How fast can you load on your Dillon?

[kevin c]

Man, I know all you guys are into speed, but the idea of a progressive loader is not to go as fast as humanly possible, but to make quality rounds in a "reasonable" amount of time...the first time you have a squib followed by a regular round, you will stop trying to go as fast as you can.

I comfortably load 300rds per hour on my Square Deal B. I am very satisfied with that.

Gary J.

On my SDB with preloaded primer fill tubes, I can do 750/hr, but it's strictly practice ammo.

A comfortable pace for regular match ammo is 500/hr.

For stuff I really care about, taking time to verify OAL/powder drop, and being extra careful on seating the primer consistently, 300/hr is good.

Regardless of whatever pace I set, I do the 5 P's (Pull to size/seat/drop and crimp, Push to prime, Pick up bullet and case, Peek to confirm the powder drop, Place the bullet and case, and repeat ad nauseum).

[Throwin Lead]

For those of you that load with a 550 & a casefeeder how much does the casefeeder add to your production output? 100 more rounds per hour? 200? Somewhere in between? Bottom line - Is the casefeeder worth the cost in terms of production gained?

Not meant to hijack the thread but I feel I either need to invest in a case feeder (low investment) or upgrade to a 650(large investment) as I have a need for about 1700 rounds per month. Right now with preloaded primer tubes I'm in the 400 to 500 round range per hour on my 550.

[Fireant]

I went out to check last night. I left my living room at 7pm with 10 loaded primer tubes, filled the powder, put brass in the case feeder, opened a case of bullets then started cranking out 9mm major on a 1050 with no bullet feeder. At 7:45 I sat back in my chair to case gauge 1000 rounds. I'm set for two months now. Next week I'll do that for my steel load for limited.

[D. Manley]

Gary J."...For stuff I really care about, taking time to verify OAL/powder drop, and being extra careful on seating the primer consistently, 300/hr is good. Regardless of whatever pace I set, I do the 5 P's (Pull to size/seat/drop and crimp, Push to prime, Pick up bullet and case, Peek to confirm the powder drop, Place the bullet and case, and repeat ad nauseum)."

Now, that's more my SDB speed. I guess I'm too old to be fast, good and safe...if I can hit 2 of the 3 I figure I'm in the black.

Edited March 14, 2008 by D. Manley

[cnjaxx]

I loaded up 100 30-06 on a 650 ib 8 min, and I'm happy with that

[slavex]

fast enough to get into trouble if I'm not careful.

[Nik Habicht]

I dont know anyone using ONE SHOT for reloading pistol ammo ...

Yes you do.....

[cnjaxx]

I dont know anyone using ONE SHOT for reloading pistol ammo ...

Yes you do.....

On my 550, I even use it to clean my primer slide. I spray it on, and wipe it dry.

[BBoyle]

I must really stink at reloading! On my SDB I average 300/hour for rounds I care about. I have gone as fast as 500 in one hour but I wasn't comfortable that all the primers were properly seated and I had a lot of powder to clean up. Every round fired though!

[ChuckS]

My last time trial loading .40 on a 650 with a KISS was 2 min and 3 sec for 89 rounds (full primer wheel to the buzzer). And that was looking into each case for a powder check. That was at a fast, but controlled pace. I normally load slower than that.

Later,

Chuck

PS: There is someone who doesn't use One Shot for loading pistol ammo?

[DonT]

I must really stink at reloading! On my SDB I average 300/hour for rounds I care about. I have gone as fast as 500 in one hour but I wasn't comfortable that all the primers were properly seated and I had a lot of powder to clean up. Every round fired though!

My thoughts exactly. I finally tried it this week after all the discussion.

550 with all primer tubes full, bullets and brass at each hand, loaded 500 .38SC in just under an hour. I broke a sweat . Never again. 300-400 is fast enough for me

[Mr. Chitlin]

After reading this, I decided to time myself. On my 650, I started with 100 primers in the tube, 5 loaded tubes and the powder measure full. I loaded 600, took a break to refill the tubes, take a bathroom break, drink a coke and top the powder measure off. I finished with 1100 rounds of 40SW in 90 minutes, this was at a steady speed, not trying to break any records. My 1050 is set up for 223 only, and I load about 100 rounds every 6 to 7 minutes on it.

[benos]

I forgot to mention, in my 1050, 1000 rounds in 33 minutes post - I was loading match ammo.

be

[9x21]

While it is not something that I recommend, or do an a regular basis, I have loaded 100 rounds in under 3 minutes using a 1050 and KISS bullet feeder. Not much checking, or even looking at that pace, and it would be physically difficult to maintain that pace for more than a few hundred rounds.

+1

the biggest problem is in keeping primers & bullets in the thing!

[MoBigAl]

I've never really tried to go fast when loading but usually do average around 500-600 rds an hour on my 550B. [knocks on wood]I've never had a squib [knocks on wood] and have only had a couple of high primers that failed to detonate.

I take my time, kinda like when I'm shooting a stage...

[BBoyle]

I must really stink at reloading! On my SDB I average 300/hour for rounds I care about. I have gone as fast as 500 in one hour but I wasn't comfortable that all the primers were properly seated and I had a lot of powder to clean up. Every round fired though!

My thoughts exactly.

Thanks Don! Now I feel better about myself!!!

(I am only kidding and do not think that Don thinks I stink at reloading) I probably do though!!!!!

[joecichlid]

It don't count until all 100 have been fired.

More correctly, it don't count until they go BANG, not KABOOM, not fffttttttt, not ffffftttttt KABOOM oh crap I need a new gun now, just BANG. lol

Joe W.

[dvc40jim]

Okay I just had to try.

On my 1050 with a casefeeder and several loaded and staged primer tubes I was able to load 1 round of .40 in .67 seconds.

I admit I cheated just a little bit. I started with my hand on the roller handle (strong hand) and my weak hand was on the timer (CED). I also have to tell you I had to slam the roller handle back up pretty hard to stop the time (never mind the primer detonation). Any how when I checked (with my case gauge) sure enough I had loaded 1 complete match grade round (Precision Delta bullet naturally) in .67 seconds!

A quick trip to my handy dandy calculator and a little bit of basic math (not so basic for me but you get the idea) I figured out that in 1 hour and in theory I could load 2412 bullets! Oh, I forgot I would have to put bullets on top of cases..... and I would have to refill the hopper with powder.... but if someone is willing to put thier finger and thumb to the test and put the bullets in place for me I bet we can do it!