New toys on the way

Ordered Lyman Universal Trimmer with Power adapter and Lee Precision Universal Press Shell Holder Set so that i can start checking and trimming all the rifle cases i have if they need it, cant wait to get these in the mail so i can mount the trimmer down and start ^_^

Better then first expectations

run at about 2hours 30mins first batch of thew new 20/40 corncob media with Dillon case polish, good results but odd finding, i guess i just haven't changed my media in a long time but seems like the case polish was trying to evaporate so whatever could got stuck to the roof of the tumbler

no before pic but they were still pretty ugly after sonic cleaning, now they are nice and shiny

New Tumbling media test

testing out new tumbling media i got at quite a deal, a bit concerned about the size and weight if its gonna do its job or not polishing,   First pic is the original stuff I've been using, Second pic is the new stuff  much smaller

Sad News

my reloading bench has been soaked a few times because the building that its in has a hole in the roof somewhere so all my papers, documents receipts, manuals have been soaked, the machines themselves were covered in XXL Ziploc baggies, none of the tools got damaged as far as I'm aware ill be looking over everything with a fine tooth comb soon,  the lee hand loader does have a bit of rust on it along with my universal de-primer,  which don't cost that much to replace

New toy ^_^

 Unboxing and setup picture i will include a more detailed picture of the feeding tube cause that was one thing that gave me a little bit of trouble, also the extension in the middle there is 10 1/2" i would recommend an extra support going off to the side cause its a bit wobbly 

115gr bullets weighed

a little disappointed in the variation of the weights of the bullets weighed out 103 bullets and here's my results 114.3-115.6 grains

2000 9mm 115gr FMJ-RN from Precision Delta

Got my order for 2000 9mm 115gr FMJ-RN from Precision Delta, haven't weighed any of them yet, that's the plan for tomorrow.

Reloading 100 rounds of 9mm in under 6mins

after loading 400 rounds i started this video because the machine seemed to be not messing up but things weren't quite right still as you can tell but this video proves that even with a few stops and halting the casefeed to finish the last few rounds you can do 1000 rounds an hour, if your set up with fully stocked primer tubes and someone to keep feeding cases and bullets into your tray/or bullet feeder, thinking about the bullet feeder soon ... really soon.

Picked up some Powder and primers

Drove up to my sort of local store, one that has some fairly cheap prices for powder and primers compared to Gander Mountain and my other local gun shops, its about a 45min drive and it probly saved me 70$, grabbed 4Lbs. of Alliant Power Pistol and 2000 CCI 500 Small Pistol Primers, just gonna be waiting to pick up some bullets till i can get a few more $$

reloading bench upgradeds and fixes.

So i wasn't able to add all the tools as of yet for what i wanted to reload, kinda ran short on money but its gonna be a process, parts here and there. but here is the main reloading bench cleaned up a bit with shelving and more stuff on the walls and off my reloading area, i did finally secure the bench to the wall with long screws so its going no where and the machine doesn't wiggle and runs a bit smoother

Here is beneath the reloading bench some brass a 40lb box of Blasting media when i run low of my current supply drop-shipped by Grainger from Drillspot.com

 

a few sorting buckets and storage of brass

now to whats on the bench :) 

Lyman Case Prep Xpress

Hornady Lock N Load Sonic Cleaner 2L, works pretty well, unless theres lots of corrosion then u just toss the brass which is coming up  :)

Lee Reloader Single Stage Press picked up with a universal decapping die and a couple extra pins had to make a few modifications to the bench to get this one to sit properly and not stop every couple times.

underside of the Lee Reloader single stage press hole for the primers to drop out of need to build a tray that will catch them and move them to a different location so they dont fall to the floor which will be coming in the near future.

Lyman Pro Magnum Turbo Tumbler 1200, works pretty well after i just now use it for polishing brass less energy consumption (1-2 hour polish run) then letting it try to run 8hrs cleaning brass and getting diddly for shininess.

this is my bad brass/ brass trimmings, drop funnel drops down into...

this bucket

 only a few ive had to toss cause of corrosion and just far too dented or crushed necks and any general damage that cant be repaired

and now we have my few add-ons to Dillons XL650 that seem to work pretty well, when i first started i lost 7 unused primers flying out of the drop tray here not cool, so i remedied that and started on the fix for the spent primer drop tube without modifying anything on the machine itself

i haven't had a snag or any primer that wont drop to this tube, if i get a roll on like depriming 1500 cases the tube does tend to fill up but a quick shake will stop that, planning on taping a straight pipe or rod at the bottom where the primers fall into the bucket below so theres no chance for catch and build up.

had to install a stainless steel roller on a bolt so that the hose wouldn't interfere with any of the other function of the machine like knock off the completed round box or get caught up in the handle area.

and that's where all my primers sit till I'm ready to melt them down gonna be test firing up the furnace that was built up a while ago see if it can still stand the heat and then torch some metal down

Questions comments? leave them here or Facebook  or Google+

Last of the 9mm bullets loaded need to order more

After loading 300 rounds starting on the next 100 the machine decided to stop ejecting completed bullets, after some bending of the ejector wire which took probably a good hour or so to get it to sit down on the plate properly again

that's about as good of a pic of it as i am going to get, this combination of bends seems to work flawlessly for the moment, but i have run out of bullets and primers to make more, maybe some different powder could be tried this time too.

More little addons to the machine

Needle Bearing and 2 washers for the shell-plate to move a bit smoother to stations

After you Add the Needle bearing and washers you have to modify the ejector wire that sits around the bolt head, otherwise the shell-plate will lock up trying to eject the finished ammunition or pop out of the hole and sit too close to the station one locator and stop new cases from entering which will cause a lock up as well. (Note: This combination of bends did not work but it was very close to being right, it is now right i will try to get a pic of it maybe with some measurements)

My 4$ solution to the powder bar adjustment, since home depot didn't have any that would directly fit over the 7/16 head.

Fast Delivery of replacement parts :P

Just got the replacement parts for the XL650 sent First Class Mail from Dillon

Wonderful people at Dillon

Called Dillon up after they finally E-mailed me back about the problems in the last post and told me to just call, getting replacement Station One locator and Casefeed Body Bushing,   and he is also sending me a black funnel to fit into the case funnel from the casefeeder, as far as i know there was no option to add this black funnel adapter when i ordered my machine in 9mm, but he says it will keep the cases going the right way.

Here's hoping!

Made a few rounds up

Still having issues with brass falling in upside down with the excessive shaking the machine does while reloading, which in turn is causing an indent in the station one locator where the brass slides into the shell-plate, Causing brass that falls correctly to stop and get crushed (which i have pictures of) as a quick fix i took a file and smoothed it out a bit.

Also while de-priming over 2000 cases of 9mm about 4-5 spent primers got through and moved onto the powder and primer area which caused the machine to freeze up a bit and bent the primer indexing arm up so it would stop prematurely and not move the plate properly to the next primer took about 5mins to figure that one out, called Dillon they are sending me a new one but i bent it back and it is working again, spring is a little tweaked but not really a big deal

 the last picture here is for the Tumbling media that falls out if there is any left in the primer pockets, made quite the mess on my reloading table before i realized where it was coming from. just a quick crude plastic measuring cup cut to fit around the casefeed mounting pipe, i will redo this when i come up with a better solution.
That's it for now till i can get the videos up.

As Requested a drive by of Dillon Precision

stopped by the nice people at Dillon and discussed my machine running a bit weird and they gave me a free powder funnel to see if that would help my problem, i have yet to try it because I've no time since i got back

Brackenridge shooting range

Kind of like a small shooting range around San Antonio and the counter to pay for shooting is a mini camper,  I was scared for my safety and I shot like a bullet a second and he claimed I was shooting 5 bullets every 2 seconds, we got kicked out after my buddy chuck actually rapid fired and then he was looking for any excuse to boot us.

Getting Closer to that magical day

Soon... I'll be able to be in the warm weather around the Dillon people :)

Fun Day Shooting FN Herstal SCAR 17S 7.62x51

Some friends decided to come over and show me a Shiny new gun, The FN SCAR 17S 7.62x51