TANFARM Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 I will also figure a way to hold more finished product in a bin as opposed to the factory smaller one Thanks to all for making me smarterrer...........I think !! I don't like using large bins. Especially if you are trying to go fast. If you run out of primer or powder, or have some random quality problem, it is a lot nicer to have to sort through 100 cases vs sorting through 600. Imagine your seating die loosens up, and your oal drifts too high. How many cases do you want to sort through and measure? an out of powder and you drop a squib round in a bin of 400. This is an excellent point.......not that there is any chance I could screw anything up!!!!!!.......to kinda nreak things up I also have a 100 rounds case guage from Brian Enos that I recheck every round before it goes in the range box....yea OCD slows things down...thanks for the suggestions.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razorfish Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Razorfish where did you get those neat mirrors? Autozone... They were $5.99 each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelindsey Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Sorry to bug you Razorfish. Checked autozone and could only find a 2 incher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newboy Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I can load 1000 to 1200 per hour, but only when my buddy is loading primers, cases, and powder for me. .38s, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) I will also figure a way to hold more finished product in a bin as opposed to the factory smaller one Thanks to all for making me smarterrer...........I think !! I don't like using large bins. Especially if you are trying to go fast. If you run out of primer or powder, or have some random quality problem, it is a lot nicer to have to sort through 100 cases vs sorting through 600. Imagine your seating die loosens up, and your oal drifts too high. How many cases do you want to sort through and measure? an out of powder and you drop a squib round in a bin of 400. I agree with it being easier to only sort through 100 if you had a problem. I agree more that you should monitor things closely during reloading so you don't have those problems in the first place. I have a raised/modified large akro bin that holds just under 1000. Edited February 7, 2015 by Sarge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstagn Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) jmorris, where did you get that neat bullet feeder? It allows you to see powder inside the case BEFORE it puts bullet in... Edited February 7, 2015 by jstagn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecil Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 save your "race time for matches " & slow down on loading.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillD Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I look in each case before I set a bullet to check for powder. I have a low primer alarm. Big bins are better IMO. Unless reloading is your hobby. My hobby is shooting. Reloading is just a necessary evil I have to do to support my hobby. Like working overtime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amada8 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 minimulist here. 650XL with no case feeder, bullet feeder or multiple primer tubes. I include prep time in my calculations because as an owner of a manufacturing plant, all time has to be accounted for....somehow, somewhere. I can load 300-350 of 9mm, 10mm or .40S&W per hour with all time factored in. (Ok,,,I don't add the range time crawling around the ground scavaging) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracker366 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 My XL650 Can load a lot faster then my old turret press I know it can run faster but I'm not out to break any records,just good ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 jmorris, where did you get that neat bullet feeder? It allows you to see powder inside the case BEFORE it puts bullet in... MBF allows you too looks for powder before a bullet is dropped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtdarte Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 I've always looked at the name of the press for an indication of rounds per hour loaded.... And it's pretty accurate in my experience. XL650... yup.. right around 650... 1050... yup around 1050. Primers are the bottleneck... I recently upgraded to the RF-100 primer filler... now I spend seconds per primer fill-up and not the peck peck peck minutes I used to. But it isn't a race after all and I enjoy the handloading process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1gcountry Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 If you have a system that works, and provides reliable and safe ammunition, then I am not telling you to do anything different. I know if I tried to load 1000 in an hour, i would be rushed, and bad things start happening when I start rushing. I haven't loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds like some people here. Once i get to that point, things might speed up. For you, loading 1k in an hour might not be rushing. With my wst 9mm load, the case is so full I couldn't pull the handle that fast without spilling powder everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b1gcountry Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Ps, my advice was never to go slow on purpose. I just have the impression the op is closer to my experience level, and I don't think speed is the #1 priority. You don't do any good going fast if it leads to issues. Issues always slow me down to snails pace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razorfish Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) Sorry to bug you Razorfish. Checked autozone and could only find a 2 incher.Here's a picture of the mirrors I have from Autozone. Maybe you could just give them the stock number on the tag and they could bring it into their store. These mirrors come with a dual mount to mount to a post/tubing or a flat surface (like you see in my video) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited February 8, 2015 by razorfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 jmorris, where did you get that neat bullet feeder? It allows you to see powder inside the case BEFORE it puts bullet in... It is a GSI feeder with a homemade collator. The only bullet feeder that lets you retain the powder check die and feed then seat in two different stations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ams30gts Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 At a comfortable rate, I can do 400-500 per hour assuming I have primer tubes loaded. If you need faster than that, get a autodrive lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twowheels Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Quality not quantity for me. I look into every case before I put in a bullet. I case gauge every round before it gets put into an ammo box. This takes time. I get an occasional oversize round and therefore I virtually never have a malfunction on the range. Including loading primer tubes, filling the powder hopper, loading cases, QC, I probably avarage 250-300 rounds/hour and my loading sessions are usually 1-1.5 hours. If I spend more time at the bench, I can start to lose focus, which is not good. My pace is fast enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 This is a video of one of my 650's loading at a rate of around 1200/hr. As long as you didn't take more than 10 min topping of the case, bullet and primer feeders, you could get to 1000/hr. I have loaded a 100 on the machine in as little as 3.5 min too, a rate closer to 1700/hr. Jmorris, nice setup. which bullet feeder is that? I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJE Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 I will also figure a way to hold more finished product in a bin as opposed to the factory smaller one Thanks to all for making me smarterrer...........I think !! I don't like using large bins. Especially if you are trying to go fast. If you run out of primer or powder, or have some random quality problem, it is a lot nicer to have to sort through 100 cases vs sorting through 600. Imagine your seating die loosens up, and your oal drifts too high. How many cases do you want to sort through and measure? an out of powder and you drop a squib round in a bin of 400. This is an excellent point.......not that there is any chance I could screw anything up!!!!!!.......to kinda nreak things up I also have a 100 rounds case guage from Brian Enos that I recheck every round before it goes in the range box....yea OCD slows things down...thanks for the suggestions.............. I'm loading up a run of practice ammo... I put a 50 cal can on the bench and clamped a piece of fire hose to the chute. If anything feels out of place with the primer seating, I stop and check it. If something feels out of place with anything, I stop and check it. I'll spot check a few rounds for OAL and case gauge when I fill the primer tube. I case gauge all my match ammo but practice ammo I don't bother with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Jmorris, nice setup. which bullet feeder is that? I like it. 3 up from your post, GSI feeder and a homemade collator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimitz Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 i have no real idea how many rounds per hour I can load becuase I've never sat that long for a reloading session .... as someone already pointed out, I like to shoot not reload, it is just a necessary evil. I hardly ever load more than a couple of hundred at a time before I get bored. I also need 600-700 rds/week so I just load a little here and there when I have a spare few minutes. I also have a MBF so I suppose I could crank them out if I really cared to ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Jmorris, nice setup. which bullet feeder is that? I like it. 3 up from your post, GSI feeder and a homemade collator. Sorry. I just realised you answered! Yeah I love the fact that it does not take up a station on the press but rather places the case on the shell under the die so that you can still use whichever type of seating die you want. As you point out this leaves you with all 5 stations free to use how you please and running then with size/decap, powder drop, powder check, seat and separate crimp is a great way to go (also my preferred way though I have a setup without the powder check but with size and deprime on 1 and then just a sizing die on 2, which can be a U die to size it really nicely in 2 steps). Funnily enough the macgyver looking bullet feeder lee sell for their loadmaster and pro1000 does the same thing (places the bullet on the case on it's way up into the seat die) but much less reliably as it's holding the bullet with little plastic fingers. The concept is sound but the excecution in that case leaves a fair bit to be desired. I tried one (got it free) and it only ever worked with close to acceptable reliability using coated lead pills which had a lube groove for the fingers to hold it with. Plated or jacketed would just give you a nice rain of bullets.... I know you made your own collator (very nice btw) but can you tell me something about the tool head and the rotating feed mechanism? I mainly load 9mm and 38 super bullets but I load 124gn for my open 38 super and 120gn, 135gn and 147gn for my other guns. Mainly they are copper plated but with the odd coated lead. I notice on their site when you go to buy a 9mm/38 super head it asks for bullet weight and type. What is different between say a 124gn jacketed RN and a 124gn CMJ RN? or for that matter a 115gn RN? Is it just the collator band that changes or is it something in the actual feeder/tool head section? Cause if I need a new tool head ($220) for each different bullet shape that will add up fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Scharch or MA Systems used to make a pneumatic feeder that worked in the same fashion of the Lee feeder (that doesn't work) but the fingers were steel and pressure was adjustable to hold the bullet. I bought my first one from GSI before they had a collator, so I made my own. Some years later I had a chance to play with their collator and was not that impressed. It is the bullet shape specific part. You cannot use any seating die but they come with seat dies for different shaped bullets. One other thing I like about them s that they require almost zero "bell" even with my cast and coated bullets, they seat them straight enough this is the case ready to seat a bullet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 thanks for the reply jmorris. I was mistaken, I thought with the way they made the toolhead would mean you could use your own seat die. that's a shame. So the actual feed part if you buy one for say 9mm/38 super will run a variety of bullets from 115gn JHP up to say a 147gn RN? I want one but don't want to have to buy 3 of their toolhead/feeders just to load different pills of the same calibre. It seems to me you could buy the GSI feeder and run say a mini mr bullet feeder magazine on top or even the mr bullet feeder collator on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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