600 rounds in an hour is it possible????

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horsemen61

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Ok guys rcbs has a new slogan that reads "at 600 rounds an hour there are some companies that can't keep up" this is on their new rock chucked 5,7 progressive press's

A) is this even possible right now to do safely???
B) would you feel comfortable at that pace????
C) could the ammo be precise enough to target shoot with or is it just blasting ammo????

Thanks guys horsemen61
 
Without a bullet feeder and case feeder, NO. Even then I think it depends on whether or not you account for the time it takes to load primer tubes and everything else. A primer tube filler would cut down on that time. If 300 an hour on my Hornady LNL is about all that I care to do, including filler my one primer tube when necessary. I have done 400 an hour before but that's really pushing it. With a case feeder, bullet feeder, and primer tube filler (with a few extra tubes) I'm sure I could do 600+ an hour easily, for common pistol cartridges. If you're talking bottlenecked cartridges, that's a whole new ball game.
 
A. Wouldn't be for me.

That's 10 rounds per minute.

Or, a round every 6 seconds.

I'd be plum tuckered out pulling the handle twice that fast.
Considering I'd have to stop several times in an hour to re-fill primers, powder hopper, cases, and bullets, etc.

You could probably get 600 RPM in short bursts.
But you are going to have to stop an re-fill things several times in 1 hour.

rc
 
The real limiting factor is primer supply...because most primer tubes are sized to only hold 100 primers.

I happened to time, more out of curiosity than anything else, how long it took me to load 100 rounds of 9x19mm on my Hornady LNL progressive press

My LNL isn't equipped with a case feeder, but I do have a Bully Adapter to feed bullets from a Lee Multi-tube unit to a Hornady Bullet Feeder die. The Lee unit also holds 100 bullets, so it times well with the primer feed.

Feeding cases by hand I could comfortably load 100 rounds in a little less than 10 minutes.

My power measure holds enough powder to charge a bit more than 500 cases and I usually pre-load 4 spare primer tubes. It also helps if you have pre-loaded tubes of bullets for the bullet feeder.

My changeover time...transferring primers from pickup tubes to the primer feed on the press and bullets into the Lee tubes...ran about 3 minutes.

So 500+ rounds in one hour at a steady but unhurried pace is very doable. Bearing in mind that I'm visually verifying each powder charge, I think 600 rounds an hour is possible.

But I don't think that that is really the point of the RCBS statement. The point is to give you a reference of comparison to other progressive presses. What they are really saying is that you can load 100 rounds, common primer capacity, in 10 minutes
 
I think it's safe to say that this is a marketing claim just like any performance numbers for any type of product. It represents the highest number under optimum conditions. In the case of progressive presses it means how fast can you pull the handle. It doesn't account for refilling components or jams or dropped bullets. It doesn't count using a case gauge or putting the rounds into a box.

If someone said they could load one round every six seconds you'd say, "sure," but if you try to load 600 in an hour, you probably couldn't do it. You'd have to refill your primer tube six times and in my case, my bullet tubes 12 times, plus empty the catch bin several times.

And really, do you really need to or want to load that fast? Wouldn't 200 or 300 in an hour be enough? Do you really want your shoulder to hurt that much?
 
My Dillon 650 can do 600 per hour, but that takes the fun out of it. I average about 450 at a comfortable pace.
 
With pre primed cases and feeding both case and bullet by hand I can do an average 6 seconds a round, or less, if I really concentrate, and that is just keeping things moving, not slinging the handle like a mad man. I usually go slower than that though. One every 10 seconds is pretty easy. With bullet/case feeders, it would certainly be doable with primed cases.
 
I can do 300 rounds without breaking a sweat on my pro1000. That's about as fast as I care to go though. At that point I'm hand feeding bullets but using the case feeder.

To me the true benefit of a progressive isn't high rounds per hour, it's reduced amount of lever pulls and effort. The fast rate of production is a bonus.
 
I guess I could do 600 rounds a hour on my 650, But I run out of gas brfore then. I think the manufactures extrapolate these figures by loading for a few minutes and then muliply to arrive at the figure. If you had somebody bring cases, bullets, primers and picking up finished round you might be able to go for a hour.
 
But I run out of gas brfore then.
Click to expand...
Yep, I rarely run an hour straight without a break, but for a 10, 20 or even 30 minute stretch I can keep the handle moving with no pauses at the up or down stroke. Eventually I fumble a case or bullet though, or the concentration simply wanders.
 
I guess I could do 600 rounds a hour on my 650, But I run out of gas brfore then. I think the manufactures extrapolate these figures by loading for a few minutes and then muliply to arrive at the figure. If you had somebody bring cases, bullets, primers and picking up finished round you might be able to go for a hour.
Click to expand...

They are using cycle rate vs loaded round count. I'd like to see someone crank out 600 rounds in one hour with a press that isn't fully automated. Especially one that has no case feeder.
 
I agree that you can probably load at the RATE of 600 an hour but doubt you can turn out 600 finished rounds in an hour on the clock starting from scratch. Kind of like the cyclic rate on a SMG.

I do not understand why nobody counts the time required to fill primer feed, bullet feeder or even go from box to tray, or to scare up brass. Sure, you can have all that prepositioned for your "qualifying lap" but it still has to be done.

And those of you who do a lot of prep to your cases before the progressive gets a look at them, how long does that take? Pre-primed cases to a progressive? Why?
 
It's doable but you would be working keeping up with supplies. I load at around 500/hr on my LNL-AP w/brass feeder. This does include taking the time to load primers in the tubes. Now if you have enough primer tubes to pre-load so you don't have to stop, 600 is very doable. I can do this for SP brass for I have 5 primer tubes that can be loaded ahead of time. Personally I do not like running at that speed. I also like the break every 100-200 primers to get up and stretch. Once you have to start rushing to keep up with primes it removes the enjoyment of setting down at the press. A 400-450 is much more enjoyable.Beside if your rushing, that's when mistakes are made. Murphy always win out in the long run.
 
Pre-primed cases to a progressive? Why?
Click to expand...
To run more smoothly, limit OAL fluctuations, help concentricity, and feel the other actions better.

To each their own.

I agree that you can probably load at the RATE of 600 an hour but doubt you can turn out 600 finished rounds in an hour on the clock starting from scratch.
Click to expand...
Naturally. :)
 
Yeah, sure the press will do 600 rounds an hour. And my '03 Tahoe w/ V8 and 4WD gets 18 mpg. Uh huh. I know those claims are true, 'cause the manufacturers told me so. :scrutiny:
 
1000 an hour is not impossible if the press is set up right and you have a primer tube filler of some sort.

This is what 100 rounds in under 4 min looks like on one of my 650's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl63cR9Y_Y0

This is a minute and a half video on how to top the above machine off for the next hundred. Would be even faster using the Dillon primer tube filler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WTZ-_v6Mks


This is a video of one of my 1050's that loads 1000 rounds in 51 min 21 seconds and you don't even have to be in the room except to top it off, same method as the 650 above.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrFhnDQ-eUU
 
When we were kids my brother and I once loaded 800/hr on an SD. He was the autodrive and case feed and I was the bullet feeder. He only mashed my fingers twice before I suggested a swap and he corrected his pace. I would trade all of my fancy reloading gear to load with him again.
 
Ammunition is NOT something you want to do at max speed IMO. I say that only because I have seen far too many guys at the range have squibs or overloaded rounds damage their guns or themselves. Every single 1911 that was brought into our shop with a bulged barrel was caused by a guy who had just started reloading on a progressive press. Every single one. Slow down and take your time and SEE everything. Life's too short.
 
Ammunition is NOT something you want to do at max speed IMO.
Click to expand...

On the other hand just because it's slow doesn't mean good.

One would be more likely to load a squib or double on a single stage than one of my 1050's
 
I have done 1100 per hour on a Dillon 650 with a case feeder, loading .38 Special. But my buddy was keeping the cases, primers, and powder full.
 
Jm, I wondered how you and your brother got synchronized. Hands on experience teachs one much in life.
I usually do about 100 (357) at a whack, takes about 20 minutes on my SD. Then it's time to stop production, box up, reprime, and go again.
I've found if I reload to many at a sitting and carry them all to the range---I TEND TO SHOOT TOO MANY! Hey I'm tight!
Catpop
 
Jm, I wondered how you and your brother got synchronized.
Click to expand...

Just set the bullet in the case at #3 while he inserted one into #1. Verbal "K" let him know I was clear.

Wouldn't recommend it but I did a lot of other stuff 30 years ago that I wouldn't recommend these days.

Now 9.5min/100 is about all I get out of my SD's.
 
Jim, You were very trusting!

Don't know if I would have trusted my twin (only brother) brother that far.

Blue, I also fill up 4 primer tubes before I start plus the one on the press, I get good numbers also and can easily cycle at 500-600 and hour, and yes, your right, it's doable but for me not practical.

I guess I'm to much of a perfectionist to be able to do a full run of 600 in an hour. I usually do 3-400 and that hurry's me.

Jim, I have no doubt you have a machine that will load 1k an hour, seeing all those marvelous machines that you build.
 
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