What did you do at your reloading bench today?

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  • deerassassin22

    Active Member
    Apr 12, 2016
    700
    Littlestown, PA
    It’s the new auto trickler v4 throws the whole charge in about 13seconds. I have a chargemaster as well but this scale and setup is more accurate
     

    deerassassin22

    Active Member
    Apr 12, 2016
    700
    Littlestown, PA
    I went from 2 chargemasters to one of the auto trickier V3s. Its very accurate, and repeatable. The only issue I have is manually changing powder charges is an art. In theory you want the large drop to be around 1 gr short of desired weight and let it trickle up. It takes a few tries to get it right.

    Once set properly, throw a charge in 7-8 seconds that is within. 04 grains.

    New one throws it all at once my first AutoTrickler
     

    deerassassin22

    Active Member
    Apr 12, 2016
    700
    Littlestown, PA
    Sorted 702bullets with my Sorteez
     

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    deerassassin22

    Active Member
    Apr 12, 2016
    700
    Littlestown, PA
    I was looking at it I’m not sure if I would notice much at my skill level. I use these for PRS shooting and sort by length then each batch after by weight and drop powder with my AutoTrickler I have noticed my groups tighten up pretty significantly from my experience behind the gun I’m not a long range guy learning how to shoot far at the moment. I have noticed that I can hold 2.5 -3.5 inches groups at 600 with no issues with my tikka t3 and my RPR in 6.5CM. My biggest gains that I can prove with real numbers are my SD and ES and AVG velocity which is great I’m hovering in single digits on SD and Es usually under 15-20fps.
     

    Mondial

    Colt .45
    Nov 29, 2018
    378
    Columbia
    Looking for some reloading wisdom:-). I have a recently acquired 550C and have started loading .223 using a Dillon die set. This seems to be working well. My question has to do with dies for 9mm and .45. I have RCBS, Lee and Hornady die sets available and want to discuss which is the best choices. If anyone has some time to discuss setting these up correctly, I would appreciate it. Thank you!
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    All of those dies can work fine. I run Lee dies in my Mk7 Evo, which we'll say is a pretty tough use case. Haven't had any real reason to change them out yet.

    Now, you may eventually find one works better than another at a particular station, which is fairly natural.

    Sent from my SM-G981U1 using Tapatalk
     

    GunBum

    Active Member
    Feb 21, 2018
    751
    SW Missouri
    I use Dillon, Lee, RCBS, and Hornady dies on my 550B. All of them work, and all of them have their nuances. The setup for all of them is 90% the same, but there are, like I stated, nuances. All 4 types come with setup instructions.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,731
    Socialist State of Maryland
    I use Dillon, Lee, RCBS, and Hornady dies on my 550B. All of them work, and all of them have their nuances. The setup for all of them is 90% the same, but there are, like I stated, nuances. All 4 types come with setup instructions.

    Same with me. The only thing I noticed is that on some Lee dies, you may need to reverse the lock nut for the shorter cases.
     

    10xclean

    Active Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 23, 2008
    358
    Kingsville
    been seperating by headstamp 3006 brass. deprimed and trimmed (dillon 1200) about 400 FC. Have about that many RP to do the same. Then going to stuff them with IMR4895 and some 168's to feed my Garands and 03's.
     

    deerassassin22

    Active Member
    Apr 12, 2016
    700
    Littlestown, PA
    Very cool - I was unaware of this machine.

    I'd be VERY interested in a real world test that measures output using a different scale (i.e. lab grade balance). Videos - at lest the ones I watched - seem to say thrown charges are "all within spec", but are not tested independently.

    I currently have a Chargemaster with the programming modified to run SLOWER than stock, with the dispensing tube modified (restricted) on both ends. Individual thrown charges are collected in glass vials and checked/adjusted using a laboratory grade scale. This process is VERY accurate (to the granule), but VERY time consuming (I read books on my tablet while throwing charges). The Autotrickler V4 device, while expensive, MIGHT be both accurate and fast??? - PostXmas gift to self? - But, it's all about the scale . . .

    The A&D FX-120i scale manual indicates there is a "zero tracking" feature and setting on this scale. If this is not set in the OFF setting, I would think that scale drift might be an issue, and if on one of the ON settings, scale drift would be masked by the software. I returned no fewer than three expensive Chinese scales that had "zero tracking" software that just hid an unacceptable level of drift. I am skeptical that this scale can be both fast and accurate to the +/- granule at the speeds shown, but would be a potential buyer if this really works, and is robust as a machine.

    The next best options for a scale get pretty expense. The FX 120i goes for around 600-800 and measures to .001G. The next options are the Prometheus which is 3.8k to lease and 5.1k to buy and I believe measure to the MG which would also be cutting kernels to get a perfect load. Final option I'm aware of is the Sartorious scale which I think also does MG and runs 2K plus the autotrickler for another 500.00.

    Today I will test some loads with the FX120i set to SRC 0 which is no automatic zero and drop some charges. At the moment it is set to SRC 1.

    As it currently sits if I want a perfect drop to .001 I would have to gut a kernel of H4350 which I will not be doing lol. All the scales mentioned are Analytical Balances to include the FX120i.
     

    KRC

    Active Member
    Sep 30, 2018
    615
    Cecil County MD
    "I don't think I can drop 350.00 at the moment on the widden pointing die"

    or . . . use the 30 y/o belt sander in the garage :D

    But don't ask if I think it makes a lick of difference . . .
     

    HonestFool03

    Active Member
    Feb 24, 2009
    786
    Fired my ladders of 9mm the other day.

    My lowest load had some issues cycling the slide properly on every round. The others ran like a top.

    So it looks like I've got my recipe worked out and I'll start cranking out some rounds batch style.

    Next on the agenda is working up a 223 load.

    Thoroughly enjoying the process of learning how to reload. I'm figuring things out at my own pace and taking my time.

    Fun stuff

    Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    Loaded up some 357M on my 650. Kind of a shitshow, the American Reloading bullets are so garbage that they don't even always want to drop correctly. But the Dillon measure is super consistent with dropping 5.7-5.8gr of Unique every time, so I probably shouldn't complain.

    I'm getting a super awesome education in how picky moonclips are about grooves, too. Federal, Remington, Star-Line, and S&B are all GTG. Everything else, not so much (haven't seen any Winchester yet, though).

    ETA: loaded up a test batch of 25 7.62x39 rounds using my marginal brass from RMR, 123gr coated spire point from Berry's, and 23.1gr CFE BLK. We'll see if it cycles my AK.
     
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    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Nothing actually. But my kitty would like to help load more primers as he sees I am not loading anything and finds this sad.
     

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