[Mags]

Was doing some transitioning training today from carbine to pistol. During the last drill I had a FTE using my loads in my Glock 19. I racked the slide to fire another round and the had a FTF. I dissassembled the gun to find a 115 grain fmj slug in my barrel! Oh my god I had a hangfire thank God the second round did not feed I would have blew my barrel up. Now I have about 40 rounds left in that batch and about 2,000 rounds loaded of 9mm. I am tempted to weigh all 2k of my 9mm loads to ensure I have enough powder in them. Or should I just investigate into the remaining batch. I really feel like I need to check all my 9mm loads to help me sleep better at night. What would you do with your existing loads?

[GRIZ22]

What would you do with your existing loads?


Fire them taking care to fully investigate any malfunction. Due to variations in bullet and brass weight weighing them is not reliable.

Did you load these on a progressive or individually charge each case with powder?

[Mags]

Used a turret press with powder on the press powder measure.

[GRIZ22]

I've always done what some call "batch reloading" size all the cases, bell all the cases, prime all the cases with a handtool, and charge cases in batches of 20 or 50. Visibly check all cases after charging, check again just before seating the bullet. All done on a single stage press. Slow, definitely but surprising how fast you can crank it out. May be faster than a turret as I'm not rotating the dies after every stage. Never had a problem for pushing 40 years.

With the powder measure mounted on the press and going straight to seating the bullet after charging the case its hard to see inside the case while mounted on the press. More often you see the guy who buys a progressive, sets up the press, pulls the handle 50 times and has a box of ammo with high failure rates.

[Otto]

What would you do with your existing loads?
I'd give them to my jerk brother-in-law.

Seriously, if you lack confidence in your finished product then you should pull the bullets and start over.

[jfh]

IIRC, The Real Mags, you are using the Lee Auto-Disk measure on a Classic Cast Turret--right?

You did not say what powder you are using--which might have had a bearing here; some powders work less well in the Auto-disk measures than others. Other than powder issues (like flake powders), there are other issues.

First, the Auto disk can "hang" on the Turrets--e.g., when using the spring return. When experienced Lee users have discussed this, the reason is never clear. Typically, I think it is caused by overtight hopper screws, powder build-up on the disk/ACB, or worn parts (Deluxe Hopper / elastomer wiper, worn disk/ACB). On a turret you should immediately notice the hangup; if you're working on speed, you may not. The only solution is to modify your reloading attention, IMO.

Variables with powders can also be "clumping"--e.g., moisture content. Does the humidity change at this time of year in Albuquerque? Do you leave your powder in the hopper? Do you load with the hopper below half-full?

All of these factors can play into getting a squib. Think back over your reloading sessions for building those bullets. Unless you are worried about a subsequent double charge, you may not want to pull the bullets.

Fifteen years ago, it was not uncommon to gear of Glock 9mm "problems" with stuck bullets--typically, the barrel does not split, but it sure bulges. I'm no longer a Glock or 9mmP shooter, so I am not up to speed. Is there still "discussion" about Glocks-polygonal rifling-lead-bullets, whatever?

Otto's post says it best: If you are lacking confidence in any or all of the product of those reloading sessions, you should pull the bullets.

Jim H.

[helg]

I am tempted to weigh all 2k of my 9mm loads to ensure I have enough powder in them.

Extract from my notes on 9x19:

Brass weight.
Legend. Headstamp: Weight(grains) - average: standard deviation: extreme spread
FC: 58.6 : 0.2 : 0.6
CCI: 63.6: 0.3 : 1.0
Win: 60.8: 0.5 : 1.5

See, brass weight for the same headstamp varies within 1.5 grains maximum, and mostly within one grain. Average weight for different headstamps varies in the extract by 5 grains. 5 grains is more than powder weight in 9x19, while 1.5 is less. I have found that weight for the bullets that I use varies by less than .2 grains standard deviation and by .6 grains extreme spread. You may check yours.

With the above data in mind, and 2000 questionable rounds at the table (not a hundred, where full disassembling does not take the whole day, but full 2K rounds), I would sort the reloads by headstamp and check their weights by groups within headstamps. Assuming that most of the reloads have a good powder charge, you can find an average round weight for each headstamp by checking 10 rounds on the headstamp, and then look for those that are more than 1.5 grains below the average. If you use cast bullets, you will also catch with this bullets with surface imperfections, bubbles inside the body, etc. Anyway, even with good powder charge, rounds with the bad bullets are OK to discard.

By disassembling light rounds with ballistic hammer you may check whether the light reloads has been selected due to the powder charge.

Summarizing the above:

1. Check spread on your bullet weight. If it is more than a grain - no luck.
2. Sort by headstamp, and find light rounds in each group. These are likely to be underloads.

And remember, always be aware of underloads, not only on your reloads but on anything that you shoot.

[oldreloader]

I'm with Griz.. I batch load on a singlestage.As to the reloads ..I'd try weighing them and cull anything suspicious.
.

[editingfx]

In my noob status as a reloader, I've had more than my share of squib loads, due entirely to the Auto Disk "hanging up", as jfh noted above. I attribute it to the small ball powder I'm using (AA#5) gumming up the action of the disc, when the hopper screws were too tight. With them slightly loosened, there is some powder spillage (roughly 5-10 grains per 300 rounds), but the disc *almost* never hangs now. (The first powder I loaded with was Clays, which didn't hang the disc.) Since it's still not 100%, I modified my setup so i sit able to look down into the case, with a strong light overhead, so I can ensure there's a charge in every case. My lessons learned: 1) visually confirm the charge 2) use a powder that fills the case to the point where it's easy to see if it's gotten a proper charge. (In 9mm, AA#5 wasn't a great choice, as 5 grains fills less than half the case. Though I'd read lots of posts saying what a good powder it is, and confirmed it's use in the calibers I like, I hadn't considered volume. Ended up getting a great deal on an 8 lb jug.... which I now have to watch very carefully as I load it. Lesson learned.)

[jcwit]

I wouldn't try the weighing to check for squib loads, not reliable enough. I even tried it with .223 rifle rounds and still not reliable enough, tried both a beam scale and a electronic scale.

My suggestion is to pull the bullets and salvage the components and start over.

[Marlin 45 carbine]

real mags if I was you I'd make or have made a steel target in sillohuette shape that you could set up about 30' or so away (easy hit distance) and shoot any questionable ammo at it. any that didn't produce a 'whack' investigate it.
all is not lost this would be a good way to practice your trigger control which is important for accuracy. even shoot off a bench resting your forearm.
I'm like Grizz I check each case for powder.

[helg]

I wouldn't try the weighing to check for squib loads, not reliable enough. I even tried it with .223 rifle rounds and still not reliable enough, tried both a beam scale and a electronic scale.
Did you sort you loads by headstamp as suggested above? Any thoughts why it may not be reliable - due to variation of bullet weight, brass weight, scale imperfection or anything else?

According to my reloading book, weight of .223 brass with the same headstamp varies within 2 grains maximum. This allows catching underloads - .223 load is 10 times more than the spread. Average weight of different .223 headstamps varies between 87 and 106 grains. I admit that underloaded round can not be reliably detected without sorting suspects by headstamp, and suggest testing different headstamps separately.

A lot of people here have fired brass and a scale. It is easy to verify that brass weight of the same headstamp varies within a grain or two, less than powder charge, while within different headstamps the weight varies on par with the powder charge.

[243winxb]

Type of powder is important. If like 800x or Blue dot that can bridge in the measure giving a light load in 1 round and an overload in the next, this would have me pulling bullets.

[rcmodel]

I agree.
If you have too little powder in one, it is very likely you have too much in another.

I recently went through the "weigh the rounds and find the mistakes" on a box of .38 Spl 148 grain wadcutter commercial reloads I got in a gun deal.
The powder charge in these loads was supposed to be 2.7 grains Bullseye.

Weight varied by over 5 grains in the 50 rounds.

I pulled the lightest 10 & heaviest 10 of the 50 and found 2.7 grains of powder in them all!

Bottom line?
It simply doesn't work!

rc

[helg]

I recently went through the "weigh the rounds and find the mistakes" on a box of .38 Spl 148 grain wadcutter commercial reloads I got in a gun deal.
The powder charge in these loads was supposed to be 2.7 grains Bullseye.

Weight varied by over 5 grains in the 50 rounds.

I pulled the lightest 10 & heaviest 10 of the 50 and found 2.7 grains of powder in them all!

rcmodel,

did all rounds in the batch have the same headstamp?

[rcmodel]

No, mixed brass. Swaged 148 HBWC bullets.

rc

[mgkdrgn]

That be my method as well. Allows me to visually check the powder level in each case before I seat the bullet. I'll also check the charger every 100 rounds or so on a scale just to make sure it hasn't wandered too much.

Only been at it a few months (for metalics anyway, shotgun for 30 years), and so far so good!


I've always done what some call "batch reloading" size all the cases, bell all the cases, prime all the cases with a handtool, and charge cases in batches of 20 or 50. Visibly check all cases after charging, check again just before seating the bullet. All done on a single stage press. Slow, definitely but surprising how fast you can crank it out. May be faster than a turret as I'm not rotating the dies after every stage. Never had a problem for pushing 40 years.

With the powder measure mounted on the press and going straight to seating the bullet after charging the case its hard to see inside the case while mounted on the press. More often you see the guy who buys a progressive, sets up the press, pulls the handle 50 times and has a box of ammo with high failure rates.

[rcmodel]

I agree.

Batch loading in 50 round loading blocks has been my method for almost 50 years without ever having a squib load. Ever.

Single case powder charging on the press as you seat bullets may be faster alright.
But not if you have to pull 2,000 bullets, or blow up a gun!

I charge 50 or 100 at a time, inspect the charge levels with a pen-light, then place bullets in all the charged cases. Then seat them all.

It's pretty much impossible to make a mistake when you do it that way.

rc

[Mags]

I think I wll just save these for slow bench shooting where I can take time to observe a malfunction rather than a fast paced training course where I must get the gun going again as quickly as possible.

[helg]

No, mixed brass. This should explain your weight spread.

After making measurements, which have been cited above, I decided to load by headstamp. After that, weight spread for my reloads became on par with the factory ammo, which is way less than powder charge.

I do not weigh every round now, but having an option to do this with a batch which may have underloads, in my mind, is worth the time to sort brass by headstamp.

[fourdollarbill]

If you loaded with a stick powder or a notorious (bridge prone) powder like used in a 223 I would probably worry that one is extra full as one was too low. But I doubt a 9mm uses anything like it.
I would grab a few and check the powder in each and decide from there.
You may also have an ignition problem like the time I used an AA#9 in a 38spl load. I had good shots from a 6 inch barrel but I put one in a snub and the bullet did not make it out the barrel. All the unburnt powder was laying in the bore and it looked like a muzzle loader wad.

IMO I would not rapid fire those last 40.

[SlamFire1]

Weight varied by over 5 grains in the 50 rounds.

I pulled the lightest 10 & heaviest 10 of the 50 and found 2.7 grains of powder in them all!

Bottom line?
It simply doesn't work!

I agree. Been there and done that.

The weight variences in the case and bullet are too large and hide any variences in powder charges.

[helg]

I agree. Been there and done that.

The weight variences in the case and bullet are too large and hide any variences in powder charges.

Could anybody, beside me, who has bullets, brass and powder scale, weigh 10 shells of the same headstamp and 10 bullets from the same box, and post the 20 numbers here?

[Marlin 45 carbine]

"I think I wll just save these for slow bench shooting where I can take time to observe a malfunction rather than a fast paced training course where I must get the gun going again as quickly as possible. "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
there ya go. just slow and easy with those rounds. shoot a steel target and listen for the 'whack; if not then check the barrel/rounds.

[Historian]

This type of error (see op's first post) is exactly why I am still loading on a single stage press. One of the objects of reloading is to craft accurate, reliable ammunition. It is not to crank out 500 rounds in an evening. My 2 cents.

Historian

[angus6]

I think I wll just save these for slow bench shooting where I can take time to observe a malfunction rather than a fast paced training course where I must get the gun going again as quickly as possible.

Mags that's the way I'd deal with them , didn't catch what powder you were using , I like using Unique as it's easy to see the level in the case as the turret rotates.

just dropped your package at the p/o

[Mags]

Thanks Angus, BTW I was using HP-38 it meters great, probably operator error . The way the Lee Pro auto disk screws on also turns the hopper in the "off" position. I had caught myself turning it "off" before while attaching the dispenser to the turret.

[jcwit]

How much dirt ie; burned powder, tumbling polish or residue, ect., ect are inside the case. One tenth of a grain 1 grain, it will vary. Any way my hands are very valuable to me, all ready had two fingers reattached from a woodworking accident. Don't plan to blow any off.

Believe me the pain is no fun.



Reload in batches, and check the charged cases with a small LED flashlite. Then and Only then seat the bullet. Could this possibly be why they make a powder checker for those who use a progressive press. MMaaaaaybe!

[Mal H]

I (and apparently I'm the only one) think helg's method of finding abnormal loads is a valid method. Everyone who says "it simply doesn't work" are apparently using mixed headstamp cases in which case I would have to say, of course it doesn't work! That's why helg is saying you must segregate headstamps before starting the weighing process.

I have no doubt that cases (even within the same headstamp batch), bullets, etc. will vary in weight. But if you find the light rounds in a batch and pull those, your odds of finding any without powder are considerably higher than not doing the exercise at all with a questionable batch.

TRM probably made rounds with a load of HP-38 in the range of 4.5 to 5 grains. That difference in weight from the average should be easily detectable.

Having said that, I agree with those who have procedures in place to prevent any questionable batches. But, as we all know *stuff* happens.

[oldreloader]

What if the powder from the dud made it into an already charged case? Weighing seems a better option to find it than pulling the trigger on a double charge.

[Steve Marshall]

When I first started loading 9MM, I had some where the bullets would push back into the case. The problem was the die couldn't size the admittedly mixed brass equally. In the course of determining this, I decided to measure OAL and much more importantly, weight. I had 369 pieces of brass. I sorted by headstamp and what I found was an eyeopener to say the least. The brass weighed from a low of 50.2 grains to a high of 63.1 grains. That is a variation of over 25%. In brass where I had at least 15 of the same headstamp, I got a low variation of 1.4 grains for PMC to a high variation of 5.9 grains for Winchester. Now I have no guarantee that the batch of Winchester was from the same lot but the headstamps were similar. And I had 2 other batches of Winchester where the headstamps were grouped in appearance. I don't know what your load was but I guarantee you I'd not shoot ANY of those rounds. The squibs wouldn't bother me, it's the ones that were loaded right after that would. My advice is either reclaim components or scrap the bunch. Oh yeah, the largest lot I had was Remington virgin. They varied from a low of 52.3 to a high of 55.0.

[chris in va]

I keep hearing stories like this. Right now I'm using a Lee Hand Press and there's no way I couldn't physically see the powder in the shell when reloading with this thing. Some day I'd like to move up in equipment, but I'm frankly scared to do so. I like my hands!

[skipsan]

I found 2 squib loads by weighing (over a period of time) in 2000 rounds total.
I had no false positives, and the bad actors stood out like a sore thumb. It works if you sort and weigh by headstamp as there's a signficant variance in case weight by headstamp as noted.

I started the "Should I weigh loaded rounds?" in another forum to check for squib and double loads and got ridiculed by the experts as an idiot proposing a non-workable procedure.

Balderdash--it works if done properly. I have had a couple of false positives in detecting double loads. I pulled those down and to my relief found the charge to be as intended.

That said, an alternate method was put forth which works too. A medical stethescope. Hold the round against the diaphragm of the stethescope in a quite room and shake it. You can hear the powder rattling back and forth--at least in a .45acp. It takes a little training with empty and loaded rounds to be able to tell the difference, but once your ear is calibrated it works.

[jcwit]

OK, I took the time to weigh not 20 rounds but 10 rounds of 2 different calibers. All were weighed once then all were weighed again in the same order, all weighed the same the second time around. All weights are in grains.

Winchester brass cases .45 ACP
85.34, 85.13, 85.19, 85.03, 84.72, 84.88, 84.57, 86.42, 84.11, 91.21
deviation 7.10 grains

Lake City 01 .223 Rem.
94.91, 94.14, 93.98, 94.60, 93.83, 93.06, 94.60, 94.91, 93.67, 94.45
deviation 1.85 grains

Federal Cartridge .223 Rem
98.15, 96.92, 96.92, 97.53, 98.30, 98.00, 98.00, 98.92, 97.38, 97.07
deviation 1.85 grains

Odd that I had the one .45 case that weighed 91.21 grains, but I did as I checked it 4 different times. Also odd that the deviation was the same between Lake City and Federal Cartridge, but that was the way it went.

My conclusion, I won't weigh cartridges to attempt to find the light ones.

[jcwit]

Balderdash--it works if done properly. I have had a couple of false positives in detecting double loads. I pulled those down and to my relief found the charge to be as intended

Well some of the time, but not all. But do as you wish, its your equipment and your body. But then again its possible there other shooters at the line!!

[Jeff82]

BTW, that's not a hangfire. A hangfire is when the bullet leaving the barrel is delayed longer than normal once the primer is hit. That's why a shooter is supposed to keep their firearm pointed downrange for 10 seconds after having a misfire... in case it's only a hangfire.

[ljnowell]

Here we go:

All brass contained a spent winchester LPP.

CCI--------91.9
-------------91.3
-------------90.1
--------------91.1
--------------92.2

Winchester
--------------88.5
--------------86.8
--------------87.5
--------------90.9
--------------91.2

Missouri Bullet 230grain LRN "softball"
229.6
229.9
230.8
231.0
230.2
230.8
230.5
230.3
229.1
229.5

Lightest combo=315.9
Heaviest Combo=323.2
Total Difference=7.3

Obviously this is the problem with weighing rounds. If using bullseye, 700x, unique, etc. the weight could vary way too much with mixed headstamp brass. If you used only single headstamp you could still be off by almost 4 grains top to bottom. Just not accurate enough for me to risk it personally.


Interpret the data as you will.

[sonier]

i had the same thing result, if the bullet didnt go very far in the lands, you had prolly no powder at all, i had a 30/30 round do just that. cause was only a primer fired bullet. when i had the missfire i unloaded checked barrel sure enough there was a bullet in there not far but in there. if it were me id single shoot every round, one at a time and check it every round.

BUT I ADVICE AGAINST IT safest thing to do is pull bullets then reload them again

[JCisHe]

My question is, why would a new reloader, load 2k rounds?

Batches of 10 to start, get a good load, and then full production should be something like 500 round lots, at the MOST.

You set yourself up for trouble my man.

[Roccobro]

I really feel like I need to check all my 9mm loads to help me sleep better at night.

I think the answer was in the first post. Do whatever it is you need to do, to be able to sleep well.

Now get some rest! :D

Justin

[Mags]

My question is, why would a new reloader, load 2k rounds? Never said I was new I did say that this batch had only 40 left but I have 2k loaded up and I am doubting myself. Read the first posts before calling someone out please, JChiSe.

[jjohnson]

I have a squib rod :scrutiny: in my range box for just such circumstances.

I am acutely aware of squib rounds - don't run into them often, but anytime I think I may have a bullet stuck or a separated cartridge case (that did happen to me once) I investigate immediately.

I weigh out the rest of the batch IF it's all the same brass. That's routine for my rifle reloads, rare for my pistol reloads. I've found a lot of difference in loaded cartridge weight like RC says, so weighing them isn't often helpful.

I don't agree that if you have a load with no powder it always means you're as likely to have overcharged ones as well, particularly if you're using bulky powders and an overcharge will spill out of the case before you seat the bullet.

Still, it makes me cautious of that batch of ammo. If I have any suspect ammo, and it's not something that makes sense to weigh out and disassemble, that ammo gets relegated to "range use" only in my stoutest
firearm of that caliber. This is a good excuse to go out there and buy yet
another carbine in a handgun caliber. :D

And no, for rifle cartridges, I'd pull all of them if there were any doubt in my mind about loads with more powder.

[helg]

Thank you, jcwit and ljnowell, for the measurements.

It looks like the advice to sort by headstamp for finding underloads may not work for every brass and every caliber.

I have measured couple of other calibers and headstamps. Here are my data:

http://thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=107582&stc=1&d=1256057978

All the brass was fired. Shells within each batch have primers from the same box. Winchecter brass in 45ACP looks the worst. Almost 5 grains spread in shell weight should not allow to identify underloads in reliable manner. Spreads in all the rest at the table, and in the data, which are posted before, seem to be small enough for detecting underloads. Even Winchester brass in 9mm spread is still couple of times lower than powder charge for the caliber.

With the above in mind, I would still recommended to group by headstamp and weigh every round within each group. Then, within each group I would sort rounds by grain weight. Say, rounds that weigh between 55 and 56 grains go to one group, those that weigh between 56 and 57 - to another one, etc. It is easy to do by dividing a sheet of paper by cople of strips, and putting the weighted round to the appropriate strip.

After measuring the whole batch, you may decide what to do with it. If the spread is less than powder charge, there are no underloads there. If there are a few rounds that are way different than the rest of the batch, and the majority spread is still within powder charge, disassemble suspects, and use the rest. If the whole batch weight is distributed for more than your powder charge - I am sorry, it would be safer to disassemble all rounds in the batch. It is still not the whole 2000 rounds though.

BTW, I have made a mod to Lee disk measure to prevent bridging/underloads in small calibers with flake powders. It is described here (http://forums.loadmastervideos.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=490).

[Friendly, Don't Fire!]

When I had a progressive press, it seems to me, before I seated the bullet, I did in fact make a visual check to be certain there is a charge in that case I'm about to finish.

Now I have a single stage press, Frankford Arsenal Loading Blocks for each caliber and do 50 round batches. I do exactly like rc says, look in with a small penlight to make sure that every case is filled exactly the same amount.

If I am going to leave the reloading bench for a while, I just put another empty Farnkford Arsenal Loading Block upside down so it fits over all 50 cases. That way, if one of the cats gets on the bench, nothing will spill, and all cases are just as I left them when I come back to the bench.

You must have some kind of systems developed for safety sake. Double-check "this-and-that" and be very methodical at it. When you do that, then there are no accidents.

[Marlin 45 carbine]

I've never had a progessive but other wise I 'ditto' Inspector.
I have a 2nd press set up if I have a bunch to load and a shooting buddy is willing I set it up and they do the inspect, seat and crimp.
rarely do I have more than 200 cartridges to load I don't have the time to shoot I'd like to. just camping trips to plink for me mostly.

[possum]

i used a single stag for a long long time, and then recently went to a turret press. one reason i prefer the turret press over a progressive press, yes the turret is slower but i can watch the one case going through all the stages and make sure that the powder drops, make sure the bullet seats etc, i can focus all my attention on one round, instead of looking at 4 operations at a time like that with a progressive.

i just watch my case as it goes, and i have had no issues.

[JCisHe]

Either way friend, you set yourself up for trouble by loading so many rounds. Lots of 500 at the most... but hey, it's you that has to pull em all.

[snuffy]

This type of error (see op's first post) is exactly why I am still loading on a single stage press. One of the objects of reloading is to craft accurate, reliable ammunition. It is not to crank out 500 rounds in an evening. My 2 cents.

Historian

500 rounds in an evening? I do that in one hour! Yes, it's a dillon 650 progressive. WITH a powder check die, it's nearly impossible to have a no powder or double powder charge. The problem with a progressive? Running out of components!:D The ammo I make on the dillon is good, safe, reliable ammo.

Here's a trick for any shell that has room for the powder to shake inside a case. It's similar to using a stethoscope, not everybody has one of those. But most of us have a powder funnel. I use the little red lee funnel. Take the loaded round, firmly put it against either end of the shell, the SMALL end, or bottom of the funnel. Shake the shell while listening at the BIG end, you will be able to hear the powder sloshing around. I'm deaf as a bat, but even I can hear that!

It will tell you if there's powder in there, and it won't be as loud for a double charge, 11.0 grains of HP-38 will be almost 100% full in a 9mm round.

[jcwit]

500 rounds in an evening? I do that in one hour!

Well good for you. I reload so I can shoot more but more importantly I reload because I enjoy it. If I spend "a whole" evening reloading 20 rounds I've enjoyed a "whole" evening. Enjoyment and quality take a foreseat to quanity. Sorta like cleaning my rifles, its an enjoyment not a task to dread.

Now with all this said, its a known fact I sure can reload more than 20 rounds in an evening, even with one of my "Slap-O-Matic" Lee loaders. hehehe

[SSN Vet]

My guess is that your squib was caused by NO powder in the case, and not by TOO LITTLE powder in the case.

I don't think that reloading one round start to finnish, on a turret press is inherrantly more (or less) susceptible to error than batch reloading on a single stage (where you set up dies over and over again).

Too each his own.... but I personally agree with the previous poster, that I can pay more attention to one round at a time through each individual stage, than I can one bullet block full of cases. But that's just me. I tend to pay less attention when I'm doing the same thing over and over.

I also like "semi-progressive" loading on a turret press because I feel that I can start and stop at a clean break point (i.e. finish the cartridge I'm working on and go), where as when I batch reload, I feel that I have to at least finish the current operation on the rest of the lot before I can stop. And even then, I don't like leaving bullets in the block on the bench that are "half baked".

Again, that's just me. I'm not really a newby.... and I'm certainly not the salt of the earth.

No matter what you do, you need to establish certain "disciplines" in either case.

On the turret press, I MUST sight the powder level before I place the bullet on top.

and...

I WILL NOT time myself or hurry to meet some kind of production standard.

[snuffy]

Enjoyment and quality take a foreseat to quanity. Sorta like cleaning my rifles, its an enjoyment not a task to dread.


The point I was trying to make is that progressively reloaded ammo is just as high quality as ones done in a batch mode, or on a turret. I don't dread loading, in fact I'd rather be loading than shooting. But there's no reason it should take too long. As long as you don't sacrifice quality.

I also have a lee classic turret that I run as a semi progressive-auto advance, and taking the shaft out, run it as a single stage. It too produces quality ammo, that is also very accurate. In fact I did a load work-up for a friends target AR, .223. Using a forster seater, it produced run-outs all below .002, 90% were .001 and less. I'm not sure the forster seater would work in the dillon, but I'm sure if it would, the results would be as good.

[jcwit]

OK, gotcha. Guess I'm just in the slow down smell the rose's mode. Used to do a lot of plinking both with rimfire and centerfire. Now do benchrest with both, takes a whole afternoon to shoot 20/25 rounds, and a couple of shovel fulls of BS. Actually better at the BS.

What I was bringing out is I've yet to find anything regarding shooting/target practice/collecting/cleaning/reloading, ect., ect., that I don't enjoy.

Retired and having the time of my life!!

[Roccobro]

Retired and having the time of my life!!

That right there just warms the heart...

Justin