[charliemopic]

I load .45 Auto, .38 Spl, .357 magnum and 9mm Luger.
I load these cals. close to or at the maximum published loads.
Should I separate the above mentioned brass in batches of twice, thrice, four times or more fired?
Or can I just wait until I see actual damage like split mouths and whatever else happens?


I have a Dillon 550B press with the standard pull handle and black ball. After spending an evening of sizing .45s the palm of my hand and my right arm were a bit sore. Seems this handle is a bit long. I know I would lose some leverage but it might be more ergonomic if I shortened it one maybe 2 inches. Has anyone tried that?
And, I'm wondering if Dillon's optional pull handle is shorter?
Comments?

Thanks for your time.

[SASS#23149]

Shoot them until they split,keeping track of the number of firings is a pain in the butt,imho.
Try lubing just the top rim of some cases,and put one of these in every tenth round,makes sizing a ton easier.
evern better,get some OneShot and spritz it in a baggy full of brass and roll them around a bit.
why were you just sizing brass? for tumbling them? a wastte of time in my book,and defeats the purpose of a prgressive.Why fill the primer pockeets up with media?
I like my roller handle but not sure it's worth what they charge for it.Lubing a case now and then is cheaper.

[243winxb]

whatever else happens?
kaboom

[jjohnson]

Greetings......

First, your Dillon 550B - I've had one for ten years or so and load 10-12 thousand centerfire rounds per year with it. :evil:

The first year I had it I bought the "strong stand," which is worth its weight in gold. Buy one, you'll be a happier dude. :p I don't have the roller handle, either, but the stand made a huge difference. No strain after loading for a couple hours. You'll love it or Dillon will refund your money.

Brass life - I don't track brass life - I go through too much of it. As noted, you have to handle the brass anyway, and you can hear and feel the brass that's split. Try it sometime - grab a handful of brass and roll 'em from one hand to the other and back. If there's a split in there, it'll sound kinda clunky, like there's a broken bell in there. Find it and throw it out.

For worn brass, like 9mm that's been reloaded to the point that it looks bad on the case head when I'm loading, I just pitch those. If I've loaded up a bunch of 9mm and it's looking bad, I don't bother to recycle those. I just figure that those boxes are to be left at the range. For other brass, I usually lose enough brass that it works like natural selection - few of them last long enough to wear out before they're lost. If I have a pile of stuff that has a lot of cracks, I look at my load data to see if I did something stupid, and throw out anything that doesn't look right.

Honest, on the press - the 550B is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and the mount will make a world of difference to you. Good luck.

[Kingcreek]

the roller handle is great- well worth the cost IMO.
I polish my brass clean in a vibe tumbler and lightly spray with case lube before running them through the progressive with Dillon carbide dies. If they are a little gummy after loading, I just tumble them for a few minutes to take any residual lube off the outside of the cartridges. The only pistol rounds I separate and keep a count on are some hunting loads that might be pushing limits and I want to maintain consistency and precision.

[sqlbullet]

The key piece of info is that you are near max loads. Anything that is near max, I use new or once fired brass for. After two loading (initial new brass load + 1 reload) the brass is used for reduced power 'plinking' loads.

[rfwobbly]

I have a Dillon 550B press with the standard pull handle and black ball. After spending an evening of sizing .45s the palm of my hand and my right arm were a bit sore.

Charlie -
The key piece of information here is that you may have the wrong "ergonomics" at your reloading bench. That is, the height of your chair in relationship to the height of your reloading press may be all wrong. So you simply need to try some different positions and see what works better. The Dillon help line might be of some assistance with this. Also....

• Sometimes if your bench is too low this involves raising the machine. That's where the Strong Mount comes in. There is no magic in the SM, it simply repositions the operating lever to the operator. Obviously, you can do the exact same thing by lowering your chair or raising your bench!!

• Some people find that after getting the perfect machine position, the pressure required to re-size some calibers is too much. Most of what the Roller Handle does is allow the force of reloading to be spread over a greater area. Thus by using a greater area (the entire hand), it reduces the P/A (pressure divided by the area, or the perceived "effort").

• Of course anytime the human body makes the exact same motion over and over there are going to be issues with "repetitive motion" aches and pains. So even if the machine were situated perfectly, there's a reason not to sit in the same position for hour after hour. Try changing chairs after an hour. Try smaller batches of ammo. Try taking a break and making a different motion for 15 minutes. Anything to keep you from sitting in the same position and doing the exact same motion over and over. I prefer to use a backless stool, which can be sat on in multiple positions.

• Another simple cause might be that your reloading bench is not very sturdy. When you pull the lever and operate the press, all the energy comes from your arm. IF your bench flexes with every lever stroke, your arm is having to apply EXTRA energy to the lever in order to make the flexure happen. Obviously, all that extra energy comes at a cost.... which may be your sore muscles. So stiff and sturdy benches DO save you energy.

Hope this helps!