Dillon RL1100 or Mark 7 Apex

[ICU22250]

So the Dillon 9mm hold down die, in theory, expands the case. In reality it doesn't do a good job. An expander die isn't going to hold down the case enough to swage IMO, but my understanding is that Fast and Friendly Brass makes a really good replacement hold down die for the Dillon that both holds down and expands the mouth perfectly. I have not tried it, though. All of their products I have tried have been very good.

Thank you sir, looking into it now.

 

[Choid]

Thanks for the replies. I understand you use two presses for rifle reloading, but if everything fits on the Apex, is there a reason to avoid that? I know you learn a lot about reloading from experience. But even with the Apex, I have run out of stations unless I skip the powder check. That's why I hoped you could combine expansion with powder:

1. Case Feed
2. Decap/Size
3. Swage
4. Primer Seat
5. Trim
6. Expand
7. Powder Dump
8. Powder Check
9. Mr. Bullet Feeder
10. Bullet Seat
11. Bullet Crimp

With pistol I currently actually decap first using a Lee hand press in front of the TV and then wet tumble. My second station will be size only.

The main issue is that you are creating a huge amount of debris doing all of that between lube, popping out primers, trimming and dumping powder. Presses are going to run best when they are as clean as possible, which is one reason that on the more sophisticated progressive presses most people wet tumble and a lot of people, myself included, decap before putting the cases in the press. You could, in theory, do what you are proposing, assuming your trimmer is small enough only to take up one station, but I'd bet that you end up spending more time keeping the press running than you save by not swapping out toolheads.

 

[ICU22250]

The main issue is that you are creating a huge amount of debris doing all of that between lube, popping out primers, trimming and dumping powder. Presses are going to run best when they are as clean as possible, which is one reason that on the more sophisticated progressive presses most people wet tumble and a lot of people, myself included, decap before putting the cases in the press. You could, in theory, do what you are proposing, assuming your trimmer is small enough only to take up one station, but I'd bet that you end up spending more time keeping the press running than you save by not swapping out toolheads.

Actually I'm depriming on a Lee APP with dillon case feeder first, then wet tumble. So I'm actually just sizing, swaging, charging, dropping bullets, seat and crimp. I think most of my shavings are coming from running my brass dry without any lanolin because I am using a Gold TNT mighty armory sizer. I just hate cleaning the case lube back off. I think I might still try the mighty armory expander in place of the hold down for a few rounds just to see what happens.. I didn't see a hold down die on fast and friendly unless I was over looking it.

 

[Choid]

F&FB Swage Backup/Case Mouth Expanding Rod - "F" 9mm/38 Super

 

[XrayDoc88]

Thanks for the replies. I understand you use two presses for rifle reloading, but if everything fits on the Apex, is there a reason to avoid that? I know you learn a lot about reloading from experience. But even with the Apex, I have run out of stations unless I skip the powder check. That's why I hoped you could combine expansion with powder:

1. Case Feed
2. Decap/Size
3. Swage
4. Primer Seat
5. Trim
6. Expand
7. Powder Dump
8. Powder Check
9. Mr. Bullet Feeder
10. Bullet Seat
11. Bullet Crimp

With pistol I currently actually decap first using a Lee hand press in front of the TV and then wet tumble. My second station will be size only.

So my proposed 11 stations obviously doesn't work, even on the Apex 10. But I didn't realize that the trim die can also do the resizing. That removes one station, but I'm still not sure it can work. Can you move the swage step on an Apex 10 to station 2? I already decap and wet tumble my brass before it hits the press. Or if you can't move the swage, what do you think about doing the trimming/sizing at station 2?

Choid, I appreciate your experience and advice. I was hoping that the expensive Apex 10 purchase could handle everything well, especially since it's on sale now. I also don't have lots of room on my reloading bench. But perhaps it would be better to get a CP2000 and RL1100 and split up the whole process between two machines. FYI, the new Mark 7 trimmer does only take up one station space. Thoughts?

 

[Choid]

If you don't put any primers in, both the Apex and 1100 can be used for case prep. A lot cheaper to get two toolheads than two machines.

 

[XrayDoc88]

Do you swage pistol brass routinely?

Does the Dillon trimmer block the adjacent stations from use?

 

[DacianMH]

Hey guys, I'm in the market for one of these two, anyone here have both or have ran both? Just curious really about the pros and cons of both and if the Mark 7 is really worth the extra coin over the Dillon. Oh and I know I'm in for a bit of a wait, im fine with that.. Thanks guys for your input...

Absolutely! The Mark 7 is hands down BETTER. I’ve toyed with the RL1100 with autodrive for more than 6 months and the Dillon is an outright POS automated. Very inconsistent, always prone to failures like major powder spills, too much flex in the shellplate, indexing issues, the primer feed arm popping out of alignment, Mr Bulletfeeder not dropping bullets every time or dropping two or more at a time, and so on. I’ve tried everything from the level 10 innovations upgrades and the powder spill kits to the upgraded shellplate from TNT, and even the ball bearing kit for the shell plate. Nothing keeps it consistent for long. It’s just not meant to be automated. About the only thing that’s worth automating from Dillon is the CP2000 for case processing and THATS IT! Save your self the frustrations and buy a Apex 10 or Revolution. Those were designed from the ground up to be automated.