Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

22 TCM XL650 Setup


Recommended Posts

I just received my Hordady dies along with 500 bullets. Has anyone loaded these on a 650? I'm assuming I can use the .223 shell plate, buttons, and station #1 locator along with 9mm casefeeder parts. What about the powder drop tube? .223? The dies have a seperate expander die. Can I expand after the powder drop? If so I guess I could expand at station 4 and seat/crimp at five and keep the powder check? Any input is appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have reloaded the TCM and also formed it from 5.56. Thing is, I only loaded them single stage.

The 223 stuff should work, but I'm not sure if you can set the powder measure low enough.

The case feed stuff for 223 should work though. It's not much shorter than blackout (0.350 shorter). You will probably need to move the gate on the case feeder more closed the same way you'd do when feeding blackout though.

It may be short enough to feed well with a small pistol shell plate, so if you have that, that's something to try. Blackout will feed with a small pistol plate, just very slowly. If it'll feed with small pistol shellplate then you don't need to mess with the gate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stop the presses. We now have a powder funnel specifically for 22 TCM. It will be available online tomorrow. Stock number 62375, $26.25 is the cost. We will also offer a 550 conversion kit for this cartridge, #62217, $55.95.

Our testing so far is that this case does not feed well at all in our electric case feeder, due to the geometry of the case. They mostly roll around on top of the case feed plate, and seldom drop into the notches of the plate. Therefore

we have no plans to offer a 650 or Super 1050 conversion at this time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I got my powder drop yesterday so I set about setting the machine up this afternoon.

I started with the case feeder. Since it was set up with the large pistol plate I decided to give that a whirl. I changed the other casefeed parts out to 9mm(green), dropped 100 pieces of brass in and fired it up. I was slightly and pleasantly surprised when the brass started plunking down the tube perfectly.

I then finished the caliber change and primer system parts so I could cycle some brass through the feeder . I used .223 shell plate and station one locator. I could tell immediately that the cases were too tall to clear the bottom of the case feed adapter. I pulled the red adapter from my .40/10mm kit and tried that. Still too tall but not much, maybe 1/16". I broke out the utility knife and started whittling. Here's a few pics. I marked the cutout with a sharpie so it would be easier to see in the pics.

3467BEA9-54B0-42F3-8BB9-12700BC0F0C3.jpg

8B904798-7233-4BB1-BDB9-ACA2CBCE794D.jpg

I ran the rest of the cases through the machine without a case feeder hitch. A few were hanging on the ejection wire but we'll see if there is a problem with that with loaded rounds.

There were no surprises setting up the dies. Im still wondering about flaring the cases after the powder drop. Im gonna see what the powder level is in the cases before making that decision.

It'll be a bit before it goes into production mode since I haven't worked up any loads. Starting on that tomorrow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry. I should have said flaring die. Hornady calls it an expander die but there is an expander ball in the sizing die.

This was in my second post.

I worked up a load with H110 today. 40 rounds. I sized/decapped and primed them in one pass using the case feeder. I did the powder charges by hand to work up to the max load. I hand loaded them into station 4 to flare and seated and crimped at station 5. There was plenty of room left in the case to clear the stem on the expander/flaring die and not compress the powder. This was my main concern.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could you post a photo of the expander?

All of the bottleneck expanders I have are part of the decapping rod.

Like the Lee example on the left in this photo.

expander.jpg

Some have removable pins like the Dillon dies or RCBS for example, never have seen a decated one though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is the die. As i said, Hornady calls it an expander die. I guess if the case wasn't expanded it would do the trick. The very top of the stem flares the case mouth. The stem is 0.350" long before the flare starts. I was concerned that with a full case the stem might compress the powder charge before it flared. There was plenty of room in the max loads though.

9DA7C9AE-06B1-4114-AC35-390DC1654069.jpg

There is also an expander ball on the decapping pin.

40C2E499-7FCD-4321-A465-515138BC22FB.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good photos. Wonder why they think they need an expander (like normally used with .224 jacketed bullets) and also a flare die (not normal for .224 jacketed bullets)?

I can see doing that if you are using cast or coated bullets.

Seems that if you didn't use the flare you might also not need to crimp (relying on neck tension) and might be better off at least if you are using bullets with no cannelure.

I know from loading other .224 rifles a crimp without a cannelure can make for a more inaccurate round.

Edited by jmorris
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only bottlenecked caliber I have loaded on the 650 is 223 for my ARs. I chamfer the inside of those. I assume the same could be done with the tcm. It would just add another step. Flaring on the press accomplishes the same thing. I'm not sold on not crimping for magazine fed guns.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...