How fast do you reload?

[RestrictedColt]

It's not a competition and I don't try to race when I'm loading, but I decided to time 100 rounds of 9mm today, 6 min 18 sec. I was keeping a smooth handle swing and watching everything, but still, this was not a really realistic pace in general. The brass was already sized/decapped, the primer tube already full, bullet and case hoppers full and turned on before I hit the stopwatch and started pumping. There were only a few minor equipment hang-ups, there's often some that require more time to remedy. I then timed refilling the primer tube and it was 2 min. That's using a Vibra-prime and having a fairly good run with only a few small hang-ups, sometimes it takes much longer. The previous refill took at least twice as long. I then squirted the area of the hole in the primer tray and the tube hole with Hornady oneshot gun cleaner/lube and that seemed to really help it out. It'll take a few more runs to really know it wasn't just luck because sometimes I'll have a great run and other times I have to clear several jams.

Before having the feeders I could run 100 in about 10 minutes if everything went well. Not a huge difference, but having the feeders cuts out the extra work and lets me focus more on what's happening instead of what I have to do. Plus not handling the components so much helps keep them from tarnishing and my hand doesn't get that pungent smell from handling the metals.

Curious if anyone else has timed any runs.

[pennstater]

I best not put my time for say, 100 .45auto handloads. I'm on a RCBS Rockchukar SS! A might slow. That's fine, as I have plenty of time to just lazy-*** my way thru this. Even at my slow rate, I'll be handloading quite a few rounds after the new year crap. 100 rounds in 6+ minutes! Fun time churning fella. Ya done good.

[JackEllis]

It takes me 1-2 hour for 50 rounds from prepped cases using a Rockchucker and a digital scale.

I figure on spending a lot of quality time on snowy days loading the thousand rounds of .223 I'll need for squirrels this spring.

[PatC415]

The guys who drink the BLUE coolaid crank them out pretty fast.
Me, pull handle, sip beer, pull handle, sip beer, pull handle, sip beer. Unfortunately it goes pretty slow, but I'm VERY happy when I'm done.

[RestrictedColt]

Well, I drink the red cool aid with a side of rum & coke. No matter what the machine being discussed, everyone knows red is the fast color :-)

For the record, I don't think the Hornady is superior, but from my research it fit better than the Dillon. Lee was also a consideration but outside influences made me go with the Hornady.

Edit: fit better than the equivalently priced Dillon.

[TexasJackKin]

Not sure what my regular rate is, but the one time I did time myself I did 100 .40 S&Ws in 8:08 on my Hornady LnL.

On my Vibra-prime, I drilled a small hole in the cover, right over the hole the primers feed down into the tube. If I have a hang up, I can help it with a straightened paper clip. I'm going to try the trick with one shot lube. I find that CCI primers feed though the primer filler better than most.

[RestrictedColt]

A hole in the cover, brilliant. I can't believe I didn't think of that. Many of my hang ups are primers that turn sideways right at the hole. The leading edge of the primer drops down into the hole then it's stuck. If they only turn a little and there are already a decent amount of primers in the tube I just turn it upside down and the stack of primers in the tube will smack that turned one back to straight. It they turn completely sideways then I pul the tube off and use a small screwdriver to flip it. I've also run it with the lid off so that it's easy to flip them, but find I have to flip them much more often with the cover off. Some sizes of primers to better than others. I tried CCI primers and they seemed to feed a hair better in the vibraprime, but they're harder to press into brass than the Winchesters.

Something else I've been doing with the vibraprime that helps is to hold it with the tube close to horizontal instead of vertically, it seems to reduce the number of primers that turn as they get to the hole. Vertically mine will choke way too often.

[Kwikvette]

Since I'm on a single stage only, I'm churning about 50 rounds in 1-2 hours with already prepped brass. Measuring charge per round and seating to a specific length are the 2 that take longest.

Preparing the brass itself is something that happens on a different day, but I'm hoping to cut that down with a Frankford Arsenal Case Trim & Prep center or Giraud power case trimmer

[RestrictedColt]

Rifle case trimming was the most tedious part of reloading, primer crimp removal being #2. I bought chamber gages from Sinclair International and measured my chambers to know what my actual maximum case length is, I'll probably never trim again. For example, the book says that max for .223 is 1.760 but my shortest chamber is over 1.78 so that's my new max. It goes against the printed rules, but not against the rules of math.

[hambam105]

The question is not how fast your can reload, the big question is how fast can you redo your mistakes you made when you were distracted on thinking about speed over reloading correctly.

If anyone reading this and agrees say, "Ay".

[RestrictedColt]

[racinjason233]

Rifle case trimming was the most tedious part of reloading, primer crimp removal being #2. I bought chamber gages from Sinclair International and measured my chambers to know what my actual maximum case length is, I'll probably never trim again. For example, the book says that max for .223 is 1.760 but my shortest chamber is over 1.78 so that's my new max. It goes against the printed rules, but not against the rules of math.

How do you get a consistent crimp without trimming?

I got my new 550 in blue this week. I can do 200 rounds an hour of straight walled pistol cases with slow and steady lever pulls while checking for oddities.

My slow down on the rifle rounds is the deburring. I can trim with my Lyman drill operated trimmer and my wife can swedge if she is so inclined. She choose to sort a 5 gallon pail of range pick up instead last night. I am thinking about trimmer head that deburrs at the same time. Any suggestions? I do have a case prep center.

[RestrictedColt]

I don't crimp rifle, don't see a need to. I've measured pistol cases a few times and found that they don't seem to change enough to matter. The only ones I worry at all about getting a good crimp on is my 44mag. I haven't measured the cases, but the roll crimps all look good.

Yes, the whole process of trimming is what makes it such a pain. I started with a Lyman hand trimmer. I then removed the handle and made an adapter to use it with a drill, still a pain. My last trimming was with a Trim-it which is much faster, but still leaves burrs. I replaced the cheap cutter with a milling bit and it leaves no burrs. The edge is sharp and I feared that it could scrape some jacket material, especially since I was doing FB bullets at that time, so I gave each case just a quick touch on the deburring tool to dull the edge. A post trimming tumble with pins would probably be enough to soften the sharp edges.

The Trim-it 2 will leave them ready to go, but it's more expensive and harder to set up. I'd already bought the Trim-it and had the milling bit laying around so I didn't want to upgrade, but if you want to trim fast, the Trim-it 2 would be something to look at. They also sell a motor/base for it, I used a cordless drill.

[buruli]

About 2,500 per hour

[RestrictedColt]

CHEATER!

Can I borrow that machine? :-)