Mark 7 1050 Autodrive

[echotango]

My mistake. Station 3. I didn't think station 1 as stated above was a station as it does not do anything or stay there. Thanks for the clarification.

then, my station 3 has a Lyman M die.

Edited March 29, 2016 by echotango

[Shadyscott999]

So you are using the Lyman M die in the swage station and NOT using the Mr. Bullet powder funnel? And you are not getting toppled bullets?

[echotango]

Yes on all of the above. No toppled bullets.

I prefer not to lube and this was I think the only solution. The mbf die stuck a lot.

Edited March 29, 2016 by echotango

[Beastly]

Defeats the point of the swage station....but I like the idea of the M-Die in Station 2 when using preprocessed 9mm brass.

[ano]

Here you see it "setup" as described, working perfect.

[MarkS_A18138]

Looks like you have your 40 setup the same as mine. Your not using the Mr. Bullet feeder powder funnel correct?

[ano]

no mrbf powder funnel

I did turn a smidge off the expander button, to get some more hold on the bullet hold, so near the start of it, I turned it down about 0,02 I belive it was

[Beastly]

40S&W vs. 9mm and it looks like jacketed vs. Hitek-coated bullets. Different setup than mine.

Edited March 29, 2016 by Beastly

[DWFAN]

9mm Jacketed won't work on mine without the MBF expander. Maybe if I took some off the swage rod to get more of the expander in the case. Using preprocessed brass, it might be worth trying the M-die. I'm pretty content just living with clunking since it's not my arm pulling the lever. I've lived with it this long.

[ano]

I currently own 6 x 1050s' in misc calibers with a few other "uppers" to go with them, like you say, "take som off the swage rod" is needed on some calibers/bullet combos. I do it for my lead bullets in 38spl (105gr) and on my plated 45's

[bradsteimel]

Are you also Norwegian? I used jetcarrier, ended up 1290NOK took exactly a week from mark7 shipped to them before I had it here.

I got the unit up and running, at digital clutch 2, I get some stops at bottom of stroke, I suspect brass needing swageing, at 3, I get no stops. To get going, hitting run solves it, it would be cool to get a warning saying "digital clutch stopped the unit" so you dont have to guess, but it is pretty easy to guess.

Ironicly what took me some time was getting non metric tools in 9/16 I belive it was.. I had every tool, except for the one to fasten motor and senter spindel mount.. which was 1 bigger than the set I bought up front upon reading manual.

In videos/manual they keep reffering to powering down, to put fingers in the press, to clear if anything jams, but they also say you have to calibrate every time you power it? does it keep log if you dont power off pad? whats the deal?

Even at 1800 its supersmooth, but its just to fast for me, video shows 1800 and 900, I found 1200 and even 1500 was nice, at 1500 I could stop with no problem for upside down bullet, and also when a 10mm brass got in there.

Even better, would be an on-screen warning/explanation OF WHICH STATION prompted the digital clutch to stop the unit.

That would take all the guesswork out. Jay, is that possible??

Edited May 1, 2016 by bradsteimel

[bradsteimel]

Are you also Norwegian? I used jetcarrier, ended up 1290NOK took exactly a week from mark7 shipped to them before I had it here.

I got the unit up and running, at digital clutch 2, I get some stops at bottom of stroke, I suspect brass needing swageing, at 3, I get no stops. To get going, hitting run solves it, it would be cool to get a warning saying "digital clutch stopped the unit" so you dont have to guess, but it is pretty easy to guess.

Ironicly what took me some time was getting non metric tools in 9/16 I belive it was.. I had every tool, except for the one to fasten motor and senter spindel mount.. which was 1 bigger than the set I bought up front upon reading manual.

In videos/manual they keep reffering to powering down, to put fingers in the press, to clear if anything jams, but they also say you have to calibrate every time you power it? does it keep log if you dont power off pad? whats the deal?

Even at 1800 its supersmooth, but its just to fast for me, video shows 1800 and 900, I found 1200 and even 1500 was nice, at 1500 I could stop with no problem for upside down bullet, and also when a 10mm brass got in there.

Mesmerizing! Can't wait until i get mine to index so smoothly!

For my 38 super, 8.9gr of N350, i was having so much powder splash i thought i must have had a problem with my shell plate maybe being slightly bent. Ordered a new Dillon shell plate $80 only to learn that wasn't then problem. I have the after market ball/spring, and bearing ring for the shell plate, but still will occasionally lose .5 gr of powder while it indexes from the powder station and snaps into the MBF station I'm messing around with the M7 dwell settings, but haven't found the perfect combination yet.

Considering Fast and Friendly Brass shell plate, but would like to make sure it's not my press or M7 settings causing the problem. Does anyone have a success story for the FnF shell plate? Any complaints about it?

Edited May 1, 2016 by bradsteimel

[echotango]

I have the ffb shell plate. Loaded 3000rnds yesterday with 6.7 grns and had 0 spillage. Running at 1500 and index of 8. They still wobble but it is better than the stock plate.

Edited May 1, 2016 by echotango

[dansedgli]

Tighten the shell plate down more.

[Quirk]

I have the ffb shell plate. Loaded 3000rnds yesterday with 6.7 grns and had 0 spillage. Running at 1500 and index of 8. They still wobble but it is better than the stock plate.

Are you using the stock detent ball or the aftermarket delrin?

C

[echotango]

Aftermarket. And the needle bearing plate.

[ano]

Thats my video, its quite old, I after that discoverd I was overswageing, win cases would stop it at clutch0,

I have since adjusted the swagerod down a bit, and Im running flawless at 1800, with clutch 0

new firmware is very nice imho

[bradsteimel]

I have the ffb shell plate. Loaded 3000rnds yesterday with 6.7 grns and had 0 spillage. Running at 1500 and index of 8. They still wobble but it is better than the stock plate.

Are you using the stock detent ball or the aftermarket delrin?

C

Nope, i'm using the aftermarket detent ball/spring.

[bradsteimel]

Tighten the shell plate down more.

I think you solved it.

The new shell plate didn't seem to fix the powder-splashing, probably because i hadn't tightened the shell plate enough. I had finger-tightened it and then backed it off. Based on your recommendation, i tightened it more. It's easy to over-tighten and have it not complete advance the shell plate and/or have the M7 give a weird humm when you press End Cycle. But after several minor adjustments to how much to tighten it, i was just able to load 300 rounds with very little powder splashing out (i won't say "none", but very little).

Thanks for your help.

I have ordered the FFB shell plate to see if i can get the powder splashing closer to zero!!

[dansedgli]

I think you are supposed to tighten it all the way and back it off an eighth of a turn. I dont spill powder on indexing without any aftermarket bits.

[bradsteimel]

station 1= brass is inserted

station 2= sizeing

station 3= expand on top, swage below.

just so everyone is on the same page.

Maybe I don't have the correct tuning for station 3's expander, but my Dillon powder resulted in most bullets tumbling. Once i switched to the DAA powder funnel... problem solved, bullets index and stay stable.

[ano]

Maybe I don't have the correct tuning for station 3's expander, but my Dillon powder resulted in most bullets tumbling. Once i switched to the DAA powder funnel... problem solved, bullets index and stay stable.

Improperly adjusted station 3 expander then, most of the times I have to adjust the length of the counterhold on the expander to get it to expand the case enough for bullet to stay in place and still properly swage.

[nuclearheli]

Prior to reading this post note that I have had the Mark 7 for quite a while yet, 1050 pro version with every sensor offered, and my reloading machines are still the envy of my reloading friends. I don't regret purchasing the unit.

 

However there are some issues with the Mark 7, one in particular that I find very annoying and hard to accept given the cost. So I have practically every sensor they make for this, most recently the bullet sense which I must say is extremely well machined and built. However as much as I like this machine I must say there are some things about the machine that are not up to standards. I suggest you do not purchase the Optical Decapping sensor and invest your money on the swage sensor. The swager sensor will tell you if you have punched out a primer or not. The swage sensor is also a high quality well machined part. There is really no reason to have both.

 

The reason I suggest the swager sensor over the Optical Decapping sensor is because the spent primer sensor is a piece of junk and you will be sorry you spent a few hundred dollars for what appears to be a $25 part. My main complaint is the sensor's bracket. It's a printed part, very flimsily and brittle. Because it sits on a part of the Dillon press which has rough casting marks underneath it does not sit flush and it breaks at the mounting bolt all the time. You have to tighten down on the part to prevent it from sagging underneath the press and in doing so it forms stress cracks around the mounting bolt and fails. The center of this printed part appears to be honeycomb and not solid also.  I have broken three of them and all of them had stress cracks. I mentioned this to the company and told them I thought this bracket should be made from Al, not cheap plastic printed part. They never responded. Before I put the third replacement on my press (they sent for free), I gave it to a friend of mine who has a C&C machine. He put together a CAD file for it and made modifications to make it fit better. He then machined one on the C&C out of aluminum and it works perfectly, locks in tightly, and will not fail.

 

So I mentioned this to the company, sent them pictures of the part, expressed my displeasure for paying such a high price for such a junk part considering the rest of the auto drive is made of high quality materials, and they never even responded. Customer service is excellent as long as your not complaining or suggesting that a part of their machine is poorly engineered and way overpriced.

 

I guess they don't really have the time for you once you buy all the sensors they have. 

 

Just beware, that sensor is junk.

[Quirk]

My first instinct was to disagree with nuclearheli because...it's an internet forum afterall!  Plus, I've had about 30k thru my 1050 and Mark 7 Pro and the optical sensor, and it's worked flawlessly.

 

But he's right. It is a cheap looking plastic assembly.  And if you get the Swage Sense, that will pick up on any non-removed primers and stop the press, making the optical sensor station a bit redundant. UNLESS you have removed the swage station for another purpose, etc.   One time I turned off the optical sensor and the primer didn't fully pop out and the Swage Sense stopped it, stating i had a ringer...it was just a non-deprimed case, but that illustrates the redundancy of these sensors

 

I think you are paying for the Mark 7 integration and R&D etc when you buy that optical sensor.

[nuclearheli]

I guess a picture would have been worth a thousand words. You can see the failure of the bracket, that is exactly where the single hole is to mount it to the press. Notice the hollow interior of the part also making it even more flimsy. Very cheap part. Something you would not expect to see on a Ferrari.  

 

 

This is what the part should look like (anodized would be nice but I can't do that). This is what you would expect to see in a machine of this quality and at this price.