I’ll be loading 223 & 308 right now. Any shortcuts? Things to avoid?
Use a case gauge to set your sizer. Check often.
I size my .308/7.62 in a single stage turret press then load in the 650 (you need to re-tumble to remove the case lube anyway, so no time is lost). If fired through a 7.62 chamber (SCARs, FALs), the pressure to resize is considerable - (maybe somewhat less for commercial .308 brass). Seem like that would be a bad thing in an aluminum frame progressive press, but maybe others do it anyway.
Thanks Shootist.
A potentially dangerous concept in reloading. Take your time with things, and then figure out on your own(once you’ve read a lot into the matter) where you can speed things up. There aren’t any “shortcuts”, there are only more efficient ways of carrying out an operation.
Dillon case lube is a must unless you want to make your own. The best way to lube in my opinion is to get a large ziploc freezer bag, spray some lube in the bag, then dump your cased into the bag and kneed them around. This keeps lube from getting inside the cases, and prevents the primer from getting fouled once you install it. Never spray lube directly onto the cases if you want to avoid getting lube inside the case. It doesn’t matter when you remove your case lube, as long as you do so before you shoot the finished ammo. Just like dumping the cases into the ziploc bag, you can clean off the cases(or finished cartridges) by getting a towel and spraying rubbing alcohol on it. Kneed the cases around on the towel/alcohol and they are cleaned. You can of course just dump your deprimed and resized cases back into the tumbler to clean them too.
I use a 550, and once I have deprimed and resized in station one, I remove the case for primer pocket swaging(if reloaded for the first time) and trimming. Then I return it to station one, prime the case, and then cycle to the next station. Some people prefer to run multiple tool heads for rifle, but I just run a single tool head. I timed myself in processing 100rds of .223 with my buddy who also runs a 550 using the method I described. He has a separate toolhead which has a depriming die, and the Dillon 1200 trimmer. He must swag the primer pocket in a separate operation. I beat him by about 10min using my single tool head operation. I haven’t run a 650, so I’m not sure if it will be possible for you to stop your production line to swag and trim, but you learn what you can do with the equipment that you have.
Thanks S. By shortcut I meant tricks to setting up the press or techniques to speed things up. I’ve been loading single stage for years & am fully aware of safety. I prolly should have said that I’m upgrading from a single stage in my first post.
I currently use a Giraud power trimmer & the Dillon Super Swage. I’ll continue using those. What do you trim with?
I use a Giraud. I started off with a Hornady hand trimmer which was about as fast of a manual trimmer as you can get, and I still use it for oddball calibers that I don’t load in large volumes. If I was only loading a few thousand .223 a year, then I think I could get away with the Hornady since I only trim about every 5 reloads.
+1 or 2 on the case gauge, it’ll save you a lot of time/frustration from cases stuck in your chamber.
Dillon case lube is great, don’t skimp on it. Again it’ll save you a lot of time/frustration with cases stuck in your resizing die.
I have 2 loads for my ARs, accurate and blasting. Blasting is for CQB, transition to side arm etc. I use LC brass for my accuracy loads and trim them to 1.760. My Noveske seems to like the cases long. I have had great results with both Hornady 55 and 75 gr loads from the carbine when I trim as well as resize. For blasting ammo I use unsorted brass and simply resize and go.
Here’s my steps:
Tumble/clean cases. Lube on a cookie sheet (again Dillon case lube).
Then trim if I’m going to make ‘accuracy loads’. Otherwise…
I move to the 550 and use a Lee Factory Crimp die for the last step.
Simple.
On my 550 I had to tinker with the little ‘wedge’ that catches the primer after resizing/decap. With it not holding the primer until it could dump into the little spent primer ‘bucket’ I found the press got crap all over it. You will get a little powder spilling and some debris from the spent primers. Keep a little brush handy and make a point of brushing off the shell plate and ram every 3 to 4 complete rotations of the shell plate. I’ve found that if I keep the crap off the plate and ram I get more consistent seat of the bullet and much more consistent cartridge OAL. Clearly if I get a more consistent OAL I’ll get a much more consistent burn and of course accuracy.
I use the Dillon Rapid Trim for trimming/sizing. It’s a great time saver when you trim your brass. When I purchased it was a splurge. Now that I’ve used it for about a year it’s a real time saver. If your budget allows for it pick it up and set up a single stage press to size / trim your rifle brass.
Last if you’re new to reloading in particular progressives use multiple powder changes to get your change ‘just right’. Meaning adjust your powder change to get say 25 grains of powder and you’re happy. Then cycle 5 cases through the powder station and dump all 5 into your scale. Divide by 5. Did you get your ‘happy change’ of 25 grains? If your scale is large enough then us 10 rather than 5 sample changes.
Hope this helps.
Any shortcuts? Things to avoid?
I agree with above … avoid shortcuts.
I only reload pistol so far, but it’s a very good idea to know exactly what is happening every step on the way. You should have a checklist. Not only for the steps involved but also the mechanics of the machine.
Like someone mentioned, the little things like powder waste and moving parts getting stuck or altered ever so slightly. When you assemble the press, operate it and notice -exactly- what is happening at each step. Notice the sound and the feel of everything.
You should be able to walk up to your press at any stage of operation and know exactly what is happening. So for instance if you walked out of the room and someone else operated the press, you could tell exactly where things are now and what is happening to all stages.
Without that outline in your head, the sounds, feel… you are more prone to doing something wrong and not really knowing it.
Knowing all that you will be much more confident when you go to fine tuning things.
Keep a notebook of what you intend to do and any issues that may arise.
a1fabweld,
Do have a few spare tool heads. Huge time saver since it takes about 5 seconds to change tool heads. Example is IF you just want to decap mil brass prior to processing the primer pocket.
The 650 will jam on occasion. Don’t force it (AMHIK) - and be prepared to clear every station and start over. Go slow at first (duh).
Dillon has a special number for tech help - 800-223-4570. Do give them a call if you run into a problem or need a free part. The No BS warranty is for real.
The Dillon Universal Decapper is the best on the market, IMO - the decap pin is tappered all the way down, (verses only partially tapered). It won’t hang on the case mouth (.223) like some others. You may want a couple - one for station one in your reloading tool-head to clear any polishing media from the flash hole. (Another as mentioned above IF your method is to first decap only for mil brass.)
There are many ways to go about things - you will find what works best for you. You could have a sizer-only setup and size/decap several hundred in flash. Conversely you could size only, trim, and then decap in station one of the loading operation (this works well for .223 with a Dillon trimmer).
At some point (if speed is your objective), you will want two complete primer assemblies. One Large primer and one small.
.45 ACP and .308/.243 (etc) use the same tool head.
I dump 5 or 6 powder charges before ever going to the scales. Same principle as settling-out a manual powder measure - it’s whatever works for you.
Not just related to the Dillon, but when setting up the sizer or changing brass, bullets - (or a new rifle), I’ll load several dummies (no powder or primer) and hard cycle them through the rifle (more than once) - then measure COL to verify good neck tension.
I have personally seen bullet setback and a friend found this the hard way at last week’s 3-Gun match. (Shooting his reloading partner’s .223 loads.) No ka-boom thanks to a catastrophic jam.
Awesome info fellas. Thanks.
With a pistol caliber I can crank out 1k an hour. However with a rifle you need to pause at the bottom of your stroke to give all the powder a chance to drop.
Make sure you use a powder that will work well in a progressive (varnet, tac, BLC2).
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Congrats on the 650!
Thanks,
Alan
I think you mean shell plate? The same tool head is used for all calibers on an XL 650.
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Just ordered a 650 as well. From what i have noticed, for any caliber that needs to be trimmed the rt1200 is a beast. I ordered a seperate tool head to mount a sizer/decap, and the trimmer. Makes prepping them a bit easier. That and a hornady case prep trio for crimed primer pockets and deburring the case.
You could size only in prep and then decap later, but then if the primer was crimped you are going to have an issue. I prefer to decap in the prep stage so that i can completely clean the primer pocket/flash hole. Maybe i am being a tad bit OCD with that, but it cant hurt!
I would recommend a dedicated toolhead for each caliber to keep your adjustments. I don’t however like having a different powder measure for each. Waste of money IMO. I instead have a Uniquetek Micrometer Powder Bar Kit and baffle on each of my 2 powder measures. I with a large (rifle) the other with a small (pistol) powder bar.
I have all me powders graphed on a spread sheet and when it comes to changing calibers / loads I always dump my powder back in the respective container and get in off the bench.
In addition if you run a RT1200 you’ll want to either buy a clamped or thread your own toolhead to help with eliminating OAL variances. I highly recommend the shellplate bearing mod to reduce powder spillage from the shellplate snapping from position to position and definitely at bare minimum cut one or more coils on the index spring to help smooth it out.
Awsomew info fellas! Thanks!
I did order an extra toolhead, powder measurer, & the whole chingaderas for my other caliber I plan to load in the near future. I like the idea of setting one caliber up & not having to adjust every time I switch to another.
I think for now I’ll stick with my Giraud trimmer. Eventually I may go with a press mounted job.
I can’t say much about the 650 but i have a 550 I bought in 1992 and The most important thing to do is read the manual and take time in setting up the machine and learn the adjustments. IMO the 550s learning curve was easy but to take the time to learn the procedure was hard as I wanted to crank out the ammo. If something makes you wonder call up Dillon as the reps are fantastic. Enjoy your 650!!!.
The manual sucks in my opinion. You’ll get more and much better info on setup from Youtube. I’ve taken my laptop to my reloading bench many times in during setup.