I've always done it on a single stage press, now I am planning to feed a couple of AR's and have decided to move to a progressive, is it doable and which one would someone recomend. I don't mind spending some $$$, I would rather buy once/ cry once than have to do it twice. Thanks.
223 on a progressive
- Thread starter rifleman338
- Start date
As for which press, it's something of a religious war.
Having said that, here is a comparison of the most common progressives:
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127691
And you can see a fully-kitted progressive doing high-speed (volume, not precision) .223 loading here:
[youtube]wBQ_vJHiGek[/youtube]
Nothing beats on-press trimming for speed.
Does someone make a carbide die for 223 or are you still lubing? What about cleaning off the lube? I feel like an idiot asking these questions (this coming from a guy that has probably loads 2000 + rounds a year on a single stage press, for the last 10 years) Thanks.
Dillon make a carbide die that I strongly recommend, but it does still need lube.
A very light misting with the Dillon pump spray lube is enough.
The price is fine. The 2000 is somewhat of an orphan. Not a huge following, but if it floats your boat.
There are many options from 300$ to 2000+$.
it just depends how much you want to spend.
Personally im buying the lee load master. it works fine. Some people will tell you its ####. Its just like guys with mercedes telling you a toyota is ####.... whatever. this discussion leads nowhere. I got all lee stuff and it all works #1.
My suggestion is get a lee if you want the best deal for the buck, and I guess get a dillon if you want to pay the price for it, I am sure it's "more convenient", it's just more expensive.
it just depends how much you want to spend.
Personally im buying the lee load master. it works fine. Some people will tell you its ####. Its just like guys with mercedes telling you a toyota is ####.... whatever. this discussion leads nowhere. I got all lee stuff and it all works #1.
My suggestion is get a lee if you want the best deal for the buck, and I guess get a dillon if you want to pay the price for it, I am sure it's "more convenient", it's just more expensive.
Watch the video I posted. Basically, you tumble.
- Location
- Fort St John BC
that 223 video is excellent its going to cost me some money but will hopfully speed things up
See my post about setting up the trimmer on a Dillon. I use an RCBS lube die in station 1, full body sizing die in Station 2 and trimmer in 4.
Each pull of the handle is a fully decapped, lubed, sized and trimmed case. Absolutely rocks!
Run once through whatever you use to clean (I use ultrasonic at the moment) then load away with another tool head setup for .223 (no sizing die required).
---
Any yes I agree with the rest, if you have the cash, Dillon 1050 or 650 is the way to go.
Cheers
Tim
Each pull of the handle is a fully decapped, lubed, sized and trimmed case. Absolutely rocks!
Run once through whatever you use to clean (I use ultrasonic at the moment) then load away with another tool head setup for .223 (no sizing die required).
---
Any yes I agree with the rest, if you have the cash, Dillon 1050 or 650 is the way to go.
Cheers
Tim
Nice video. I know the taller ad-ons will wobble but man o man... it looks like the entire base and all are shaking!!! I'd hate to see you try and do .338LM on that with all that wobble!
As for a machine no doubt the 5 position auto everything are sweet. Personally I was in the same boat years ago. I went middle of the road with a Dillon 550B and never looked back. It is ROCK SOLID. Many of the add-ons (case feeders auto trim etc) are available for it too but I don't mind a little manual input. I'd just as soon spend the extra $$$ on more components. Can't speak on the hornady but I like the tool head set-up dillon offers too on all their machines. Easy caliber swap with no adjustment change.
Regards,
As for a machine no doubt the 5 position auto everything are sweet. Personally I was in the same boat years ago. I went middle of the road with a Dillon 550B and never looked back. It is ROCK SOLID. Many of the add-ons (case feeders auto trim etc) are available for it too but I don't mind a little manual input. I'd just as soon spend the extra $$$ on more components. Can't speak on the hornady but I like the tool head set-up dillon offers too on all their machines. Easy caliber swap with no adjustment change.
Regards,
Hotwheels81
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- South of GP
Hmmmm... Another one of these threads 
Let's have a practical look at loading .223...
The issues we all have with volume loading are easily overcome with time and/or money, when your faced with reloading 4000+ rounds a year think about this....
#1 swageing primer pockets:
95% of the .223 brass I have put my hands on has a crimped primer, infact I sell most of my commercial brass and buy Mil just for the simple reason of knowing what to expect with every piece!
There are many options for getting rid of that pesky crimp
drill and chamfer tool, RCBS swager die, sharp knife etc etc
The common thread with all options is time, every time you add another step where you handle all your cases your adding time... I can run a single case thru my dillon super swager in 5 seconds...
That's
12 cases per min
120 cases per 10min
720 cases per hour
4,320 cases per 6hr's
....not counting time spent moving brass in the bins, refilling beer, counting the holes in my peg board on the back of my bench....
The 1050 does it every time you pull the handle and costs $2000
The super swager is $120
Feeding the beast:
The 650 needs a case feeder So does the Hornady LNL AP, Lee LM, RCBS etc etc.
My local shop wants $350 for a LNL case feeder, $280 for the dillon unit, Lee comes with manually filled drop tubes, RCBS?
Dillon 1050 includes the case feed for $2000
Dillon 650 $650 + case feeder =$920 + $120 for swager =$1040
LNL AP $450 + $350 =$800 + swager $920
Lee $300... Wow for that price it's a steal!... Too bad it's a piece of crap.
Trimming:
Don't for even 1 second think you can live without the dillon case trimmer, no matter the press you run you NEED one unless the skin on your fingers is akin to rawhide and you enjoy painfully slow tasks...
Dillon RT 1200 trimmer with .223 die =$400
Misc:
RCBS lube die, Powder cop die, roller handle, strong mount, caliber conversion's, primer tubes, Hornady die lock rings.... You will never be done buying gimmmicky toys.
Best allow another $500... It will get you started anyway.
Components:
With a big hungry press comes a whole new shopping experiance, Expect to buy bullets minamum 1000 at a time, powder should be purchased by the box not by the pound, primers are more affordable in 10,000 lot's, Mil cases are $80 per thousand thru most site sponsors...
Powder 7lb's WC735 from Higgs, $140
Primers $30 per 1000
Cases $80 per 1000
Bullets $110 per 1000
The moral of the story? When you add it all up the press is the cheap part...
For .223 nothing beats the 1050... It's what it was designed for!
Cost recovery on a fine machine like the 1050 is double that of the 650 when you reuse your brass.
.223 rem commercial Ammo is around $350 per thousand rite now
If you can take advantage of bulk purchases you will get your reload cost to around $200 per thousand, with a $150 savings per thousand x4000 rnds per year =$600yr your looking at around 6yrs to actually recoupe your investment on a 1050 loading .223 with the other time saving equipment you will need... If however you shoot lots of pistol ammo or .308 you could shorten up that 6yr period a lot however you must again add in caliber conversions.
The dillon rule
Super 1050 is for people who reload 10,500ish rnd's per year
XL 650 is for people who reload 6,500ish rnd's per year
RL550 is for people who reload 5,500ish rnd's per year
This is all just one guys opinion of course, I really have no clue about reloading .223 I just hangout on the forum and
Clear as mud?
Good!
Let's have a practical look at loading .223...
The issues we all have with volume loading are easily overcome with time and/or money, when your faced with reloading 4000+ rounds a year think about this....
#1 swageing primer pockets:
95% of the .223 brass I have put my hands on has a crimped primer, infact I sell most of my commercial brass and buy Mil just for the simple reason of knowing what to expect with every piece!
There are many options for getting rid of that pesky crimp
drill and chamfer tool, RCBS swager die, sharp knife etc etc
The common thread with all options is time, every time you add another step where you handle all your cases your adding time... I can run a single case thru my dillon super swager in 5 seconds...
That's
12 cases per min
120 cases per 10min
720 cases per hour
4,320 cases per 6hr's
....not counting time spent moving brass in the bins, refilling beer, counting the holes in my peg board on the back of my bench....
The 1050 does it every time you pull the handle and costs $2000
The super swager is $120
Feeding the beast:
The 650 needs a case feeder So does the Hornady LNL AP, Lee LM, RCBS etc etc.
My local shop wants $350 for a LNL case feeder, $280 for the dillon unit, Lee comes with manually filled drop tubes, RCBS?
Dillon 1050 includes the case feed for $2000
Dillon 650 $650 + case feeder =$920 + $120 for swager =$1040
LNL AP $450 + $350 =$800 + swager $920
Lee $300... Wow for that price it's a steal!... Too bad it's a piece of crap.
Trimming:
Don't for even 1 second think you can live without the dillon case trimmer, no matter the press you run you NEED one unless the skin on your fingers is akin to rawhide and you enjoy painfully slow tasks...
Dillon RT 1200 trimmer with .223 die =$400
Misc:
RCBS lube die, Powder cop die, roller handle, strong mount, caliber conversion's, primer tubes, Hornady die lock rings.... You will never be done buying gimmmicky toys.
Best allow another $500... It will get you started anyway.
Components:
With a big hungry press comes a whole new shopping experiance, Expect to buy bullets minamum 1000 at a time, powder should be purchased by the box not by the pound, primers are more affordable in 10,000 lot's, Mil cases are $80 per thousand thru most site sponsors...
Powder 7lb's WC735 from Higgs, $140
Primers $30 per 1000
Cases $80 per 1000
Bullets $110 per 1000
The moral of the story? When you add it all up the press is the cheap part...
For .223 nothing beats the 1050... It's what it was designed for!
Cost recovery on a fine machine like the 1050 is double that of the 650 when you reuse your brass.
.223 rem commercial Ammo is around $350 per thousand rite now
If you can take advantage of bulk purchases you will get your reload cost to around $200 per thousand, with a $150 savings per thousand x4000 rnds per year =$600yr your looking at around 6yrs to actually recoupe your investment on a 1050 loading .223 with the other time saving equipment you will need... If however you shoot lots of pistol ammo or .308 you could shorten up that 6yr period a lot however you must again add in caliber conversions.
The dillon rule
Super 1050 is for people who reload 10,500ish rnd's per year
XL 650 is for people who reload 6,500ish rnd's per year
RL550 is for people who reload 5,500ish rnd's per year
This is all just one guys opinion of course, I really have no clue about reloading .223 I just hangout on the forum and
Clear as mud?
Good!
Mauser GDog
CGN frequent flyer
Hotwheels81, thanks for taking the time with that post, very helpful.
Hotwheels81
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- South of GP
Yer welcome
