Going Blue

[knobster]

Well, after a year of dreaming, scheming, saving, drooling, etc I'm finally adding some bulk to my reloading bench.

Hit a local gun shop that carries stuff from Dillon and the XL 650 came home with me. I got everything I needed to get started with loading 9s and 223s. I had to order the strong mount which should be arriving next week. I added a few extra goodies to my Christmas list (case feeder, bullet tray, aluminum roll handle and I'm sure one or two more things). I'm anxious to get everything set up and start cranking out the ammo!

It was funny, there was another customer in the store and he stepped right in and helped me quite a bit on a few of the necessary pieces. He has two of these loaders himself and even has the bullet feeder. He showed me a video of his setup and was cranking out 9mm as fast as he could pull the handle. Wow...

I opened the box and had to clean up some of the drool but once that strong mount arrives I'm setting everything up!

[Toepopper]

Oh now you've done it ! Getting a Dillon Press was a giant leap forward and once set up you can crank out large volumes of quality ammunition in record time. I have a Dillon Square Deal progressive press and can load 300 forty five rounds in an hour if I concentrate and don't get out of sequence. Big improvement over a single stage press. I know some people who live on the other side of the Cascades, they pooled their money and bought a Dillon to reload 223 rounds. Their first batch was 1100 rounds, they went to the range and none of these rounds would chamber in their AR's. They had made a mistake setting up the seating die and it pushed the case mouth down and bulged out the shoulder of the case just enough so they wouldn't fit into the rifle chamber correctly. 1100 rounds had to be taken apart , resized and reloaded to correct specs. This took them the better part of the winter but they tackled this mistake rather than toss out all the components. I always run each finished round through a Wilson case guage to verify correct sizing rather than going to the range and discovering the ammo is no good.

[knobster]

Very good advice. I can see how easily one mistake can be multiplied in a hurry! I have a couple of case gauges on hand that I'll be sure to use while getting everything set. My current plan is to load 9 and 223. Once comfortable with that I'll add 40 and 380 but probably stop at those common calibers. Keep my RCBS rock chucker for the rest of my reloading.

[Toepopper]

I have to admit that my first test batch of 223 rounds would not work correctly, the bolt would not go home because the shoulder dimensions had changed when inserting the projectile. I have 20 of these first test rounds that need to be torn down and re sized. If the spent cases are too long this phenominum can occur. Glad I only did 20 rounds for the first batch. I have since bought a 223 case guage to double check each round. These smaller 223 cases are more fragile than say a 308 case and require a more delicate approach when reloading.
I could never get my M4 to group with standard surplus 55 grain ammunition. An inch and a half at 100 yards was as good as it gets. I experimented with 10 different powders with varying amounts in 10 round test batches. None of these worked for accuracy. Then I changed to a 69 grain bullet, a Sierra Match King and used an old stick powder, IMR 3031 which gave real good accuracy in my 1 in 9" twist bore. Tightened up those groups. Varget is another accurate powder which I use for flat based exposed lead tipped hunting bullets. The problem with using a stick powder is getting the powder into those small cases, it must be done one at a time by hand and this takes lots of time. I've shot one gallon water jugs at 800 yards with the Match King bullets with no crosswinds using the balistic drop compensator in my ACOG scope. If there is any wind it pushes those lightweight bullets all over the place.

[knobster]

I am up and running now! Got the strong mount a few days ago and finally got everything assembled and set to load 9mm. It was amazingly fast to crank out a couple dozen 9mm rounds. I resisted the temptation to go full bore and start cranking out ammo. Need to get to the range and ensure they all fire.

One item of concern: I cast my own bullets and I noticed a bit of lead shaving on the side of the cases. This was easily removed with a knife blade but I'm wondering if all my rounds will chamber... My Glock is pretty non-finicky with what it will eat.

[Toepopper]

Mine did that also right from the factory set up. Maybe try setting the #2 die just a tad deeper so it opens up the mouth of the case more to accept lead bullets. Those shavings can cause a malfunction and eliminating them by hand takes forever.

[knobster]

Researched this lead bullet shaving issue and discovered that not all brass is created equal. Thickness of the cases really comes into play. The FC brand of brass is the thinnest while Remington is the thickest. I loaded up a batch of 9mm with assorted brass and sure enough, the Remington left the largest amount of shavings and had to be picked at with a knife. Despite that it wouldn't drop nicely into my case gauge. The FC didn't leave any shavings and dropped it smartly. Winchester was 50/50 as its case thickness was also in between the two. So, going forward: FC brand for my lead cast, copper bullets for other brass. Fortunately I have oodles of FC.

I hit the range yesterday to test out my loads and all the 9mm headed downrange with satisfactory velocity. Have recipe, time to reload!

[knobster]

Picked up a 40cal conversion kit and another Quick Change. I already had the RCBS 40cal die set so adding the capability to reload another caliber to the Dillon cost *only* $200. I guess if I had to list any cons to the Dillon progressive reloaders is the cost involved to do multiple calibers. Then again, with their 'No BS lifetime guarantee' I really shouldn't complain. My great grandchildren will be using this reloader someday.