Me 4 Years Ago Stocking Up

[martyd]

I was looking for a particular photo and came across these photos and thought they would be fun as a show and tell about my reloading just a few years ago.

First photo is getting the brass ready, 735 pounds of brass.

Second photo is Work In Progress

Third is sorting just the 223 brass

Forth is finished 9mm

All was finished, 6 different calibers.
380, 9mm, 38 Special, 357 Mag, 41 Mag, 45acp & 223.

I used a Dillon 550C press to do the loading.

I used an RCBS Rock Chucker for loading small batches for testing out loads before loading the bulk ammo on the Dillon.

Sold all my reloading gear except for a RCBS Rock Chucker and Lyman Case Trimmer which I am trying to sell locally.

PS: I thought about making this a contest with folks guessing how many rounds of each caliber I ended up with and how long it took me to load all of it, but decided not to. Reason, you would have to figure out the number of rounds in the first and third photos which would be a challenge to say the least. Plus the time for cleaning all the brass and sorting it by caliber and then putting all the loaded ammo into boxes.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I bought my Dillon 450 at a LGS in 1984, about two months before they went Customer Direct. Once I learned the rhythm of size, prime, powder and seating I did a 5000-round batch of 9mm. then a second one. I gathered components and did a 20,000-round batch of 223. I still have about 3000 of that batch left. I loaded 45 ACP and 45 Colt in batches of 4,000-5,000. For me a minimum sized batch is 500 rounds otherwise I load on a turret or Rock Crusher.

I have up graded over the years and am at the 550b level of press. I added a case feeder, and don't see any real improvement!

I own 17 shell plates and about 22 powder funnels. That lets me load around 75 cartridges (I have dies for 117). I think I have 8 tool heads and 5 powder drops. I schedule reloading based on the shell plate. 45 Colt, 45 Schofield, 44-40, 44 Mag, 44 Special, & 44 Russian all use the sane shell plate and primer set, so I load in that order. 45 ACP, 308, 30-06, 7 & 8 Mauser, 270 win & 280 Rem all share the same shell plate too. 223, 9mm, 380, 9 Largo, 30 Mauser, 30 Lugar, and 300 Black Out all share the same shell plate and primer Cup.

Something I learned long ago. The price of accessories will not be going down so buy sooner than later!

Off to take a nap, then 30 Carbine until late in the night!

Ivan

 

[Fishinfool]

Looks like you should be set for the rest of the summer anyways....

Color me impressed.

Larry

 

[Doug M.]

I'm not worthy.