If u were to buy all new reloading gear

F

frank the tank

New member
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
Alberta
Hi
I started reloading not too long ago(500 round) with a hornady reloading kit. But now I want more consistency accuracy and reload faster. What would u get for new gear to improve accuracy and reload faster?
Case trimmer could be Giraud
Powder dispenser scale could be rbcs chargemaster 1500, but can’t find, not sure if accurate enough
Press...I have hornady single stage, might be good enough
Something to clean primer pocket flash hole
Die to be Redding Competion
I will reload from 223 to 338 Lapua , 300 win mag being the most important.
Please let me know what u think I should get or share experience with Simla gear.
Thx
Frank
 
I've been reloading for 25 plus years on single stage presses, and it's fine. But... Ive really been looking hard at the Dillon 650xl progressive. It looks amazing. I can do a little over 100 rounds per hr manual but to be able to do up to 600 or 700 per hr wow.

I will say that my single stage is nice on days where I just want to relax and make ammo, not caring how many I make. The Dillon press is a pile of money but that's my next one for sure.

My opinion
Corey
 
DILLIGAF said:
Dillon
Click to expand...

don't you have Hornady?

Hornady all the way for the last 30 years, with new 3d printed items I increased my output to 900-1000 rounds pistol an hour.

I remember loading for my BB course eons ago, 2 of us took 2 hours to load 300 rounds overnight for the course after the first day.
 
Dillon progressive . I have a 550,I purchased used. once setup it runs with both volume and accuracy. I also have an RCBS RC IV , great piece of work but slower than i would prefer when rolling pistol and .223.
 
frank the tank said:
Hi
I started reloading not too long ago(500 round) with a hornady reloading kit. But now I want more consistency accuracy and reload faster. What would u get for new gear to improve accuracy and reload faster?
Case trimmer could be Giraud
Powder dispenser scale could be rbcs chargemaster 1500, but can’t find, not sure if accurate enough
Press...I have hornady single stage, might be good enough
Something to clean primer pocket flash hole
Die to be Redding Competion
I will reload from 223 to 338 Lapua , 300 win mag being the most important.
Please let me know what u think I should get or share experience with Simla gear.
Thx
Frank
Click to expand...

Accuracy is about 75% operator technique and 25% equipment. Are you saying you've maxed out the accuracy potential of your current equipment?
 
IMHO the Chargemaster 1500 is not consistently accurate to 0.1 of a grain. I use mine to throw the main charge, put it on a Redding beam scale and tweak from there if I am doing PR loads. It is however more consistent than a powder thrower type measure.
I've used various cast trimming do dads over the years. I have about $1000 invested in trimming do dads. The Giraud trimmer in the drill press works for me for the 2 calibres I load the most.
It doesn't matter how fancy a progressive you get. You will always have use for a single stage press. I have the Hornady lock and load progressive, and still use the RCBS single stage mounted beside it for less often loaded calibers. In fact, except for pistol ammo, I don't use the progressive as a progressive.
 
A progressive is fine for loading competition quantities of ammo. such as clays, 3 gun, IPSC and the like, where you need to practice a lot and will need quantity over bughole quality. Not that quality can't be had from them, but to an extent, it defeats itself, and is a bit harder to do on a progressive.
For precision, you can likely get that out of your existing press, and maybe even your existing dies, just not necessarily the quantity at one sitting. At this point you are better off to use a concentricity gauge and comparators and trickler and scale to learn about how to achieve the quality needed, you may well find you don't need high priced dies and all the high end exotic tools to accomplish that. It may be that your gun or you needs some work yet, one may take some money to solve, the other takes practice and discipline to learn bench techniques and self awareness of procedures and routine, or stances and muscle control and strategy on a 3gun range or training your mind towards a goal in competition. Expensive equipment is no guarantee of success in competition, it has its place, but can all be defeated by one wrong gust of wind, a wrong timed thought or move on your part, or someone else's inattentiveness to a detail on doing a job for you.
 
I prefer Redding bushing dies and Lee Collet dies. I use a Redding ultra mag press. A gem pro scale and I use a mini lathe to prep my brass. Annealing is also a very important step to add to your reloading regiment.
 
I'm still using the RCBS Rockchucker press I bought in 1973, the biggest speed increase was when I bought a RCBS Chargemaster Combo.

I have no problems with the accuracy of the Chargemaster and its powder charges. But I'm not shooting from 600 to 1000 yards or checking the case capacity of every case either.

That is why they sell smaller check weights if you want to double check the Charge master after using the calibration weights that came with it.

And for very low case neck runout Forster benchrest full length dies will be a big improvement in making very concentric cases.

I'm retired with nothing to do and all day to do it, so my Rockchucker press is fast enough.
 
Rifle 1000 yards competition ammo is reloaded on Dillon. Thats good enough for me. Been using a Dillon 550B since 1983 and a XL650 for the last 5 years. You can install the new Redding competition dies - be rifle or pistol on it. I also use the Unitek head clamping kit. That remove any play if any in the tool head.

If you want to reload both - rifle and pistol - I would go for a 550C since it take more effort to switch caliber on the 650.

But all this is conditional that you need now or will need an outpout of 300-600 + rounds an hour.
 
I'm still very happy with my Rockchucker.

Upgraded with Hornady Lock N' Load quick change bushings and Inline Fabrication Stand w/ Bins and Auto Eject system. Its very fast for a single stage. As I'm lowering the ram with one hand I'm already grabbing the next case with the other. Coupled with the RCBS Chargemaster Lite its a very comfortable setup for me.

1zlu3uu.jpg
 
I don't think I'd have anything different than I do now. A Dillon 650 is "###ier" than my Hornady L'n'L AP, but I haven't seen anything that suggests to me it's worth the extra money.
 
Turkinator said:
I'm still very happy with my Rockchucker.

Upgraded with Hornady Lock N' Load quick change bushings and Inline Fabrication Stand w/ Bins and Auto Eject system. Its very fast for a single stage. As I'm lowering the ram with one hand I'm already grabbing the next case with the other. Coupled with the RCBS Chargemaster Lite its a very comfortable setup for me.

1zlu3uu.jpg
Click to expand...

Now to hijack the thread, but I've never seen that auto eject system. I'm intruiged.. Going on there website, it doesn't seem to be a terrible price, except the ridiculous $34 USD shipping. You get it directly from them or is there somewhere already in Canada to find it?
 
Ok
Is a beam scale the way to go to be very accurate with powder? Or any other electronic scale would work?
Again for precision shooting, would u reload with single stage? Or with Dillon 650?
Thx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom