Loving the Dillon
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Loving the Dillon
by PhillipM on Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:37 pm
I've had fun learning to load with my Dillon. Here's what I'm doing with my .30-06 Garand brass.
1) Use a safety pin straightened out with a hook on the end to check for incipient head separation and use a 3/8" tapered center punch to make the mouth round if it's dented from ejection.
2) Universal deprime die in station 1, ancient Herters primer pocket swage in station 3 to remove the military primer pocket crimp, if present. This works really fast as I can reach through the press and move the case from 1 to 3 quickly.
3) Tumble with the stainless steel media in my RCBS sidewinder (wet method) then dig out all the cases shaking out any media left inside.
4) Oven dry for about 30min on 225
5) Dump cases in vibratory bowl tumbler with no media which orients the cases mouth up. Grab a handful and invert to make sure all the stainless steel media is gone.
6) Arrange about 75 cases or so mouth up and lube with Hornandy One Shot
7)*Full length resize using my RCBS case mic to just bump the shoulder back .003"
* Trim using RCBS lathe type trimmer chucked in Milwaukee battery drill using the 3 way cutter head that trims, chamfers, and deburrs all at the same time.
9) Back to the Dillon. #1 no die, seat primer; Powder drop is in #2 position; #3 empty I add the bullet here; #4 seat and I'm done.
* I'm switching to an RCBS X-die that is supposed to eliminate trimming once an initial trim of .020" under maximum. We shall see.
1) Use a safety pin straightened out with a hook on the end to check for incipient head separation and use a 3/8" tapered center punch to make the mouth round if it's dented from ejection.
2) Universal deprime die in station 1, ancient Herters primer pocket swage in station 3 to remove the military primer pocket crimp, if present. This works really fast as I can reach through the press and move the case from 1 to 3 quickly.
3) Tumble with the stainless steel media in my RCBS sidewinder (wet method) then dig out all the cases shaking out any media left inside.
4) Oven dry for about 30min on 225
5) Dump cases in vibratory bowl tumbler with no media which orients the cases mouth up. Grab a handful and invert to make sure all the stainless steel media is gone.
6) Arrange about 75 cases or so mouth up and lube with Hornandy One Shot
7)*Full length resize using my RCBS case mic to just bump the shoulder back .003"
* Trim using RCBS lathe type trimmer chucked in Milwaukee battery drill using the 3 way cutter head that trims, chamfers, and deburrs all at the same time.9) Back to the Dillon. #1 no die, seat primer; Powder drop is in #2 position; #3 empty I add the bullet here; #4 seat and I'm done.
* I'm switching to an RCBS X-die that is supposed to eliminate trimming once an initial trim of .020" under maximum. We shall see.
PhillipM- Distinguished Poster
- Posts: 1896
Join date: 2010-07-18
Age: 43
Location: Byram
Re: Loving the Dillon
by SubGunFan on Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:40 pm
DANG..... I still need to order some of that stainless steel media..... 
The only thing I would do different is I would hand prime the cases with a LEE priming tool. Well, maybe 2 things.... My trimmer is not 3-way so I would have to chamfer by hand.
You left one step out...... How do you remove the case lube?
My method (madness) is..... 1. Tumble range brass. 2. Using my Rockchucker press I run lubed case through a standard sizing die or a small-base sizing die if needed. 3. If the primer pockets are crimped, they go through my Dillon Swager. 4. Trim if needed and then clean primer pockets and chamfer the inside of mouth (trimmed or not) only. 5. NOTE: Steps 2-4 are working with lubed cases (sticky as they might be). To remove the lube I place the cases in a large plastic bowl and pour Colemans Fuel on them. Put the lid on and shake them for about 1 minute. Drain the fuel back into the can and lay the cases out flat on newspaper and let dry overnight. 6. I then prime with a LEE Auto-Prime. 7. Here is where things could go 2 ways.... If using extruded powder, I use my RCBS UniFlow measure and Rockchucker. If using ball powder, I would use my Dillon 550 (or as in the past, my Jet ProLoader which is an inline progressive press. Back in the 80s I loaded 1000s of rounds of 30-06 and 308 ball ammo for Magnolia's old DCM Highpower matches to be used by the shooters.)
PhillipM, are you running extruded powder through the Dillon?
.
The only thing I would do different is I would hand prime the cases with a LEE priming tool. Well, maybe 2 things.... My trimmer is not 3-way so I would have to chamfer by hand.
You left one step out...... How do you remove the case lube?
My method (madness) is..... 1. Tumble range brass. 2. Using my Rockchucker press I run lubed case through a standard sizing die or a small-base sizing die if needed. 3. If the primer pockets are crimped, they go through my Dillon Swager. 4. Trim if needed and then clean primer pockets and chamfer the inside of mouth (trimmed or not) only. 5. NOTE: Steps 2-4 are working with lubed cases (sticky as they might be). To remove the lube I place the cases in a large plastic bowl and pour Colemans Fuel on them. Put the lid on and shake them for about 1 minute. Drain the fuel back into the can and lay the cases out flat on newspaper and let dry overnight. 6. I then prime with a LEE Auto-Prime. 7. Here is where things could go 2 ways.... If using extruded powder, I use my RCBS UniFlow measure and Rockchucker. If using ball powder, I would use my Dillon 550 (or as in the past, my Jet ProLoader which is an inline progressive press. Back in the 80s I loaded 1000s of rounds of 30-06 and 308 ball ammo for Magnolia's old DCM Highpower matches to be used by the shooters.)
PhillipM, are you running extruded powder through the Dillon?
.
SubGunFan- Contributing Member
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Re: Loving the Dillon
by mascott on Fri Oct 07, 2011 6:18 pm
Does the stainless steel media have to be used wet? Will it not work dry as does walnut type media? I'm not set up for wet tumbling and don't do enough to justify buying a new tumbler.
scott
scott
mascott- Distinguished Poster
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Age: 53
Location: pelahatchie
Re: Loving the Dillon
by PhillipM on Sat Oct 08, 2011 12:23 pm
mascott wrote:Does the stainless steel media have to be used wet? Will it not work dry as does walnut type media? I'm not set up for wet tumbling and don't do enough to justify buying a new tumbler.
scott
It only works wet.
The Hornandy one shot lube easily wipes off with a rag. It's waxy not gooey, for lack of a better term. I like my Lee handprimer and have not decided which is the fastest method but I think it's the Dillon because it takes away a step in handling the brass. Loading the tubes is a PITA and I feel like I should be wearing a bomb squad gear with all those primers in my face!
I'm using Varget, it's short cut extruded and seems to meter consistently. The usrifleteams.com site has some good info about prepping the Dillon measure for extruded powder. Basically it involves polishing the internal components and some modify the powder funnel due to powder bridging. I think that's just a .223 issue though. It's under Forums > National Match Competition> Reloading and Exterior Ballistics> The Loading Bench, I can't link it, they make you join the forum to view anything. There are many good tips about loading high volumes of match ammo, especially 223.
This guy is my hero. All he needs is a bullet feeder.
PhillipM- Distinguished Poster
- Posts: 1896
Join date: 2010-07-18
Age: 43
Location: Byram
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