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mongoose33 · July 29, 2009, 08:22 AM

Loading a bullet may feel tight simply due to brass differences.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with your setup so long as you are producing good reliable ammo. It's not the order I do it, in part because I want a separate crimp step.

So my order is this:

1. Resize/deprime die.

2. Powder drop and expander (together, using the powderfunnels.com LNL universal expander).

3. RCBS lockout die (stops press from going forward if I have a no-powder drop or a double-drop).

4. Bullet seating die.

5. Crimp die.

It doesn't matter much if you put the powder cop before or after the expander die so long as it's in a place where you can easily see it and pay attention to it.

Many find it a disadvantage to try to seat and crimp in the same operation, and this matters even more if you're trying to do a plated or lead bullet instead of jacketed. I load both plated and lead-coated bullets so I don't want to be crimping at the same time I'm seating the bullet.

And FWIW: I had a couple of no-powder squibs, so instead of the powder cop--which still requires me to pay attention, which seems little different than looking into each shell as I seat the bullet--I looked into and ended up buying the RCBS Lockout die.

If you have no powder, or too much, the lockout die won't allow the press stroke to complete, which tells me I've got a problem. I still look into the shell for powder when I seat, but I like the extra measure of monitoring.

July 29, 2009, 08:22 AM	#3
mongoose33 Senior Member Join Date: June 23, 2009 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 228	Loading a bullet may feel tight simply due to brass differences. There's nothing necessarily wrong with your setup so long as you are producing good reliable ammo. It's not the order I do it, in part because I want a separate crimp step. So my order is this: 1. Resize/deprime die. 2. Powder drop and expander (together, using the powderfunnels.com LNL universal expander). 3. RCBS lockout die (stops press from going forward if I have a no-powder drop or a double-drop). 4. Bullet seating die. 5. Crimp die. It doesn't matter much if you put the powder cop before or after the expander die so long as it's in a place where you can easily see it and pay attention to it. Many find it a disadvantage to try to seat and crimp in the same operation, and this matters even more if you're trying to do a plated or lead bullet instead of jacketed. I load both plated and lead-coated bullets so I don't want to be crimping at the same time I'm seating the bullet. And FWIW: I had a couple of no-powder squibs, so instead of the powder cop--which still requires me to pay attention, which seems little different than looking into each shell as I seat the bullet--I looked into and ended up buying the RCBS Lockout die. If you have no powder, or too much, the lockout die won't allow the press stroke to complete, which tells me I've got a problem. I still look into the shell for powder when I seat, but I like the extra measure of monitoring.