The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Reloading => Topic started by: MikeBjerum on April 23, 2016, 09:16:20 PM
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Two weeks until the first Cowboy match I'll make this year, and I'm finally getting things set up ... and ordering more parts.
I own the Dillon 650 with a friend, and I got it home Thursday afternoon. When I got home tonight (Saturday) I started checking out what I still need to order.
For components I am only short bullets and grits, but those look like they will be on the way beginning of the week. For the press I will be putting in my Dillon order tomorrow, and I will count on their good service.
Among the surprises was my tote with some items in it:
2K CCI large pistol primers - $19.99 per 1,000
3 1/4 pound Longshot - $16.99/pound ($22.99 today on sale)
1 1/2 pound Bullseye - $15.99/pound ($26.99 today on sale)
A quick inventory of my DFL Nightmare room shows the following:
24 3/4 powder
25,000 primers
Enough lead to contaminate the entire California water supply
Enough ammunition to stock a small gun shop
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Here are some of the Bullet suppliers I have used, any of them will give(sell) you good quality bullets.Check their prices and see who is best for you.
https://rimrockbullets.net/index.php?main_page=index&zenid=f8efb6df89a966da6836e96f551def02
http://www.badmanbullets.com/OnlineStore/categories.php?cat=Hard+Cast+Lead+Bullets+for+Reloading
http://www.clarksbullets.com/
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Damn It!!!
Truck is parked for the day, so I'm working around the house. While waiting for a little drying outside it is interior.
I just found another five pounds of powder and 5K primers!
Time to up the insurance.
Majer,
Thanks for the links! The supplier suggested to me by a friend, the one they use, had issues this weekend, so I went to Rim Rock. Will see how their follow through is, but order experience was good.
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I've ordered from a small one-man operation called T&B Bullets with outstanding service.
http://tbbullets.com/shop/
I've used Travis' .44 bullets along side bullets from Oregon Trail-LaserCast and his is just as hard-cast. He is also one of the few that offer 100 round trial packs for a cheap price and free shipping.
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Thanks Chuck!
First glance said spendy, but then I remembered what free shipping is worth.
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Thanks Chuck!
First glance said spendy, but then I remembered what free shipping is worth.
Yep. The USPS bulk "if it fits, it ships" flat rates have went up over the last few years....but it's still cheaper for some things than UPS when weight/distance is a factor like lead bullets.
Three or four times a year we send one of my wife's homemade poundcakes to her aunt and uncle in Philadelphia. It used to run around $10 USPS and $14 UPS.... in January the USPS increased flat rate for the box we use to $18.75 and cut out the discount for printing your own label via the online store, which knocked it down a little to $15 per box through last year. We might have to go back to UPS for the next cake shipment.
I used to order from Oregon Trail because shipping was always factored into the price, which was reasonable to begin with. The last order I got from them was something like $63 for 500 .44's.
T&B has actually went up a few bucks. The bullets I ordered last were the 200gr RNFP .44's at $43 per 500 including shipping....now they are up to $50 and change, which still isn't a bad price for the postman getting a hernia. ;D
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Dillon parts were ordered yesterday, and I am waiting on that for now - Shipped today, but no FedEx tracking info yet. Hoping they arrive so I can assemble Saturday night/Sunday afternoon and reload for match.
Hornady single stage lock-n-load temporarily clamped to end of the bench, and first five rounds of .45/70 run through. 405 grain FP over 47 grain of Reloader 7 - That is a thumper and a half :o Five minutes later I am all out of loaded .45/70 ;D
Once Dillon is up and running I will decide how I am going to finish mounting MEC 9000 and single stage. I think all three are going to be done with T-Nuts under bench top and shelf storage. The bench is only six feet long.
I read somewhere that you can make your bench more solid by storing bullets on it. The bench is solidly screwed to the wall, but I have 200 pounds of lead and copper on top anyway. Do you think I should add the other 200 pounds, and maybe the 150 of shot?
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Add a thousand more pounds, then it will be REALLY sturdy. :o
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Add a thousand more pounds, then it will be REALLY sturdy. :o
Or the bench will be in pieces on the floor. :o
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I made my reloading bench out of a hollow core door! Really. Mounted brackets for screw in legs and braced with aluminum strap 1 X 1/8". Mounted my 550 to 5/8"MDX or somesuch. Despite what you might think, I actually split the MDX and had to go to 5/8" plywood. I have loaded thousands of rounds with this set-up. No wobble or movement whatsoever and it is not screwed or fastened to anything.
FWIW
Richard
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I've ordered from a small one-man operation called T&B Bullets with outstanding service.
http://tbbullets.com/shop/
I've used Travis' .44 bullets along side bullets from Oregon Trail-LaserCast and his is just as hard-cast. He is also one of the few that offer 100 round trial packs for a cheap price and free shipping.
Travis is local to me and I've heard nothing but good things from the guys at the Range about his products and customer service. I've never bought from him, I started casting and then didn't shoot as much (the powder/primer scare). I'll have to get some ordered soon.
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Another 35# of
lead ballast arrived today while I was on the road. I love the flat rate boxes, but I think the mailman gets sick of them.
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I ordered about seventy lbs of brake parts a few weeks back off Amazon! The poor UPS guy went to the wrong house the first time... I met him half way..
:)
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OK guys. I can see this is something I may need to start keeping on hand. Just exactly what is it you order so I can start getting set up?
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Are you doing any reloading now Ken? With your engineering background you should be good at it.
I enjoy reloading because of the details of figuring out what I want, how I can do it, and making it happen. Attention to detail that many dislike is fun to me.
To me this is like potato chips. Yesterday I received the box of supplies from Dillon Precision. After I mounted the press on the new Strong Mount and unpacking everything, I mounted my MEC 9000 and got it adjusted for the featherlight loads (12 ga., 7/8 ounce shot, 1,200 fps). I also installed a new large primer tray that holds over 200 primers. I only completed about a dozen rounds last night, but this morning I sat down with my coffee to verify I had done all correctly - 100 rounds later I need to shift to work.
I will probably finish off 1,000 or 1,500 (all the 7/8 ounce wads I have) Saturday evening when I get home. Then I will do the set up of the Dillon 650 with its new process. Once the Dillon is ready, and before I take the MEC off the bench, I will post a photo of my small space.
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Saturday Evening Update:
As reported earlier, press #1, Hornady Lock-N-Load single stage, is up and running and has turned out some very fine .45/70;
Press #2, Dillon 650, was clam ped down and parts ordered last weekend. The parts arrived Thursday, and before bedtime it was mounted on the new Strong Mount and parts laid out for set up this weekend;
Press #3, MEC 9000, was set up, clamped down, and ran 25 test loads on Thursday evening prior to bedtime. Tonight I sat down, and in 90 minutes +/- I ran, inspected and boxed 450 rounds of 12 gauge featherlights - 7/8 ounce shot over 16.4gr Red Dot - Should 1,200 fps with 7900 psi. I ran a half dozen through the coach gun, and they are nothing for recoil as compared to standard target loads. These are for SASS, so light is the name of the game.
Sunday's goal is to run another 1,000 featherlights through the MEC. This will finish off the wads I have on hand for this load. Then I need to put the caliber head together for the Dillon and start my run of SASS .38's. This will be 125gr RNFP over 3gr Red Dot and 7gr white hominy grits. The trick to this is I need to make a powder die extension to lift a second powder measure up about four inches, so it will operate next to the other measure (stations 2 and 3 are powder drops to pull off the special low power loads).
If all goes well on Sunday afternoon I will be writing a report that the 650 is ready and has proven a couple dozen rounds that work in the rifle. I would like to then switch to finishing off the shotgun loads, so I can move the MEC to a shelf while I run a couple thousand .38 spl. Those need to be cranked out between runs this week to be ready for Sunday match.
The following week will be to reset the MEC and run a couple thousand standard trap loads. I believe I will run out of shot by that time - I estimate I have powder for 2,500 rounds and shot may run out around 1,750.
What next? Well, there is a lot more brass, lead, primers, and powder around, but I think I will just work on emptying things for a few days first.
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couple of comments... stand up to help prevent tendonitis in your forearm, a roller handle helps... add a light so you can check that an empty case is loaded, and power... if you load straight walled auto loading pistol cartridges, a Lee sizing die sizes further down the case and helps head off problems... when you adjust your charge bar, drop 10 charges in your scale and move the decimal point... 43 grains for 10 charges is 4.3 grains for one
when you start loading shot shells, be expected to drop a load of shot on the floor... and if you do, make sure there are no pellets lurking on the shell plate index the that could get under a primer... you will need to hand drop any shot larger than BB
(http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz180/LesSnyder/003_zpsioa5uaup.jpg) (http://s825.photobucket.com/user/LesSnyder/media/003_zpsioa5uaup.jpg.html)
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Good words to live by Les.
I like to sit rather than stand with my Hornady. Is the Dillion not lend itself to operating it seated?
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Alf... I did a lot of sitting in the early days, and developed a severe case of tendonitis, to the point of almost quitting the shooting sports... I reload found on range brass .... reloading .45, a lot of the cases had considerable drag on the up stroke of the 550, which put a strain on my elbow/forearm... standing and the addition of a roller handle eased the condition... I reload only 9mm on the 1050, and is not a problem
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I built my new bench to allow me to work standing up, although my bar stools will let me sit if need be. The 550 is still on a lower bench where I can run it seated. Once my youngest moves out, she has until the end of August, I'll be relocating the new bench, cabinet and presses into her room once I do a little remodeling (mainly replacing the carpet with some hard flooring). I just need to get caliber conversions for 9 and 223 for my newer unloaders ;) Maybe a 650 or 1050 dedicated to 223.....
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Knees, feet & back are my issues, so standing is bad, even on padded mats.
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Magoo541... I've never used a 650, but the 1050 has a dedicated station to swage primer pocket... a plus if you shoot GI 5.56 brass
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Magoo541... I've never used a 650, but the 1050 has a dedicated station to swage primer pocket... a plus if you shoot GI 5.56 brass
I recall looking at the 650 when I bought my 550 but I didn't plan on doing big runs, >500 rounds, but I think that volume will go up if my wife's health continues to improve (she had a dream she was shooting a competition and doing great :) ). She has MS but has been walking 5+ miles a day for the last 4 weeks which has been great on a number of levels. We went out shooting last weekend, breaking in my new XDM 9 with a threaded barrel ;) and re-sighted in my red dot on my AR.
Back to the 1050, I recall a the price between a 650 fully loaded and a 1050 was not much and some wish they would have gone with the 1050 for high volume calibers like 223 & 9.
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Good words to live by Les.
I like to sit rather than stand with my Hornady. Is the Dillion not lend itself to operating it seated?
It is all about the height of the bench and the height of the still you sit on. I prefer to sit an any of the presses. Old fat body that I abused far too much when I was younger ... If that is what you call riding a bull just before your 49th birthday :o With the Dillon I have a tendency to jerk the handle when I stand, and this causes primers to flip upside down.
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I Have a 550 and it lends itself well to sitting. The top of the board my press is mounted to is 291/2". I use a regular chair to sit on. Don't know about the 650 or 1050. You might call Dillon on that. Their tech support can answer that question for you.
Richard
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Up and fully functional!
This shows all three presses on the little 22" x 55" bench. It is intended that I will not have them all mounted all the time, but so far I have reloaded 500 rounds of 12 ga with the MEC 9000, and 50 rounds of .45/70 on the Hornady in this configuration. I will need to remove the Hornady powder measure in order to set bullets on the Dillon 650.
The bench top is 33 3/8" high, and I ran both the MEC and the Hornady while sitting in my desk chair. At this time I think I will be running the Dillon from the same chair. It is possible that I could get a bar stool, but I wouldn't want it to be much taller than the chair ... We'll see as I go.
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e330/m58/20160519_2237111_zpslu86ihrc.jpg)
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I have been loading on a Dillon 650 since the late 1990s. Great machine, but you need to make careful adjustments when you change cartridges. (I reload 29 different metallic cartridges counting wildcats… also have 3 MEC presses for the shotgun reloads).
I started reloading in 1962 and have gone through several different reloading benches.
Absolutely the best one is the NRMA designed bench.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%20%2000_zpssa9evde5.jpg)
I believe that plans are still available. Mine is over 30 years old.
It is super strong, but what I like most about it is that it is a simple takedown into several components by removing the 3/8 inch carriage bolts that hold it together. This makes transport a lot simpler and getting through doors a breeze. I flew helicopters for 26 years, and moved quite often. Having this bench really was a boon to my reloading.
Besides my two Dillon presses I have three MEC presses and several other bench mounted tools.
Only using one tool at a time was a problem until I modified the bench with a key system for mounting the tools when I rebuilt the bench about 20 years ago. (I had originally dyed the bench a dark walnut stain. This turned out to be a poor choice because it hid dropped powder and other small dropped objects.) I simply added a ¾ inch maple plywood sheet on top. Before I installed the new bench top I cut out the key hole.
The largest tool footprint was my MEC Grabber, so I designed the key to accommodate it, and thus all others.
I ended up with an 11 x 11 inch ¾ inch thick key block with ¼ inch holes set 1 inch from the edges in each corner. I glued an 11x11 inch piece of 1x12 on top of the plywood key to give the mounting bolts a little more material to work with.
¼ inch holes were drilled through the bench and the underside was relieved using my Mototool to accommodate ¼ wing nuts. These were secured using fiberglass rifle bedding compound and are totally solid.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%2001_zpszexpqufy.jpg)
This is a picture of my bench with a key installed that allows the full use of the bench without having to work around any mounted tools.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%2003_zpszwwdrbbd.jpg)
Here is a good look at the key slot showing the modifications I made to allow shotgun primers to drop into a catch jar mounted under the bench top.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%2005_zpsm24sm52w.jpg)
One of my MEC 600 Jrs. set up for 20 GA. Showing the modification for the primer drop.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%2007_zps985uqczd.jpg)
Here is how the MEC Grabber fits the key.
All of the presses are mounted using the appropriate size countersunk screw from below and lock nuts on top. This makes for a very solid mount. I have no trouble swaging bullets.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%2010_zpsuozx2vzy.jpg)
Here is the bottom of my Pacific “O” press showing the countersunk screws.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%2009_zpsugqvrykk.jpg)
This is the Pacific press mounted and ready to use.
Pacific was bought out by Hornady in the late 1980s.
(All the 22 rimfire ammunition was for a test of modifying the bullets.
Several machinist/gunsmiths offer tools and or dies to form several different configurations…
Due to the 22 rimfire drought, this test was put on hold.)
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%2011_zpspppcxa04.jpg)
Here is my 650 mounted and ready to go through another batch of 500 brass in an afternoon.
Tool change out is simply pulling the four ¼ in lug bolts, lifting off one press and setting on the other. Tighten down the very same lug bolts and I am ready for the next job.
As to bench height, I chose to make it comfortable to stand while reloading.
The addition of a bar stool, allows me to sit if I wnat to.
It is not necessary to build as heavily as I did.
But the key system works very well for me and could be adapted to a smaller bench.
I hope this gives you some ideas.
Good luck with the 650, you are going to love it.
Steve
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Steve, that is a great system...and is exactly the intended final result for my bench. It is all apart now (my machines are all in their boxes) and I just need to find the time to get it back together.
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Very cool, Steve. Very cool.
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My bench has been relocated. While it's not secured to the floor, I did put the back splash up recently and pushed it up tightly against the wall.
Nothing as neat as Steve's. If, when, I add a second press it'll be on the right side of the bench.
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Gun-General/i-GXrmR7h/0/XL/IMG_5108-XL.jpg)
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Here are a couple of better pictures of my powder scale set up.
It sits on a fold down shelf mounted to the cabinet of my reloading bench.
When I’m done reloading, the scale is protected by a small cover of my design that my wife sewed up for me, and then is set back into the cabinet so I can close up the shelf and have room to work on my bench.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%20%20B_zpswo9siyqg.jpg)
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%20%20B.1_zpsuls3dmxz.jpg)
Note the shorter chain location on the left side to provide better access to the tray.
This shows more detail about the shotgun primer jar.
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%20%20G_zpshdxmtiax.jpg)
(http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t175/SteveCover/Shooting/Reloading%20Bench%20Details/Bench%20%20I_zpskabi6za7.jpg)
I cut down a plastic jar and taped it back together to get a reasonable volume in a low profile container.
The lower picture also shows how I attached the wing nuts for the tool key blocks.
Steve