What did you do in the reloading room recently?

Broke down a slightly neglected old Dillon 550 for shipping back to the mothership for refurb. I'm use to an SDB...but I have to say I really like the caliber change process on these bigger machines. Not that the SDB is bad...but this is better. Also, never felt "cramped" on an SDB....but now I kinda see what people are talking about...

So do I "upgrade" to the 550 when it returns or keep both and become a two Dillon family ;-)
 
EddieZoom said:
Broke down a slightly neglected old Dillon 550 for shipping back to the mothership for refurb. I'm use to an SDB...but I have to say I really like the caliber change process on these bigger machines. Not that the SDB is bad...but this is better. Also, never felt "cramped" on an SDB....but now I kinda see what people are talking about...

So do I "upgrade" to the 550 when it returns or keep both and become a two Dillon family ;-)
Click to expand...

I'd keep them both. Kinda.wish I had the disposable income to be able to keep a 650 dedicated to 9mm and then have another to do runs of different calibers.
 
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EddieZoom said:
Broke down a slightly neglected old Dillon 550 for shipping back to the mothership for refurb. I'm use to an SDB...but I have to say I really like the caliber change process on these bigger machines. Not that the SDB is bad...but this is better. Also, never felt "cramped" on an SDB....but now I kinda see what people are talking about...

So do I "upgrade" to the 550 when it returns or keep both and become a two Dillon family ;-)
Click to expand...

if it were me, i'd keep them both...if you shoot mostly two calibers, that's less times you have to set up the press to load different stuff. I have a rockchucker I use for working up loads and precision rifle reloading, and got a 550B for bulk reloading when I can just set it and forget it and crank out rounds of a single charge/COAL.
 
Finished up my stock of Win 231 and was about to work up a load for Titegroup. Only then did I realize that I didn't have a disk small enough to drop anything smaller than 3.5gr of Titegroup. Ordered a new powder measure.
 
eboos said:
Only when I am paying attention. (Wall of shame: 2 in testing, 1 in Hopkinton June 2017 and 2 in Harvard July 2017)
Click to expand...

rather have a squib than a double charge!

I shot my chronograph two weeks ago with a rifle I hadn't sighted in yet (I guess my elevation was a little off [rolleyes]). This after laughing at someone else for doing the same thing and owning up to it in a thread on the interwebs...what a dunce.

ETA

Reloading Commandment #5 - Thou shalt sight in thy boom stick before attempting to chrono loads
 
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Has anyone loaded for 6.5 Grendel or Creedmoor? I'm looking for powder suggestions to work up loads.

Grendel is a hunting load behind a Barnes 120 gr TTSX

Creedmoor is 1,000 yards behind a 147 gr ELD-M.
 
Dakar652 said:
Nothing wrong with lee. I bet your rounds still go bang. What matters is the knowledge we get with experience and what we do with it.
Click to expand...

I've gone with Lee exclusively for pistol dies. First set for 9mm was from Hornady and I kind of struggled with consistency. Could possibly have been due in part to my inexperience, but the next set I bought was from Lee and the results were night and day. I've stayed with them at least for pistol loads and have been happy. Lee seems to be one of those companies that have done a good job of figuring out how to make things affordable but still manage to give you good results.
 
gerrycaruso said:
If not for Lee's affordable and available dies, I wouldn't be able to shoot a couple of oddball calibers. .45/60 WCF and .455 Webley
Click to expand...

Lee is the only affordable/inexpensive stuff out there. There's no one else out there that can offer you a complete press with dies that will load ammo for under $200. Or the challenger kits for about $120 plus dies.
Now if you have very little mechanical aptitude or lack patience.....Lee might not be right for you.
I just ordered my 3rd set of Lee 30-06 dies.
I'm just tired of adjusting and re adjusting dies plus I need to modify a seating stem for my cast loads.
 
Just loaded my first 100 rounds of .45acp on my 'Deal of the Century' Dillon 550B. Been futzing with it and installing upgrades for over a week getting everything set up in preparation to actually load. That press is SO much faster than the RockChucker, but still not sure I want to do large rifle loads on it. I'm gonna try some .223 this weekend I think.
 
Cast some heavy weights

NzuNOOml.jpg
 
eboos said:
Is that the one that all of us were falling over when it was posted in the classifieds?
Click to expand...

the one from 3 weeks ago with 4 quick changes, 3 sets of carbide pistol dies, powder, projectiles, primers and extra parts galore for $225?

yep...that's the one. right place/right time, i guess. the guy was REALLY nice and seemed pretty comfortable just offloading the press to someone that would put it to good use. i'm pretty sure i'll have this press til i'm his age (probably mid 70's or so).

i'm jealous of myself if that's even possible.
 
Cast a bunch of Lee 356-120TC that drop just about right for 38 special.
Coated and sized to .358 and loaded a bunch of test rounds for the new 1873 Rifle.
With only 4 grains of Bullseye I can load 1000 rounds for $45
 
Michael J. Spangler said:
Cast a bunch of Lee 356-120TC that drop just about right for 38 special.
Coated and sized to .358 and loaded a bunch of test rounds for the new 1873 Rifle.
With only 4 grains of Bullseye I can load 1000 rounds for $45
Click to expand...

Is that just the glory of casting and reloading right there.
It's pretty funny when my cast loads the most expensive part is the primer.
 
Michael J. Spangler said:
Cast a bunch of Lee 356-120TC that drop just about right for 38 special.
Coated and sized to .358 and loaded a bunch of test rounds for the new 1873 Rifle.
With only 4 grains of Bullseye I can load 1000 rounds for $45
Click to expand...

That is a versatile bullet. I've been using it in .38 Special/.357 Magnum for a long time; even .35 Remington and .380 ACP on occasion.
Mine are closer to 130g, but they ran just fine in my neighbor's PPK.

UPdQouel.jpg
 
I put a sizable powder order in for 5.56, Grendel, Creedmoor, & 30-06. Prices and availability are as good as I've seen.
 
I shot the 10mm loads this morning. It was the first time I shot a 10mm and here are my thoughts. It's much faster than the .45acp. Even the light loads pushed a 180 grain bullet at over 1100 fps. Recoil from a 10mm is supposed to be bad but I didn't find it any worse than the .45acp. It was quite accurate. I have lots of load development to do but it looks promising.
 
gerrycaruso said:
I shot the 10mm loads this morning. It was the first time I shot a 10mm and here are my thoughts. It's much faster than the .45acp. Even the light loads pushed a 180 grain bullet at over 1100 fps. Recoil from a 10mm is supposed to be bad but I didn't find it any worse than the .45acp. It was quite accurate. I have lots of load development to do but it looks promising.
Click to expand...


What handgun are you shooting?
 
Just sorted about 2 gallons of brass.
Batch of 38 tumbling as we speak. Next will be 45.
I did find a turned 38 special case in the mix. Kind of cool. I wonder if there are any others I missed. I only noticed this one because the mouth was split and a little crushed.
I'll have to show some pics.
 

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