Mr Bullet Mini? Is anyone running one on a 650 or 1050

[JDIllon]

I'm curious they are working OK? It seems like a pretty simple idea and would be easier than one at a time.  JD

[wgj3]

I ran one on a 650 for a while for 9mm. Definitely beats the one-at a-time thing. Having a few of the magazines makes it better to me...

I didn't have any issue with it functioning correctly .

[ddc]

I ran one for a while. I could never get it to be 100% error free.

It's been several years so I can't give you a good description of what my problem was.

I have a vague memory of one of the columns hanging up but ...

 

I don't think it actually saves you any time. You have to load the magazine offline so to speak prior to the start of your loading session.

So you are doing a serial process with your loading the magazine first and then your loading session.

 

I ended up just using the bullet dropper die and feeding it by hand.

It does a good job of placing the bullet and when you load bullets that way you are doing it in parallel with your lever pull.

 

YMMV (I've got a magazine lying around here somewhere if anybody is interested)

[stick]

I have one on my 650.  at least for another day or two until my Mr Bullet feeder shows up from Midway USA.  I have used one for the past couple of years.  It works well for its intended purpose.  It performs well for small reloading sessions around 100 rounds then you need to reload the magazine with another 100 rounds.  The mini was relatively inexpensive coming in at $150. I can blow through the 100 rounds in less than 10 minutes on the 650 going relatively slow.  In the end, I got tired of reloading the magazines and I just ordered a Mr Bullet feeder.  The Mini does use the same die on both the mini and the regular unit.

If you only load 100 rounds at a time, the mini is perfect. If you load more, $50 for additional magazines will jack up the price quickly.

[RGA]

I have a 9mm version on one of my 650 toolheads too. It works well but it does not save me any time. Filling the tubes first or placing the bullets manually, it doesn't matter much timewise. I actually prefer doing it by hand because I find filling the tubes kind of annoying. If you want a bullet feeder which save you time, go for the normal MBF.

[JDIllon]

Thanks for all the feedback. Sounds like it doesn't save that much time in the end, unless you buy the extra magazines. JD

[RGA]

..... you still need to fill those extra tubes first ......

[schaet]

I used one for a long time and agree with above. You still need to fill the tubes and it's not saving a whole lot, if any overall time. HOWEVER, what I did like was when I had down time watching TV or reading BE on my computer I could load up the tubes for when I was ready for a loading session they were on 'stand-by'. The same for the primer tubes. 

[Part_time_redneck]

No experience with the mini but I did just upgrade to the Mr on a 650 about 2 weeks ago. Like said above, I believe the dropper die is the same. Once adjusted correctly the dropper works great. It's also very simplistic in design so not much that can go wrong.

 

Naturally I'm biased toward the Mr but I think the mini would still be beneficial as it would allow you to get into more of a rhythm when loading. Not necessarily speed but consistency. 

 

There's also the " buy once, cry once " thing. I would carefully think it over and if you have thoughts of later getting a Mr, may be better to " bite the bullet-feeder " now and go all the way. Largely depends on your production volume. Just my $0.02. 

[HesedTech]

Bought the Mini first with 3 extra turrets and it was a huge improvement over hand placing the bullets. But, like many have said it just wasn’t enough so I upgraded to the full meal deal Mr Bullet. They did give me a discount because I already had the dropper die.

[cool]

The only advantage of the mini is to avoid the accident by putting his fingers under the press
Another disadvantage is to monitor the height of the warheads in the tube
before turning to the next stack.

[Balakay]

On 9/24/2018 at 1:49 AM, RGA said:

. If you want a bullet feeder which save you time, go for the normal MBF.

Exactly.  You will not regret the purchase

[V2plus25]

Or go for the MBF Pro.  Bigger collator with a stand-alone mount that you don't have to fill as many times as the normal one. 

[inspector1999]

I can say that you can just buy the die and the powder funnel.  The die holds about 7 bullets. This makes placing the bullet super easy, quicker and more consistent than by hand. I did this for about a year. Recently, I got one of the magazine tubes and it is easy and simple.  I don't know how much faster it is than just the die.  As said above the bullet feeder with collator is where I will eventually end up. 

[uewpew]

12 hours ago, Balakay said:

Exactly.  You will not regret the purchase

+2  

 

finally upgraded from a 550b to a super 1050 with MBF...worth every penny.  only regret is having to save up for an autodrive...

[vluc]

Used the mini for several years in 9mm on my 650.  Started to have tube issues, seems leaving them in the garage over the summer and winter (unheated and uncooled) caused some sticking issues that I could never get resolved.  Went back to hand feeding and don't feel I lost any time.

 

Nice idea, when I hit the powerball I'll get the grown-up MBF.

[JDIllon]

Thanks for all of the input. 1050 on the way, I'll wait and see how it goes and then decide.  JD

[Tokarev]

This fellow makes a nice set of tubes. Nicer than the plastic ones from Double Alpha. The rotating magazine has a half stop in the middle to keep the bullets from falling out when the assembly is off the press. Works better than the little clip.

http://socalsw.com/Pistol-Bullet-Feeding--Mag-P_c_7.html

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

[JDIllon]

1 hour ago, Tokarev said:

This fellow makes a nice set of tubes. Nicer than the plastic ones from Double Alpha. The rotating magazine has a half stop in the middle to keep the bullets from falling out when the assembly is off the press. Works better than the little clip.

http://socalsw.com/Pistol-Bullet-Feeding--Mag-P_c_7.html

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
 

Thanks, that looks like it really works great., I am going to call them and get the dimensions to see if it will work on my 1050. JD

[Bkreutz]

I looked at the mini bullet feeder, but decided to go the whole way, the main reason is that when I first bought my 650, I didn't get the case feeder, I figured that putting 20 cases at a time in the tube would be enough of a "speed up" to start off. What a pain in the butt, I kept forgetting to fill up the tube and would have to manually put a case in station one which really slowed things down.. I bought the case feeder pretty quick. So when I was considering the mini bullet feeder, I remembered the case feeder fiasco, and I realized that when I bought the full size bullet feeder, I'd have the mini left over to gather dust on the shelf with my other "seemed like a good idea at the time" pieces of gear. Save up for the full deal, (or do like I did and put it on your Christmas or birthday lists, my wife got the hint a couple of years ago when it was the only thing on my list).

[Foxbat]

A less expensive option is to buy the Hornady bullet feeder die, and add a piece of clear plastic tubing to it.  I have that on one of my presses, which I don't use for much.  it works very well.

[Tokarev]

28 minutes ago, Bkreutz said:

I looked at the mini bullet feeder, but decided to go the whole way, the main reason is that when I first bought my 650, I didn't get the case feeder, I figured that putting 20 cases at a time in the tube would be enough of a "speed up" to start off. What a pain in the butt, I kept forgetting to fill up the tube and would have to manually put a case in station one which really slowed things down.. I bought the case feeder pretty quick. So when I was considering the mini bullet feeder, I remembered the case feeder fiasco, and I realized that when I bought the full size bullet feeder, I'd have the mini left over to gather dust on the shelf with my other "seemed like a good idea at the time" pieces of gear. Save up for the full deal, (or do like I did and put it on your Christmas or birthday lists, my wife got the hint a couple of years ago when it was the only thing on my list).

Well, the difference in the Mini is that it has multiple tubes.  Yeah, if it only had one tube and you had to stop every twenty rounds and re-fill just the one tube it would really serve no purpose. 

 

Like others, I fill my magazines at the start of a loading session.  The time spent loading mags may not save any time in the overall scheme of things but it is easy to do.  Plus it also keeps me from fumbling with the occasional bullet and dropping it so it can roll under my bench or bounce off the bench and land in the trash. 

16 minutes ago, Foxbat said:

A less expensive option is to buy the Hornady bullet feeder die, and add a piece of clear plastic tubing to it.  I have that on one of my presses, which I don't use for much.  it works very well.

SoCal also makes an adapter that allows the Hornady bullet feeder die to be combined with the Lee bullet feeder tube assembly.  It works more or less the same as the Mini Mr. Bullet Feeder. 

 

http://socalsw.com/Bully-Adapter-all-pistol-calibers_p_15.html

[JDIllon]

52 minutes ago, Bkreutz said:

I looked at the mini bullet feeder, but decided to go the whole way, the main reason is that when I first bought my 650, I didn't get the case feeder, I figured that putting 20 cases at a time in the tube would be enough of a "speed up" to start off. What a pain in the butt, I kept forgetting to fill up the tube and would have to manually put a case in station one which really slowed things down.. I bought the case feeder pretty quick. So when I was considering the mini bullet feeder, I remembered the case feeder fiasco, and I realized that when I bought the full size bullet feeder, I'd have the mini left over to gather dust on the shelf with my other "seemed like a good idea at the time" pieces of gear. Save up for the full deal, (or do like I did and put it on your Christmas or birthday lists, my wife got the hint a couple of years ago when it was the only thing on my list).

That may be my only option anyway! I juat bought a 1050 and it has limited room for a mini or anything similaron the tool head, because I want to continue to run the powder check for the time being. It also has limited room directly above the tool head because of the case feeder. So I have to do some checking to see what will fit.  JD

[Bkreutz]

The bullet feeder is lower than the case feeder, with a 1050 you should still have an empty position for a bullet feeder. You could also mount the bullet feeder on the wall behind the press. It's pretty adaptable. I didn't think the bullet feeder was such a big deal, until I got one. Now I can't imagine loading without it.

[Brian04rs]

Ran the mini on my 650, worked as intended. While pulling the handle it was great but refilling the tubes is a pain. Just got a mr bullet feeder with my evolution and it is the cats pajamas! Also rick from rak systems makes a plate to remote mount it if space is a concern.