money to save it. Guess it depends

on how much money you have - I'd throw away the brass.

That is a good point too.

Throwing away the brass entails sorting it by hand and looking at every headstamp....so if you don't put any value on your time you might be saving some money to throw away the brass, however if you pay think of your time as having a $$ value then the 1050's swaging station saves you a lot of time and effort =$$$$.

In the past my opinion was you didn't need a 1050 to load pistol brass but since there is so much NT (non toxic) crimped brass out there it is very nice that every piece of brass gets swaged.

My current setup has my first 650 set up to process brass (sizing and trimming) with the 1050 set up to load as you have described with a bullet feeder. I see two valuable advantages here in that I save a lot of time not sorting brass and the ammo coming off the 1050 is loaded faster and much more consistent due to there only being any sort of loading resistance at the swaging station.