Friends, @GuanoLoco
I am looking at picking up a Dillon 1100 and a 1050 auto drive. 9mm to start.
Sounds like the Mr. Bulletfeeder is a must have, along with the RF100 small auto primer.
I have done a bit of reading here and there, including watching Guano's awesome thread.
What are the "must haves" that one would need?
This will be potentially be for a small time ammo manufacturing side business if things go well enough.
EDIT to add
THANKS in advance!
Banned out of spite because I has the jealousy.
#RESIST
GRIN!
I just realized I put this in journals instead of threads.
I haz the tards.
No problem, fixed.Originally Posted by Lost River
#RESIST
@Lost River you've listed the two most beneficial upgrades. The Mr. Bulletfeeder and RF100 small auto primer are necessities if you want to keep pace with what the machine is capable of. Especially if you think you may turn this into a small business. Mark 7 is the only way to go for autodrive. It sound like you pretty much know what you are looking at and probably don't need confirmation to what you already know but there it is anyways. I am not one to screw with a machine that runs pretty much perfectly out of the box with aftermarket stuff. Mines been going strong for about 9 years now without so much as a hickup.
The only real advice I'd have is have some way to clean brass in bulk if you don't already, I like small electric cement mixers for less than $200. Don't mess with stainless pins, they are a hassle you don't need and if you're loading 9mm who cares about clean flash holes. I would refer the rest to GuanoLoco.
I would say brass prep is what slows me down. Having a .380 case mixed in with the 9mm is a pain, or those stupid 9mm cases with the stepped inner wall where the head and web of the case is thicker and steps down to the thinner case mouth. Messes with the swaging stage.
If the brass is clean and uniform, I can load faster and smoother than if it is not. Bullet feeder and primer filler are great. But what stops production are usually brass uniformity related. Those stops to clear the malfunctions slow me down way more than filling primers or placing bullets. Invest in a good brass cleaning and sorting process. That is my 2 cents.
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master"
For the issues of sorting brass without breaking the bank, (there may be cheaper I just haven't looked):
https://www.shellsorter.com/products...rter-380-plate
https://www.shellsorter.com/products...sorter-3pc-set
These things are awesome for rough sorting. Mount a 2.5 gallon bucket onto an old vibratory tumbler, put in the plate, and put another 2.5 onto that with the bottom cut out with a plate on top, etc., until you have your whole system. Take a big old scoop of brass, turn on the tumbler motor, and let it go to town.
It won't help with the brass that have a step inside the brass, and I don't own the 380 plate so I can't speak to that, but the plates are so effective for range brass it's silly.
The sorters are very handy. I don't know how many hours I have spent sorting brass and I truly detest the task.
Thank you.
380 brass is a tool of the devil.
Just ordered the Shell Sorter Value Pack.
Don’t blame me. I didn’t vote for that dumb bastard.
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