New press is in action

Yesterday I got the new press set up and rolling prepping 556 brass. This weekend I will set the other tool head up for converting and processing 300 blackout.

I plan to start offering a brass prep service.

Here it is set up for 300 blackout.

Paddy said:

So, I'm confused. Does the trimmer also do the conversion sizing to 300bo?

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The trimmer takes 556 into it and trims it to the final length while forming and sizing into 300 blackout, then the M die expands the case mouth and flares it do a flat based bullet can seat on it.

Nature Boy said:

That's awesome. What's left for you to do? Just sit there and drink a beer and eat a sandwich?

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Lol, basically. I need to lube and fill the case feeder, and just keep an eye on it.

Last Friday I was going night fishing and had about 45 mins between getting home from work and needing to leave. I was able to pack the ice chest, get my gear together, load the truck and rigged some poles while the machine processed 1,000 cases. I just needed to keep the feeder full.

Made a homemade toolhead stand for the Dillon 1050 toolheads.

I was worried about having them laying around, and the stand from Dillon are $50 a piece. My original idea was to go horizontal on the bench or wall, but then I decided to go vertical to save bench space. I'm happy with it. My other tool heads and trimmer should be here this week.

1895gunner said:

Awesome setup and great results. Just curious, how long did it take you to set up the multiple dies for the 300 blackout conversion?

Really nice job!

1895gunner

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Really just a few mins. Getting the trim die adjusted takes the longest as you need to cycle it and make small changes, and then test again after locking down the die and hoping it didn't move.

Bush Pilot said:

Have you calculated your rounds per hour rate?

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Yeah, it varies and I don't run it anywhere near its full speed of 1,800 an hour.

I probably average 1,200 an hour.

Rule3 said:

Amazing and sick!! (in a good way)

How do you know how to do this kind of stuff? Are you a machinist/Engineer? or just have a gift?

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Lol, I just bought it.

It's a Dillon press ran by a Mark 7 smart auto drive.

I can tell you this whole project started because I was going to add a second progressive press, $400-$600.

Two weeks later, I'm almost 8k into it and I'm still adding stuff. The caliber conversions for the 1050 are really expensive. Each one of those toolheads with a trimmer are over $600 each and I have 3 trimmers, and 5 tool heads total. Planning to pick one more up here soon.

In the video it's a full length die, but it's just the for the expander ball. I had ordered a new M die but it wasn't in yet.