Questions on deciding what progressive..

[GW Staar]

RCBS Bullet Feeder How-To

GW - ok I stand corrected. Can you make me one of those? Very well done!

Welllllll, I'm not exactly retired yet.....still run a construction company. Best I can do is point you to the How-To.

Used to have a local thread with the how-to pictures here on High Road. But due to organizational editing necessary on Photobucket. The address links to my pictures got changed. Update: Thanks to Walkalong and others, the picture links are fixed.
Here's a link to the How-To in THR

 

[Blue68f100]

TIP:

On the LNL-AP when changing primer sleds use some thread attached to the spring hook. This way all you have to do is pull it back and swap sleds. I do this on the up stroke because it give you easier access. Takes 15 sec to do. Leave it attached it does not interfere with the operations. Trying to do it with pliers or hooks is just frustrating at best.

 

[Spammy_H]

Blue - thanks for the advice. I'll try that, as I agree the spring is a pain.

 

[LiveLife]

Due to some unknown reason, The High Road has the policy of no editing of content past a couple of days, so I can't repair the picture addresses here....the pictures are gone. (Update....Walkalong says there is a way)

Just PM the moderator for the forum category (in this case Walkalong) - When I had similar issues in past years, a PM to a moderator had them fixed.

As to OP, I may end up getting a Hornady AP LNL in the future and when I do, I am planning to build my own case/bullet feeders out of 5-gallon buckets:

45ACP case feeder - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIDNwWf__tg&feature=relmfu

45ACP bullet feeder - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aLaoB5a8zA&feature=related

223 case feeder - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH-7d9IuVqY&feature=plcp

223 bullet feeder - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQUcjVnAGfs&feature=related

 

[jmorris]

Just for clarity thoes are all collators or feeder, feeders. No big deal, even Dillon incorrectly calls their collator a case feeder.

If you build one for bullets like the last mr bullet feeder unit 6" PVC is large enough. You'll have to add cases anyway as they always take up more collator room than bullets. No need to have 2, 5 gallon buckets up there.



Here are simple fixtures I built to cut/drill the slots for the bullets to ride in. Also nice if you only want to make one for each press and swap out a few parts when changing calibers. If you make one like the second video and go from 45 to 223 it won't work.




The reason being he built the "flipper" into the base of the collator. The flipper is made so the base of the bullet will ride over and into the feeder; however, if inverted the bullet tip will catch and drag outward laying the bullet flat and tip it back up, base down. A small diameter 223 must have a different flipper than 45, same goes for every different diameter bullet. So you'll really want to be able to swap them out (small round plastic part)




As much as I like playing with electronics the start/stop system he has is a waist of time and won't work well with feeders that rely on the weight of the collum of bullets to tamp the bullet into the case. All you need is a simple switch.

 

[LiveLife]

Got it, will try to use the proper collator/feeder terms more appropriately in the future.

So far, the 5 gallon "collators" have been the most common that I have seen on Youtube but figured they could be scaled down to smaller diameter.

More than likely, it will be 9mm/40S&W/45ACP that I will need the case collators/feeders for as I don't shoot .223 as much (with each passing year, pursuing 3-gun becomes less of a reality for me, which may be a good thing for my marriage. ).

BTW, nice setups!

 

[jmorris]

So far, the 5 gallon "collators" have been the most common that I have seen on Youtube but figured they could be scaled down to smaller diameter.

My first one was not much smaller than the 5gal bucket ones. It took up a lot more space than the 6"PVC ones do.





Wasn't a total waist, once I started building them smaller I moved the exit from 3:00 to 12:00 and turned it into a case collator.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Next time I order (which might be soon) will be some more primer tubes if I feel I need them

You will need them. I have 4 for small pistol primers and not sure that is enough. I hate getting into a good rythm and have to stop to fill up my primer pick up tube.

You'll get a white fiberglass rod that isn't in the vidio or directions, it goes in the primer tube on the press for weight to push the primers down. It's the only thing I know of that wasn't covered in the vidio. I had to ask on here to find out what it was.

Have fun, you got a decent press.

 

[45_auto]

but I do shoot a good amount of ammo on range day, which is currently 500+ 40S&W, 500+ .223, and between 50-100 .308. Range day generally occurs 2-4 times a month

Cheap 223 is $250/1000, cheap 40 is $250/100, cheap 308 is $400/1000.

You're currently shooting up somewhere between $500 and $1200 of ammo per month and you're worried about saving a couple of hundred bucks on a press?

 

[jmorris]

You're currently shooting up somewhere between $500 and $1200 of ammo per month and you're worried about saving a couple of hundred bucks on a press?

Good point. Shooting a lot and going cheap on a reloading press makes as much sense as running retreads on a race car.

 

[Etkini]

Cheap 223 is $250/1000, cheap 40 is $250/100, cheap 308 is $400/1000.

You're currently shooting up somewhere between $500 and $1200 of ammo per month and you're worried about saving a couple of hundred bucks on a press?

If I was to buy the 308 I shoot it would cost closer to $1,000/1000. I've been loading .308 and .223 on a single stage since the beginning. My Remington 700 has never seen a factory load, and my AR-15 has been seeing Wolf\Tula .223 as well as handloads since I get it for $4/box and it's difficult for me to keep up with the volume that I shoot on a single stage, hence why I'm moving to a progressive. My total monthly cost for ammo is about $600-650, and yes I am concerned about saving a couple hundred as it's money that could be used for components or accessories instead of a purchase that would excite a certain group of people on the internet.

I was looking for the purchase that's best for me, my needs, and what's available close to me, and I truly feel after countless hours and months of research I made the right choice. Any time I've had an issue with a Hornady product, an RCBS product, or a Lee product, which has been few and far between and always my fault, customer service has been top notch and not only helped me through my problems, but sent me the required parts free of charge. If money was no object to me I'd have bought a Mark X\Mark L or a Camdex and been done with it, but they don't fit my needs.

I could have spent the extra $100 for the Dillon, sure, but with that $100 I'll instead get the two other calibers conversions I need, a lock-out die, and a couple more primer pick-up tubes.

 

[jmorris]

it's difficult for me to keep up with the volume that I shoot on a single stage, hence why I'm moving to a progressive. My total monthly cost for ammo is about $600-650, and yes I am concerned about saving a couple hundred as it's money that could be used for components or accessories instead of a purchase that would excite a certain group of people on the internet

The point is, in a few months at that volume the speed you gain could out weigh the costs. Your estimates above show that you shoot 7200 + rounds a year of 223 and 308. You get into that kind of volume and a 1050 starts looking like a good deal as you don't have the extra step of getting rid of the primer pocket crimp. That process alone takes longer than the loading process on anything else.


FWIW the second to last LNL I had, I bought for loading 308, the half index was a PITA. If you set a bullet on top of the case and began the up stroke the bullet tip was too high before the shell plate finished the last half index, so it would hit the bottom of the die and get knocked off. I wound up having to put the bullet up into the die and lower it down into the case once it came around.