Case Prep on Progressive/Turret Press
- Thread starter palabman
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Assuming standard straightwall pistol cartridges, about the only things that some do is sort cases by head stamp and, possibly, length.
Only trim rimmed cases that actually head space on the rim.
Cases that head space on the case mouth should be close to max length and not trimmed to some "trim to" length that will increase head space.
You must trim all cases that are over max length, but the chances of finding a 9x19, .40S&W, or .45ACP that is too long is virtually 0.
I deprime as part of case inspection and sorting prior to cleaning. The cleaning knocks out some of the ash in the primer pocket. Other than that, who cares about the primer pocket?
After 35+ years of reloading, I have never had any need for a case gage, though I might get one for bottleneck cases (haven't ever needed one, but I might get one some day). The base case gage is your barrel.
You can do all the case prep you want, but most is just to make you feel better. Your gun will never know the difference (except for F-class rifle and such).
Only trim rimmed cases that actually head space on the rim.
Cases that head space on the case mouth should be close to max length and not trimmed to some "trim to" length that will increase head space.
You must trim all cases that are over max length, but the chances of finding a 9x19, .40S&W, or .45ACP that is too long is virtually 0.
I deprime as part of case inspection and sorting prior to cleaning. The cleaning knocks out some of the ash in the primer pocket. Other than that, who cares about the primer pocket?
After 35+ years of reloading, I have never had any need for a case gage, though I might get one for bottleneck cases (haven't ever needed one, but I might get one some day). The base case gage is your barrel.
You can do all the case prep you want, but most is just to make you feel better. Your gun will never know the difference (except for F-class rifle and such).
For what? Rifle or pistol? My routines vary depending on what I'm loading.
Pistol is very straight forward...
1. Pick up range empties
2. Tumble
3. Load on progressive press
Rifle is where things differ, especially between uses.
For plinking 223 Rem:
1. Pick up range empties
2. Tumble
3. Lube and FL size on turret press
4. Tumble (15 min or whenever I get around to remembering them)
5. Trim (Giraud)
6. Swage primer pockets
7. Load on progressive press
Precision rifle is different yet again:
1. Tumble
2. Neck size (most of the time...occasionally I'll bump shoulders)
3. Clean primer pockets
4. Measure and trim if necessary
5. Chamfer/debur (necessary after trim, other times just to touch up)
6. Load on turret press
Everything flows pretty well except when I'm loading 223 Rem on the progressive...and it's completely my fault that I'm neurotic and don't want to lube cases in the casefeeder. I prefer to lube/size on the turret. Keeps clean up to a minimum.
What I do is keep multiple 5 gal bucks....one is dirty brass, one is tumbled and one is completely prepped (sized, trimmed and swaged) and ready for loading. As long as I keep up on the prep, it's not that bad.
Pistol is very straight forward...
1. Pick up range empties
2. Tumble
3. Load on progressive press
Rifle is where things differ, especially between uses.
For plinking 223 Rem:
1. Pick up range empties
2. Tumble
3. Lube and FL size on turret press
4. Tumble (15 min or whenever I get around to remembering them)
5. Trim (Giraud)
6. Swage primer pockets
7. Load on progressive press
Precision rifle is different yet again:
1. Tumble
2. Neck size (most of the time...occasionally I'll bump shoulders)
3. Clean primer pockets
4. Measure and trim if necessary
5. Chamfer/debur (necessary after trim, other times just to touch up)
6. Load on turret press
Everything flows pretty well except when I'm loading 223 Rem on the progressive...and it's completely my fault that I'm neurotic and don't want to lube cases in the casefeeder. I prefer to lube/size on the turret. Keeps clean up to a minimum.
What I do is keep multiple 5 gal bucks....one is dirty brass, one is tumbled and one is completely prepped (sized, trimmed and swaged) and ready for loading. As long as I keep up on the prep, it's not that bad.
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1SOW
Member
For pistol I feel the same as NOYLJ.
One thing I'll add about pistol, my turret press and my son's progressive press do run noticeably smoother when the cases are "lubed". I started out using a case lube, but found it wasn't necessary if you add a polish (like Nu-Finish or any quality liquid car wax)) to the tumbling medium. Make four or five hundred handle pulls and that smoothness matters a lot.
One thing I'll add about pistol, my turret press and my son's progressive press do run noticeably smoother when the cases are "lubed". I started out using a case lube, but found it wasn't necessary if you add a polish (like Nu-Finish or any quality liquid car wax)) to the tumbling medium. Make four or five hundred handle pulls and that smoothness matters a lot.
For pistol... I have been loading on a Rockchucker for years but just made the jump to a Lee Turret press. I am very particular with my Rifle reloads on the Rockchucker but when loading hundreds of rounds on the turret case prep becomes tedious. I am interested if anybody has had any issues with just going from range-to-tumbler-to-reloaded with progressive/turret presses.
I do things a little different than most of you....
For autoloading pistol, I batch size on my single stage, and when I feel like it, handprime. I dont clean the pockets any more or trim (since they tend to shrink not grow)
When I do fire up the turret, by brass is ready to load, and can load pretty fast using this method(100rds in 15min).
All rifle rounds are considered precision, and are FL sized, trimmed, primed, loaded on the turret with the auto index rod pulled. All powder charges are hand weighed. Since I only load for .223 and .308, the seating dies are on one Lee 4 hole turret.
All my sizing is done on my single stage press for rifle and handgun.
For autoloading pistol, I batch size on my single stage, and when I feel like it, handprime. I dont clean the pockets any more or trim (since they tend to shrink not grow)
When I do fire up the turret, by brass is ready to load, and can load pretty fast using this method(100rds in 15min).
All rifle rounds are considered precision, and are FL sized, trimmed, primed, loaded on the turret with the auto index rod pulled. All powder charges are hand weighed. Since I only load for .223 and .308, the seating dies are on one Lee 4 hole turret.
All my sizing is done on my single stage press for rifle and handgun.
dmazur
Member
For pistol, I do a visual inspection after they come out of the tumbler, then run them through a 550b. I find a few split cases, but I've never found any that increased in length. For .44 Mag, I trim everything to a uniform length once, so I can get consistent roll crimps, but then I don't trim again.
For rifle, I cut all primer pockets to a uniform depth, once. I also do the visual inspection after they come out of the tumbler. Then they get lubed and sized/deprimed/reprimed at Station 1 on the 550b. The retainer is adjusted so the case can be easily removed without indexing it around the full circle. I wipe off excess lube, check every one with a Wilson gauge and then toss the case into "Trim" / "Don't Trim" bins. If there are enough cases in the "Trim" bin, I run them through a Giraud trimmer.
Working from a bin of prepped brass, I run them through the same 550b, but I index past the first station before pulling the handle. The first time I did this, it just "felt" wrong, as I was so used to loading pistol cartridges. However, it works just fine. The press doesn't care that you're skipping a station.
There are many ways to reload bottleneck cartridges. One end of the spectrum uses a single stage press and does primer pocket and flash hole prep, weighs every charge and trims every time. The other end of the spectrum trims to under max case length (to allow for growth), sprays the cases with a dry lube and runs them through a progressive. I have had pretty good results with a sort of "middle ground" approach, but I won't criticize the other methods.
For rifle, I cut all primer pockets to a uniform depth, once. I also do the visual inspection after they come out of the tumbler. Then they get lubed and sized/deprimed/reprimed at Station 1 on the 550b. The retainer is adjusted so the case can be easily removed without indexing it around the full circle. I wipe off excess lube, check every one with a Wilson gauge and then toss the case into "Trim" / "Don't Trim" bins. If there are enough cases in the "Trim" bin, I run them through a Giraud trimmer.
Working from a bin of prepped brass, I run them through the same 550b, but I index past the first station before pulling the handle. The first time I did this, it just "felt" wrong, as I was so used to loading pistol cartridges. However, it works just fine. The press doesn't care that you're skipping a station.
There are many ways to reload bottleneck cartridges. One end of the spectrum uses a single stage press and does primer pocket and flash hole prep, weighs every charge and trims every time. The other end of the spectrum trims to under max case length (to allow for growth), sprays the cases with a dry lube and runs them through a progressive. I have had pretty good results with a sort of "middle ground" approach, but I won't criticize the other methods.
I load a bunch of 9mm for my pistols and carbines. I tumble the brass, inspect it, toss out any known bad head stamps and crimped brass. I check it again before it goes into the "ready" box. Then I just run it through the progressive press and box it up. Never had a problem.
.223 brass is different. It gets inspected, tumbled, checked again, sorted by head stamp. (some are discarded at this point...bad range brass.). Then it gets light lube, FL resized, deprimed, primer pocket inspected and cleaned as needed. Checked for length and sort by "go" and "no go", long ones get trimmed and de-burred. I then hand prime the cases. From here I go to my progressive press that has a different set up as I don't size or prime .223 in the press. The stages change from pistol loading so that it gets powder then bullet then light crimp for semi-auto rifles. I have separate die holders all set up for each caliber so the change over is quick and easy. And, let us not forget to spot check powder loads just for peace of mind.
Oh, for target rifle, special loads all done on single stage, one step at a time with all powdered weighed and double checked.
.223 brass is different. It gets inspected, tumbled, checked again, sorted by head stamp. (some are discarded at this point...bad range brass.). Then it gets light lube, FL resized, deprimed, primer pocket inspected and cleaned as needed. Checked for length and sort by "go" and "no go", long ones get trimmed and de-burred. I then hand prime the cases. From here I go to my progressive press that has a different set up as I don't size or prime .223 in the press. The stages change from pistol loading so that it gets powder then bullet then light crimp for semi-auto rifles. I have separate die holders all set up for each caliber so the change over is quick and easy. And, let us not forget to spot check powder loads just for peace of mind.
Oh, for target rifle, special loads all done on single stage, one step at a time with all powdered weighed and double checked.
I prefer to clean brass between resizing/case prep and reloading whether handgun or rifle.
Handgun brass is resized and belled on the progressive then tumbled.
I hand prime before loading on the progressive. Powder, bullet and crimping done on the progressive except for 380 Auto. 380 Auto gets the powder charged off line.
Most of my rifle cartridges are still loaded on the single stage but I have been dabbing with blasting 223 Remington on the progressive. I have got the equipment to load 30-06 on the progressive but have not decided if I want to bother yet.
All of the rifle brass is resized on the single stage.
Handgun brass is resized and belled on the progressive then tumbled.
I hand prime before loading on the progressive. Powder, bullet and crimping done on the progressive except for 380 Auto. 380 Auto gets the powder charged off line.
Most of my rifle cartridges are still loaded on the single stage but I have been dabbing with blasting 223 Remington on the progressive. I have got the equipment to load 30-06 on the progressive but have not decided if I want to bother yet.
All of the rifle brass is resized on the single stage.
jmorris
Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2005
- Messages
- 24,232
My brass for 3 gun is mostly pick up so I anneal all of it as it is faster than sorting. I have an auto annealer I built, just fill the collator with brass and let it do the work.
If I can keep brass segregated I only run once every 3 loadings, unless it's from the belt fed firearms, every time as it is worked pretty good, or neck size only (5 or so).
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DeadboltSecurity
Member
Rarely check case length on pistol but do a go/no-go on my 223. If out of spec, I pitch it. With a couple thousand spent casings laying around it's not worth my time to baby bad brass.
I do take the time to de-prime my brass before I tumble it just to get a bit cleaner primer pocket. I follow up with an ultrasonic blast when I feel particularly anal retentive. <Oh Mr. Pocket Gopher, he's goin' DOWN today!
You know that mood.>
Always lube rifle brass and never lube pistol.
I do take the time to de-prime my brass before I tumble it just to get a bit cleaner primer pocket. I follow up with an ultrasonic blast when I feel particularly anal retentive. <Oh Mr. Pocket Gopher, he's goin' DOWN today!
You know that mood.>Always lube rifle brass and never lube pistol.
RustyFN
Member
That is exactly what I do for loading pistol on my Lee classic turret. When load 223 I will clean and size all of the brass. Then trim the ones that need to be trimmed. Then I will load them in auto index mode, like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOpN9iYOyE8
snuffy
Member
Good grief Rusty! That you tube video is exactly why some people have had primers detonate while seating them.
The way he jabs at the re-prime station will eventually result in one popping.
Oh, and if he doesn't get a more sturdy bench, he's gonna break the front edge right off!
As for the OP's question, when I'm loading handgun ammo on my dillon 650, I tumble to clean, then they go right into the case feeder, then drop out the other end into the finished cartridge bin. I haven't cleaned a primer pocket on handgun ammo for 30 years.
If I'm doing .223 on the dillon, one extra step is included. I check for excessive length, then set those cases aside for trimming. Otherwise, they go through the process like any other caliber. I use midway spray lube to lube-en-mass in a bowl. This gets some lube inside the case necks so no further lubing is necessary. Those were also cleaned in a tumbler, they also are quite shiny.
After lubing, I dump them in my tumbler with new corncob media to remove the lube. After 20 minutes or so, I inspect them using a .223 case gauge to insure they would all chamber in my bushy AR. Then into boxes of either 50 or 100.
The way he jabs at the re-prime station will eventually result in one popping. Oh, and if he doesn't get a more sturdy bench, he's gonna break the front edge right off!As for the OP's question, when I'm loading handgun ammo on my dillon 650, I tumble to clean, then they go right into the case feeder, then drop out the other end into the finished cartridge bin. I haven't cleaned a primer pocket on handgun ammo for 30 years.
If I'm doing .223 on the dillon, one extra step is included. I check for excessive length, then set those cases aside for trimming. Otherwise, they go through the process like any other caliber. I use midway spray lube to lube-en-mass in a bowl. This gets some lube inside the case necks so no further lubing is necessary. Those were also cleaned in a tumbler, they also are quite shiny.
After lubing, I dump them in my tumbler with new corncob media to remove the lube. After 20 minutes or so, I inspect them using a .223 case gauge to insure they would all chamber in my bushy AR. Then into boxes of either 50 or 100.
amlevin
Member
I use a Dillon XL-650.
For 9mm I sort range brass and then tumble/vibrate for an hour or so. Into the case feeder and load.
For .223 I sort range brass toss in case feeder, lubed with Dillon spray lube.
With a toolhead containing a universal de-priming die and a Rapid Trim I de-cap, size, and trim everything.
Any Mil-crimped brass which was ID'd at the "sort" is then swaged. Everything into the tumbler/vibrator for a couple of hours.
Change toolhead to one containing a de-prime die to locate the round on station one, powder measure, powder check station, seater, and a Lee FCD in station 5.
I then spend the next day or so loading as many rounds as I have powder/primers/bullets for, usually 4-5 thousand in a "run".
By loading as many as possible of a given caliber at one time I avoid the necessity of changing calibers and setups too often.
For 9mm I sort range brass and then tumble/vibrate for an hour or so. Into the case feeder and load.
For .223 I sort range brass toss in case feeder, lubed with Dillon spray lube.
With a toolhead containing a universal de-priming die and a Rapid Trim I de-cap, size, and trim everything.
Any Mil-crimped brass which was ID'd at the "sort" is then swaged. Everything into the tumbler/vibrator for a couple of hours.
Change toolhead to one containing a de-prime die to locate the round on station one, powder measure, powder check station, seater, and a Lee FCD in station 5.
I then spend the next day or so loading as many rounds as I have powder/primers/bullets for, usually 4-5 thousand in a "run".
By loading as many as possible of a given caliber at one time I avoid the necessity of changing calibers and setups too often.
RustyFN
Member
I didn't mean I load exactly like that. I just use the same steps as the person in the video, minus the "oh looks like I missed a primer pocket".:banghead:- Status
