DRAINSMITH
Member
Well at least as good as I can get it.
To start off, I want everyone to know when I decided to get into reloading, I read all the forms and had a chance to reload on a Rockchunker, a Lee Load master, two Hornady APs, and a Dillon 650 and 1050. and must admit I bought into the blue cool aid. In the middle of my order of a 650 and 1050, I was being treated as a king. But then I asked when Dillon was going to come out with a bullet feeder.
Now I promise I did not state that his wife had a big butt or even if I thought he was a Democrat. I went from being treated like a king to being treated like a leper. Now, this is where I decided to cancel my order and I bought a Hornady AP and a Hornady classic single stage.
Well, when most folks get the Hornady they state I want it to run as good as a Dillon. Well if I wanted a press to run as good as a Dillon, I would have bought a Dillon. I wanted my Hornady to run better than a Dillon, and I think I have.
When I got my presses on a Tuesday, I set up the single stage with full intentions to run it for six months before I moved on to the AP. Well, I was setting up my AP Saturday morning, and I haven't looked back.
Now fast forward 2 years and I have bought 3 more AP presses. And now they are all set up as Ammo-Plants. I have 2 set up for pistol, 1 large primer and 1 small primer.And 2 set up for rifle 1 for large primer and 1 for small primer.
Now the first thing I had to do is get the timing perfect. To do this I made a timing kit that I can get the primers to feed the first time and every time. The next thing it had ti set the primer smoothly and the last thing is all the dies had to be perfect.
here is a photo of my timing kit.
O.K. the first thing I did was to make sure I got primes in position every time. So what I did was load 100 primers into the press and with out a shell plate installed I put a dental pike in my left hand and the press handle in my right hand. I then cycled the press as fast as I comfortably could. All 4 presses I could cycle between 3:10 and 3:15. So now I know that if I can get the case feeder and the bullet feeder to load 100 of each in 3:15 That is how many I could load.
So the first thing I worked on was the case feeder. I made a few modifications.
Now I ran 10 100 cases to time the case feeder. The average of 10 runs was as followed.
9mm it filled100 cases in 1:55
45 filled 100 cases in 3:25
.223 filled 100 cases in 2:45
308 filled 100 cases in 5:00
Now the bullet feeder required no real modifications just careful adjustments to the wipers.
I did a 10 100 test on bullet feed times and the average came out as followed.
9mm 3:55
45 4:10
.223 2:50
308 3:10
Now for 9mm I should be able to do a 100 round in 3:55 actual fastest time 4:30.
For 45s I should be able to do a 100 round in 4:10 actual fastest time 4:40
For .223 I should be able to do a 100 round in 3:15 actual fastest time 3:55
And now for 308 I should be able to do a 100 round in 5:00 actual time 4:55 Thank God for cases in the tube.
Now do I feel comfortable to keep up that speed? Hell no! But I think I could keep a 5:00 pace.
To start off, I want everyone to know when I decided to get into reloading, I read all the forms and had a chance to reload on a Rockchunker, a Lee Load master, two Hornady APs, and a Dillon 650 and 1050. and must admit I bought into the blue cool aid. In the middle of my order of a 650 and 1050, I was being treated as a king. But then I asked when Dillon was going to come out with a bullet feeder.
Now I promise I did not state that his wife had a big butt or even if I thought he was a Democrat. I went from being treated like a king to being treated like a leper. Now, this is where I decided to cancel my order and I bought a Hornady AP and a Hornady classic single stage.
Well, when most folks get the Hornady they state I want it to run as good as a Dillon. Well if I wanted a press to run as good as a Dillon, I would have bought a Dillon. I wanted my Hornady to run better than a Dillon, and I think I have.
When I got my presses on a Tuesday, I set up the single stage with full intentions to run it for six months before I moved on to the AP. Well, I was setting up my AP Saturday morning, and I haven't looked back.
Now fast forward 2 years and I have bought 3 more AP presses. And now they are all set up as Ammo-Plants. I have 2 set up for pistol, 1 large primer and 1 small primer.And 2 set up for rifle 1 for large primer and 1 for small primer.
Now the first thing I had to do is get the timing perfect. To do this I made a timing kit that I can get the primers to feed the first time and every time. The next thing it had ti set the primer smoothly and the last thing is all the dies had to be perfect.
here is a photo of my timing kit.
O.K. the first thing I did was to make sure I got primes in position every time. So what I did was load 100 primers into the press and with out a shell plate installed I put a dental pike in my left hand and the press handle in my right hand. I then cycled the press as fast as I comfortably could. All 4 presses I could cycle between 3:10 and 3:15. So now I know that if I can get the case feeder and the bullet feeder to load 100 of each in 3:15 That is how many I could load.
So the first thing I worked on was the case feeder. I made a few modifications.
Now I ran 10 100 cases to time the case feeder. The average of 10 runs was as followed.
9mm it filled100 cases in 1:55
45 filled 100 cases in 3:25
.223 filled 100 cases in 2:45
308 filled 100 cases in 5:00
Now the bullet feeder required no real modifications just careful adjustments to the wipers.
I did a 10 100 test on bullet feed times and the average came out as followed.
9mm 3:55
45 4:10
.223 2:50
308 3:10
Now for 9mm I should be able to do a 100 round in 3:55 actual fastest time 4:30.
For 45s I should be able to do a 100 round in 4:10 actual fastest time 4:40
For .223 I should be able to do a 100 round in 3:15 actual fastest time 3:55
And now for 308 I should be able to do a 100 round in 5:00 actual time 4:55 Thank God for cases in the tube.
Now do I feel comfortable to keep up that speed? Hell no! But I think I could keep a 5:00 pace.