Processing brass in Bulk

[ar15barrels]

Originally Posted by joelogic

I am getting tried on cleaning the casefeeder and the feeder tube.
Any lessons learned?

Sounds like you learned that a dry/clean casefeeder is the way to go...

[JC Smith]

Originally Posted by joelogic

I might have to switch to a lubing die because I am getting tried on cleaning the casefeeder and the feeder tube.
Any lessons learned?
Just buy a die and some lube?
Run a reservoir like Randall?

Just a suggestion. You might disassemble the lube die and check to be sure it's clean inside before you start processing the brass. I still haven't figured out where the contamination came from that scratched the inside of my size/trim die but the lube die is a possibility.

[mstlaurent]

Originally Posted by joelogic

I might have to switch to a lubing die because I am getting tried on cleaning the casefeeder and the feeder tube.
Any lessons learned?
Just buy a die and some lube?
Run a reservoir like Randall?

This is one thing I really like about the Hornady bushing system. Pulling the lube die out and refilling it takes like 30 seconds. 60 degree twist, pull the die out, lift the sleeve, squeeze the lube in, sleeve down, drop the die in, another 60 degree twist, done. When I first bought the lube die I was trying to figure out a way to put a reservoir on it like Randall did, but after I used it for a couple hundred rounds I decided that would be more trouble than it was worth.

That said, the efforts I did put into creating a reservoir centered around trying to modify a saddle valve to fit on the die body. (http://www.lowes.com/pd_68587-104-LF...ductId=3134961) You can find them in the tubing and fitting section at Lowes or Home Depot. You might start there.

[Fyathyrio]

Randall, I appreciate your patience with me, I’m currently deployed and it’s kind of difficult to do research. I'm getting ready to place my remaining equipment orders, but still have a couple of questions for clarification...

I will be following your method for both 5.56 and 7.62 AR platforms, so full length resize and crimp will be required.

Since I'm doing two calibers, do you recommend a universal deprimer for sta 1 before the Dillon resize/trim station? If so, do you have a preference?

When reloading, you are using a 22-250 die to expand the neck without working the rest of the brass, can the Dillon size/decap dies for both calibers be raised enough to allow the same benefit while still sizing the neck so I don't have to lube cases again after the earlier resize and trim steps? If not, what die would you recommend to do the same with 7.62 as you are with the 5.56?

Thanks,
Mark

[ar15barrels]

Originally Posted by Fyathyrio

Randall, I appreciate your patience with me, I’m currently deployed and it’s kind of difficult to do research. I'm getting ready to place my remaining equipment orders, but still have a couple of questions for clarification...

I will be following your method for both 5.56 and 7.62 AR platforms, so full length resize and crimp will be required.

Since I'm doing two calibers, do you recommend a universal deprimer for sta 1 before the Dillon resize/trim station? If so, do you have a preference?

When reloading, you are using a 22-250 die to expand the neck without working the rest of the brass, can the Dillon size/decap dies for both calibers be raised enough to allow the same benefit while still sizing the neck so I don't have to lube cases again after the earlier resize and trim steps? If not, what die would you recommend to do the same with 7.62 as you are with the 5.56?

Thanks,
Mark

If I wrote this thread again, I would just say to use a Lyman M die as one of the two supporting dies in the trimming toolhead.
Then you don't need to worry about expanding the necks during the loading process.
I use an RCBS decapping die, but any decapping die would work just fine.

[Fyathyrio]

OK, just to clarify...

Universal decap station 1.

Dillon trimmer station 3.

Lyman M die station 5, get appropriate sizes.

This is gonna make it almost too easy to reload rifle blasting ammo! Thanks for the M die tip! I owe ya a beer!

[ar15barrels]

Originally Posted by Fyathyrio

OK, just to clarify...

Universal decap station 1.

Dillon trimmer station 3.

Lyman M die station 5, get appropriate sizes.

This is gonna make it almost too easy to reload rifle blasting ammo! Thanks for the M die tip! I owe ya a beer!

I use an RCBS lube die in station 1 that's been modified to increase lube capacity.
The lube die also decaps.
If you lube the cases before they go in the casefeeder, all you need is a regular decapping die.

[Fyathyrio]

OK, brain cramp on my part, stayed up late (in my part of the world) to get a decent connection speed.

RCBS lube die
trimmer
Lyman M die...gottit!

Then tumble to clean the lube off, then reload, then shoot zombies. Repeat often!

Thanks again!

[ar15barrels]

I have good news for all the people that have asked me about my lube die conversion...
I finally picked up a bunch of hardware and can now offer a do-it-yourself kit to dramatically increase the lube volume as well as make it easy to see when you are getting low before you actually run out.
The kit has a separate clear lube reservoir that you mount on the case feed support and then tubing and fittings to get the lube to the lube die.
All that is required is to tap the lube die 10-32 and then screw in the fittings and tie-wrap the reservoir to the case feeder support.

[diver160651]

Originally Posted by ar15barrels

I have good news for all the people that have asked me about my lube die conversion...
I finally picked up a bunch of hardware and can now offer a do-it-yourself kit to dramatically increase the lube volume as well as make it easy to see when you are getting low before you actually run out.
The kit has a separate clear lube reservoir that you mount on the case feed support and then tubing and fittings to get the lube to the lube die.
All that is required is to tap the lube die 10-32 and then screw in the fittings and tie-wrap the reservoir to the case feeder support.

How much?


Jt

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[tomtenney]

I am looking for a company that can fully process some 223 and 308 brass. Local to so cal would be great.

[Cropper]

Originally Posted by ar15barrels

I have good news for all the people that have asked me about my lube die conversion...
I finally picked up a bunch of hardware and can now offer a do-it-yourself kit to dramatically increase the lube volume as well as make it easy to see when you are getting low before you actually run out.
The kit has a separate clear lube reservoir that you mount on the case feed support and then tubing and fittings to get the lube to the lube die.
All that is required is to tap the lube die 10-32 and then screw in the fittings and tie-wrap the reservoir to the case feeder support.

I would be interested in this as well. Or perhaps some clear pics of it disassembled if your into charity...

[pakk]

Originally Posted by ar15barrels

The dillon trimmer die over-sizes the neck.
I don't use the dillon trimmer for precision rifle ammo.

I use my redding bushing neck die and a giraud for that.

I'm curious to how accurate you find this process to be assuming one is using top quality components? Would you be ok using this process to maintain MOA at 100 yards? 2-300?

Could you go into detail to what your process is for precision ammo?

[ar15barrels]

Originally Posted by pakk

Could you go into detail to what your processy is for precision ammo?

The trimming method will have little effect on accuracy.
The bullets and powder charge consistency as well as case sizing consistency is what effects the accuracy.

I don't use a dillon trimmer on my precision ammo simply because I want those cases to be chamfered to ease the seating of vld bullets.

I use redding bushing dies for sizing as they control neck tension well and then I trim, chamfer and deburr with the giraud trimmer.

[bearstatearmory.com]

What do you do about finding your short cases after you've completed the process. I'm finding about 5 per hundred on average that are in the 1.740-1.746 range, and I do that by measuring every single case that I trim with a pair of calipers. If I didn't catch that I would end up loading those and I couldn't imagine that would be a good thing.

[ar15barrels]

Originally Posted by bearstatearmory.com

What do you do about finding your short cases after you've completed the process. I'm finding about 5 per hundred on average that are in the 1.740-1.746 range, and I do that by measuring every single case that I trim with a pair of calipers. If I didn't catch that I would end up loading those and I couldn't imagine that would be a good thing.

On blasting ammo, I don't do anything about them.
It's only blasting ammo...

[diver160651]

Originally Posted by pakk

I'm curious to how accurate you find this process to be assuming one is using top quality components? Would you be ok using this process to maintain MOA at 100 yards? 2-300?

Could you go into detail to what your process is for precision ammo?

Not trying to thread jack-- but MOA ammo under your terms is not close to precision


Jt

Sent from my iPad using Tapatal

[Jasonaspears]

Great info. Did you ever come up with a price for those lube kits?

[ar15barrels]

Originally Posted by Jasonaspears

Great info. Did you ever come up with a price for those lube kits?

Not enough interest so I didn't pursue it...

[sirgrumps]

Originally Posted by tomtenney

I am looking for a company that can fully process some 223 and 308 brass. Local to so cal would be great.

This guy is in Long Beach


http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=906558

[JC Smith]

Sorry if this has been asked before but I didn't see it.
Brass sized, trimmed, polished and pockets swaged. Have a Lyman M die for station one. Does the case neck need any sort of lube?
Old thread so hopefully someone still listening. Thanks.

[ar15barrels]

Originally Posted by JC Smith

Brass sized, trimmed, polished and pockets swaged. Have a Lyman M die for station one. Does the case neck need any sort of lube?

If the cases are dry tumbled, there will be enough residual dust from the corn/walnut to act as a neck lube.
If the cases were wet tumbled completely clean, you should lube the inside of the necks with dry lube.

[JC Smith]

Dry tumbled, 24-grit (doesn't get stuck in the flash holes) walnut hulls with a little Nu-Finish (the car polish in the orange bottle). Thank you - JC

[JC Smith]

Originally Posted by ar15barrels

I put the locknut on the underside of the toolhead.

Tried that but it wouldn't work on a Dillon 550B with the "regular" tool head. The lock nut was hitting something on the shell plate (the star I think it was). HOWEVER, now that the new short trim die tool heads are available for the 550B it does work, but with some installation difficulty. It's a PITA getting a wrench on the lock nut in that confined space inside the cutout of the tool head. But it can be done and since doing that I've had no further problems. I did change one thing in the process though... I was paranoid that I might have been picking up some sort of contamination from inside the lube die and causing the scratches so I've just been giving the cases a little squirt of the Dillon case lube, about 100 at a time. It's a little messier than using the lube die but at least no more lube dents.

[ar15barrels]

Originally Posted by JC Smith

Tried that but it wouldn't work on a Dillon 550B with the "regular" tool head. The lock nut was hitting something on the shell plate (the star I think it was).

Sounds like your lock nut was too thick.
The standard 3/16" thick dillon lock nuts don't have an issue.

[JC Smith]

3/16" thick?? Mine are 1/4". I bought a package of the new, smaller, 1" lock nuts for just that reason. They were the same thickness (actually even a few thousandths thicker) as the old 1.125 nuts. I thought about trying to mill one down a little but then I saw that Dillon was coming out with the new, milled out tool head so I just waited until they became available. The last Dillon die I bought just recently still has a 1/4" thick lock nut (but of course it's the new 1" size).

[Dianne]

We've just got done building a machine capable of stainless steel media tumbing 18 gallons of brass at one time. We build it to industrial standards. Here is the YouTube video link: http://youtu.be/L3ymnUGzf68
A VFD controls the motor and converts single phase 120 into 3 Phase 240 for the motor. It has a timer, forward/backward control so you can reverse direction, a variable speed control, and emergency off switch.

[383green]

I have a lot of once-fired military .30-06 brass that I've been collecting over many years of shooting surplus ammo through my Garand and M1903, with plans to reload it someday. I have a Dillon RL550B that I've used for some .38 special reloading, and a Hornady Lock-n-Load single-stage. I've decided to finally get around to reloading that .30-06 brass, and I have dies, another toolhead and a caliber conversion kit on the way from Dillon. I don't plan to make match ammo. I'd just like to work up an M2 ball equivalent load for plinking at the range, minus the primer crimp and neck seal. So, I'm considering how to apply the knowledge in this cool thread to the equipment I have.

I figure that my once-fired brass will probably need more attention the first time I reload it, to get rid of the primer pocket crimps and get all of the cases consistent in length, right? I have a Lee decapping die and an RCBS primer pocket swager die. Since my RL550B just has 4 stations, I figure that my routine will be more labor-intensive than OP's deluxe setup, and I'm considering doing all the initial case prep in my single-stage press. I'd like to run the procedure that I come up with by the experts for sanity checking, but I have a couple of basic questions first:

1) Will the Dillon RT1500 trimmer work ok on my single-stage Hornady Lock-n-Load for resizing .30-06 brass? It seems to me that it should, but I'm not positive about that.

2) Is case trimming necessary every single time? Or can I do that less frequently after the first reloading of once-fired surplus brass, assuming I'm re-re-loading my own previously trimmed cases, using a light crimp, and resizing only enough to run the ammo through my own rifles?

[JC Smith]

1) I see no reason why your Dillon trimmer won't work on your single-stage Hornady press for .30-06 but you might consider just setting up another 550B toolhead with your trimmer on it. It's quicker to use than a single stage even if you are only using it to resize and trim. Also it gives you the option of using a lube die.

2) Depending on how much you trim and what type of expander you are using you may not have to trim every time you reload those cases. A couple things you could do to minimize the frequency of trimmimg would be to use a Lyman M die for case neck expanding (it doesn't stretch the case like some expanders will when you pull them back out of the case body) or try using an RCBS X die. You'll have to trim another .010" off the case necks the first time you trim but after that the X die is supposed to keep the cases from "growing" beyond the maximum length. I'm trying it with .223 and so far it is working but I have not reloaded the same cases enough times to say for sure I'll never have to trim again.

[383green]

If I process all of the cases first on one toolhead with a lube die and the trimmer die, then is there any need to re-tumble or re-lube the cases again before I run them through the loading cycle on another toolhead? With only four stations, I don't think I could include a power trimmer in the loading toolhead. I guess I would need to inspect the cases and hand-deburr as needed after the trim cycle. I ordered a Dillon carbide rifle die set. I do not have any sort of case trimmer yet, but trimming referenced to the case head seems like a good idea, particularly for my once-fired military brass.

Edited to add: I still expect that I would decap, tumble and pocket swage the once-fired brass on the single-stage press just once initially, but not as part of my regular reloading cycle.

[ar15barrels]

Originally Posted by 383green

1) Will the Dillon RT1500 trimmer work ok on my single-stage Hornady Lock-n-Load for resizing .30-06 brass?

2) Is case trimming necessary every single time?

1) Yes, but the dillon trimmer does NOT expand case necks. You will need to do that separately before the cases are ready to have bullets seated in them.

2) No. Only when the cases need it. In my automated process, it's easier to trim them then to measure them. In your single stage method, it's easier to measure them then to trim them.

[ar15barrels]

Originally Posted by 383green

If I process all of the cases first on one toolhead with a lube die and the trimmer die, then is there any need to re-tumble or re-lube the cases again before I run them through the loading cycle on another toolhead? With only four stations, I don't think I could include a power trimmer in the loading toolhead. I guess I would need to inspect the cases and hand-deburr as needed after the trim cycle. I ordered a Dillon carbide rifle die set. I do not have any sort of case trimmer yet, but trimming referenced to the case head seems like a good idea, particularly for my once-fired military brass.

Edited to add: I still expect that I would decap, tumble and pocket swage the once-fired brass on the single-stage press just once initially, but not as part of my regular reloading cycle.

I re-tumble the cases after trimming for two reasons: first to remove the lube and second to deburr the cases. The tumbling knocks off an brass shavings that might be hanging on to the case mouth.

When the time comes to load them, get an rcbs decapping die and the decapping/expanding stem from an RCBS sizing die and run that in station #1.
That will knock the media out of the flash hole and expand the necks so that they are ready to hold a bullet.

[383green]

Why do you recommend the RCBS deprime die instead of the Dillon deprime/resize die from the 3-die Dillon set? I guess that would eliminate an extra resize cycle if I've already resized the case in the trim die. The first station shouldn't be working the case walls any more since the case is already resized, but lube would still be needed to avoid sticking if I used a regular resize die instead of the deprime die, right?

But if I measure instead of trimming, and presumably only need to trim every few reloading cycles, then I'd think that a regular resizing die would make more sense in station 1.

All of this would be different if I had a progressive with more stations, but I got this RL550B from a friend for a good price, so four stations is what I have.

[JC Smith]

If you use #24 grit, Fine, media (crushed walnut hull from Harbor Freight, sold as "sand" blasting media) it won't get stuck in the flash holes and you don't need to use the decapping die a second time. They also sell the "regular" size media (I think it's #12 grit) for the same price and it's a lot cheaper than the stuff sold as reloading supplies. I've used both and can't tell any difference in polishing performance. Hint: Harbor Freight advertises in American Rifleman magazine and they almost always have a "20% off any one item" coupon in their ads.

[383green]

Here's my first draft of my bulk .30-06 reloading procedure. I'd appreciate critique of it.

Initial processing of once-fired military brass (mostly from Greek surplus M2 ball):

1. Deprime with Lee decapping die on single-stage.
2. Tumble thoroughly, making sure primer pockets are clean.
3. Swage off primer crimp with RCBS swage die on single-stage.
4. Resize and trim on progressive with RCBS lube die and Dillon trimmer. Trim to minimum length.
5. Tumble to deburr case mouth.

Reload cycle on 4-station RL500B progressive:

1. Tumble fired brass (not deprimed).
2. Inspect cases and gage case length. Trim only if past max length.
3. Box lube with Dillon spray.
4. Reload with Dillon 3-die set.
5. Visual inspection, spot-check OAL.

My assumptions, which may be dumb:

1. Plinking ammo to be run through my Garand.
2. M2-equivalent load. Or should I work up a lighter load for better brass life?
3. Trim won't be necessary every time.
4. Light bullet crimp.
5. Using Hornady 150gr FMJBT. I've read that proper OAL will result in crimping south of the cannelure.
6. I can skip primer pocket cleaning, except for cleaning before the initial pocket swage of once-fired military brass.

[JC Smith]

If you've got a spare 550 toolhead put your universal decapping die in it and use the 550 to dacap all that brass. It goes a lot faster than with a single stage. You only have to handle each piece of brass once.

[383green]

Originally Posted by JC Smith

If you've got a spare 550 toolhead put your universal decapping die in it and use the 550 to dacap all that brass. It goes a lot faster than with a single stage. You only have to handle each piece of brass once.

Does putting brass in the progressive shell plate and turning it to pop out the deprimed brass really save that much motion vs. putting brass into a single stage and manually removing it after the cycle? My first impression is that it would be uncomfortable to load brass into the RL550B with my left hand (its loading stage is on the right side), so I'd be taking my right hand off the lever to load brass. In contrast, I think that with the single stage I could keep my right hand on the lever and handle the brass with my left hand. I guess I could pull a pin and load brass on the left side of the shell plate.

I should try it a few ways and then order another toolhead if I find that it goes faster in the progressive. I don't have my single stage press mounted just yet. I have an extra Dillon mounting base that I plan to adapt to the Hornady press to put both of my presses at the same height. I'll share a picture in the reloading bench picture thread once I have it all put together, at some point in the unpredictable future.

[JC Smith]

I used to decap on an old Rock Chucker and when I tried it on the 550 it went a lot faster. I didn't time it but I'd say it was twice as fast. It's a lot easier to slide a case into the Dillon shell plate than to snap it into a single stage shell holder and you don't have to manually remove each case and then insert another. You could try a dummy run with just the shellplate and some cases, don't need the toolhead for that. I think you'll find it quite a bit faster.

[383green]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[JC Smith]

No problem but you want to decap in station one because that's where the primer catcher is. With the decapping die in station one: grab and insert brass at station one and pull lever with right hand, then index shell plate with left hand while grabbing and inserting the next case with the right… repeat. Pretty soon you get into a rhythm and it goes fast.