Thinking about reloading rifle calibers

[Omega13device]

Thinking about starting to reload .223 and .308 after shooting both for many years. I've been reloading pistol calibers for about 10 years on my Dillon SDB so I have experience, but obviously I have to get some new equipment since the SDB only loads pistol. I don't shoot that much, maybe 500-1000 rounds of .223 and 100-200 rounds of .308 each year. So my thought was that rather than replace my SDB (which works great and is all set up) with a 550, I could just add a Rock Chucker for rifle calibers. I don't need the volume of a progressive and this would save me from having to buy all new dies for my pistol calibers. Thoughts? Any flaws in my logic?

[Timberwolf]

No flaws - I shoot a few around 3K a year of 308 and crank them all out on my Rockchucker.

[Snapping Twig]

Rockchucker will work. Probably the most cost effective solution.

I have a 550, so I can confidently tell you that it's a viable option, but why spend the dough? I would, but that's me, Mr. fiscally irresponsible.

[Beelzy]

You will appreciate all of the work loading accurate ammo by doing it Old
School. More consistency is the key with rifle ammo, it has to "reach out"
farther the pistol ammo.

Be careful of the sizing step, it is possible to size too much and make out
of spec ammo.

[Fjold]

Have you looked a a turret press?

http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/presses-and-kits/Lyc_RPK_Tmag.php

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=RC88901&prodTitle=RCBS%20Turret%20Press

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=RB67000&prodTitle=Redding%20T%2D7%20Turret

You can leave both your 223 and 308 dies set up all the time and just switch shellholders when you want to load different the cartridges.

[ocabj]

I use a Rockchucker with a Hornady Lock-n-Load bushing adapter.

[C.G.]

No flaws - I shoot a few around 3K a year of 308 and crank them all out on my Rockchucker.

Same here.

BTW, nice meeting you and thanks again for letting me use the file.

[Pryde]

You can easily reload accurate and consistent .223 on a Dillon.
In fact I would almost say its not worth reloading .223 on a single stage, its painfully time consuming, unless you are loading match rounds.

I feel reloading .308 on a Dillon is not worth it due to metering issues with most .308 powders.

[rayra]

Yes, a big flaw. Buy a 550B and reload everything on one press, and sell your SDB setup to offset the costs.


eta - for about ~~$150 total difference you could have a 550B and be set going forward to do everything you want with a progressive, while keeping Dillon's great customer service and replacement warranty.

[Omega13device]

I feel reloading .308 on a Dillon is not worth it due to metering issues with most .308 powders.

Would you mind elaborating on that?

Yes, a big flaw. Buy a 550B and reload everything on one press, and sell your SDB setup to offset the costs.


eta - for about ~~$150 total difference you could have a 550B and be set going forward to do everything you want with a progressive, while keeping Dillon's great customer service and replacement warranty.

I don't know about the $150, I think it will be more like an additional $300+. That's not even counting extra toolheads, powder bars, etc.

RL550 w/ 1 cal conversion = $400
3x add'l cal conversions $42ea = $126
2x pistol die sets $61ea = $122
2x rifle die sets $63ea = $126
Total $774

[Chaingun]

Yes, a big flaw. Buy a 550B and reload everything on one press, and sell your SDB setup to offset the costs.


eta - for about ~~$150 total difference you could have a 550B and be set going forward to do everything you want with a progressive, while keeping Dillon's great customer service and replacement warranty.

This is what I do, load everything with a 550B

Case processing on a Lee O press

One big difference, rifle requires case gages to check head space.

[CSACANNONEER]

Yes, a big flaw. Buy a 550B and reload everything on one press, and sell your SDB setup to offset the costs.


eta - for about ~~$150 total difference you could have a 550B and be set going forward to do everything you want with a progressive, while keeping Dillon's great customer service and replacement warranty.

Reloading bottlenecked cartridges on a 550 is almost a waste of time. You have to decap/size, remove to trim and then put them back into the press to prime charge and seat the bullet. I have a 550 along with several single stage presses. I use a combination of both but, if I was in the OP's position, I would get a single stage press! As far as I'm concerned, a SS press should be manatory on every loading bench.

eta- $150 is about the cost difference for the Dillon presses. The OP will also have to factor in the costs of new caliber conversions and dies (the SD dies won't work on a 550). So, it would probably not be cost effective to totally switch over.

[rayra]

Horse****. Who in the **** trims bottlenecked cartrdiges EVERY time??

I've been loading for my Garand for ~15yrs+, shoot a mild load, full-length re-size and have NEVER trimmed a case. And they check out fine in my case guage and weapon. Don't even own a case trimmer.


As for the folks who want to quibble about the $150 differential - You're ignoring the resale price of the equipment and dies he has, and deliberately using full list price for the new components - who in the holy **** pays $63 for a die set?
And Omega has also inflated the cost, as the shell plates for .45 and .30-06 are the same, as are those for 9mm and .223. So there's a significant saving there.
And what extra powder bars? The 550B comes with both the large and small powder transfer bars, along with the large and small primer feed components. Swapping the parts takes about 15mins.
And the time-saving method when loading multiple calibers is to organize your reloading so you only have to change one subsystem at a time. Either loading all your large powder bar -requiring rifle rounds first, before moving on to pistol, or group your loadings by primer size first, changing only the powder system.

And lastly, just who in the heck ever buys all their reloading equipment in one expensive lump (besides noobs getting horrible advice to buy complete 650 or 1050 setups right off the bat)?

[ocabj]

Horse****. Who in the **** trims bottlenecked cartrdiges EVERY time??

I do. I trim to minimum length for consistency.

And what's with the triggering of the language filter? It's one thing to use profanity in casual conversations. But you are submitting written text, which is very easy to self-moderate.

[Fjold]

I do. I trim to minimum length for consistency.

And what's with the triggering of the language filter? It's one thing to use profanity in casual conversations. But you are submitting written text, which is very easy to self-moderate.

I trim new brass to minimum and then adjust my dies to fit my chamber. I wind up throwing the brass away after 15 -20 reloads because of work hardening of the necks and primer pocket expansion without ever trimming them again.