$500 ready to spend

[Boxerglocker]

If a guy quality checks his reloads 1 in every 50 or 100 rounds, then he is making an inference from a sample of 1 that all 50 or 100 rounds are good. If you check every round at more than 1 stage in the prcess, including visual confirmation of powder charge, you are no longer inferring from a sample. You are moving into descriptive statistics, where you have knowlege of EVERY round in the pile. Thus, the probability of having a problem due to human error is much lower, if not 0. Atleast by my logic.

Mark

Not necessarily so - in my opinion - and I load both ways at times. Right now all of my 77 SMK loads are primmed and charged in the 1050 and go into a case block - only because my competition seater die is too long to work in the 1050.

Do it enough times (visually) and it's possibly your brain will see what it expects to see. Or you could forget to re-check that one case where you dumped a charge for some reason. Plus, you can add a powder check device that will tell you if a round is grossly over or under charged during the reloading cycle.

I check the first several loads when starting a new batch, then every 5 or so until the machine is settled. Then every 10th or so, but I'm more anal than most and don't get in a hurry.

I've never had a squib on any metallic reload (knock on wood), and it's impossible to double charge a .223 case with any powder I've ever seen or used. Different story for some pistol loads with certain powders, of course. You do have to pay attention.

I have to agree with shootist. Once you start loading on a progressive full-time and understand the how it works intimately you realize how much safer it really is. Now, I'll state now that it is a complex machine in comparision to a SS so just like you would a car, if you don't take care of it, things can go wrong. Thus preventative maintenance should be taken to ensure it's relaibility, cleaning, lubing and set-up checks.
However, IMO particularly with the XL650 there are so much more opportunities to verifiy as your actually reloading. I use a RCBS lockout die for pistol and Dillon powder check for rifle as well as visually check each and every charge.... both my standard 9mm and rifle loads will overflow if a double drop is induced. I have a venier micrometer adjustment on both my powder drop and seating dies so as long as I check those predetermined settings before a session I'm good to go. I do check and confirm the powder drop 3 to 5 times to account for settling and refilling of the powder reservior and measure the OAL of the 5th through 10th rounds after starting a session and the machine has loaded all stations.
After that though it's crank it out at about 100 rounds every 6-7minutes in 9mm and 8-9 minutes for .223 I check drops again using my visual cues and measuring ever couple of hundred.

[chadbag]

Ok thanks! I have never seen a forster die in real life and my redding is still in the box so I have no experience with it as of yet.

Chad

The competition seating dies, in this case a Forester .223, have a spring loaded guide that hangs down below the upper section of the die. The guide makes contact with the shell plate during the down stroke for near perfect alignment between the case and the bullet - before the bullet is finally seated.

As you know, the 1050 (not the newer Super 1050) is not as tall as a 550 or 650. When the bullet is seated, the indexing sequence starts on the upstroke (or there abouts) and that guide section of the seater die contacts the loaded bullet before the tool head is high enough for clearance.

I use a Redding competition seating die for 6.5x55 on the 650 and it works fine on that machine due to the higher clearance.

[markm]

Yeah. I'm using the Forster in 308 on my LNL classic Single stage. I have to put the bullet tip into the die and then move the base over and into the case mouth to get it to fit.