Chills1994 Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Arrggh.... I noticed some split necks on my RCBS X-die'ed brass after just their second or third firing. Arrgh... I guess I am going to have to start annealing the case necks. In case you don't know what that is, just go to YouTube and type in "annealing brass". Plenty of gadgets out there to quasi automate the process. I PM'ed jmorris the other day to pick his brain about annealing brass. I really like his case feeder equipped annealer. My other option is to just shoot the imported steel cased stuff...at about 21 cents each....hmmmn....decisions...decisions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiackid Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 I just started doing this for .308 as well. I went the cheap route - my rig cost all of $40 to get the job done. I bought a BernzOMatic propane tank/torch combo at Home Depot for $12, a Black & Decker cordless screw driver for $20 and a 13mm deep well socket. I use a metronome on my iPod to count off 6 seconds and then drop the case into a bin. There's a good thread on SnipersHide that discusses various methods from the way I'm doing it to the fully automated setups and there's also some links to other good articles in there: http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1269188#Post1269188 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringcheese Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Are you full length sizing or just neck sizing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 One word-Scharch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whistlepig Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Templique takes the guess work out of how long to heat your brass when annealing. It really works. Well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon9 Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 (edited) I just picked up one of THESE. It was in stock, ready to go. I don't have the time to build one myself, even from a parts kit. I have not had a chance to play with it yet and probably won't for a while. I did as much loading as I could before summer kicked in here in AZ, trying to make it 'til fall. I did take it out of the box and set it up. It is very well built, surprisingly more compact then I was expecting, thankfully. I was impressed and the company was a pleasure to deal with. It does rotate the brass as well. edited to add video Edited May 18, 2011 by carbon9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 ^^^a'yup, I saw that youtube video already. pretty slick. now, I gotta wonder what would be the trick to getting a Dillon casefeeder to drop cases into that thing??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powder Finger Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Arrggh.... I noticed some split necks on my RCBS X-die'ed brass after just their second or third firing. Arrgh... I guess I am going to have to start annealing the case necks. In case you don't know what that is, just go to YouTube and type in "annealing brass". Plenty of gadgets out there to quasi automate the process. I PM'ed jmorris the other day to pick his brain about annealing brass. I really like his case feeder equipped annealer. My other option is to just shoot the imported steel cased stuff...at about 21 cents each....hmmmn....decisions...decisions... What brass? caliber? how much are you sizing down the necks? how far are you expanding the necks to seat bullets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon9 Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 ^^^a'yup, I saw that youtube video already. pretty slick. now, I gotta wonder what would be the trick to getting a Dillon casefeeder to drop cases into that thing??? It wouldn't be difficult at all. You could make a stand for the case feeder with a flat base large enough for the annealer to sit on and just swap the case feeder from press to base until you buy another case feeder. In all reality manually loading it isn't that big of a deal as you probably won't anneal every time you reload. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggerJJ Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 (edited) Hummmm....interesting problem there, Chills... maybe the x-die is overworking the brass? (remember our back-and-forth about a year ago?) I'm still just bouncing along with my 2 head system with dillon case trimmer... but after the 3rd firing I leave 223 brass on the ground. It just ain't worth the headache...split necks, cases seperating (on the clock suks!), loose primer pockets, etc... and now you are going to add another step, annealing? jj eta; disclamer: If you are talking about something besides 223 brass for ARs, ignore this post... Edited May 18, 2011 by RiggerJJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 Powder Finger wrote: What brass? caliber?how much are you sizing down the necks? how far are you expanding the necks to seat bullets? It is the el cheapo green and white Remington(Peters) box stuff from Wally World, factory ammo. A box of 20 rounds for $9.47 plus tax. It is .223 with the 55 grain FMJ bullet. As far as sizing down the necks...hmmn...hate to say this, but i have never measured. I am using the RCBS small based X sizer die. I use the Hornady tool to measure how far back I bump the shoulders back. I have been trimming with the Possum Hollow cutter chucked in a drill which is clamped in a vise, which has the drill's trigger locked to full speed. I use the Possum Hollow tool holder to hold onto the chamfering tool. So I put a light chamfer on the inside of the case neck. As far as expanding the necks...hmmn..jeesh...again, I don't know, I never measured. I am using the Montana Gold 55 grain FMJ's. the slight chamfer in the case neck plus the kinda sorta boattail design of the Montana Gold 55 FMJ bullet, well, I have never had a problem seating a bullet or crushing a case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted May 19, 2011 Author Share Posted May 19, 2011 [bRiggerJJ wrote:][/b] my responses in blue Hummmm....interesting problem there, Chills... maybe the x-die is overworking the brass? some of this brass is just on it's second firing ever, with the RCBS X-die's mandrel in the up position..so it's just like any other full length resizing die. I am thinking it is just the el cheapo factory R-P ammo I started out with. (remember our back-and-forth about a year ago?)I'm sorry, man...I am probably just way too opinionated and I probably have way too many back and forth's with people in general. So, no, I don't remember that particular back and forth.I'm still just bouncing along with my 2 head system with dillon case trimmerI bought the Dillon case trimmer about two months ago, but I have been so busy with work I haven't been able to set it up and use it yet The Possum Hollow cutter/trimmer/toolholder works for what it is and its price point, but, man, is it slow and boooooorrriinnng. I will be chugging along with the same two toolhead system as soon as I can get some free time. ... but after the 3rd firing I leave 223 brass on the groundafter me shooting a practice stage on Sunday, I had about a 50% recovery rate. I red stripe my brass. Of the 15 I recovered,4 had split necks . It just ain't worth the headache...split necks, cases seperating (on the clock suks!), loose primer pockets, etc...I went to a gunshow on Saturday where the steel cased imported stuff was running right around 21 cents each. With my components, I am figuring it costs me 16.4 cents a round. and now you are going to add another step, annealing? Yeah, I know. It sounds nuts doesn't it??? jj eta; disclamer: If you are talking about something besides 223 brass for ARs, ignore this post... nope I was talking .223 caliber'ed AR's. I shot my new to me 7.62X39 Sportical mostly on Sunday for practice because that is what I had the most ammo of/in. Turns out it does like the Brown Bear steel cased stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g56 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Brass prep? No sweat, its easy with the right tools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggerJJ Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 You need to try a Dillon trimmer. A 5 gallon Homer bucket of 223 brass can be done in about 4-5 hours, decaped, resized, AND trimmed! Throw em in the tumbler to remove lube and they get deburred too. the pencil sharpeners just ain't fast enough, and its hell on arthritis! JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prreed10 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 One word-Scharch I agree 100%. After processing my last batch, I vowed to never do it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted May 21, 2011 Author Share Posted May 21, 2011 I called that automated brass annealer place today. They want $520 shipped for that gadget. Yeah, you read that correctly... $520...shipped. I'll have to check out Scharch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powder Finger Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Powder Finger wrote: What brass? caliber?how much are you sizing down the necks? how far are you expanding the necks to seat bullets? It is the el cheapo green and white Remington(Peters) box stuff from Wally World, factory ammo. A box of 20 rounds for $9.47 plus tax. It is .223 with the 55 grain FMJ bullet. As far as sizing down the necks...hmmn...hate to say this, but i have never measured. I am using the RCBS small based X sizer die. I use the Hornady tool to measure how far back I bump the shoulders back. I have been trimming with the Possum Hollow cutter chucked in a drill which is clamped in a vise, which has the drill's trigger locked to full speed. I use the Possum Hollow tool holder to hold onto the chamfering tool. So I put a light chamfer on the inside of the case neck. As far as expanding the necks...hmmn..jeesh...again, I don't know, I never measured. I am using the Montana Gold 55 grain FMJ's. the slight chamfer in the case neck plus the kinda sorta boattail design of the Montana Gold 55 FMJ bullet, well, I have never had a problem seating a bullet or crushing a case. I've not used that brass but Remington brass doesn't get much traction in most rifle circles. I would say price wise you would have better brass and cheaper by getting a bunch of Lake City or Winchester bulk brass on sale. The deal with sizing is that alot of times with most dies the neck gets sized way smaller that whats needed, then gets expanded out to a good dia. for bullet seating.(but the over sizing already happened on the way in). If it were me I would get a bag of Winchester and see if the spliting problem goes away. Even with standard dies I don't think you should have this problem after so few cycles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted May 22, 2011 Author Share Posted May 22, 2011 I could probably get once fired military brass locally, the only thing I would be afraid of is if they have been run through an M249 SAW. I heard/read/seen how case head separations can be a problem with .223 brass that has been through a machine gun: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Freeman Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 They want $520 shipped for that gadget. Yeah, you read that correctly... $520...shipped. And worth every penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted May 24, 2011 Author Share Posted May 24, 2011 I had a feeling you'd say that Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon9 Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Get a friend to go halves on it with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 I'll just make one myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blairmckenzie1 Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 if i remember right the x die set up is kinda picky on case length. you might need to trim before you size. I have and x die set for 308 and havent had any problems at all. I'm on six firings with pretty stout loads. But I started with one big batch of winchester brass and prepped them all at once. Since then all I've done is size and deburr inside the neck as needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zagmp03 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 wouldn't a pellet stove auger motor be about the right speed on this with just an on/off switch? figure out your timing, maybe work in a little grip tape to rotate the rounds as you run it past two burners, then have it drop straight into your bucket/cleaner, etc... Maybe I'm just dreaming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngeyes Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I don't reload rifle but I saw this sometime back and thought the review was good. You might want to check into it. I think the price was about $80. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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