datguy Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 I recently bought a Dillon S1050 in .45acp with a .223 conversion and two additional tool heads. One for .223 brass processing, the other to load .223. I'm at the point where I'm setting up the brass processing head. I have a RT1500 and 223 trim die. Currently I have the dies setup like so: 1. Casefeed 2. Decapping die. RCBS in this case, it's what I had on hand. 3. Swage. I haven't adjusted the swaging rod yet from how it was set for small primer .45acp brass. Backup die is set so it just touches the bottom of a case. 4. Priming - empty. 5. empty 6. Trim die with RT1500. It is screwed in pretty far. The locknut is at the top of the threads. This is yielding a case that fits my Sheridan engineering case gauge really well. 7. empty 8. empty. I just ordered a 21st Century Shooting expanding mandrel die that will go in this station when it arrives. To be honest this is going way easier than I thought it would, and it has left me a little nervous. Any tips or things to look for on this setup? I'm assuming that if the case is good in the case gauge, it is good to go? I ordered the expanding mandrel based on what I had read in various threads on this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Your setup sounds fine. I don't know how you got the sizing die locknut on top as there is no way it fit on mine with the exhaust manifold installed, The single biggest issue I have is with primer pull back. Primer sticks on pin, gets re-seated, then is smashed in the swagger. I have it under control with a Lee decapper and re-shaping of the pin but is still the number one slow down of the process. Good luck with your new machine, sounds like you are off to a good start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datguy Posted October 6, 2014 Author Share Posted October 6, 2014 You sir, just answered a question I didn't know I had, yet. I'm moving the locknut to the bottom of the die! I couldn't figure out how that exhaust manifold was going to fit. Just had not gotten to it yet. Thank you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigs Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 The single biggest issue I have is with primer pull back. Primer sticks on pin, gets re-seated, then is smashed in the swagger. I have it under control with a Lee decapper and re-shaping of the pin but is still the number one slow down of the process. I know how to mostly fix this. Take your decapping pin and grind a small bevel on the tip, then polish it to a bright finish on a buffing wheel or with very fine grit sandpaper. This makes the primers tend to tilt when they are pushed out, so if they draw back, they will hit the edge of the primer pocket and pop off of the rod. It also reduces the amount that stick on the end in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigs Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Moved from duplicate thread. Whether you need the expander or not depends on how tight your trim die is making the necks. You want the inner diameter somewhere between 220 and 223 ideally.I have had a lot of trouble with mandrel type expanders after a rapid trim, the small inner burr tends to smear brass on the mandrel and make it very sticky, to the point where the force required causes my motor clutches to slip.You can sand out the neck on your trim die carefully so that it doesn't tighten the necks, and then run a normal sizing die in the station after the priming station. With 223 this usually works fine because even with pre-sized brass there's still plenty of friction to keep them from spinning in the trim die.Another option, a ball type expander works much better post RT, it doesn't smear the burr, it just folds it down, and then pulls it out. Once the burr is pointing straight out, dry tumbling often breaks it off. Just be careful when measuring trim lengths, because that burr is pointing straight out now, its harder to measure the true length unless you remove the burr first.BTW- You most likely aren't swaging nearly hard enough if this is military crimped brass. Before you get too deep in, do a priming run to test, or use something like my swage gage, link in sig below. Getting it to swage hard enough will likely throw your trim lengths all over the place, and that's when your real fun will start. If your brass isn't crimped, then your light touch swage is probably good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunther Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 May i jump in here with a 223 processing Question? I'm setting up a 650 w/RT 1500 case trimmer. stations 1. lee decapping die 2. empty 3. Trim/sizing die w/ RT1500 4. empty 5. lee collet/neck sizing die. anyone have any bad results from the neck sizing die? I was going to use it just to open the neck back up an keep sizing the brass to a minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigs Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 That sounds like it should work gunther. Be careful decapping 223 on the 650, if a primer sucks back you WILL break the indexing ring unless you are very careful. It is not very strong plastic, and replacing it means you have to realign the whole press which is a hassle. See the above post for tips on shaping your decapping pin to help avoid it. One problem with the lee decapper is that the pin part is pretty short, which can make suck-back more likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggerJJ Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 I would not do any neck sizing after trim, may get inconsistant lengths... jmho I use a slight mouth expansion to seat the bullet easily, and close it with a light crimp after seating for both 223 and 308 3gun ammo. 1/2 to 3/4 moa. And the best thing is I dont have to handle each case. Just run the brass thru a processing head with Dillon trimmer, then load it. jj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunther Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 thanks gigs, I was going to use the collet neck sizing die to just open the case mouth back up. (jus cuz its what i have right now) Very slight neck size if at all. Plan on getting a better decapper an case mouth expander die. (any recommendations?) thanks jj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcracco Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Lee makes the best universal decapper I have found. gigs; Thanks for the tip on beveling the pin to get the primer to tilt. I have the pin slimmed and radiused so it is smaller than the cup in the primer anvil but still one catches every once in a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datguy Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 Just ordered three Lee decapping dies and several replacement pins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datguy Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 Looks like I had the Swage setup wrong- right when it was passing with the Ballistic Tools gauge. Shut down until I get a new swage rod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12glocks Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 (edited) May i jump in here with a 223 processing Question? I'm setting up a 650 w/RT 1500 case trimmer. stations 1. lee decapping die 2. empty 3. Trim/sizing die w/ RT1500 4. empty 5. lee collet/neck sizing die. anyone have any bad results from the neck sizing die? I was going to use it just to open the neck back up an keep sizing the brass to a minimum. I was really unable to get any dies in statio 5 with a RT1500 on there. I almost wish I got the RT 1200 for space. I don't think that die is a good choice. It i probably going to come out of the dillon trim die pretty small anyhow. That main this is to clean the neck up with an expander ball (I thought). Perhaps you can see the die not to squeeze it? I have had good luck with Lee dies and like some of the designs. The Collet sizing dies do not fit into that category for me. Be careful if you cam over on one of those I have not really used mine since the last time I broke it. Edited October 26, 2014 by 12glocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunther Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 I had to put the 1500 trimmer in sta: 3 (powder checker goes)after I set the lee collet neck sizer die in sta: 5 I screwed the neck die down just enuff to barely touch the shell plate when the press cams over. It worked as I wanted it to, opening up the case mouth. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datguy Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 I got my brass prep head sorted out. Ran about 5000 cases today with only one stuck case - the last one. Loading now. I will say I can see why some guys like to run one headstamp. I've smeared a handful of primers and I set two of them off. Raised the swaging rod a bit and haven't popped any more. I do still smear one every 100-150 cases. I'm definitely getting a much more detailed "feel" for the machine when pulling the handle. I can feel the smeared primers and pull them from the shell plate so I don't have to disassemble later. Thanks for the tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunsablazin Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I am using a Lee size die, with the de-capping pin broken off on the last station on my 1050 .223 prep head to expand the neck. Is this necessary? Will the swage back up rod expand the neck sufficiently on the loading pass to eliminate the Lee die? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggerJJ Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) I am using a Lee size die, with the de-capping pin broken off on the last station on my 1050 .223 prep head to expand the neck. Is this necessary? Will the swage back up rod expand the neck sufficiently on the loading pass to eliminate the Lee die? Yes, if you have the backer rod and swage engauged in your loading head, you don't need to expand the neck prior to that.jj Edited December 16, 2015 by RiggerJJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunsablazin Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I am using a Lee size die, with the de-capping pin broken off on the last station on my 1050 .223 prep head to expand the neck. Is this necessary? Will the swage back up rod expand the neck sufficiently on the loading pass to eliminate the Lee die? Yes, if you have the backer rod and swage engauged in your loading head, you don't need to expand the neck prior to that.jj Thank you, I think I'm going to use a Lyman M die any way, I have heard it is helpful with the Mr. Bulletfeeder which is coming in soon anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datguy Posted December 18, 2015 Author Share Posted December 18, 2015 I use the Dillon swager when loading, also. Works well with the MBF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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