Streamlining My Reloading Process... By learning how YOU do it.

[pilotlight]

I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a new prog. press. (Either Dillion 1050 or XL 650) Currently, I am using a Lee Loadmaster. It has done a fine job for me for .40SW, .223 and .308 Win. But, I don't trust it in the 'progressive' mode for volume loading of 308. I want something more heavy duty.

Then I watched this.. I think you'll like these.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42b3P8Zt4Fs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep5Jv2XJsl0&list=UUsyN0uWZnXJpN00gIW4fQlw&index=3&feature=plcp

After watching, I see that:
1. Most guys tumble brass first, then lube the brass for the resizing, immediately followed by priming, charging and seating. I am priming and powder charging separately.
2. I do not check for bullet runout or case wall thickness. I can say that my ammo has been as accurate, if not more accurate than any store-bought ammo available.

I would like to hear how you run your reloading operation.

 

[mallc]

Depends on the round.

I tumble then lube, size and trim bottle neck on Dillon 1200 RTs. Then I give them another shot of Dillon lube before go into the hopper.

I don't check anything except OAL on loaded rounds.

Scott

 

[pilotlight]

Depends on the round

Specifically, .308 Winchester.

 

[dragon813gt]

I don't have a progressive and it depends on if the case has been fired in my rifle or if it's new to me. It goes like this for new brass, tumble, lube, size/deprime, tumble again to remove the lube, trim/chamfer and then the normal process. For brass that's been fired I tumble first, neck size/deprime and then the normal process. Even with a progressive I'm pretty sure I'd do it this way. Unless I was trimming on the press. And you can always skip the second tumble and do it after the round is complete.


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[cfullgraf]

1. Most guys tumble brass first, then lube the brass for the resizing, immediately followed by priming, charging and seating. I am priming and powder charging separately.

On my progressive, I prefer to clean my brass between resizing and loading. I find more consistent mouth expanding with an expander die than using a PDX on the powder measure.

Also, this gives me the option to hand prime. I can hand prime 100 cases about as fast as filling a primer tube. I never feed a case with a miss seated primer to the loading section. I hate rework.

By separating resizing from reloading, I find I get less stoppages and less chance for improperly charged cases. Did I say that i hate rework.

Each process goes very smoothly for me when separated.

For rifle cases, I prefer to not handle greasy cases when filling them with powder and bullets. Also, I trim the cases, if necessary, between resizing and loading. Additional reasons for cleaning between resizing and reloading.

I have loaded 223 Remington on the progressive but it really does ring my bell. I prefer to leave the rifle cases, except 30 carbine, on the single stage press.

It works for me. It may not work for you. It does and does not work for others.

 

[FROGO207]

I am with cfullgraf in almost all respects. I will process the brass as a separate step and put it away for future reloading fun. I always will size/clean/trim and sort as needed. Then store in bulk. Ahead of reloading I will hand prime a bunch. Then reload in batches on a SS press. Never even considered using a progressive to reload for rifle rounds as I do not have as much control over the process as I wish to. As mentioned everybody has their method and you have to balance speed with quality in most instances. I am a more quality type guy these days.

 

[pilotlight]

I can hand prime 100 cases about as fast as filling a primer tube.

And that's exactly why I handprime, too.

 

[Walkalong]

Tumble. Size/de-prime. Tumble if lubed during sizing. Hand prime. Load. Loading with no sizing is so nice. You can really feel things better. Also helps calm down OAL fluctuations.

 

[rsrocket1]

I'm with Frog207. If you pre-processed your brass to the point of storing them in a big tupperware container all primed and ready to go, then dropping the powder and seating the bullet is much faster on a single stage press than going through all the unused stations of a progressive. You also virtually eliminate the chance of a missed or over charge.

 

[Canuck-IL]

For rifle I ...
deprime then
tumble (wet w SS),
size, trim/chamfer/deburr if needed (X-die for some calibers minimizes trimming after the first),
quick tumble, usually dry media this time to remove lube,
hand prime and store.

For actual loading I use the progressive for rounds intended for use at 200/300 yards, single stage for longer or for new load work-ups.
/Bryan

 

[Vern Humphrey]

On my progressive, I prefer to clean my brass between resizing and loading.

Do you have problems scratching your dies? I find uncleaned brass can harm dies.

 

[cfullgraf]

I'm with Frog207. If you pre-processed your brass to the point of storing them in a big tupperware container all primed and ready to go, then dropping the powder and seating the bullet is much faster on a single stage press than going through all the unused stations of a progressive. You also virtually eliminate the chance of a missed or over charge.

Well, not really. On a progressive, the prepped case just idles through the unused stations. It consumes no additional time when actually loading.

The exception is at the beginning when filling the press' shell plate and at the end when cycling the cases through to empty the shell plate. Five to ten seconds at most.

When I load handgun on my progressive, I use four of the five stations. The first station is empty. The second is the powder drop, then a powder cop die, then a seater and finally the crimp die.

When I load rifle on a single stage, I prime the cases with a hand primer. Then charge all the cases, then finally seat the bullet.

Note, working up rifle loads is a slightly different process since the powder charge and maybe the bullet varies every few rounds. Also, slower for the same reasons.

 

[cfullgraf]

Do you have problems scratching your dies? I find uncleaned brass can harm dies.

I tumble brass after shooting, particularly when using steel dies. It gets rid or range grime and soot on the outside of the case. Steel dies are mostly rifle dies or bottle neck cartridges these days, but I still have some steel handgun dies from back in the day. Dirt and grime can scratch the steel dies. A real pain to polish out the dies once it begins to scratch cases.

Not as necessary to clean cases before using carbide hand gun dies but I do it as well and it is not a bad idea anyway to minimize the risk of damaging the carbide.

I find during the reloading process, resizing knocks loose some soot residue inside the case. I prefer to get that cleaned out of the case before loading.

With rifle cases, I like to clean off the lubricant. I do not like having sticky, greasy hands when handling powder and primers.

 

[jmorris]

Clean it wet with stainless steel.
Run it through the annealing machine.
Size/deprime and trim on a 650.
Load on a 1050.
Tumble in corncobb to knock the lube off.

 

[dbarnhart]

When the spent rifle brass comes home from tahe range it gets deprimed and wet/SS tumbled. It then gets theown into the bin for that caliber.

When the bin for a caliber contains 1k rounds, the press gets set up as folows:
Station 1: RCBS lube die
Station 3: Dillon 1200 trimmer (also sizes)
Station 5: RCBS sizing die (to expand the case neck)

The batch of prepped cases then gets stored in an ammo can.

When its time to reload 1000 rounds the press gets set up like this:
Station 3 powder drop
Station 4: Powder cop
Station 5: Seat/Crimp

 

[pilotlight]

Looks like wet / SS media tumbling is popular around here.
I might have to have a go at that.

 

[jmorris]

I couldn't get over the small batches using wet SS, so I held out until I built a tumbler large enough to clean 1000's at a time.

 

[Rmeju]

Here's mine for rifle:

1. Dry tumble, but only when getting really dirty brass (new to me, range brass, picked up in a trade, etc.). If it's 1x fired from my own stuff, I skip this step.
2. Lube
3. Resize on SS or turret press
4. Case gauge
5. Wet tumble with stainless pins for a few to several hours, depending on whether the brass has only has a verified 1x firing since last firing.
6. Remove from the wet tumbler, and trim/chamfer/deburr (wet tumble removes the chamfer :banghead
7. Dry tumble, but only for about 5 mins to get the shavings out, and any remaining water out of the cases from the wet tumble
8. Load on my progressive. Because I've usually dry tumbled prior to this, and some media is in the primer pocket, my first station is a Lee universal decapper to get the media out. Prime, charge, seat, done.

Straight-wall pistol is much faster, easier, and less complicated:

1. Dry tumble
2. Load on the progressive: size, prime, charge, RCBS lockout die, seat, and (maybe) crimp

 

[rfwobbly]

• To me, the press helps define the reloading process.

• The big process "hiccup" for any bottle neck rifle cartridge is trimming. You can tumble before, during or after, but trimming MUST be done after sizing and before seating. Therefore, trimming becomes the limiting factor and should be your focal point.


► In an XL650 the case may need to come out of the press to be trimmed. This will force you to handle each case 2 times: once to get sized and another for the post-trimming priming and seating. Maybe a third if you count the act of trimming.

► In a 1050, you can fit the Dillon electric trimmer which allows in-press trimming. Now each case is only touched once during the reloading process. Tumbling clearly has to be moved to before (with fired primers in place) or after (with finished cartridges).

 

[jmorris]

I trim on a 650 and never have to touch a case (nor do I when annealing or loading on a 1050). However you do have to run them through the press twice and it doesn't matter if you have a 1050 or not. The 1050 while having 8 stations still does not have enough room to trim and load in one pass.

When I think "streamline" speed is what pops into my head. From that standpoint it has more to do with how you do it than what you do.

 

[dbarnhart]

The big process "hiccup" for any bottle neck rifle cartridge is trimming. You can tumble before, during or after, but trimming MUST be done after sizing and before seating.

Here's a blog post and video showing how I have the Dillon trimmer mounted on my Hornady LnL-AP:

http://www.shootandreload.com/2011/10/09/dillon-rt-1200-case-trimmer-on-a-hornady-lnl-ap-press/

 

[cfullgraf]

When I think "streamline" speed is what pops into my head. From that standpoint it has more to do with how you do it than what you do.

Efficiency would be a better term relating to "streamline" than speed. Frequently, one can slow a process down a bit and produce more pieces per hour when you figure in all of the non-productive time.

But, that relates to "how you do it" and not what.

If you can increase speed without losing efficiency, then you have something.

 

[jmorris]

Dbarnhart, your photo shows one reason why you can't trim and load in one pass. Although the trimmer only uses one station of the press it covers the holes of the two stations on either side as well.

Frequently, one can slow a process down a bit and produce more pieces per hour when you figure in all of the non-productive time.

But, that relates to "how you do it" and not what.

I think we are on the same page. Everyone from a single stage user to a Camdex user has to do the same process (the "what") but the how is what makes the difference in speed.

 

[RustyFN]

If you pre-processed your brass to the point of storing them in a big tupperware container all primed and ready to go, then dropping the powder and seating the bullet is much faster on a single stage press than going through all the unused stations of a progressive.

Wow you can load 600 rounds per hour on a single stage. That's really moving.

 

[dbarnhart]

Dbarnhart, your photo shows one reason why you can't trim and load in one pass. Although the trimmer only uses one station of the press it covers the holes of the two stations on either side as well.

True, but it also enables me to trim the brass without a separate trimming operation. The other thing to consider is how to get the lube off the brass after they've been sized. After the brass goes thru the process shown in the video I tumble them in corncob to clean the lube off. On new (to me) .223 and .308 brass there is also primer pocket swaging.

As a result, I've broken reloading into two 'phases'. The 'Case prep phase' is shown in the video. The prepped cases go into an ammo can and may sit on the shelf for several months before it is their turn to get loaded.

I go through about 1K rounds of .223 every ten weeks. By having the brass prepped ahead of time it makes the actual reloading go very quickly.

I'm starting to think about moving to just two reloading sessions per year, making 2-3K each of .45 and .223 per session. That was prompted by the fact that I also cast my own .45 projectiles and its just too dang hot here in AZ to cast in the summer. We'll see how it goes when I try it in October. I may end up adding a case feeder to my Hornady LnL.