Pistols - Who Shoots Pistols?

[Baldrick314]

I ended up buying 2000 of the TopScore 122gr round nose this afternoon from Horsley's along with 2kg of AP100. Did my original load development with Susan Island 125gr round nose so hopefully these don't require much tweaking. I've got close to 1000 rounds of pistol and rifle to load this weekend so thankfully it's a long weekend and daylight savings kicks in

I've been using the topscore 124's with AP50 and had good results.

yeah I did a mass loading of my pistol calibres a couple of weeks back. At the time I thought "Great, I'm up a thousand rounds on both that will keep me going for a while". Now I'm nearly ready to start loading 9mm again

[ebr love]

I couldn't deal with having to do the amount of reloading pistols need.

I'm over it after 100 rifle rounds

[Baldrick314]

I couldn't deal with having to do the amount of reloading pistols need.

I'm over it after 100 rifle rounds

It's quicker/ less fiddly with pistols though. Just crank the handle

[brett1868]

I couldn't deal with having to do the amount of reloading pistols need.

I'm over it after 100 rifle rounds

It's quicker/ less fiddly with pistols though. Just crank the handle

Yep, around 500-800 rounds an hour from this baby. Currently in transit and hopefully arrives in time for the weekend as I've got 2000+ cases to put through it.

[Baldrick314]

Yet another reason I'm jealous of you Brett

I'm stuck with a Lee 1000

[Supporter]

I couldn't deal with having to do the amount of reloading pistols need.

I'm over it after 100 rifle rounds

Thousands of rounds a year if you're competing seriously

[Title_II]

I couldn't deal with having to do the amount of reloading pistols need.

I'm over it after 100 rifle rounds

Thousands of rounds a year if you're competing seriously

Thousands of rounds a month if you are screwing off

[south]

Yep, around 500-800 rounds an hour from this baby. Currently in transit and hopefully arrives in time for the weekend as I've got 2000+ cases to put through it.

Serious rig

[bluerob]

I couldn't deal with having to do the amount of reloading pistols need.

I'm over it after 100 rifle rounds

It's quicker/ less fiddly with pistols though. Just crank the handle

Yep, around 500-800 rounds an hour from this baby. Currently in transit and hopefully arrives in time for the weekend as I've got 2000+ cases to put through it.

Get the machine that cranks the handle for you. There's some insane 1050's on youtube that i was looking at when setting up mine. Get the auto primer also. Saves time picking up primers.

I can usually do 800 9mm in 1 hour with my 1050.

[sandgroperbill]

Yet another reason I'm jealous of you Brett

I'm stuck with a Lee 1000

Out of curiosity, what's wrong with the lee 1000?

I should note, this is a serious question as it was a press I briefly looked into a while back, but ended up going another route due to needing a press for larger rifle rounds. I'd be interested to know of your experiences and its down falls, though, as from what I saw it looked OK for pistols...

[Baldrick314]

Out of curiosity, what's wrong with the lee 1000?

I should note, this is a serious question as it was a press I briefly looked into a while back, but ended up going another route due to needing a press for larger rifle rounds. I'd be interested to know of your experiences and its down falls, though, as from what I saw it looked OK for pistols...

For what you pay the Lee's are a reasonable press. I paid $100 each for my two. When I was learning to use them I had bridged charges/ cases that wouldn't get powder at all, primers getting stuck in the feed ramp so some cases wouldn't get primed and powder spilled all through the bottom of the press, I had primers get stuck between the primer ramp and the priming station and get squashed.

A lot of those problems arose because I was trying to go too fast. Now on a good day I can churn out about 200 rounds an hour but to do that and have quality ammunition I've gotta be watching every round plus make sure I don't run out of powder or primers and have to be pulling the handle the same way each time.

The dillon's are a lot more user friendly, you can just crank on the handle and it will spit out great ammo at a much faster rate. The Lee's tend to be a bit more inconsistent in the charges they throw too.

I wouldn't get rid of me Lee's but if I did a larger volume of shooting and had the cash I'd get a Dillon in a heart beat.

[sandgroperbill]

Good info to know. Thanks, Baldrick

[brett1868]

I'll second and third what Baldrick314 said, the Lee is a reasonable press but can be frustrating to use. I have a pair of them (9mm / 38Super) and gave up trying to get the priming system to work and had all the same problems Baldrick314 had.
The Dillon arrived on Monday and has since churned through 2000 rounds in 2 nights without much hassle. Last night it started to misbehave when lowering the plate, the case that was being flared & charged was jamming on the powder funnel. Was tight enough that when lifting the handle the charge would "jump" from other cases as the charged case broke free from the funnel. I suspect that the sizing die (Hornady) might be sizing the cases a little small causing them to jam on the powder funnel. I'll change over to a Lee sizing die and see if that resolves the issue. Alternatively I'll put the powder funnel in the lathe and polish it with some 1000 Wet & Dry just to take a few thou off to loosen it up in the case.
Was a little fiddly setting the thrower but once dialled in for 8gr it stayed there, I was checking every 10th case then every 50th and it never budged from 8.0gr which is very impressive. I have 2 tool heads setup for it and swapping calibres takes a couple mins mainly because 9mm & 38Super use the same shell plate, primer tube and case feeder. Will get it setup for 38/357, 44Mag, 45/70 and maybe .204 & .223 though anything bigger I will still hand load.

Why Not the Dillon 1050?
Goog question...I originally planed to buy the 1050 but they are designed to punch out thousands of rounds day in and day out but are over double the cost of the 650 and not as quick to swap calibres. I've pimped out the 650 with the case feeder, strong mount, powder check and a soon to arrive Hornady bullet feeder so it'll be a 1 handed operation to crank out round after round. I'll post some pictures over the weekend

[Baldrick314]

Out of curiosity how much did the 650 set you back Brett?

[brett1868]

Out of curiosity how much did the 650 set you back Brett?

A fraction under $2k5 fully pimped but not dies as I already had them.

XL650
Case feeder with sml & lge pistol plates
Quick change (toolhead & thrower)
Strong mount
Case gauges (9mm / 38Super)
Spare parts kit
Extra set of 4 pistol primer pickup tubes

Hornady LnL bullet feeder
3 dies for bullets (9mm, 38/357 & 44)

Kinchrome 26" Evolve 7 draw tool trolley

I used 12mm form ply to make a top for the trolley and screwed it down from the inside and mounted the press on top. All the case prep, bullet prep, reloading tools and dies are now in the one place with the top draw devoted to the gear needed to run the Dillon. Looking to do a similar thing with my other press so when I go bush for a week or more I can take my reloading gear with me which will vastly improve load development on the larger calibres. My cousins little Super Simplex press can't handle the cases I shoot.

[Title_II]

Wow

[Baldrick314]

Bloody hell, I'll never get that past the wife

Awesome setup though

[brett1868]

Bloody hell, I'll never get that past the wife

Awesome setup though

Do what I do....
Don't tell her
Tell her how much time it saves so you have more time for her
Never have the safe unlocked when she's home

Best way to deal with my missus
Always return from the range / hunting trip in a happy mood and give her a lot of attention / affection. Tell her how much you missed her and be attentive for a few days. Next time you want to go shoot / hunt, act like a grumpy bugger a few days before and she'll insist you need to go And women think they train men into their way of thinking....

[sandgroperbill]

So i need to give your missus affection after i go hunting?

I don't even know her...

[KWhorenet]

I only carry a revolver when......maybe at a BBQ or something. Because I have a nice revolver holster...

Accessorising your BBQ attire ? Hmmm the brown holster to match the brown reefs perhaps.

[brett1868]

So i need to give your missus affection after i go hunting?

I don't even know her...

Guess I could have worded the last post better but if you get to Sydney you're welcome to offer her some affection I warn you though that East European women can be real ball breakers

[sandgroperbill]

Mate, I have a lot of Irish family. Irish women aren't afraid to hit you over the head with a cast iron frying pan...

[Title_II]

I only carry a revolver when......maybe at a BBQ or something. Because I have a nice revolver holster...

Accessorising your BBQ attire ? Hmmm the brown holster to match the brown reefs perhaps.

Mate, I lived in New Jersey, USA the majority of my life. It's a terrible place where you need a license to buy guns, can't carry a gun, and I lived to see them start restricting some guns.

When I moved to the rest of America, I came out of the gun safe like a middle aged, married homosexual comes out of the closet - with a running start and a flying leap!

I am - Gun Man!

[Eduardo]

I only carry a revolver when......maybe at a BBQ or something. Because I have a nice revolver holster...

Accessorising your BBQ attire ? Hmmm the brown holster to match the brown reefs perhaps.

Mate, I lived in New Jersey, USA the majority of my life. It's a terrible place where you need a license to buy guns, can't carry a gun, and I lived to see them start restricting some guns.

When I moved to the rest of America, I came out of the gun safe like a middle aged, married homosexual comes out of the closet - with a running start and a flying leap!

I am - Gun Man!

And I'm still stuck in NY. One day I will move to America.

[Pilch]

[When I moved to the rest of America, I came out of the gun safe like a middle aged, married homosexual comes out of the closet - with a running start and a flying leap!