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Old May 10, 2006, 02:52 PM   #1
BIGRED
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Progressive Press Reloading

I am trolling for some advice,
i have a RCBS Pro 2000 and have been loading for about 2 years. i have been reading alot of articles lately and am getting a little confused on proper steps involved on a Progressive press.
here are the steps i perform
1. tumble (clean) brass.
2. inspect Brass
3. Deprime on separate Lee SS press
4. Reprime with RCBS Hand Primer (don't like doing it on Press) too many "oops" no primer in there thats why powder spills out.
5. trim & deburr cases
6. lube cases by Spraying them with RCBS spray lube.
now the press takes over on all steps from here to the end.
Resizes, powder fill, bullet seating.
then a quick 10 minute tumble to clean lube off.

now some articles are saying i should resize before trimming, (which makes alot of sense) but this is a Progressive not a SS press.
some say i should lube only the case wall, (how do i do this with a spray)??

for a single stage it says i should lube case then Deprime & resize, then clean lube from cases and then trim and deburr. then move on to loading.

i am starting to get confused for what my Procedure should be for Progressive reloading.
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Old May 10, 2006, 03:03 PM   #2
Sport45
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What are you loading?

I load rifle cartridges on a single stage press. My handgun rounds are made on a progressive. I clean the brass and then let the progressive do its thing. I do check the first few rounds at each station to make sure everything is set up right.

The way you are doing it you might as well be using a single stage press. Did you take the decapper out of the sizing die?
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Old May 10, 2006, 04:40 PM   #3
Rico567
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I follow yet again a different process. All my pistol & .223 is done on a progressive (Dillon 650), and all my other rifle on a Rock Chucker. I assume all talk of trimming & chamfering refers to rifle, because I never do any of that stuff to pistol cases.

My procedure (for .223, for pistol omit #2, 3 & 5) on the Dillon runs:

1) Tumble cases

2) Inspect / trim those that need it

3) Spray cases with Midway lube

4) Run them through the 650

5) Clean off lube

6) Put finished ammo in ziploc bags
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Old May 10, 2006, 05:04 PM   #4
hivel37
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BIGRED, I paddled that boat about 20 years ago - bought a Dillon 450B and ran some .223's through it. At that time I wasn't doing much pistol shooting, so it was a wrong move for me. I quickly reverted to the RCBS single stage and lately added a Redding T7 turret. In retrospect, I should have kept the Dillon for my annual run of 500 45 acp's. Progressives work great for that purpose.
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Old May 10, 2006, 06:44 PM   #5
Lycanthrope
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BIGRED,

How are you missing primers on a strip fed pregressive? Since you can see when the primer count reaches about 5 (when it's time to attach another strip tp the tail end of the first) I don't ever have a problem.

I clean my brass, inspect and then just run them through the press. I lube with Hornady One Shot and it's so light that I don't feel the need to tumble after loading.

I only trim rifle brass and do that after sizing and priming.
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Old May 11, 2006, 10:42 AM   #6
BIGRED
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i am loading ALL of my cartridges on this press. .223, 243, 243WSSM, 270, 270 WSM, 303 Brit, 300WSM, 30-06, 35Rem, 45Acp, 454 casull

i orginally bought it for .223 and 45 acp high volume but since it is my only press i use it for everything. i use it as single stage when i do my WSM's and other ammo i need better precision with.

I currently load the same way as Rico567 stated.
i clean, then inspect, then trim, then deprime, then prime, then put them in my press for resizing, powder charge, then bullet seating. then they are cleaned and put into ammo boxes.
I have not seen any issues with my ammo and it shoots well.
i don't really want a 2nd press even though a SS Rockchucker would be a good choice to have. i have all of the die plates, shellplates, etc setup for progressive. going to single stage is another expensive i don't think i want to tackle yet.
If it ain't broke don't fix it Phrase applies here
my only complaint is the lubing appears to be too heavy and i am getting shoulder dents from it. it doesn't effect the accuracy but is visually displeasing.

It boils down to me 2nd guessing my current technique for loading. i am not a match shooter and rarely shoot rifles past 250 Yards. so the accuracy i get with my loads meet or exceeds the factory loads i used to use.

Do Progressive loaders have a different Technique than Single Stage loaders?

Sport45,
i remove the decapper pins from ALL of my dies. i do not like CCI primers and that is my only option for APS strips. i prefer Win Primers and do not like using the primer strip reloader tool. i prefer to decap all of my rounds with 1 decapp die (LEE) this thing won't break!!!! plus i use this decapping press on my Living room table and decap while i am spending time with the family. i hand prime either while watching TV or Carpooling for 1 hour every day to work. i like the positive feel and guarantee that the primer is seated.

Lycanthrope,
the head doesn't advance the primer strip to the proper position 100% of the time. sometimes it will be off enough to cause the primer to hit the case head.
plus as i stated above i do not like CCI primers.
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Old May 11, 2006, 12:03 PM   #7
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Quote:
remove the decapper pins from ALL of my dies. i do not like CCI primers and that is my only option for APS strips. i prefer Win Primers and do not like using the primer strip reloader tool. i prefer to decap all of my rounds with 1 decapp die (LEE) this thing won't break!!!! plus i use this decapping press on my Living room table and decap while i am spending time with the family. i hand prime either while watching TV or Carpooling for 1 hour every day to work. i like the positive feel and guarantee that the primer is seated.
Bummer. I use Winchester primers as well. No problem using them with my Dillon (handgun) or Lyman Spar-T (rifle). I use the LEE universal depriming die for most rifle cartridges as a first step. It does the job, even with the crimped military stuff. On my press it's easy to feel the difference if the primer carrier doesn't pick up a primer. It doesn't happen often, but if it does you definately know it.

Is the primer strip filler difficult to operate? Maybe you could do this at the living room table and not have to mess with live primers in the car pool. I'm as pro-gun and pro-reloading as anyone, but I wouldn't like to have someone piming cartridges in my car. Too much chance of dropping a loose primer into the carpet or upholstery that could detonate in my vacuum cleaner later. There's also the chance (small, but still a chance) of one of them going off if the car hits a good bump at the same time you're starting the "squeeze".
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Old May 11, 2006, 12:46 PM   #8
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Primers are not as unstable as they are made out to be. hitting a bump in the road or sucking them up in a vacuum WILL NOT detonate them. it takes a sharp impact/strike to do this. everyone is told to be cautious with them because they are more unstable than a jar of peanut butter. I agree that it doesn't "sound" safe but have u EVER had a primer detonate while loading, unloading, repriming? probably not. this is the main reason why i do not like CCI primers (other reason is Some primers back out). some of my guns will not hit the primer hard enough every shot to get a good ignition. same gun with 30 rounds will yeild 2-5 "duds". i Cannot tolerate this in my hunting loads. I have NEVER had a misfire or a primer backout with Win Primers. i have not tried Rem, Fed, or any other type of Primer.
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Old May 11, 2006, 01:35 PM   #9
Lycanthrope
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RCBS sells the tool to install any brand of loose primers into the strips. It's not bad once you get used to it.

I've had misaligned primers detonate on my single stage, but never using the RCBS progressive.
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Old May 11, 2006, 02:39 PM   #10
BIGRED
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i have 2 of those tools, i just don't like the APS system on my press enough to reuse the strips for it. Maybe i'll try it again when my press comes back.

My Press is at RCBS right now they got it 5/1 and are replacing all peices & parts except for the actual press body. then they are going to load on it for 2 weeks to work out any bugs or issues and verify the quality. they feel that the problems i have continually had with it are rare and it is probably just a bum Press and it will be as good as new or replaced when i get it in a few weeks.

i just want to know what my proper procedures are for loading on it. Hopefully i can speak with the gentleman who is repairing it @ RCBS and ask him to give me step by step list.
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Old May 21, 2006, 12:03 AM   #11
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Here's my Dillon 650 set up for .223. I also use it for 38/357, 357 sig, 40 s&w, 44 mag, 45 acp/45 long colt, .308, and 7-08.





My procedure varies depending on what purpose the shells will be used for. I buy a lot of once fired mixed brass from midway. It's polished, deprimed, primer crimps swaged. This type of brass is used for plinking, off-hand practice-blasting ammo. This is simply sprayed with RCBS spray lube,(it's primer/powder safe), then dumped in the case feeder. Since it's once fired, it shouldn't be too long, so no need to trim it. after it's done, into the tumbler with bare corncob to de lube it.

If, on the other hand I'm loading serious target ammo, I do a lot of prep before they go in the case feeder. I use the lee system to trim, so the primer has to be gone. I use a lee hand press while watching tv to partially fl size and pop the primer out.This rounds out the neck so it can fit over the trimmer pilot. While the shell is spinning in the hole shooter chuck, it's trimmed, and in/outside chamfered. I usually run them through the tumbler with corncob and midway polish, so they're nice and shiney. If there's any stains on the neck, a brief touch with some 4-0 steel wool solves that. Then they get sprayed with RCBS spray lube, dumped in the case feeder hopper, same as above to finish and box them up.

The priming system on this dillon has never failed me. I see no reason NOT to trust it. The only problem was with inverted primers when i tryed to use a vibra-prime. Damn thing would flip about 1-2 per hundred primers! Damn embarrasing to get a pop instead of a bang!
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Old May 21, 2006, 07:40 AM   #12
DG2244
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I use a Dillion progressive and find case length critical. If all your brass is the same length, all the rounds come out the same, but one longer or shorter and it affects everything. I usually size my brass on a SS, trim the first time and cut primer pockets, then use my progressive as normal after that.
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