DFW_Warrior
Member
See this is exactly me as well. It kind of reduces the effectiveness of the progressive since I want to check/trim after sizing too. At that point if I use a hand primer for prep then the progressive really doesn't do much but save a step between powder and crimp.
Wait, you are trimming 9mm brass?Right, this is what my dad does. And I could be okay with leaving the pockets alone, whichj is why I asked. It just means a paradigm shift for me.
As for getting out of whack, I swear it ain't my fault! Some arsehole broke into my house and stuck a couple of 380s in my clean 9mm brass. If i ever find that jerk...
Plus just me getting things out of whack, forgetting to empty the filled shell on a restrike so I get a pile of powder at that stage, or running out of primers and realizing what that battery was supposed to do, or knocking that one bullet over crooked and trying to back up the process, you know just general crap that i personally blame on dillon. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Seriously, here is my full process for 9mm.... tumble dirty brass in a cement mixer with corncob blasting media, and separate it. Throw brass in a tub and squirt some DIY Dillon knock off lube in there (not much, just a little). Stir and then let evaporate. Load the brass into the brass feeder, fill up the bullet feeder, and then pull the handle while trying to keep the press fed. Everything that comes out of it goes does get a quick visual inspection and primer check, and then into a 5 gallon bucket it goes. That is really it. Keeping the press running when you get something like a 380 is super easy with the Dillons. Here is the trick. When you first start, before you load any primers, just decap and resize a dozen 9mm cases or so. Then, when you feel a 380 go through the sizing die, and trust me, you will feel it... just yank it off the press before you prime in and stick in a 9mm case that has already been sized. Done... If you bullets aren't staying upright, then I'd bet you don't have enough bell on the case.
For .223/308 it is two passes through the press. First, same cleaning process as the pistol brass. For lube, it's the same stuff, just more of it. For 308, it get more than .223. First pass it goes through an FW Arms decapper and then a sizing die over in station 3. After that, 15 minutes in the tumbler to get the lube off (pistol ammo stays lubed, just how I like it... LOL). All of it gets swaged, and then if it is hoser/practice ammo it goes straight to the press. That's right kiddos, I don't trim it and I have my reasons. It gets loaded and all of it goes through a case gauge and a check for primers.
Long range ammo gets trimmed, chamfered, and then off to the press it goes after that. Same check process as the hoser ammo. I can't imagine doing all that on a single stage. It would be horrid and so slow.