DMF13 on final approach

[DMF13]

Are you reloading Norma brass? They have really small flash holes.

No, its mostly Federal, and Winchester, brass, and Hornady nickel plated brass. Its not specific to any brand of brass though.

[SecondsCount]

Does the LNL AP have a little spring, etc to hold the brass in place when placed in the shellplate? My Dillon 550B has one that keeps the brass in place when you let go of it.

[Flamingo]

I do my depriming as a separate step prior to cleaning. I had a tool head with just a depriming die. I use a Mighty Armory. I like it.

[DMF13]

Are you reloading Norma brass? They have really small flash holes.

Does the LNL AP have a little spring, etc to hold the brass in place when placed in the shellplate? My Dillon 550B has one that keeps the brass in place when you let go of it.

There is a spring that holds the cases in place. Its held down at the first spot where cases are inserted, so they can slide into the plate, and then it rises up to hold the case as the plate advances to the size/decap die.

[DMF13]

Are you reloading Norma brass? They have really small flash holes.

Does the LNL AP have a little spring, etc to hold the brass in place when placed in the shellplate? My Dillon 550B has one that keeps the brass in place when you let go of it.

There is a spring that holds the cases in place. Its held down at the first spot where cases are inserted, so they can slide into the plate, and then it rises up to hold the case as the plate advances to the size/decap die.

[DMF13]

Still learning. Sometimes the hard way.

My brass elf has brought me lots of once fired stuff, from the range where he works. Its almost all Federal, Winchester, and Hornady. The Hornady is nickel plated. I've never had any crimped primers until today.

Today, I set up the press, hit about 400 rounds of brass with One Shot, and started loading. Once I've got everything set up, my pace is now about 250-300 rounds an hour, but that was screwed up today.

About a dozen rounds in, the press locked up. It was a nickel plated case, and the primer wouldn't seat. I cleared the press, and got back to it, but about 5 rounds later, it happened again. Clear, and back to work, and it happens again.

It finally dawned on me to examine the cases more closely. All three were nickel plated Winchester +P, with a date code on the head stamp, and two had a red ring around the primer. It was not the Hornady nickel plated stuff I was used to. They didn't have the little circle/cross emblem, that's found on a lot of the ammo made for DoD, so I'm surprised it was crimped.

Anyway, I then spent a good chunk of time going through all the cases I had prepped, to separate out all that crimped brass from rest. So instead of spending about two hours (including setup/cleanup) to load up 400 rounds, it took close to three hours.

I'm not thrilled that I will need to start looking for those cases in the 3 buckets of brass I have, but beggars can't be choosers.

Also, for the other 397 rounds, only one failed the case gauge, and it passed after I ran it through the Lee Factory Crimp die (FCD) again. So, I'm pleased with the choice of using the Lee U sizing die, and FCD.

[Borderland]

Things are generally going well, except for one thing. I'm bending/breaking decapping rods at a rate of about one every 82 rounds. I loaded 328 rounds today, and broke 4 rods.

I've adjusted the tension on the rods exactly how Lee describes, but it still happens way too often.

Everything else is good. COAL based on random sampling is 1.495 to 1.520. Powder throw, based on checks at the beginning and end of each session, is 4.1gr +/- .05. (average of 5 throws each check) Primer timing, and shell plate timing, have been spot on. If I check/tighten up the shell plate each time I load primers, that's no problem either.

The only thing vexing me is the frequency of broken decapping pins. Lee replaces them, but its a hassle, and I have to pay to ship the broken ones back.

https://leeprecision.com/decapping-die

This thing is a brute and it won't break pins. It isn't a sizing die though so you turn decapping and sizing into a two step operation. I usually decap before I clean my brass anyway so no big deal for me.

Glad to see you making some headway. It's a journey, not a destination.

I started reloading in the 70's and still enjoy it.

[Jim Watson]

Lee sizing dies have the same decapping pin as the decapping die, you don't have to double handle cases.
Lee makes a small diameter decapping pin for those troublesome Normas.

Squirrel Daddy makes hardened decapping pins to fit Lee dies.

[mmc45414]

Twice the powder measure stuck in the up position, and I got no powder, buy my visual check caught that before placing a bullet.

Even though I have Dillon stuff, I like the Hornady powder measure better, except...
I think the asymmetrical spring setup is not optimal. I have two of them (5.56 & 300BO) setup like I described in this thread. I ended up with full boxes of the spacers and screws, if you are interested I could probably do a little care package.

I did have one round fail to case gauge, and I'm not sure why that happened. I'm running a U die for sizing, and a factory crimp die. Probably overkill, but I thought that would be a "belt and suspenders" approach.

Just shy of 3% of the cases failed case gauge. Out of curiosity I ran them through the Factory Crimp Die a second time, and all but one then passed the case gauge.

You mentioned that you plan to add a "Hundo" style case gauge. When I got the RL1100 I bought the Armanov version, and have enjoyed having it. Also, if you are still checking with a barrel, the checker would be a tighter tolerance. All of the rounds that fail all work fine, I just separate them so they don't end up going to a match. I just bought a couple of Shields, and I take the failed rounds and load them into the Shield mags, and they all shoot fine (my primary M&Ps have Apex barrels in them, not sure if they would be tighter or not.

Since you are using range brass, is there any consistency to the failures? Sometimes there can be issues with brands that were fine with 115gn loads that don't like a 135gn (or, in my case 147gn) load seated deeper.

As you probably have researched, using the FCD can help assure feeding, but might be doing so by force. What I do, since getting the case checker, is only run the failed rounds through the FCD. I do this on a separate single stage press, but you could just get something simple like this. Or maybe something like this, and that would be handy if/when you ever want to load something else.

I am embarrassed to say that, as I started to build a rhythm, I have a tendency to get sloppy placing the new case on the plate, and as a result I've broken 5 decapping pins, when the incompletely inserted case tips sideways, when advancing to the sizing die.

Squirrel Daddy makes hardened decapping pins to fit Lee dies.

Squirrel Daddy is The Way, if you are breaking them you probably want to cut back on your coffee before you break something else
I might try one of the high end dies (Mighty Armory, yada) someday, but for a long time I just use the Lee die with the SD pins. If it hits anything (Norma case, pebble, 22LR case) the pin just gets pushed up. I set the collet tight enough that I am for sure going to feel the extra resistance, and I created a little yellow electrical tape flag on the pin in the proper position for visual confirmation. I keep it snug enough to feel it, but loose enough I can just tap it back into position with a hammer.

I also love their 223 and 308 expander pins. I size all my carbine rounds without expanding them, after washing and trimming I use a Lee decap die (they need to be shortened) with the expander in station one, that makes sure the flash hole is clear of anything and makes the neck round right before it gets primed and charged.

[DMF13]

Even though I have Dillon stuff, I like the Hornady powder measure better, except...
I think the asymmetrical spring setup is not optimal. I have two of them (5.56 & 300BO) setup like I described in this thread. I ended up with full boxes of the spacers and screws, if you are interested I could probably do a little care package.

That's a brilliant idea. Thanks for the offer for parts. PM inbound.

You mentioned that you plan to add a "Hundo" style case gauge. When I got the RL1100 I bought the Armanov version, and have enjoyed having it. Also, if you are still checking with a barrel, the checker would be a tighter tolerance. All of the rounds that fail all work fine, I just separate them so they don't end up going to a match. I just bought a couple of Shields, and I take the failed rounds and load them into the Shield mags, and they all shoot fine (my primary M&Ps have Apex barrels in them, not sure if they would be tighter or not.

Yes sir, I did end up getting a Hundo case gauge. Wasn't aware of the Armanov version at the time. I do what you're describing. If it fails the gauge, it goes in the training only bucket. It's probably overkill, with the U die, and FCD, and somewhat forgiving Glock barrels, but I figure why take a chance.

Since you are using range brass, is there any consistency to the failures?

None so far, but I'll keep checking.

As you probably have researched, using the FCD can help assure feeding, but might be doing so by force. What I do, since getting the case checker, is only run the failed rounds through the FCD. I do this on a separate single stage press, but you could just get something simple like this. Or maybe something like this, and that would be handy if/when you ever want to load something else.

Funny you should mention that. Ever since the rash of decapping pins breaking, I was think of getting an APP to decap prior to cleaning, and I could use that with the FCD too.

Squirrel Daddy is The Way . . .

I may have to try that out.