Bump.

quote:

Originally posted by PPGMD:

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
I'm not in any hurry. I want accurate ammo, and that's my only goal. If I wanted it fast, I'd just go buy some.

Not all of us load for that reason. I'm more quantity over quality, though I do expect a minimum quality level.

I mostly am looking to load enough to support my practice and match shooting. Which is why everything is done progressively and on the machine. I want the least amount of manual steps.

Unfortunately buying these loads would cost me almost three times what it costs me to load them.

I suppose my statement was rather blanket and absolute.

Yes, I want speed as well, otherwise I'd just load them all on a single-stage, right?

However, what I've found over the years of messing with this stuff is that it's easier to decap them on the Lee Reloader with a universal decapping die prior to putting them on the Dillon.

Is it faster? I don't know. In the long run, it's probably a wash, but it certainly saves me the headache of stopping in the middle of a run because the priming system is fouled up, then disassembling stuff while I have a tube full of primers, trying to catch them all when the pour onto the floor, cleaning the thing, putting it back together, putting the primers back in, restarting the process (much more painful to line it all up on the 650 than the 550), etc etc.

I just find it so much easier to keep things clean in the first place so that when it comes time to load, it literally is just pull the handle and keep doing so.

So yes, accurate first, speed second. Somewhere in there is also low headache.

quote:

Originally posted by 2tonicP220:
I load .223 on a 550B, and only use ball propellant. Meters extremely accurately, and smoothly w/o charge bar hangups, or drop tube bridging. I also coat the charge bar track, and drop tube with a small amount of powdered graphite (bottom of the primer bar too).

As for accuracy, I load for my heavy varmint rig in .243 Win, and the results are just fine... IMO, and experience, you give up little/no precision using the Dillon platform, for anything but perhaps true BR ammo.

I load 223,270,30-06,7.62x39 & 8MM 7.62x54r all on a Dillon 550B with excellent results. I must be stuck in the dark ages but I do not use ball powders with the exception of 335. I have no problems with stick powders because I use the short cut versions. My absolute go to for the 223 is 4895. In my Varmint rifle I can get 1/4 in groups most of the time. Most of the problems guys have will work out with experience and a lot of reading manuals.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:
However, what I've found over the years of messing with this stuff is that it's easier to decap them on the Lee Reloader with a universal decapping die prior to putting them on the Dillon.

Is it faster? I don't know. In the long run, it's probably a wash, but it certainly saves me the headache of stopping in the middle of a run because the priming system is fouled up, then disassembling stuff while I have a tube full of primers, trying to catch them all when the pour onto the floor, cleaning the thing, putting it back together, putting the primers back in, restarting the process (much more painful to line it all up on the 650 than the 550), etc etc.

Just increase your cleaning frequency. It doesn't take that long to pull a Dillon apart for cleaning. It took me about 3 hours which included replacing the indexer ring.

The extra 3 hours it takes every few thousand rounds is certainly less time than it would take running a manual process like that in the same round count.

Anyways my press doesn't get that dirty outside of areas where you expect it (like the spent primer drop tube and anywhere you use grease).