This is going to be pretty long. Hopefully someone reads it. I wanted to post this to show how I approached it and ask a few questions about the experience so far. I think I’m off to a good start, but have run in to some hiccups and have a few questions. We’ve used the press on three or four different occasions. The first couple times were just playing around with different loads which I’ll detail later. The last two sessions were production runs of about 6,000 rounds each. So we’ve probably loaded about 13 or 14,000 rounds on the press so far. If anyone has comments on the approach or process, or ways to improve, please provide input.
Background
Last year with the ammo price increases and scarcity, my shooting buddy (Jason) and I decided it was time to get in to reloading. We do a big chunk of our practice, training classes, and other shooting activities together. We had considered just going it on our own, and buying presses individually. We thought if we bought a bigger press and tag-teamed it we could put out significant amounts of ammo in short bursts. One person could load primer tubes, keep the case feeder topped off, and QC the ammo as it comes out. We both primarily shoot 9mm and that’s what we’d be reloading.
Neither of us really wanted to reload and are only doing it to save on the cost of ammunition. We want to spend as little time as possible reloading and get as much ammo as we can out of the effort we expend. If we could load three or four times a year and get all the ammo we need, that’s our goal. A few years ago we were each shooting around 10-15k rounds a year on average. It’s definitely on the lower side the last couple years. So 5k to 7k per loading session was the goal. We split the cost of components and split the ammo evenly when we’re finished.
At the time, we decided we could reload for about $0.15 per round of 9mm ammunition based on component prices found online. The prevailing price for a case of brass-cased 9mm ammunition was about $250, or $0.25 per round. So we were figuring our break-even cost at $0.10 per round savings. This is using a plated or jacketed bullet and just whatever prices I found on the internet at the time. I know it can be done cheaper by looking for deals, using lead bullets, etc. Before the most recent price increases I could find cases of 9mm for 20 cents a round and it just wasn’t worth it to reload. After the price increases the savings went up to $0.10 or better and it started to look more attractive. (Of course, the prices of cased ammo are coming back down. So that’s cutting in to the B/E analysis.) Here’s what I found for current component prices with a quick search (we’ve been buying brass locally for around $0.03-0.035 per round and assume about a 40-50% pickup rate):
We had looked at three different press setups: The Hornady Lock n Load, the Dillon 650, and the Dillon 1050. I have still never really seen the Hornady fully set up and in use. INGO user (Fourtrax) was kind enough to show me his Dillon 650 when he invited me over to shoot. For a while I thought we were going to get the Dillon 650. At $970 to get set up, it was much cheaper than the Dillon 1050 ($1800.00). I had never actually reloaded on any of them, or any press for that matter.
Then I found Aszerigan selling a used Dillon 1050 at Profire and decided to go big or go home. I got the 1050, powder scale, calipers, case gauge, a partial jug of titegroup powder (maybe 2 or 3lbs), 9mm brass left in the case feeder, primer tubes, and some other odds n ends for around 1800 bucks out the door. It seemed like a good deal at the time. The 1050 was attractive to me for two reasons. First, the priming on the down stroke seems like it would be faster and more consistent. Secondly, the tool head moves up and down rather than moving the shell plate. This just seems like it would be smoother. While I haven’t used a 650 or a Hornady enough to be sure that’s the case, it seems likely. Other online discussions and reviews seem to indicate this as well. I am convinced the LnL or 650 could be almost as fast, if not just as fast as a 1050, but we were hoping for smooth, event-free operations out of the 1050. I am figuring about 20,000 rounds to break even on the press and other start-up costs.
The Setup
I’ll throw a few pics of the setup in here for fun. I keep the press at my house and want it to take up as little space as possible when it’s not in use. No reloading rooms or permanent setups. I mounted the press to a rolling cabinet. When it’s time to load I set up a folding table and put some boards across saw horses. When we’re done I break it down and roll the cabinet in to the corner of the garage. The ergonomics of this setup really kinda suck. The cabinet is just a few inches too short to be comfortable operating the press for several hours at a time. So this may change in the future.
Load Development
We really didn’t know where to start here. So we started gathering as much data as we could. Probably more than we needed. Then we began looking at and testing different loads using the Titegroup supplied with the press. We also tried a couple other powders (700X, 4756, and Rex) but we like the Titegroup the best. We are hoping to find one good load and just run it as long as those components are available.
We started with a couple reloading manuals and got the following info:
From Modern Reloading; Second Edition by Richard Lee 2003
Background
Last year with the ammo price increases and scarcity, my shooting buddy (Jason) and I decided it was time to get in to reloading. We do a big chunk of our practice, training classes, and other shooting activities together. We had considered just going it on our own, and buying presses individually. We thought if we bought a bigger press and tag-teamed it we could put out significant amounts of ammo in short bursts. One person could load primer tubes, keep the case feeder topped off, and QC the ammo as it comes out. We both primarily shoot 9mm and that’s what we’d be reloading.
Neither of us really wanted to reload and are only doing it to save on the cost of ammunition. We want to spend as little time as possible reloading and get as much ammo as we can out of the effort we expend. If we could load three or four times a year and get all the ammo we need, that’s our goal. A few years ago we were each shooting around 10-15k rounds a year on average. It’s definitely on the lower side the last couple years. So 5k to 7k per loading session was the goal. We split the cost of components and split the ammo evenly when we’re finished.
At the time, we decided we could reload for about $0.15 per round of 9mm ammunition based on component prices found online. The prevailing price for a case of brass-cased 9mm ammunition was about $250, or $0.25 per round. So we were figuring our break-even cost at $0.10 per round savings. This is using a plated or jacketed bullet and just whatever prices I found on the internet at the time. I know it can be done cheaper by looking for deals, using lead bullets, etc. Before the most recent price increases I could find cases of 9mm for 20 cents a round and it just wasn’t worth it to reload. After the price increases the savings went up to $0.10 or better and it started to look more attractive. (Of course, the prices of cased ammo are coming back down. So that’s cutting in to the B/E analysis.) Here’s what I found for current component prices with a quick search (we’ve been buying brass locally for around $0.03-0.035 per round and assume about a 40-50% pickup rate):
We had looked at three different press setups: The Hornady Lock n Load, the Dillon 650, and the Dillon 1050. I have still never really seen the Hornady fully set up and in use. INGO user (Fourtrax) was kind enough to show me his Dillon 650 when he invited me over to shoot. For a while I thought we were going to get the Dillon 650. At $970 to get set up, it was much cheaper than the Dillon 1050 ($1800.00). I had never actually reloaded on any of them, or any press for that matter.
Then I found Aszerigan selling a used Dillon 1050 at Profire and decided to go big or go home. I got the 1050, powder scale, calipers, case gauge, a partial jug of titegroup powder (maybe 2 or 3lbs), 9mm brass left in the case feeder, primer tubes, and some other odds n ends for around 1800 bucks out the door. It seemed like a good deal at the time. The 1050 was attractive to me for two reasons. First, the priming on the down stroke seems like it would be faster and more consistent. Secondly, the tool head moves up and down rather than moving the shell plate. This just seems like it would be smoother. While I haven’t used a 650 or a Hornady enough to be sure that’s the case, it seems likely. Other online discussions and reviews seem to indicate this as well. I am convinced the LnL or 650 could be almost as fast, if not just as fast as a 1050, but we were hoping for smooth, event-free operations out of the 1050. I am figuring about 20,000 rounds to break even on the press and other start-up costs.
The Setup
I’ll throw a few pics of the setup in here for fun. I keep the press at my house and want it to take up as little space as possible when it’s not in use. No reloading rooms or permanent setups. I mounted the press to a rolling cabinet. When it’s time to load I set up a folding table and put some boards across saw horses. When we’re done I break it down and roll the cabinet in to the corner of the garage. The ergonomics of this setup really kinda suck. The cabinet is just a few inches too short to be comfortable operating the press for several hours at a time. So this may change in the future.
Load Development
We really didn’t know where to start here. So we started gathering as much data as we could. Probably more than we needed. Then we began looking at and testing different loads using the Titegroup supplied with the press. We also tried a couple other powders (700X, 4756, and Rex) but we like the Titegroup the best. We are hoping to find one good load and just run it as long as those components are available.
We started with a couple reloading manuals and got the following info:
From Modern Reloading; Second Edition by Richard Lee 2003
115 Gr Lead |