Mark_Mark
Member
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2021
- Messages
- 18,074
when your are dumping ammo into a bucket! that’s NEXT level! I can’t believe you bought 2 of them!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. View attachment 1074588 View attachment 1074589
Could you do a video of it running? this is the best free entertainment!
could you also name the 10 stations and dies?
