What scale to get?

[rjacobs]

Sometimes they just get hungup on the pointer or the fulcrum. I usually make sure mine swings free before trying to zero it.

I think once you get pluggin with the 550 you will see that the powder measure stays pretty damn consistent and you wont be using the scale much at all except at the beginning of your reloading session to make sure nothing changed from last time or when you change a setting. But as long as you are sticking with what ever setting you had last time(and you confirm it prior to start) I have not found that I felt the need to measure every 10th round. Now with that said, since you are new to it, I would be(I did) measure every 10th round for at least 500-750 rounds to make sure you are comfortable with your powder measure throwing a consistent, accurate load.

[usmcamp0811]

must have been that...
HELL YEA I am going to measure every 10th round for awhile.. I'm not really worried but I am going to really cautious and follow all the steps.. I can't wait to shoot my first round and get that over with.. too bad they don't make 25 foot lanyards for rifles like they do for howitzers...

[rjacobs]

What .223 dies did you get? The dillon dies? I ended up getting another tool head for the de-prime/size die since you have to do that with lube, then clean the lube off the case's, then do the rest of the steps with no lube. Some guys I guess do it all in one step with the lube on the case's, but I prefer to clean them in before actually loading. I also have the Dillon electric trimmer on the same tool head as the size/deprime die. Might be something to consider once you start into it, or at least do a ton of case's where you size/deprime only then clean them, and then start actually loading them.

What kind of loads have you looked at?

I have had good success using 25g of H335 behind a 55g FMJ bullet using small rifle magnum primers. It was a load I found a ton of guys using when I was researching base loads for .223.

[usmcamp0811]

I got dillon dies and I was actually wondering about the whole lube thing.. like what lube to use and how that works with everything. I had thought about maybe running the brass through and just de-priming and resizing with one pass then finish everything off with a second but I'm not sure. I haven't really looked too much into loads just yet. I still need to get a couple manuals, primers, bullets and powder.

[ralph]

I got dillon dies and I was actually wondering about the whole lube thing.. like what lube to use and how that works with everything. I had thought about maybe running the brass through and just de-priming and resizing with one pass then finish everything off with a second but I'm not sure. I haven't really looked too much into loads just yet. I still need to get a couple manuals, primers, bullets and powder.

That's pretty much what I do, Resize, deprime, remove from the machine at station#2.
trim if needed, tumble to remove lube (I use Dillon lube,) Back at the press, when I'm ready to load the brass, I remove the sizing die (I have a locking ring on it so I don't lose my adjustments)and install a universial depriming die, this will punch out any media that may be stuck in the flash hole, prime and finish loading..

[usmcamp0811]

the only downside I see to doing it this way is there seems to be a need then for at least two tool heads and then a bunch of other extra dies per caliber.. I plan to do more than .223 once I get the hang of things. I want to eventually do .308, .45, 9mm, and .40. That's five calibers total mean at least 10 tool heads plus I dunno how many dies.. just doesn't seem very economical.. does seem like a nice way to do things though. I have a feeling I'm just going to have to do some experimentation to see what works best for me..

[-gary]

My process is done in separate stages. I keep a Redding T-7 with decap and sizing dies for my most plentiful calibers. (The others are kept in Hornady Lock-N-Load bushings for swapping out in a single stage press.) I clean/lube/decap/size/trim/re-clean in batches and then store the brass until I'm ready to load. I actually have a shelf built to hold plastic tubs for each of the stages so there is no question of what condition they are in. I pull the brass from the range bag directly to the tumbler so there is always something to be loaded. Dillon lube is used on everything. I have a side cover from an old PC case that I spray down with lube and then sift the clean brass in.

With the Dillon, you could spend the money and do it all in one, but for myself at least, I look at the processing and loading as two individual functions and don't try to find one magic tool that will handle it all from cradle to grave.

[rjacobs]

the only downside I see to doing it this way is there seems to be a need then for at least two tool heads and then a bunch of other extra dies per caliber.. I plan to do more than .223 once I get the hang of things. I want to eventually do .308, .45, 9mm, and .40. That's five calibers total mean at least 10 tool heads plus I dunno how many dies.. just doesn't seem very economical.. does seem like a nice way to do things though. I have a feeling I'm just going to have to do some experimentation to see what works best for me..

Why would you need 10 tool heads for 5 calibers?

Pistol reloading does not require lube and does not require trimming just load and go.

For the rifle stuff you can simply remove the size/decapping die from the tool head when you are ready to actually load. The adjustment of that die is so simple it takes like 2 seconds(raise the ram, screw the die down till it touches the shell plate, back off slightly, lower the ram, throw a lubed case in, raise the ram, tighten down the die).

You can size/de-prime a bunch of brass at a time, you just would not index the shell plate, just size/deprime and remove the case for cleaning.

You could also load with the sizing die there, just put in a prep'd case, seat the primer and index the shell plate, then raise the ram. You would only be using 3 stations out of the 4, but thats fine since you already sized/de-primed earlier.

[usmcamp0811]

thanks yea I forgot that pistol cases didn't require as much work.. I just de-primed a bunch of brass and started the cleaning process..

[JGrelle]

Back to scales, I recommend a RCBS 10-10, or the chargemaster, but you have to be aware that Florescent light will affect electronic scales if located in the area.