Bulk 223 case prep, how you guys doin it?
- Thread starter VinnyQC
- Start date
That would help a LOT if you described your setup.
Correct me if I'm wrong but if cases are sized equal there should not be inconsistency in trim length with these trimmers.
I don't shoot or reload enough to justify a giraud (yet lol) or similar so no first hand experience but I've seen some youtube videos of the Giraud Tri Way mounted on
bada$$ motors where the trimming result was shown with a digital caliper and the random 5 or so cases that were measured were all spot on.
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Buying it pre-prepped isn't case prep it's just buying brass.
There really isn't any real short cuts without spending money on equipment that will speed things up.
I'm very curious to hear how coreyd does 400 pieces in 14 min. I'm calling BS unless he's not trimming or has some pretty expensive equipment.
I'm guessing spray lube or paste lube in a bucket then shake before throwing it into a hopper fed press station like a Dillon 650 or 1050 with a trimmer stage.
I'd love a 650 or 1050 but just haven't been able to talk myself into spending that much money yet.
I can see how people get varying trimmed length with the WFT. I have one and have been processing 223 for the last few days. The WFT trims the neck until the shoulder for the brass meets up with the shoulder in the trimmer. If anything gets between that gap, it won't trim far enough. If you have the trimmer set horizontal, you can get brass shavings into that gap pretty easily. This changes the shoulder to case neck length and can result up to 0.010" differences. When set up vertically, at least the shavings are discarded nicely so that this doesn't happen. Overall variation out of 100 pieces that have all been FL sized is 1.745" +/- 0.001". More than good enough for bulk ammo processing.
Am I on your ignore list?post 21.
So, dillon trimmer. I'll check that. Can it be used on any press or does it 100% requires a dillon?
BlackSheepBrass
Regular
- Location
- Cobourg, Ontario
It can be used on any press that accepts standard dies.
Unfortunately costs to go fast increase exponentially onces you start moving north of 1,000 pieces processed per hour. I saw mention that I can run 5,000 an hour, this is a bit optimistic. My camdex runs at 3,100 per our and net yield is probably 2,800 per hour. The camdex itself is not the expensive part necessarily. It is all the support pieces that allow you to keep it fed with good brass 8 hours a day.
Unfortunately costs to go fast increase exponentially onces you start moving north of 1,000 pieces processed per hour. I saw mention that I can run 5,000 an hour, this is a bit optimistic. My camdex runs at 3,100 per our and net yield is probably 2,800 per hour. The camdex itself is not the expensive part necessarily. It is all the support pieces that allow you to keep it fed with good brass 8 hours a day.
You can use it on pretty much any press. You get the most benefit if you have a case prep tool head on a progressive though. Lots of youtube videos. Like I said, expensive and not worth it unless you a) really like reloading or b) do a lot of reloading. In addition to that I know I can turn 99% of the range brass I pickup into perfect ammo with my setup.
I just checked a few videos, seems interesting in the ~400$ range, kinda like what I want to make with my Lee quick trim, but professionally made instead of DIY.
Which calibre dies are available? I see the usual (223, 308, 30-06), but does dillon makes less common stuff like 7x57 and 300wsm?
Yeah, I just threw a number.
I know in the price-speed-quality-triangle, you can only get 2, if that. I'm trying to figure where each product fit.
I find that to do bulk loading and keep my sanity and because I have a good deal of .223 brass (15,000-20,000 pieces) I need the space and the storage capacity to complete it, and keep clear delineation of where it is at each step of the way.
Everyone’s idea of bulk loading is going to be different but this is how I accomplish it:
Stage 0: Range brass comes home usually in the big zip lock freezer bags. Chuck them into one generic 5 gallon pale. If there is mud or snow on them, they get chucked loose onto a colander that sits on the top of the bucket and the schmutz can sift through for later disposal.
Stage 1: All of my brass is broken down into 5 gallon pales for specific calibers. My precision stuff is treated differently. Rough cull of split cases, caliber, steel cases etc. At this stage.
Stage 2: Fired dirty cases go into either the walnut tumbler or wet tumbler, depending on amount of dirt and crud I’m dealing with.
From the tumbler they are stored in other plastic Tupperware containers and sprayed with a lanolin case lube.
Stage 3: cleaned, lubed cases are deprimed and then full length sized. I use a Dillon 650 with a dedicated die holder only holding a universal decapper and then a sizer die. They then go into the ‘sized cases’ container.
Stage 4: go back into tumbler for cleaning of lanolin. Another container labelled ‘sized, cleaned cases’. I keep another labelled ‘sized, cleaned, require swaging’ For any that require primer pocket swaging.
Stage 5: Giraud trimmer for trim and chamfer then breaking down into headstamps kept in containers labelled ‘cleaned, sized, trimmed - ready to load (with manufacture).
Manufacturers that I keep separate as I have enough of each to bother with separating:
- IVI
- Lake City
- Winchester
- GP90
I keep another generic mixed head stamp container for plinking ammo.
Loading is typically done in 1000 round lots as that is what can fit into a large ammo can loose.
So usually when I find time to putter in the loading room, I’ll pick one of the stages and just do that aspect for 20min. To a couple of hours. If I don’t have around a thousand pieces in each stage I won’t bother with it until I do.
I like to load in the spring so most case prep happens in the winter when it is either too cold or it’s a lazy day around the house.
Most loading is done again on the 650 (either bulk ball powder drop right on the machine or I have another die holder whereby I move powder dropping off of the machine).
I still sometimes use the rockchucker for small lots (like load workup).
Everyone’s idea of bulk loading is going to be different but this is how I accomplish it:
Stage 0: Range brass comes home usually in the big zip lock freezer bags. Chuck them into one generic 5 gallon pale. If there is mud or snow on them, they get chucked loose onto a colander that sits on the top of the bucket and the schmutz can sift through for later disposal.
Stage 1: All of my brass is broken down into 5 gallon pales for specific calibers. My precision stuff is treated differently. Rough cull of split cases, caliber, steel cases etc. At this stage.
Stage 2: Fired dirty cases go into either the walnut tumbler or wet tumbler, depending on amount of dirt and crud I’m dealing with.
From the tumbler they are stored in other plastic Tupperware containers and sprayed with a lanolin case lube.
Stage 3: cleaned, lubed cases are deprimed and then full length sized. I use a Dillon 650 with a dedicated die holder only holding a universal decapper and then a sizer die. They then go into the ‘sized cases’ container.
Stage 4: go back into tumbler for cleaning of lanolin. Another container labelled ‘sized, cleaned cases’. I keep another labelled ‘sized, cleaned, require swaging’ For any that require primer pocket swaging.
Stage 5: Giraud trimmer for trim and chamfer then breaking down into headstamps kept in containers labelled ‘cleaned, sized, trimmed - ready to load (with manufacture).
Manufacturers that I keep separate as I have enough of each to bother with separating:
- IVI
- Lake City
- Winchester
- GP90
I keep another generic mixed head stamp container for plinking ammo.
Loading is typically done in 1000 round lots as that is what can fit into a large ammo can loose.
So usually when I find time to putter in the loading room, I’ll pick one of the stages and just do that aspect for 20min. To a couple of hours. If I don’t have around a thousand pieces in each stage I won’t bother with it until I do.
I like to load in the spring so most case prep happens in the winter when it is either too cold or it’s a lazy day around the house.
Most loading is done again on the 650 (either bulk ball powder drop right on the machine or I have another die holder whereby I move powder dropping off of the machine).
I still sometimes use the rockchucker for small lots (like load workup).
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I do brass stuff very similar to beltfed. Bulk brass is in garage in orange home depot 5g pails. Sorted dirty brass goes into labelled blue lowes 5g pails. Intermediate brass (such as "Initial wash 223") goes into labelled black princess auto 5g pails. Cleaned brass ready to load used to go into labelled white home hardware 5g pails but I have recently switched to 2g home depot pails because they finally have lids for them in Canada now and they don't weigh 100+ pounds when full.
I'm a little late to the game on this post but this is what i do for my 223 resizing that's very similar to what beltfed does.
Wet tumble 1 hour, dry in dehydrator for a coupe hours
Lube with home made liquid lanolin alcohol spray.
I use my Dillon 650 with one tool head just containing full length resizing die. Load cases in case feeder and cycle brass until complete.
Cull out any split necks, damaged/ deformed cases etc.
Trim using worlds finest trimmer 2 with 223 insert in drill press
(If processing match ammo i chamfer/debur case mouth)
Back into wet tumbler 3 hours (for plinking ammo this cleans up the case mouth good enough for fmj bullets) and dry in dehydrator for a few hours
Load case feeder and use the second tool head with empty 1st station, prime, powder die, powder check, bullet seater and crimping die.
This has worked very well for me to process large amounts of brass. I also break it down into individual steps to break up the monotony of loading bulk ammo. I'm running cfe223 powder. It meters perfectly down to the last load.
I also don't deal with crimped brass. I collect it but its not worth the headache in my opinion.
Wet tumble 1 hour, dry in dehydrator for a coupe hours
Lube with home made liquid lanolin alcohol spray.
I use my Dillon 650 with one tool head just containing full length resizing die. Load cases in case feeder and cycle brass until complete.
Cull out any split necks, damaged/ deformed cases etc.
Trim using worlds finest trimmer 2 with 223 insert in drill press
(If processing match ammo i chamfer/debur case mouth)
Back into wet tumbler 3 hours (for plinking ammo this cleans up the case mouth good enough for fmj bullets) and dry in dehydrator for a few hours
Load case feeder and use the second tool head with empty 1st station, prime, powder die, powder check, bullet seater and crimping die.
This has worked very well for me to process large amounts of brass. I also break it down into individual steps to break up the monotony of loading bulk ammo. I'm running cfe223 powder. It meters perfectly down to the last load.
I also don't deal with crimped brass. I collect it but its not worth the headache in my opinion.
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