Hunting Washington Forum
Equipment & Gear => Guns and Ammo => Topic started by: scoyoc5 on January 14, 2013, 05:38:57 PM
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well after what seems like an eternity I finally got my reloader. I have wanted to do this for years. This was a real toss up for me between the Dillon or hornady but in the end i kept going back to the hornady, theres just something about it for me i guess. I'm still waiting for my shellplate to arrive other than that I'm ready to go. I have a few books to refer to but I'm also hoping to bounce any question that I might have off the experienced reloaders that we have on hunt wa :tup:... I will definitely be taking it slow a not getting into a rush.
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I have the same minus the hopper. Also have a single stage Hornady. Don't forget the promo...........bottom left in link page...Get Loaded 2012 or Get Loaded 2013. You can also get free bullets for die sets. FYI, Just in case you didn't know.
By the time I got done a couple years ago, I basically paid for the presses with all the free bullets for both reloaders and several die sets. Back then the LNL was worth 1000 free bullets....now 500.
http://www.hornady.com/promotions (http://www.hornady.com/promotions)
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I have been really looking at the Hornady Progessive but I'm a die hard Dillon and single stage guy. I would have to personally try one before I could commit to the purchase. I like Hornady products, they have excellent custom dies at a very fair price as compared to having Redding do a custom set.
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I recommend you go to www.untimatereloader.com (http://www.untimatereloader.com). Gavin Gear has a great reloading site and has some very informative video's comparing the various progressive presses including Hornady and Dillon. I've had a Lee Loadmaster but was very unhappy with it. I have a Lee classic turret press and use it for both rifle and pistol. It's a great press.
However, I'm saving my pennies and will purchase a Hornady LNL auto progressive in March. I have a home-made case feeder that I built; it cost me about $60 total. It was a real job getting everything lined up correctly but it sure cost a lot less than the $300 dollar ones. I'll just move it to the right side for the Hornady and make a few other modifications. Should work fine. I have been using a Hornady bullet feeder. I used a collar to attach the Lee four tube bullet feeder. I fill up the tubes and then just rotate the turret when one tube runs dry. It works well so I'll just transfer it to the Hornady when it arrives. Good luck with your Hornady, it's a great press.
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only thing left are bullets.... I think I'm gonna go search around tomorrow at some local stores to see what they have, no telling how long it will take for the hornady's free 500 to arrive. I've got my size and decap setup, the bell/expand in and the powder measure running smooth. Case feeder is working with very little issues ( I did find a cool video on youtube to stop the random case from dropping into the case feeder tube upsidedown by using a business card )and the primers are loaded as well ..I have noticed some powder sticking to the pin on my powder cop die, I have cleaned it several times with hornady one shot.
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I recommend you go to www.untimatereloader.com (http://www.untimatereloader.com). Gavin Gear has a great reloading site and has some very informative video's comparing the various progressive presses including Hornady and Dillon.
Thanks Jekemi
I have watched a ton of Gavin's videos! some several times lol. He did a great job on them I wonder if hornady hooks him up? I know he had an influence on my purchase
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No biggie having a few kernels of powder on the powder cop die. I would suggest looking into an RCBS lockout die though. The lockout die locks up the press where as with the powder cop, you have to watch it. I learned the hard way and bought the powder cop die and then went to the lockout die, it is so much safer.
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thanks 300 I will look into it
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Well finally got some bullets last night. I gotta find somewhere that has them that's more cost effective. I bought 1 box of 100 hornady xtp 155 gr (29.99) and 1 box of 100 Speer gold dot hp 155gr(26.99) at that price its not worth reloading lol. I loaded up 20 rds and will go out in alitte bit and see how I did. :tup:
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If you want a large quantity 2000+ then try Montana Gold. If you want a lesser quantity, say a thousand, to save money then Precision Delta. If you want to try lead bullets then take a look at moly coated lead bullets like Bear Creek (what I shoot in .45) or Black Bullets International. Moly coated bullets are as cheap or cheaper as lead and are much cleaner on the gun and the dies as they don't have to be lubed. Stay away from plated bullets, they are just as expensive as jacketed bullets and have a tendency to tumble/keyhole.
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One other trick. I see the powder under the shell plate in the pic. That is either coming from the shell plate indexing too aggressively or you forgot to seat a primer (more likely)? Anyway, try this trick, put some heavy grease on the ball indents underneath the shell plate. The grease will slow and smooth up the shell plate index. In .45 you won't notice it as bad (as .45 has a lot of case capacity) but it will help. Where it will really show up is in 9mm .40 or rifle cartridges where you are filling them up.
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300 your reloading knowledge is spot on! I actually didn't even put a primer in on that load :bash: Also I did notice the shellplate does seem to "click" into it's postion alittle to hard causing just a kernal or two to jar out of the case. I will take the shellplate off and put some grease on the bearings as well.
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Keep a can of air on your bench for the rouge kernel of powder. The most important thing is to make sure that you don't have a kernel fall into grove of the priming system, this won't allow the spring to fully bring the primer under the case. After awhile you will get a feel for the primer through the handle and you will know if you seated it, if you seated it correctly, if you have a crimped primer pocket or if the priming system is out of adjustment, all through the handle. Don't worry about a few kernels jumping out of the case, especially with pistol, it won't hurt anything.
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Let me know if you are interested in a .45 dillon case gauge...got an extra, it is very handy.
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45 will be the next caliber on my list to reload..... :tup:
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25$......never used. I think the are 35 or so plus s&h from dillon.
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My wife must have noticed I was having trouble visually seeing my powder in my case so she picked me up a little reading light from walmart for 1.50...It actually works pretty darn good. :tup:
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re did my bench the orignal one was to small :chuckle: after I got that all together I made a few hundered rounds.. So far so good only had acouple hang ups nothing major. I'm really enjoying my new hobby. :tup:
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Looking like you have it pretty well under control. :tup:
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I love Hornady, their stuff is well made and it works, most of the time. I understand the attraction to Dillon. Dillon presses are built like tanks and made to last forever. They are also very expensive. For loading pistol rounds the single stage press can get awful frustrating. A good turret press is a reasonable alternative, much faster than the single stage press but not as speedy as the Auto Progressive. If I was made of money I'd buy Dillon. But, with my budget, the Hornady works just great. That's my 2 cents worth.
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:yeah:
thier "get loaded" free bullet offer was pretty sweet too
