Gun Geek Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 Has anyone thought about rigging up a bullet feed for the 650? I understand that it may be very specific to a caliber (i.e.) on for 45 or 40, but if you're shooting in volume this might be pretty valuable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVI4ME Posted November 10, 2003 Share Posted November 10, 2003 My gunsmith has one rigged up on his 1050. It is air actuated. Pretty slick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted November 10, 2003 Author Share Posted November 10, 2003 Can you get photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 If you search around a bit on this forum (far back in the mists of time), you can find some info on the bullet feeders.. The best one I've heard of, M-A Systems, will run you more than another 650. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted November 11, 2003 Author Share Posted November 11, 2003 Shred: I did a little searching here and there was some discussion, but it quickly went off into high volume production. I was wondering if anyone actually managed to do this before I start devoting brain cycles to it. I have a couple of ideas and the fact that so much of the 650 is Aluminim makes it easy (read cheaper tools) to work. My last project was couple of devices to stop the cases from feeding and the primers from feeding. Pictures coming someday. Materials are some 1/4 AL rod, tap&die, 3/32 brass rod. Pretty simple and easy. No I'm ready to tackle something a little more complex. It should be doable if you don't try to get it to work like the case feeder (just pour the bullets in a hopper). Just keep a tube filled up. Maybe someday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carter Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 The MA Systems unit does work well but it is expensive as already said. I adapted a Lee unit on my old 1050 once, it was cheap and worked pretty good. It used tubes to hold the bullets and the time spent loading the tubes pretty much cancelled out the advantage. You could really crank them out as long as the tubes were full though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted November 11, 2003 Author Share Posted November 11, 2003 I've already got one of the Lee units on order (don't let Mike Dillon see that!) Lee has a new system that lets you put on 4 tubes at once, looks like about 100 bullets. Things are about to get interesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Geek, the Lee multitube adapter comes with 4 tubes, plus the one you get with the bullet feeder, totals 5 tubes (110/115 average .40 bullets, depending on the bullet lenght). But you can have spare tubes: p/n BF3489 and BF3490 on the Lee catalog is a 4-tubes replacement for large (>=.40") or small (<=9mm) bullets (have a look here). Be sure to order the tightest fit (in height) you can have for the feed die (the black metal die the bullets go through), because if the die is too high, you will experience a second bullet falling down the assembly while the first is being carried on by the feed fingers. My solution is to buy the shortest die, then cutting it to leave 1mm clearance from the top of the bullet to be used. Since I'm planning to upgrade to a Dillon 650 from my Lee Pro-1000, let me know about your attempt to adapt the bullet feeder to the Dillon press, I'm very interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Yeah, I tinkered with adapting a Lee, but never got anything I was happy with. I'd love to see somebody get it working better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 [Wet Blanket Mode] I hate to tell you guys this, but I'm 99% sure that loading those Lee bullet feed tubes is no faster than just putting the bullet in at the seating station while you're loading. Yeah, it might seem really zippy while you're blasting through the 4 magazines of bullets, but you have to include the time it took to load and place the tubes. I used to have to do time studies on manufacturing lines, and when it comes to manual assembly, the time it takes to place an object is pretty well fixed. The only thing that has changed with the Lee system is *where* the bullet is placed, not *how long* it took to get there. Basically, I'm going to contend that it takes no more time to pick up and load the bullet at the seating station than it does to pick up and load a bullet into your auto feeder tube. In fact, I'm willing to go so far as to suggest that the Lee system is probably slower. I think if one puts a stopwatch on the *entire* process, that will be borne out. The only way to really speed up the loading process past the 650/1050 practically is for the bullets to get collated into the feeder via a vibe bowl or some other mechanical collating device. [/WBM] That said, I'm dying to see a picture of the MA feeder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 Erik, I can guarantee you that the bullet feeder is at least as fast as picking up and placing bullets manually. Moreover (at least to me) it has another advantage, which is far more important to me: economy of motion. I get really tired of having to manually picking up each bullet and place it in the appropriate station, especially when I have to reload about 500 rounds. I can refill 5 bullet tubes (approx. 110/115 bullets) in 2 mins., but the advantage in terms of fatigue is priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORCA Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 I'm with Eric W on this one. Bowl feed it all the way. A few months ago there was some discussion about automating a 650 press and I've had a few ideas as to how do it. The vertical cycling is easy, I can think of three easy ways to do that without even trying. The bullet feeding is a little more involved. I would get another case feeder and machine a plate to feed bullets instead of cases. I would then have the cases feed through the die hole where the powder check would be and make a spring loaded escapement to feed bullets through a die head. I would either have a pin that contacted the escapement and released the bullet or make a toggle type escapement and let the case activate the escapement and release the bullet. A pneumatic pick and place would be simple but would consume a lot of air and the cost of the cylinders and valves would be expensive ( maybe just one rotary?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Carter Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 When I did my experimenting Lee didn't have the multi tube adapter yet but I did have extra tubes. IIRC I had to shorten the tubes to clear the case feeder so they didn't hold as many bullets. I may have to try this again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snokid Posted November 11, 2003 Share Posted November 11, 2003 one day I'm going to do this myself. here's my idea if someone wants to run with it. I was going to make a bullet feeder just like the case feeder on the dillon, but a little smaller, the weigh of the bullets would stop the plate from turning if it were too big, you could always load less bullets in it though. pay attention to the angle of the feeder, you want the bullets to roll off if they are upside down but stay in place if they are right side up. next you need to devise a way to get the bullets from the tube to the seating die, here once again dillon already has that figured out with the case feeder, just duplicate that on the other side of the press, and add a finger to sense if a case is present in the shell plate, so as not to feed bullets if no case is present. ok now that the bullets are out of the tubes you need to get them set on top of the case, here lee has done that also with their bullet feeder, the thing I don't like about the lee feeder is how it is actulated, I would change how it moves from a rod to a lever that hits the shell plate where if the case isn't present it wouldn't cylce the feeder. the bullets drop out of the dillon case/bullet feeder then run down the tube and get transfered to the lee bullet feeder which sets the bullets. seems like it would work and not be all that hard to do. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted November 13, 2003 Author Share Posted November 13, 2003 Guys: Just waiting on the Lee bullet feeder from Midway. I'll keep you up to date and post photos. I'm sure I'll run into problems, or over complicate somethings, so maybe together we can whip this. Keep the ideas flowing! I guess we'll have to sign over the IP rights to BE since this is his forum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted November 13, 2003 Author Share Posted November 13, 2003 Bob: I like your ideas. My plan is to work the placement issue first, then tackle tackle automating the feed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 There was a guy in Oregon (Salem area I believe) that was making a bullet loading device that would fill tubes and/or attach directly to where the tube was supposed to go. It worked on a similar principle to the Dillon case feeders. Not sure if he is still in business or not. He also manufactured SMG (Sterling clones) and AR-15s/M-16s so the AWB in 1994 may have axed his business. I don't recall the business name though. I saw a couple of them hooked up and working on some commercial presses about 10 years ago and they were pretty slick. If you get the tube feed working you might want to get one of those gizmos to avoid the filling the tube time. Check with a commercial reloader. They might have one and/or know more info. I have always been surprised the Dillon hasn't come out with one of these themselves. At least for the 1050. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted November 13, 2003 Author Share Posted November 13, 2003 Got the Lee bullet feeder. Looks pretty doable. I'll keep you up to date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gun Geek Posted November 17, 2003 Author Share Posted November 17, 2003 Got the Lee feeder adapted. It is kinda bodged up right now, I have to pick up a tool to make it "professional". Works about 90% of the time. I think when I do a better job mounting, it will get much better. Next effort is to make a hopper deal (like the Dillon case feeder). Been tinkering with a couple of ideas. I'll post details when I get it nailed down. Now we're having fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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