Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Back Into Reloading

Never annealed any brass ever, minimum belling and the use of a VLD (very low drag) deburring tool makes seating bullets a breeze and is easy on the case mouths.

Hell, a couple of cigar boxes, one full of brass & transfer a case from one to the other with a press stroke in-between goes pretty quick. Change die, repeat. A hand priming tool that holds a 100 speeds things way up, as well a a powder measure & a loading tray or 2.


Some folks might be surprised at how fast you can load 2-300 rounds of revolver ammo with just a few tools. Press, scale, powder dumper, priming tool.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/45-colt-brass

Starline has lots of brass in stock now including .45 Colt

For some reason, when I first looked at the Dillon website, I didn't see the 550 press as an option, but on second look that's still available, and is only $650.00, so not so much more than I remember.

I've had a Dillion 550 for 30 something years now along with a bunch of tool heads for different ammo. I didn't use it much most of that time because it was kind of like driving an out of alinement car. Settings seemed to change and the primer feed system was a pain.

After Covid happened I finally sent it back to the mother ship. They upgraded it to the newer C model which makes keeping it lubricated much easier. It now runs just like it should... better late than never I guess.

They never asked if I was the original owner so buying a used one might be something to consider.

I gotta gun and I go fishin

sometimes

Yeah, everything I've heard is that they have incredible customer service, to the point that even normal wear and tear parts damage is repaired or replaced without question.

After having both 550’s, 650’s and a square deal. I have had multiiles 550’s and 650’s at one time. I prefer the 650. Down to one now and their shotgun loader. I dont care to single stage pistol cases unless im trying a new load. Pretty easy to load 400-500 in short order. I only load .223 and hangun cartridges on the dillon so can’t comment on larger rifle cartridges. I never had a issue on the 550 just prefer the auto advance( leas chance of a doible charge IMHO)and the extra die capability to add a lockout die.
I would rather shoot than load pistol ammunition for hours on end. Same for shotgun loading so I prefer progressive presses for those. First progressive press of any kind was a Ponsness Warren shotshell press. I may have spent more time cleaning up shot and powder than loading during the learning stage.

I haven’t reloaded a round in at least 6-7 years. We moved 4 years ago and all of my reloading equipment is still boxed up. I was never a serious hand loader, but I reloaded thousands of rounds of center fire rifle over the years, usually to save money, especially on hard to come by rounds. I just came into possession of a Savage 99F in .300 Savage. Factory ammo is scarce and expensive. So I think I’ll get set back up. I’ll start with building a new reloading bench, the old one was scrapped in the last move. The old Lee Challenger press needs to be retired, that Forster co-ax press looks sweet. I have no idea what my powder and primer inventory looks like, I’m sure I’ll be needing both.

Yep, don't work the brass any more than necessary.

I have some .45acp brass you can't read the headstamp anymore.

Loading for bullseye guns with very soft bullets I had to use a stepped powder funnel made for Dillon PM. That cut case life considerably. I found a Lee carbide sizer that was a bit bigger, not working the case so much helped a lot with that.

Be prepared for a bit of sticker shock if you've been out of the game that long. Primers are generally running ~$100 a brick and powder is $30-55 a pound these days.

I have two dillon 550s. Pretty crazy to load 100 rounds in 15 minutes.

Sounds like you're in a similar boat to myself, other than my hiatus having been longer. I too stopped after a move to a new house, due to just not getting around to setting everything up again till recently.

I don’t load much handgun stuff but for rifle you should anneal every 5-7 cycles or risk splitting necks. Also it keeps your bullet seating more uniform giving better accuracy.

Yes, this is what I gather from my research, i.e., necked cartridges need it every 5-7 reloadings, while straight walled cases do not.

Good for you Hawk, enjoy!

My first Dillon SDB, in the early 90's, was, I think, less than $175.00. Around that time I'd bought a completely wore out SBD for 75 bucks and called Dillon to get some parts to try and make it run right. Even after telling the Dillon dude the machine was used when I bought it, he said that didn't matter and told me to pack the machine up and send it back to them. Got it back about 3 weeks later completely rebuilt for no charge.

Nice, and consistent with what I've heard about their customer service.

The_Real_Hawkeye that’s awesome! Glad you’re back in the game!

Currently the most significant bottleneck is large rifle primers. Plenty of small rifle and small & large pistol primers availible. When you get serious about you ctr fire pistol shooting you build a target backstop that allows you to recycle all the bullets you put in it. Molds , leadpot and a lubricator sizing set up. Once you realize there is nothing intelligent on TV and turn it off. You can listen to music as you sit at the bench and reload. Some think reloading is to repetitive and boring I don't I'm a productive person and every round I load saves me money over what the factory ammo fans pay. I like to shoot alot. Doesn't have to compete with shooting time, evenings and rainy bad weather days.
The left declared war on the right many years ago they have been attacking lead use longer than I've been alive I'm 68. Lead is the essential ingredient to affordable recreational shooting. Recycle it , recast it and use it right into forever. If you have 500 lbs of lead and use a backstop that allows you to recover it. Your loss just about stops. You go to gunshows and gawk around, you never score a damn thing. The trick is high speed low drag, factor out all dealer fugs what your looking for is some guy selling his uncles or neighbors estate for the widow. You will find all the equipment you need for way less than half of new cost. You have to pick those feet up and down high speed, low drag ,eyes forward on full scan for the stuff you need. Leave anyone who will distract you at home you are now to be a deal predator. Yeah and quit fugging around with anything but cash got it? Nothing has to cost a lot of money. Know what a deal is when you see and act on it. To be the most effective you need to think of what you need down the line as well as rfn. Questions?mb