Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
I’d been dragging my feet about it but I finally pulled the Dillon RL1050 out of the closet, set it up and started loading 9mm ammo today. Even at the healthy clip of one box of 50 rounds every 2:20 minutes its still tedious. However, it does pay off. Since I always save my brass and pick up whatever range scrounge I can, I figure my cost for cases is $0.00. Factor in primers at $0.019 ea, bullets at $0.057 ea, and powder at $0.011 per charge that makes one round of 115 gr. FMJ 9mm for $0.087 ea, or $4.35 per box of 50…or $87 per thousand, if you prefer.
I have a 5 gallon bucket of empty brass, about 6000 bullets (which cost about 40% more than they did last year), a keg of AA#5, and a matching amount of primers….everything I need to stock up what the girlfriend and I have shot off over the last few months.
I currently have a Dillon 550 and the Super 1050. In the past I have used the RCBS and Lee progressive presses and found them wanting. If you want to get your production up and not futz around, get the Dillon.
I do, of course, keep the good ‘ol Rockchucker press around for loading my .308 target ammo. I just like the meticulous, ritual-like motions of loading a box of 50. What do I load? Lapua brass (excellent stuff, get it before the dollar collapses further and the price is outrageous), Fed. Gold Medal primers, Varget powder and Hornady AMax 168 gr. bullets. The results satisfy me. Less-than-MOA is typical….usually around .7 MOA although there are times I’ve shot much better and dumped ‘em into .5 or .4 MOA.
So, I have a cardboard box here filled to the top with nice, shiny 9mm ammo ready to be boxed up in plastic ammo boxes, stacked in ammo cans, and put away for the uncertain future. (Generally half of everything I reload gets socked away, the other half gets shot for practice.)
In addition to the 9mm, I also have the setup to run the Dillon in .40, .45, .38/.357, .308 and .223. Lucked out and found a set of carbide .308 dies for $50, and I still have my .223 carbide dies from years ago. Yes, you do have to lube the cases with carbide rifle dies but the cases won’t get scratched nor will the die if the cases are dirty.
With the price of ammo being what it is these days you really dont have an excuse, other than being fabulously well off, to not reload.
Two hours and 20 minutes seems a little slow for 9mm 😉 I think I do a hundred in about 20 minutes with the 550. Although that doesn’t include the 100% size QC after each 100 – I’ve had some problems with range brass that the Dillon die doesn’t resize completely and won’t seat completely in the Glock chamber, so I’m doing a lot of size checking and sorting these days to reduce annoying and hard to clear jams on the range. I like the 550, but I sort of wish I’d gotten a 650 instead, just for the extra position that I could use for an undersized Lee sizing die to follow the Dillon sizing die.
What load do you use? I’ve been loading 147gr Berry’s plated using 3.3gr of Titegroup using‘s recipe. I’ve tried Precision moly bullets, but when shot with Titegroup, they smoke a bit. They also get my hands a lot dirtier.
Nothing like catching up on reloading chores for a feeling of accomplishment. I never had good luck reloading 9mm on my Rockchucker, had a lot of ‘coke bottle’ shaped cases. That was a long while ago and back then 9mm was so cheap as to not be worth it, now that prices are up I can think about reloading again.
I have an M1A and was cautioned to use the BR hard primers for that gun when reloading .308 to prevent slam fires.
BTW, do you have any of the gamma seal lids left? I would like to get some from you. Let me know when you can, thanks.
I’ve been saving up for a reloading setup for a little while, thinking about the 550. Then, a few days ago a friend tells me (after he just completed a 2000 cartridge loading spree) that he wishes he had gotten a 650 as well. I plan on reloading for practice, but also some of the classes I will be taking. What are the advantages to the 650 over the 550? Would you recommend it to a first time reloader?
Thanks,
MF
I’ve never reloaded on a 650, so I can only go by the listed capabilities and what people have told me. The one thing it has that didn’t seem that useful when I made my decision was the extra station, which I’d use for an extra resizing die.
I have problems with some 9mm range brass in that they don’t resize all the way down with the Dillon die, and then jam in the gun’s chamber. If I use an undersized Lee die, there’s no leadin, so the die starts shaving brass off near the bottom of the case where the bulge is greatest. A friend uses a 650 and a Dillon die for the first resizing, then follows that up with a Lee in the second station to reduce the diameter a bit and resize further towards the base. With the 550, I’d have to make two completely separate runs to do that.
Have several left, quantity is updated in the post about them. Figure how many you want and lemme know your zip code and I’ll get you a with-shipping price.
Smartass. How about 2’20”, that work better for ya? Or 140 seconds. Or about one round every three seconds.
I would like 5 please, my zip code is 85710.