How does one do progressive loading with Rifle calibers?

[bobotech]

I have a Hornady Lock and Load AP that I normally use for 45acp.

I have been planning on loading some 223 and 308 with it but I want to know what is the best procedure for loading rifle calibers?

The reason why I ask is that I don't see the huge time savings.

You still have to full length resize/decap/trim/chamfer inside/chamfer outside/swage the primer pocket the brass before it ever hits the progressive press.

Yeah, it would be nice to drop the powder charges, check with the Powder Cop die, and then seat and crimp but that doesn't seem like a HUGE savings compared to loading with a single stage or a turrent press.

Am I supposed to remove the brass after every full length resize from stage 1 and then manually trim/chamfer inside/chamfer outside/swage the rimer pocket and then put back into the priming station?

I'm just trying to find out the proper procedure for progressive loading for rifle calibers.

 

[1911user]

The typical process is two passes through the press similar to what you were thinking.

 

[The Bushmaster]

I don't. I load all my rifle ammunition on a single stage press.

 

[Floppy_D]

I deprime/size on a single stage, trim/chamfer/pockets, and then store. When I feel like loading, it's just powder and seating. You're right, that takes time. You could opt for a machine trimmer, but they are expensive. It's slow, but not as slow just doing it on a single stage.

 

[SteveW-II]

> You still have to full length resize/decap/trim/chamfer inside/chamfer outside/swage the primer pocket the brass

There are a few variables, depending on what you are loading for (the gun) and where the brass came from.

For churning off rounds for my bolt action using brass it has already fired (no primer crimp), off the press I check length and trim if needed. I only chamfer (in and out) if I had to trim.
On the press, station 1 is a Redding type S bushing die that sizes only the neck. Prime. Nothing in station 2. Station 3, drop powder. Could have a powder cop in station 4. Seat bullet in 5.

For the same caliber but for a semi auto, again - length check (trim, chamfer etc) off press, then put a Redding body die in station 2 that sizes the body so that the resulting case fits in a Lyman case gauge. Now cases fed into station 1 need to be lubed. All the rest of the stations are the same. The beauty of the LnL setup. Once again, assuming that this is your brass pickup. No primer crimps.

In both cases, I am using boat tail bullets, which cuts down on the need to inside chamfer the case. Flat base bullets need more attention.

You will always need to 'length check' off the press and deal with cases that need trimming. 223 needs trimming less often than 308 when fired with my loads from my guns.

In an idea world, you would length check AFTER resizing, I do it the other way round as it smooths out the process on the press.

If you are dealing with crimped primer pockets, again, you do that off press and only need to do it once.

Steve.

 

[jmorris]

Unfortunately there is no “one pass” set up that will do everything that needs to be done. I use two machines the first is a 650 with a carbide size die/deprime on station 1 and a trimmer on #4. Out of that machine it goes into a 1050 where it runs through another size/deprime die (#2) just for good measure and knock off sharp edges then swage the primer pocket (#3), prime (#4), charge (#5), set bullet (#6), seat bullet (#7), crimp bullet (#8). It takes two pulls for every round but it’s still pretty darn fast. http://s121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/jmorrismetal/?action=view&current=1050.flv

The above machine will make quite accurate ammunition (1moa with sorted brass) but if I’m in “bench rest” mode I still get out the neck turner, reamers, tricklers, etc.

 

[Mike Kerr]

"How does one do progressive loading with Rifle calibers? "

Usually much slower than when you do pistol calibers.

Sorry I could not help myself- actually you have received very good answers already.

Regards,

 

[Jenrick]

You mount one of these after your size and deprime: http://www.dillonprecision.com/content/p/9/pid/23636/catid/8

Or you can simply send your .223 brass off to be processed, and then from there it's powder drop, bullet seat, and crimp if you like.

-Jenrick

 

[Shoney]

I tumble all spent cases to get them clean.

If loading for a gas gun, I load progressively using mil. surp. ball powder. I take tumbled clean spent cases and trim to length, debur, champher, lube them and run them thru the LNL progressively. Tumble loaded cartridges for 1/4 hour.

If I am loading for a bolt weapon (making sure the cases are for the weapon they were fired in), tumble clean cases, I remove all the dies except the size/deprime die from the LNL, setting the die so it just touches the shoulder. Lube spent cases, deprime, tumble 1/4 hour. Then trim, debur and champher. Remove size/deprime die and return powder measure and other dies and sensors to LNL. Run the cases thru, prime, measuring all stick powder charges (it is easy to remove the charged cases for measuring after they have been charged, in fact it is easy to remove cases anywhere along the process in the LNL) seat bullet and sometimes use factory crimp die.

I used to reload the bolt weapon cartridges on the single stage, thinking it would be more accurate, but after a friend who owns a 650 and I did runout tests with the same set of dies on thevsingle stages, 550, 650, and the LNL. we discovered that the LNL was much more accurate, so now I load almost all my bolt weapon cartridges on the LNL.

 

[trbon8r]

Would trimming the cases to minimum length first before resizing/decapping present any problems or must the case be resized before trimming? I am trying to get my 550B set up for loading .223 and .308. It seems like it would be so much easier to trim first and then load the cases progressivly as I do with my handgun ammo.

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

Not that I have any experience with either, but I would think that the RCBS X-die sizer and their lube die could enable single pass progressive rifle cartridge reloading. You'd have to remove the depriming pin from the X die (and deprime with the lube die in the first station). I don't know if Dillon supports moving the PM to station 3 or not.

On the Hornady LNL AP:

1. Lube die & deprime
1.5 re-prime
2. resize with x-die w/depriming pin removed
3. dump powder
4. powder check or seat bullet
5. seat bullet or separate crimp

Andy

 

[SteveW-II]

I check length and trim/chamfer if required BEFORE resizing. It means that whatever I feed into station one is ready to resize/prime/powder/seat. It makes life some much easier.

 

[evan price]

My .308 process-

If using military crimped primer brass: deprime with a Lee universal decapper & swage with RCBS swager.

Check length. 2.015" is the max length. Anything 2.012" or more goes in the trim bucket. I trim to 2.002". That way even if it stretches in resizing I am already short enough.
Chamfer/deburr if trimmed.

Line the cases up on the load block (a recycled .45 acp plastic ammo tray) and give them a light spritz of Lyman Qwik-spray case lube. Set aside to let it dry.

Then run them through the press, loading as usual.

 

[dmazur]

550B "breakout" for rifle calibers

I do a "breakout" operation at the first station on the 550B. Because it is a manually indexed press, what I do is take cleaned brass, lube it and then do resize/deprime/reprime at the first station.

This brass has already been trimmed to length, primer pocket uniformed and case mouth chamfered inside & out.

I then throw it in a bin to have the excess lube cleaned off.

When I get a bin full (usually 100), I wipe off the excess water-soluable lube and check case length in a Wilson gauge. This verifies headspace and trim length. "Good" goes in one bin and "bad" goes in another. I get very few "bads"...they usually need trimming.

Then you just resume progressive operations on the 550B, but instead of pulling the handle after inserting the brass, index first. The other three stations are used and the first station is just skipped.

I found out that the 550B seems to throw more uniform powder charges if the resizing operation isn't done while you're doing powder charges. The resizing operation seems to be very sensitive to the amount of lube, and the amount of vibration may vary, IMO. The 550B is very smooth without the resizing die in use.

 

[jmorris]

I check length and trim/chamfer if required BEFORE resizing. It means that whatever I feed into station one is ready to resize/prime/powder/seat. It makes life some much easier.

Your case length will change AFTER resizing. This, after all is why we need to trim in the first place.

 

[SteveW-II]

> Your case length will change AFTER resizing

Indeed it does. By how much depends on the headspace of the gun and how you set your resizing die.

I set my resizing die such that the resized brass fits exactly into a Lyman case gauge. I.E. Flush with the 'top'. I use a steel rule across the top to see if I can see daylight under it. If I can, the die needs to be screwed down a little more. This means I am sizing the brass the least, while still being in SAMMI spec.

Using this set up, I have never had a brass case change in overall (as opposed to headspace) length by more than 3 thou. I consider that to be acceptable if I trim prior to resizing.