First question to all progressive loaders is how many squibs have you had. I’ve been loading handguns since about 1965. No squibs yet. Knock on wood.
I load with a co-ax press. I use a Harrell’s measure over a digital scale. I weigh each charge.
I do every step in batches. I have large coffee cans full of sized and belled brass. It’s ready to be primed.
Add a little powder and seat a bullet. Hasbeen
One. My first progressive was a Lee 1000 and I let the powder level get too low once. A sharp RO stopped me from hurting myself or the gun. I had double hearing protection and in the heat of competition just racked the slide loading another round behind the then plugged barrel.
I thanked him profusely, packed my stuff and went home. Pulled the whole batch apart salvaging the components. Never let the measure get lower than half full since on any machine. Also added baffles on most of them. The 1050 has a powder check die and the others are setup so I can visually check the charges before seating. Some folks using progressives only choose powders that will overflow on a double charge but in my opinion the squib is the most likely failure. I'm not in such a hurry I can't stop and fill the hopper.
