AzoneHits Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 (edited) Planning to get a bullet feeder and wanted to get your impression and experience with the 2. Wanted to know which of the 2 is reliable, their feeding mechanism, overall performance and price. Thanks a lot guys. Edited February 19, 2008 by AzoneHits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RePete Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Planning to get a bullet feeder and wanted to get impression and experience with the 2. Wanted to know which of the 2 is reliable, their feeding mechanism, overall performance and price. Thanks a lot guys. I bought the KISS and I concider this a suoeriour product. It uses thye original toolheads. The GSI may or maynot be working up to the hype and uses a proprietry toolhead (read extra cost). When I first set up the KISS, I got to a speed of 1800 rounds per hour, that's 1 round in 2 seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dak Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I had a KISS, but sold it off for a GSI. The GSI looks better built, (the KISS looks like its made from leftovers from bathroom construction) and it doesn't have the irritating habit my KISS had for dropping a bullet upside down from time to time. The downside of GSI is primarily cost, and I chose the KISS on this. However, after the KISS manufacturer went back on a deal , stopped returning my calls and refused to sell me a conversion kit in the US, shiped to a US address (I live in europe, but was in Vegas for SHOT and wanted to take one home with me), claiming I had to deal with the European distributor (at double prize) even if he had confirmed earlier that this would be no problem, I sold it and got a GSI instead. /D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgary Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I bought the KISS and I concider this a suoeriour product. It uses thye original toolheads. +1 I absolutely love it.... and additionally, love the fact that I can move it from toolhead to toolhead Contrary to other opinions, I think the design is very elegant, and well executed. the only thing that looks like bathroom plumbing is the supplied support column (made out of 4" PVC tubing)... but that's a non-issue - it works, and if you don't like it there are lots of other ways to mount this thing to a press. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 +10 on the KISS I bought mine in 06 Open Nats in Tulsa. I can count the number of times I have had a problem with the bulletfeeder on one hand. If there is a malf in the loading process it is usually press or component related. I can easily produce 1000-1100 rds per hour on a 650 and that includes loading the primer tubes and case gauging. As far as customer service is concerned Roger is second to none. I have had great experience both times I have worked with him. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Egan Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I bought the KISS and I concider this a suoeriour product. It uses thye original toolheads. +1 I absolutely love it.... and additionally, love the fact that I can move it from toolhead to toolhead Contrary to other opinions, I think the design is very elegant, and well executed. the only thing that looks like bathroom plumbing is the supplied support column (made out of 4" PVC tubing)... but that's a non-issue - it works, and if you don't like it there are lots of other ways to mount this thing to a press. B The price of the KISS would be significantly higher if they used something else for the support column. I for one appreciate their efforts to keep the machine affordable. Two upside down bullets in the first 1000 rounds loaded, and I fixed that with a simple adjustment, from the owners manual. +1 for the KISS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 (edited) I have had the kiss for about a year now and love it. I can only remember having an inverted projectile once or twice in thousands of rounds loaded, and that was likely due to overfilling the hopper. The machine is a no-frills workhorse. The only failure I have had with the system was when the DC transformer went out after 6 months, and it is so common that I was able to find a replacement in my junk drawer. The positives are that it is simple, relatively inexpensive, and works as advertised. It can work with a 650, 1050, or any press with an extra die location, and it can be moved from machine to machine easily. It also does not require that you modify the press or toolhead to install it. The only downside is that the projectile hopper is not designed to hold a large quantity of projectiles and I have refill it more often than my case feeder. This is not a big deal since I have to fill the primers and powder more often than the projectiles. I usually add projectiles each time I refill the powder measure. I did not consider the GSI machine because it was not available for the 1050, at the time I purchased, but I also hear that it is far more expensive. YMMV Leo Edited February 19, 2008 by L9X25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickRak2000 Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I had a KISS, but sold it off for a GSI. The GSI looks better built, (the KISS looks like its made from leftovers from bathroom construction) and it doesn't have the irritating habit my KISS had for dropping a bullet upside down from time to time. The downside of GSI is primarily cost, and I chose the KISS on this. However, after the KISS manufacturer went back on a deal , stopped returning my calls and refused to sell me a conversion kit in the US, shiped to a US address (I live in europe, but was in Vegas for SHOT and wanted to take one home with me), claiming I had to deal with the European distributor (at double prize) even if he had confirmed earlier that this would be no problem, I sold it and got a GSI instead. /D Regarding your occasional upside down bullet with the KISS Bulletfeeder...it sounds as though the nose piece in your collator was in need of some minor adjustment. I've collated 100K+ and have had it happen to me only 4 times. I believe it was caused by some debris or tumbling media in the nose piece. Construction wise, the PVC and Delrin components are very rugged and hardly show any wear. Personally, I don't care what something looks like as long as it works like it's supposed to. (You should see my gun. UGLY as hell, but it's a tack driver). I'm surprised that you were unable to obtain a conversion kit though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgary Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I'm surprised that you were unable to obtain a conversion kit though. Me too.... although, I wonder if it might be something other than the poster described? I've had a .40-cal conversion on order since mid January. I've talked with Roger a couple of times, and I am confident it will get here... he's just so busy building these things, he's a little backlogged. As far as I'm concerned, that's a really good problem to have. And, I'll echo what another said... Roger's customer-service attitude is second to none! B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dak Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 (edited) I'm surprised that you were unable to obtain a conversion kit though. As I said, I was happy with the KISS, but I DO think the GSI looks better built. My problem was with Roger, as he repeatedly told me by phone and email that I could call him right before I went to SHOT, and he'd have a unit shipped to my hotel. When I called the morning before I left, I didn't catch him, but the lady I spoke to promised to get hold of him on his mobile and have him call me *right* back. Guess what, I never heard anything! I called again in the evening, got hold of him, and was told off with "you're a European, you have to talk to Saul Kirch" (who sells the kit in the Netherlands, at twice the US prize, not to forget international shipping and 25% VAT on import- I'd end up paying $380for the conversion that way). I tried to argument that this would be a US sale, with a US shipping address, but he flatly refused. I felt really badly treated after that call, he was harsh and impolite in the way he spoke to me and there is absolutely NO WAY I'll want to deal with a company that treats its customers like that. I'd like to add that I have also been happy with his customer service up until this point, I had one of the first units he ever shipped overseas, it just doesn't help after the last incident. Dagfinn Edited February 19, 2008 by dak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckbradley Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I saw the GSI at the shot show. I was interested in carrying it for resale. When I asked about the price structure they acted like I wanted their first born. They informed me they had no discounts for anybody. I really had to wonder why they were at the shot show which is a dealer show. I got similar treatment from KISS so I dont have a bullet feeder. The GSI looks good but with that attitude I will stay away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dak Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I saw the GSI at the shot show. I was interested in carrying it for resale. When I asked about the price structure they acted like I wanted their first born. They informed me they had no discounts for anybody. I really had to wonder why they were at the shot show which is a dealer show. I got similar treatment from KISS so I dont have a bullet feeder. The GSI looks good but with that attitude I will stay away. Strange, that is NOT the answer I go - or the impression. Dagfinn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 The GSI looks good but with that attitude I will stay away. All GSI is saying is "we do not wish to employ the services of intermediaries to handle our sales". Effectively, you asked for a job and they replied with "not hiring". Since GSI products are not something one needs to have "in shop" for browsers, they may feel that it is more cost effective to take the phone calls and handle individual shipments themselves rather than work through a distributor network and pay from 15 points (Dillons' dealer cut last I heard) to several tens of points (a more typical markup required by distributors). As to being only a dealer show - it's also for the trade press, and word gets around very quickly when someone has a neat product at the Shot Show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I saw the GSI at the shot show. I was interested in carrying it for resale. When I asked about the price structure they acted like I wanted their first born. They informed me they had no discounts for anybody. I really had to wonder why they were at the shot show which is a dealer show. I got similar treatment from KISS so I dont have a bullet feeder. The GSI looks good but with that attitude I will stay away. Chuck ?...What did you have for breakfast? Did you show up with a Hillary for pres T shirt of something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhglyn Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 I bought the KISS for my 1050 and have not regreted it. Probably 15-20K loaded with it and I can think of just 2 upside down bullets in all that time. Great reliability, great product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 I have two of the GSI units (9mm and 45) and one of the kiss units (223). I build my own collators; at first it was out of necessity as GSI had the feeders ready but no collators and the Kiss system didn’t exist (my collator was very loosely based on the MA systems collator with an additional mechanism to cull any bullet that got past inverted). I switched from my design over to a much simpler modified Kiss design as it mounts better cost less and takes less time to make. The GSI collator that I played with didn’t work very well and the kiss mounting setup left a little to be desired. I don’t like the fact that the Kiss system does away with your powder check die, I think it’s nice to have for light charges of very fast powders, not as much of a concern for the 223 load I use (FWIW one other company made one that also took place of the powder check die, but it must not have worked very well). I purchased the Kiss 223 feeder as GSI does not offer one. They did have one on a 650 at the Shot show that was still warm from the machining process (not yet available) and looked as if they are going to have problems with the collator if you load more than one bullet profile. From my conversations with both Xavier and Roger, I’d have to say both are knowledgeable, helpful and have only the best of intentions in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzoneHits Posted February 20, 2008 Author Share Posted February 20, 2008 jmorris, does the GSI perform better than the KISS with regards to inverted bullets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 I never personally owned one of the GSI collators (or a Kiss for that matter); however, in the time I did spend with a fellow shooters GSI I felt it wasn’t an ideal setup (it jammed every 25 rounds or so). The Kiss style collator, on the other hand, works quite well once you have it adjusted. It seems that the clone I built will handle different styles (HP, FMJ and FP) without adjustment, better than the Kiss. This is most certainly due to the “flipper” and/or angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 The KISS has been great for me, and the service too. I ordered one right after seeing it at the Open Nationals in Tulsa. It's fed around 50,000 bullets since then. Every so often one gets sideways or upside down, but as long as you look before mashing the handle, it's not a problem. I visually 'call' the powder drop and bullet each time and it doesn't slow me down in the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 The Achilles heal of the Kiss collator is that it does not work for cast bullets very well. The wax/grove seems to be the problem. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...l=bullet+feeder has some photos of the first bullet feeder I built a few years ago. It had a device that would cull inverted bullets before they could enter the feeder. It worked perfect but took much longer to build and cost quite a bit more to produce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzoneHits Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 (edited) jmorris, so the picture on your 650 in this thread was a modified KISS bullet feeder? Seems like the tubes you used from the collator to the 650 is different or modified from what I see on the KISS units advertised. Edited February 21, 2008 by AzoneHits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 All of the collators (and mounting/adapt stuff) I have are homemade; however, they are pretty close cousins to the KISS unit. The feeders on the 650s are GSI feeders (I wanted to keep the powder check die) the one on the 1050 is a KISS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickRak2000 Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 The Achilles heal of the Kiss collator is that it does not work for cast bullets very well. The wax/grove seems to be the problem. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...l=bullet+feeder has some photos of the first bullet feeder I built a few years ago. It had a device that would cull inverted bullets before they could enter the feeder. It worked perfect but took much longer to build and cost quite a bit more to produce. The KISS collator works fine with cast bullets that are moly coated versus cast bullets w/wax in the grooves. Soft sticky wax is the issue...not the grooves in the bullet. My guess would be that anybody reloading wax lubed bullets needs to be in a fairly cool environment so that the wax stays as hard as possible... less wax build up to clean out of collators and droppers. I think wax buildup would be a problem for just about any one of these gadgets. Maybe a light coat of silicone or teflon in the collators would help with the wax issue. Who knows? I'd "stick" (pun intended) with jacketed or moly coated. My 2 cents worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 FYI KISS/Roger makes it very clear that use with lubed cast lead bullets in their bulletfeeder is not advisable due to the lube buildup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisStock Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 FYIKISS/Roger makes it very clear that use with lubed cast lead bullets in their bulletfeeder is not advisable due to the lube buildup. ...and these make up 90% of what I load, therefore a no-go for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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