Setting up my Mark Vii Revolutions.

[EricBu]

So just wanted to put out there where I'm at here. The setup is slow going, as it's hard to find time.

Initial bad decision on my part: If you go Mark Vii and either automated Apex or Revolution...do not put it on a bench you can't go behind. It will haunt you and be a pain in your backside forever. If you can't walk behind it, everything is going to take longer and be more difficult to adjust. If I had planned my shop around these from the get go, I would have put them on a single row away from the wall. I did not, so I have to deal with an added layer of pain since I can't easily reach them from the back.

First, the quality is A+. These machines are quite frankly the finest pieces of machinery I've ever purchased in the loading game. The fit and finish and over all quality is off the hook. Seriously, these things are well made. The documentation is good, and they have made several videos to back up the documentation.

The basic setup was a snap. Everything just fit and worked just like the video. No surprises, nothing. I got the toolhead setup with no issues, the case feeder just worked out of the box, everything was perfect. Until I got to the Mr Bullet Feeder Pro.

The MBF Pro...that has been beating me up for a week now. The dropper itself was simple, took 5 minutes. The collator...not so much. It's not really viable to set it up and adjust it on the pole mount that comes with the Revolution, unless you're about 8 ft tall and have a 5 ft reach. So I had to do the initial set up on the bench. There is NOOOO documentation for fine tuning this thing. The MBF docs are good for a generic basic setup, but each step is "you'll have to adjust for your situation through trial and error". So after lots of cursing, picking up of bullets, and general hatred towards MBF, I got the shim stacks and flip ramp settings dialed in for 110 grain Zero JHP 38 bullets. On the bench it ran perfectly, passing base down bullets on to be dropped, and flipping the nose down bullets. I was all happy, and thought I was going to be doing a first test run...got it all back mounted on the pole and...no joy. When I mounted it on the pole, and assembled the drop tube assembly...the very first bullet turned sideways, jammed in the tube, then the tube filled up with jammed bullets....fell off, and dumped the bullets everywhere. No matter what I did, this was repeated, no matter what adjustment or tilt, bullet jammed sideways. Shot an email off to Mark Vii, walked them through what I'd done and my trouble shooting, the exact bullet I was using, and a description of the jam. The next day I got a tracking number for a part being overnighted to me from Fed Ex. Then later on, I got an email reply. "Our lead engineer said that the standard drop tube is normally fine for 9/38 bullets, however, any exceptionally light bullet, such as your 110 JHPs in 38, and some 115 TC or JHPs in 9mm, require the optional small bullet drop assembly. I've sent you one free of charge." Now, that's some great service! So now I'm waiting for that part, and I'll update this when it arrives.

 

[Mark_Mark]

So just wanted to put out there where I'm at here. The setup is slow going, as it's hard to find time.

Initial bad decision on my part: If you go Mark Vii and either automated Apex or Revolution...do not put it on a bench you can't go behind. It will haunt you and be a pain in your backside forever. If you can't walk behind it, everything is going to take longer and be more difficult to adjust. If I had planned my shop around these from the get go, I would have put them on a single row away from the wall. I did not, so I have to deal with an added layer of pain since I can't easily reach them from the back.

First, the quality is A+. These machines are quite frankly the finest pieces of machinery I've ever purchased in the loading game. The fit and finish and over all quality is off the hook. Seriously, these things are well made. The documentation is good, and they have made several videos to back up the documentation.

The basic setup was a snap. Everything just fit and worked just like the video. No surprises, nothing. I got the toolhead setup with no issues, the case feeder just worked out of the box, everything was perfect. Until I got to the Mr Bullet Feeder Pro.

The MBF Pro...that has been beating me up for a week now. The dropper itself was simple, took 5 minutes. The collator...not so much. It's not really viable to set it up and adjust it on the pole mount that comes with the Revolution, unless you're about 8 ft tall and have a 5 ft reach. So I had to do the initial set up on the bench. There is NOOOO documentation for fine tuning this thing. The MBF docs are good for a generic basic setup, but each step is "you'll have to adjust for your situation through trial and error". So after lots of cursing, picking up of bullets, and general hatred towards MBF, I got the shim stacks and flip ramp settings dialed in for 110 grain Zero JHP 38 bullets. On the bench it ran perfectly, passing base down bullets on to be dropped, and flipping the nose down bullets. I was all happy, and thought I was going to be doing a first test run...got it all back mounted on the pole and...no joy. When I mounted it on the pole, and assembled the drop tube assembly...the very first bullet turned sideways, jammed in the tube, then the tube filled up with jammed bullets....fell off, and dumped the bullets everywhere. No matter what I did, this was repeated, no matter what adjustment or tilt, bullet jammed sideways. Shot an email off to Mark Vii, walked them through what I'd done and my trouble shooting, the exact bullet I was using, and a description of the jam. The next day I got a tracking number for a part being overnighted to me from Fed Ex. Then later on, I got an email reply. "Our lead engineer said that the standard drop tube is normally fine for 9/38 bullets, however, any exceptionally light bullet, such as your 110 JHPs in 38, and some 115 TC or JHPs in 9mm, require the optional small bullet drop assembly. I've sent you one free of charge." Now, that's some great service! So now I'm waiting for that part, and I'll update this when it arrives.

the should offer on site factory setup! It would be worth it

 

[EricBu]

the should offer on site factory setup! It would be worth it

They do actually offer classroom training on their presses at their facility. I almost sprang for that, but when I put the deposit on them, we were still playing the covid reindeer games, and I didn't want to expose myself to the pain of dealing with the airlines and such at that time. And of course, when it came up time for delivery, I don't have the free time to spare these days.

 

[Mark_Mark]

They do actually offer classroom training on their presses at their facility. I almost sprang for that, but when I put the deposit on them, we were still playing the covid reindeer games, and I didn't want to expose myself to the pain of dealing with the airlines and such at that time. And of course, when it came up time for delivery, I don't have the free time to spare these days.

I’m actually a factory installer! I’m be there in a few days.

 

[jmorris]

If you go Mark Vii and either automated Apex or Revolution...do not put it on a bench you can't go behind. It will haunt you and be a pain in your backside forever. If you can't walk behind it, everything is going to take longer and be more difficult to adjust. If I had planned my shop around these from the get go, I would have put them on a single row away from the wall.

Did you bolt the base plate to the bench? If I want access to mine I just turn it around, might lift it up one side at a time and slide some cardboard or something between the rubber feet and bench top to make it easy to spin around and remove them when done fiddling with it.

 

[jmorris]

Our lead engineer said that the standard drop tube is normally fine for 9/38 bullets, however, any exceptionally light bullet, such as your 110 JHPs in 38, and some 115 TC or JHPs in 9mm, require the optional small bullet drop assembly.

“Square” bullets, where the aspect ratio are close to equal as are the shapes of the ends are the hardest to get setup. A long bullet with a point on one end is easy, a short fat one is the most difficult.

The hardest ones I ever setup for were 90 grain hollow base bullets. The drop tube must be narrow enough they can’t get sideways, same goes for the spring. I also found a machined angle to the ramp to be the key. Steps work for lots of stuff but I never could get one right for these bullets.

 

[EricBu]

Did you bolt the base plate to the bench? If I want access to mine I just turn it around, might lift it up one side at a time and slide some cardboard or something between the rubber feet and bench top to make it easy to spin around and remove them when done fiddling with it.

Are you talking about a Revolution? Because if you can handily spin that thing around on your bench, you are a better man than me. I dead lifted the base out of the delivery crate onto the bench, and it about killed me, definitely should have been a 2 person lift. But there is no way I can move it around, especially with the case feeder and bullet feeder on it. I can't even lift one end now that it's on the bench...

 

[Mark_Mark]

Are you talking about a Revolution? Because if you can handily spin that thing around on your bench, you are a better man than me. I dead lifted the base out of the delivery crate onto the bench, and it about killed me, definitely should have been a 2 person lift. But there is no way I can move it around, especially with the case feeder and bullet feeder on it. I can't even lift one end now that it's on the bench...

Sound like a beast! can’t wait till it’s ready for prime time

 

[EricBu]

“Square” bullets, where the aspect ratio are close to equal as are the shapes of the ends are the hardest to get setup. A long bullet with a point on one end is easy, a short fat one is the most difficult.

The hardest ones I ever setup for were 90 grain hollow base bullets. The drop tube must be narrow enough they can’t get sideways, same goes for the spring. I also found a machined angle to the ramp to be the key. Steps work for lots of stuff but I never could get one right for these bullets.

See, where were you last week? Lol. This is what I gather now. I guess in one way, it's good I chose a difficult profile bullet to start with, as it did force me to familiarize myself with the bullet feeder. I think now at this point, I can set it up with no problem for just about any bullet profile, but I see where a 90 grain HB would have problems with the step. I may get the chance to test that a year or to down the road when I start working on getting these to run 32's (ACP, H&R, 327 Fed, 32 S&W etc). Hoping the small output assembly fixes my final issue with the 110 grain bullets like they say it will.

 

[jmorris]

Are you talking about a Revolution? Because if you can handily spin that thing around on your bench, you are a better man than me. I dead lifted the base out of the delivery crate onto the bench, and it about killed me, definitely should have been a 2 person lift. But there is no way I can move it around, especially with the case feeder and bullet feeder on it. I can't even lift one end now that it's on the bench...

I think just reading about dead lifting the machine up made my back hurt. No, I don’t do that. I am with Archimedes on this one but not trying to move the world, just lift a rubber foot off a surface to slide something slicker under it. I use business cards but there are better choices (just not handy) and two screw drivers, one being a non marring fulcrum and the other a lever.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I think just reading about dead lifting the machine up made my back hurt. No, I don’t do that. I am with Archimedes on this one but not trying to move the world, just lift a rubber foot off a surface to slide something slicker under it. I use business cards but there are better choices (just not handy) and two screw drivers, one being a non marring fulcrum and the other a lever.

View attachment 1071115

they sell those furniture sliders pads, I use them to move my entertainment center, to clean behind.

 

[EricBu]

I think just reading about dead lifting the machine up made my back hurt. No, I don’t do that. I am with Archimedes on this one but not trying to move the world, just lift a rubber foot off a surface to slide something slicker under it. I use business cards but there are better choices (just not handy) and two screw drivers, one being a non marring fulcrum and the other a lever.

View attachment 1071115

He-Man and a dam genius!!!!! Lol. Fulcrum/Lever/Business Cards. Pure gold! I will be using that technique I do believe. Extra glad I epoxy finished my benchtops...should glide nicely on the business cards.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Are you talking about a Revolution? Because if you can handily spin that thing around on your bench, you are a better man than me. I dead lifted the base out of the delivery crate onto the bench, and it about killed me, definitely should have been a 2 person lift. But there is no way I can move it around, especially with the case feeder and bullet feeder on it. I can't even lift one end now that it's on the bench...

I hate to ask the stupid question but, have you considered a pair of these? https://www.advancelifts.com/turn-tables/industrial-standard-duty-turntables-tm-tml/

 

[EricBu]

I hate to ask the stupid question but, have you considered a pair of these? https://www.advancelifts.com/turn-tables/industrial-standard-duty-turntables-tm-tml/

Not at their price points! The fulcrum/lever/business card solution is about 5.00.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Not at their price points! The fulcrum/lever/business card solution is about 5.00.

I'd probably make my own using moving castors and hard plate but, yeah, hard to beat the price of a free business card.

 

[jmorris]

I like the felt/furniture mover idea. I bet the machine wouldn’t ever move with them left in place. Then you only have to mess with it one time.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I like the felt/furniture mover idea. I bet the machine wouldn’t ever move with them left in place. Then you only have to mess with it one time.

View attachment 1071211

the vibration of the servos might move the press.

 

[Wyo82]

These are pretty handy to keep around the house, especially the garage. Might help you out in your situation, pump it up, place whatever you are using as a slider underneath, and deflate it. That way you aren’t trying to place anything underneath with just one hand. They say 300 lbs, but you can get more out of them if you’re only lifting a few inches

 

[Mark_Mark]

$17 SOLD!!!

 

[jmorris]

the vibration of the servos might move the press.

Might, but all the other junk I have on the top of the bench would be on the floor first.


I like the air bag too. I remember the first time I watched a demonstration on the air bags that would lift cars, trucks and other objects off stuff from the exhaust pressure of the responding vehicle. Very impressive display of PSI in relation to in^2.

 

[lordpaxman]

Just attach a sky hook to it, should be fairly simple to lift a bit and swing where ever you want .
Thanks for the update, it’ll be nice to hear when you’re cranking out rounds. They usually have an M7 for raffle at the major matches, and I heard there was one on the prize table at the Nationals. I was happy with my LNL, even happier with the RL1100, can’t imagine what I’d do if I had an M7.

 

[EricBu]

So I finally got press #1 setup and ran my first big batch of 38 SPL. 3K rounds. Took about 2.5 hours, that included stopping to refill hoppers. Ran like a swiss watch. I didn't push the press hard, it can definitely run much faster. I will say now, this thing flat out makes better ammo than my dillons. It's more consistent, and I'm a little butt hurt because I was today years old when I figured out how many stupid issues I've been working around for 30 years because of the Dillon powder funnel and the way it flares cases. For the official record.......10 stations is my new minimum standard. That is pure glory! I still have 1 final little issue to sort out, and that is that every couple of hundred primers, one turns sideways at the exit ramp from the collator and blocks the next one. I poke at it with a fine plastic tweezer and it moves along, so not **huge**, and it doesn't interrupt operations, but you have to pay attention to it. If you miss it, and the chute empties out, the press will stop on it's own when it pops the primer orientation sensor.

Things I've learned: The Mark 7 MUST be 100% perfectly level. No wiggle room. All presses need to be level, yes, this is true...but if you're a degree or two off, they won't complain. The Revolution has got to be perfect, there is no room for error. I shimmed the corners with business cards, one at a time, that's how picky it is. Mainly this is to get the auto prime system and primer collator to work 100%, but it definitely helped with getting the bullet feeder dialed in too. Also, oddly enough, until I got it perfectly level, the powder measure was throwing +-.2 to .3. Once perfect level, we're at +-.1 just like their specs say. Coincidence? I don't know, but something to keep in mind.

The Big Mark 7 case feeder. Wow. That thing is smooth and it's fast, and it NEVER screws up. Between testing it and my first big run...not one single upside down or missed case. Not one. And it's fast, real fast. Cons: It's 3 times bigger than the dillon, but holds about the same amount of brass???? This was dissapointing, lol. But if you overfill it, the Dillon just won't turn, or it'll jam. The Mark 7 will happily run......while flinging brass all over your shop. I think I can put a shield up on the low side, maybe some polyprop or kydex, heat to match the curve, Will let me put about 2x more brass in it. The other big con is that the collator plate is HUGE. No plastic here, CNC machined. Very well made...and very expensive. I'm not complaining, I am happy to pay for quality, but a conversion kit for the case feeder is 350.00 bucks. You also need a special one for 300 BLK, so that's 5 potential case feeders you might need depending on the variety you load.

Digital Powder Measure. I was leary of this. But I have to admit, not relying on case force to activate has it's benefits. The case flips a switch, and a servo runs the charge. The big benefit here is that I can turn the measure off on the control box, and it won't through a charge if I'm doing set up or something. Also, after using it a while (and getting the platform level) I do think it's a bit more consistent than the dillon powder measure. Maybe not 600.00 more consistent, but nonetheless, more consistent.

Mr Bullet Feeder Pro. Most of the set up was real easy, especially the dropper set up. I had one of the old ones, and the dropper took a lot more fiddling to dial in, this one took about 5 seconds. The collator was a bit tricky for the small "square" bullets I am loading, and required a different output assembly to finally get working.

Mark 7 Support. Man, these guys were great. I had very few issues. Between their documentation and their videos, set up was very straight forward. I admit, I was somewhat intimidated when I first unwrapped the pallet, they seemed super complex, but it was really not bad at all, everything fit and went together just like it was supposed to. The few issues I had, they answered their email within a day with clear concise answers. In two cases, I needed a different or replacement part, and it was shipped immediately. I would definitely say their support is the equivalent of Dillon support.

So overall, I'm super happy. Will finish up my 2nd one this week.

 

[lordpaxman]

It’s nice to hear they’re working for you! It’s the first time I’ve heard the press needs to be level. I’ll need to RTFM a bit better in the future. I get the “wish I done this sooner…” notion!

 

[EricBu]

I'm also waiting for my package of cable management ties to show up, lol. This is something else I've never dealt with in the reloading room...I feel like I'm cabling a rack in a data center! It hurts my OCD to see all those cables running everywhere, and this thing has a LOT of them. So that's on the agenda as well, cleaning up all the cabling and cable routing. This is more important than you might think...not just to keep a organized bench...but the tool head obviously moves, so you have quite a few cables that if not kept secured and routed correctly, may be rubbing. Also, and this is VERY important, you can't have a cable touching the primer hopper. Even the one powering it. That has to routed straight away, then back around to the control box. If any thing, including a cable, touches the hopper, it dampens the agitation, and the primers won't feed correctly.

 

[The Glockodile]

Nice!

Following your progress...