well not really a rant on the system, just some venting...So Im neck deep in my 3rd of 5 5gal buckets of 5.56. I'm resizing/deprimming the brass with one tool head, pull the brass off and swage if needed, clean, then on to the Giraud for trimming. Im doing it in batches of 5 gal buckets. As I said im on my 3rd bucket, rocking along with no problems whatsoever and all of a sudden the decapper pin breaks. Now if I was a thinking man, I would have had about 10 on hand and just a quick swap out and I would have been back in business. Well im not a thinking man so I pick up the phone and call dillon. Backordered! Are you f-ing kidding me! Decapper pins of all things. As if its not enough that you cant get bullets, powder, primers, magazines, or even the guns to make it all come together, now I cant even get decapper pins! Serenity NOW! Well I placed an order for 5 of them and they will come when the dillon ferries are satisfied with my offering. In the meantime I moved the resizing die to station 4 and I am using a Lee universal decapping die in station 1. I reinserted the broke decapping pin in the die just so the ball bearing would open up the case mouth. This is working but it is painfully slow. I cannot get the case to line up with the lee die as it is going into it. I have to manually wiggle the case as I am bringing the case in to get it in. If I hurry, the case gets dinged and is destroyed. Well, I know what I am going to be doing all night. The same thing I've been doing the last 3 nights now. I guess I cant be too pissed, I got 20 PMAGS and 10 Glock 21 mags I ordered Dec 15th in the mail today. I guess that makes me part of the problem though. Ok, rant over
650 XL rant
- Thread starter Munson
- Start date
Re: 650 XL rant
While I can understand your frustration (after all we live in a immediate gratification society), you must have known you were going to be going through these 5 gallon bucket at some time, right? I break pins every 3-4K on pistol, but every 2K or so on rifle (damn those pesky berdan primers). Put a WTB over in the classifieds and maybe you will get lucky. Each 5 gallon bucket should hold around 7K per, right?
While I can understand your frustration (after all we live in a immediate gratification society), you must have known you were going to be going through these 5 gallon bucket at some time, right? I break pins every 3-4K on pistol, but every 2K or so on rifle (damn those pesky berdan primers). Put a WTB over in the classifieds and maybe you will get lucky. Each 5 gallon bucket should hold around 7K per, right?
Re: 650 XL rant
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Gimpy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You could always find someone here to process it for you with a 1050. I ordered my pins 2 weeks ago and they shipped today. </div></div>
I would love to get a 1050. I usually save up alot of the brass and do a big push once a year and get it all loaded up. A 1050 would be a huge time saver...maybe in the future. Good to hear that it only took 2 weeks, but the job should be done by then.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Gimpy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You could always find someone here to process it for you with a 1050. I ordered my pins 2 weeks ago and they shipped today. </div></div>
I would love to get a 1050. I usually save up alot of the brass and do a big push once a year and get it all loaded up. A 1050 would be a huge time saver...maybe in the future. Good to hear that it only took 2 weeks, but the job should be done by then.
Re: 650 XL rant
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 280nosler</div><div class="ubbcode-body">While I can understand your frustration (after all we live in a immediate gratification society), you must have known you were going to be going through these 5 gallon bucket at some time, right? I break pins every 3-4K on pistol, but every 2K or so on rifle (damn those pesky berdan primers). Put a WTB over in the classifieds and maybe you will get lucky. Each 5 gallon bucket should hold around 7K per, right? </div></div>
I've been real lucky with this decapping pin. Its only my second one and its been good (was good!)for almost 10K rounds.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 280nosler</div><div class="ubbcode-body">While I can understand your frustration (after all we live in a immediate gratification society), you must have known you were going to be going through these 5 gallon bucket at some time, right? I break pins every 3-4K on pistol, but every 2K or so on rifle (damn those pesky berdan primers). Put a WTB over in the classifieds and maybe you will get lucky. Each 5 gallon bucket should hold around 7K per, right? </div></div>
I've been real lucky with this decapping pin. Its only my second one and its been good (was good!)for almost 10K rounds.
Re: 650 XL rant
What about running the brass first through the Lee decapping die in station 1 for all your cases, then remove that and reinsert the sizing die sans pin (or not) and operate as you normally would.
It's an extra pull, but probably less frustrating?
Chris
What about running the brass first through the Lee decapping die in station 1 for all your cases, then remove that and reinsert the sizing die sans pin (or not) and operate as you normally would.
It's an extra pull, but probably less frustrating?
Chris
Re: 650 XL rant
im decapping in station 1, resizing in station 4, im just using the broken decapping pin to open the case mouth more. I dont know if they are all like this, but the dillon decapping pin has a ball bearing on it that opens up the case mouth to put a new bullet in easier. I finally gave up last night with about 500 rounds left. It was getting too painful using the lee decapping die. I'll just wait until i get the dillon part back and reload what i have processed so far
im decapping in station 1, resizing in station 4, im just using the broken decapping pin to open the case mouth more. I dont know if they are all like this, but the dillon decapping pin has a ball bearing on it that opens up the case mouth to put a new bullet in easier. I finally gave up last night with about 500 rounds left. It was getting too painful using the lee decapping die. I'll just wait until i get the dillon part back and reload what i have processed so far
Re: 650 XL rant
Interesting.
Traditionally, I've not reloaded 223, except for my service rifle. However, I've recently found motivation to start reloading my 223 brass into useable 55 and 62gr plinking ammo.
After about 5k cycles through my 650, I had tweaked my Redding decapping pin about a dozen times. I had "straightened" it each time, but it was getting long in the tooth and resembled a swizzle stick. Generally speaking, I would have been using my Lee universal decapper but I couldn't find it when I set up my toolhead, so I was just rocking the Redding.
Anyway, I was forced to retire the Redding stem, and therefore, was forced to find the Lee universal. After putting the Lee in, other than slipping the stem a handful of times on off-center flash holes (the cause of bending my Redding stem), I had zero issue whatsoever.
I have the Lee in station one, the Redding FLS die with stem/expander removed in station 2, and a Sinclair expander mandrel in station 3. Stations 4 and 5 are empty (but SHOULD have a Dillon trimmer!!!!).
Interesting.
Traditionally, I've not reloaded 223, except for my service rifle. However, I've recently found motivation to start reloading my 223 brass into useable 55 and 62gr plinking ammo.
After about 5k cycles through my 650, I had tweaked my Redding decapping pin about a dozen times. I had "straightened" it each time, but it was getting long in the tooth and resembled a swizzle stick. Generally speaking, I would have been using my Lee universal decapper but I couldn't find it when I set up my toolhead, so I was just rocking the Redding.
Anyway, I was forced to retire the Redding stem, and therefore, was forced to find the Lee universal. After putting the Lee in, other than slipping the stem a handful of times on off-center flash holes (the cause of bending my Redding stem), I had zero issue whatsoever.
I have the Lee in station one, the Redding FLS die with stem/expander removed in station 2, and a Sinclair expander mandrel in station 3. Stations 4 and 5 are empty (but SHOULD have a Dillon trimmer!!!!).
Re: 650 XL rant
I ordered 2 new tool heads and two caliber conversions more than a month ago. Called them and wait 24 minutes to talk with someone. Was told they would ship in a couple of days, which was three weeks ago. Sucks when panic takes place, scary when people that are scared decide to try reloading for the first time.
I ordered 2 new tool heads and two caliber conversions more than a month ago. Called them and wait 24 minutes to talk with someone. Was told they would ship in a couple of days, which was three weeks ago. Sucks when panic takes place, scary when people that are scared decide to try reloading for the first time.
Re: 650 XL rant
Your the luckiest man alive, to have that much .223 brass to begin with. Quit bitching. Haha.
Your the luckiest man alive, to have that much .223 brass to begin with. Quit bitching. Haha.
Re: 650 XL rant
The problem you described is why I chose NOT to get a Giraud. I went instead with a Rapid trim and use a Lee universal de-priming die. Sta 1 for the de-priming and station 4 for the sizing and trimming. A sinclair expander die in Station 5 and the cases are ready to be reloaded. As long as I keep the cutter bit rotated to a sharp edge and replace as needed there's no burr inside or out on the case neck. The expander die also makes sure I have uniform neck tension. One pull of the handle and a de-primed, sized, trimmed, and expanded case falls out. If my arm holds up my Press monitor shows a "rate per hour" approaching 1,000.
I've bent more than a few depriming pins over the last 35 years but not one of them was a Lee, especially on the universal die. Hit a Berdan Primer, the rod just slides up. Reset and move on.
The problem you described is why I chose NOT to get a Giraud. I went instead with a Rapid trim and use a Lee universal de-priming die. Sta 1 for the de-priming and station 4 for the sizing and trimming. A sinclair expander die in Station 5 and the cases are ready to be reloaded. As long as I keep the cutter bit rotated to a sharp edge and replace as needed there's no burr inside or out on the case neck. The expander die also makes sure I have uniform neck tension. One pull of the handle and a de-primed, sized, trimmed, and expanded case falls out. If my arm holds up my Press monitor shows a "rate per hour" approaching 1,000.
I've bent more than a few depriming pins over the last 35 years but not one of them was a Lee, especially on the universal die. Hit a Berdan Primer, the rod just slides up. Reset and move on.
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