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I use rcbs dies but after the 9mm rounds are complete I run them all through a Lee factory crimp die set just slightly so that I know they will all chamber correctly.
 
My plain old Lee 9mm die sizes just down to where the webbing looks to start in the case.
The Lee sizing dies seem like they are the best for 9mm Luger, as far as sizing the furthest down of any I've tried. All the other ones I've tried don't size as far down, so if there's any bulge, it'll likely still be there. Definitely my favourite sizing dies for 9, as the finished rounds drop right in and out of the case gauge. I do use the Redding die for inside the neck, and to bell the case mouth, and a Redding pro comp seating die with a separate Lee crimp die.

As far as the bulge buster dies go, I've only needed them on a big batch of .45 ACP brass I got in ( like 3500 cases, or so) that had deep extractor gouges on the heads. After running them once, they've been fine ever since. I've heard that a lot of .40 S&W cases get a bulge, but I don't reload that, yet.
 
COUGH!...
I've loaded a bunch of 9mm from scrounged range brass. And, as we all know, pretty much everyone, except four people and me, shoot Glock 9s. I've never seen anything bulged to a point it's had any affect on my chambering/cycling/shooting? My plain old Lee 9mm die sizes just down to where the webbing looks to start in the case.

But-hey, if you need/want it. :s0155:
Speaking of roll-sizing and bulged brass, I picked up a Lee "Bulge-buster" die recently, because it was on sale and I was ordering something else. It came with inserts for .380, .40 S&W, and .45 acp.

I have yet to find any brass in those calibers that fails to simply drop right through the respective insert. To read the ad for the product you'd think bulged brass was very common, but I've never had a problem myself. On rare occasion I've run into hard to size brass that was unnaturally bulged out, but any time I've seen that I've just scrapped the brass.

I can see where a high-volume loader would want a high volume machine, as they wouldn't have time to inspect each case otherwise.
I use rcbs dies but after the 9mm rounds are complete I run them all through a Lee factory crimp die set just slightly so that I know they will all chamber correctly.


Our resizing dies can not resize the whole case. The base will always be left untouched. In my quest for factory new ammo reliability with my reloading I learned the two key things most large scale commercial reloaders use. 1. They use a forming die to punch the brass through a die or a roll former. 2. They also use an under sizing die. The combination of the two yields almost a 100% chamber feed and drop free post load. This means reliability on performance. Prior to this using normal reloading practices of resizing with a standard die only I would have about a 5% fail rate on case gauging post loading. I can track this since I case gauge 100% of my 9 and 45 loads.

I expect my reloads to work better than new commercial loaded ammo.
 
Finally got to shoot my ladder test for Trail Boss in .45 acp, with 228 grain handcast polycoats. This was an unusual load test. Every load tested, from 3.5 grains to 4.5 grains, grouped the same. All in the "A" box at 18 yards and 25 yards, mostly about a 4" group, which is par for me and lazily shooting with the butt of the gun on a sandbag. Power factors from the low end at 142 to the max load at 170. Nice, light, powder puff and bunny fluff recoil. Generally thinking this will be a great load for most of the games I play, loaded up the super light ones for tomorrows match, and got a few hundred of them loaded in clips.

So, only issue I noted is that the powder dropper frequently drops a real light charge. Visually very apparent, so I caught all these, and had the lockout die set up as a backup, but I may try using the large insert for the powder measure next time, instead of the small one. ( big, fluffy powder)

Anyone ever messed with a powder vibrator for stuff that doesn't always meter well?
 
Cranked out another 800 rounds of my 135gr competition load

9BBBFEE1-9493-460E-94F9-3E0DF6C1D57B.jpeg
 
@Helocat , did your old roll sizer motor blow up?

The roll sizer motor is all good, that sucker is a worm geared commercial motor! It's the Dillon Case feeder above it I replaced the new motor it had with a newer faster one from Imortalbot. It runs easily 2x faster than the stock Dillon motor. (stock Dillon motor is now tucked away as a back up for one of the actual reloading machines)


Video of a modified case feeder on a Rollsizer, just skip to 1:50 to see it working.
 
Loaded a bunch of .45 acp special for the revolver... crimped into the front lube groove, light target loads. ( These run in moonclips, and headspace off the clip, not the case mouth. ) And that was all the bullets I cast, there were a few hundred more rounds that got shot up already. ~9 oz can of powder, , so by the math it should be about a thousand rounds. Planning to practice a lot, so I'm loading mass quantities.

45 revo.jpg my 625.jpg moonclip.jpg
 
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Ladder testing Bullseye and Ramshot Competition this weekend for more reduced loads in the .45 revolver. I love the Trail Boss, but it's pretty scarce, right now, and I have 4 lbs of the Ramshot... the numbers look pretty promising. I am amazed at how accurate this pre-97 625 is, at all the velocities I've tried. 650 fps up to 900, so far in the 230 grain slugs, 850 with 250 grainers.
 
Both the Bullseye and the Competition produced good loads for the purpose, so I loaded up ~ 800 rounds with the Ramshot. Time to coat more bullets! Loving the way the Competition shoots, very soft, even at the upper end of what I tested. Might be good stuff for when I eventually need more major loads.

bunny farts.jpg
 
Just lately I bought 800 and something nickel plated .223 brass from JoJo on this board. Of course, I had to load some. My reloading has gotten ahead of my shooting this year. I need more .223 ammo like I need a hole in my head. Oops, probably not a good metaphor in this matter.

I loaded 100 rounds in the "new" (once fired) Speer nickel plated cases. Which in my experience I've always encountered these with crimped primers so the crimp must be removed as part of the case preparation process. I got very lucky on case trim length, however. about 90% of them, after re-sizing, were still under length. I only had to trim about 10% of them to get pretty consistent uniformity.

These are loaded for my bolt action and single shot .223 rifles which have 1-12 twist barrels. The IMR 4320 load is one that I've discovered in the past that produces very good accuracy. This powder is no longer made; it was discontinued recently by Hodgdon.

The containers are the cheap Midway paper box with polystyrene molded tray. I've reused these many times. I just change the labels.

PB090026.JPG PB090027.JPG PB090028.JPG
 
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Loving your labeling system, there. Makes me think I should up my game a bit, from hand written labels, and include a date of production.

Well, I still do some hand-written labels on on-offs. But I have maybe 3,000 rounds of .223 reloads and clear labels make it easier to see what's there at a glance. The top label is just knocked out on the PC printer, cut and paste with a glue stick. Formerly I used white glue but it sticks too permanently and since I reuse the boxes, it made sense to use the glue stick which peels off more easily later. The label on the box end is from a Brother P-Touch machine, the little mini version that I bought at a Goodwill Outlet store. Works pretty good.

Number of times fired is also something to consider in your labels. I didn't include it on these because all of the new arrivals are 1x.
 
I'm in the same boat. But to be fair, I only have a single-stage press and 100 rounds takes me about 3 hours start to finish.

I do own a couple progressive machines but I still only average 100-150hr...because I'm paranoid and weigh every 5th charge...I like it as it's therapy for mE
 

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