Author Topic: Reloading the 45acp (Read 1619 times)

1911crazy · « **on:** March 23, 2010, 12:39:02 PM »

Its time to regroup and go thru my reloading equipment and upgrade. I need to look into casting bullets next too.

I just setup my LEE Pro 1000 in 45acp. And making a few dry runs it seems its going to be really awesome when i'm finished setting it up. I need a larger powder dispensing disc and i ordered the bullet feeder too. I have the multiple case feeder and i'm adding the indexing multiple bullet feeder too. Since we shoot a lot of 45acp i figure the progressive press would workout awesome and keep up with us shooting. Does anyone use the LEE Pro 1000 to load there 45acp?

I'm thinking of looking into the parts to set it up for 38/357mag, 44spc/44mag and 9mm luger too if the 45acp works out.

I been also thinking of the larger Lee progressive press too for 308win, 30-06 and the other calibers I can use the single press for precision loading when one round has to be exactly the same as the others(loading for accuracy/hunting).

HPBTmatch · « **Reply #1 on:** March 23, 2010, 03:26:38 PM »

I used the lee PRO 1000 to great success with 44mag and 44spl...but had a heck of a time with .45acp. The problem I ran into was the finished rounds wouldn't chamber all the way. I tried adjusting the crimp die, but eventually ended up just buying a separate taper die in .45acp (I think that's what it was.....it's been 13yrs...). I'm sure my solution was flawed...but I just ran all the ammo through my single stage press after it came off the progressive.

Btw, the case feeder worked fantastic, but the bullet feeder was a fickle-beast

FourBee · « **Reply #2 on:** March 23, 2010, 07:57:19 PM »

I used the Pro 1000 to load 9mm for years. Did some .38/357mags to. Like HP I had a few hiccups from time to time. Now however, I go to my Slngle Stage. I use it so often for my .223 Rem is probably the reason why.

Mikey · « **Reply #3 on:** March 24, 2010, 01:46:49 AM »

You guys will please have to forgive me for being such a olde phart but going progressive (not dembocrap dang it) scares me a bunch. I received Dillon's very first, off the line, 550 loader for my 40th b-day and I ain't gonna tellya how long ago that wuz but I regrettably found the progressive loader process to be unreliable, at least with the equipment I have. The machinery has so much improved over time that I really shouldn't complain but I use a mix and match process - progressive and single stage - that I can easily live with.

After I tumble my brass, the go through the Dillon for sizing, depriming and case mouth belling. I then prime by hand and charge them individually so I can see that every primer is properly in place and that every case has a powder charge and that they all look to be charged about the same amount. After that I go back to the Dillon to finish the loads with seating and taper crimping.

This sure isn't the 400 rounds per minute the Dillon is capable of putting out but I feel much more confident knowing each round will go bang when I pull the trigger.

My biggest problem with the 45 acp is encountering a few pieces of brass that are so thin they won't hold the bullet of that the primer pocket is so enlarged that I really do not feel the primer is in securely.

1911crazy · « **Reply #4 on:** March 27, 2010, 06:11:23 AM »

Mikey; We were popping out the 45acp loaded like it was popcorn. Heck they were comming out faster than you could put them in a 1911 magazine. I already have the case/brass loader and when i seen how fast this is I ordered the bullet loader too. At one time i was shooting 4 to 5 days a week and reloading most of the time i was home. I hope to have enough brass so i can reload during the winter time(no cabin fever here).

Update; After getting thru a few finiky moments we got it cycling with no problems now. We ran about 650rds of 45acp in about 2 hours. Now i can keep up with the amount of 45acp were shooting. Now i want the larger lee press for the 308 rounds too.

I'm kind of old school too we decapped the 45acp brass, cleaned out the primer pockets and polished the brass before it goes into the lee pro 1000 to be loaded.

kitchawan kid · « **Reply #5 on:** March 27, 2010, 07:57:03 AM »

Have to agree with both,I have a Dillon square "D" and de-prime,seat and crimp,but prime by hand with a Lee.

1911crazy · « **Reply #6 on:** March 27, 2010, 09:42:26 AM »

Quote from: kitchawan kid on March 27, 2010, 07:57:03 AM

Have to agree with both,I have a Dillon square "D" and de-prime,seat and crimp,but prime by hand with a Lee.

Yup we just resized and primed the first batch of 45acp before they went into the LEE Pro 1000 to be loaded. Since they were sized already. My next batch will be sized, primed, charged and seated all in the pro 1000 next.

I have a 5 gallon bucket of cleaned, decapped/primer pocket cleaned and resized already of 308 brass. I'd like to get the Lee Master progressive press to load all of these up too. Its so much faster to manufacture plinking ammo. For my good accurate ammo i'd use the single press but i'm also thinking about a turret press too. Its too late to upgrade at my age but my kids will use it anyhoo.

There's nothing wrong with using a single press to reload 20 to 200rds but since i have buckets of brass to reload i maybe dead with a single press before i get it done. With a single press the lee dipping powder cups to speed things up.

Savage · « **Reply #7 on:** March 27, 2010, 01:54:32 PM »

Crazy,
Years ago a friend bought a bullet feeder for his Loadmaster. I helped him set it up. I don't think it's worth the trouble, as it is not appreciably faster than inserting bullets by hand. I guess the one thing I disliked the most was not being able to look at the powder level as I was placing the bullet in the case mouth. It wasn't a week later when he found that some of his loads had very little powder (Made it out of the barrel, barely) and some were charged normally. Turned out the powder measure had a piece of the styrofoam seal from a powder bottle that would intermittently block the measure causing light charges. That last little visual check as the bullet is inserted would have avoided that. Years ago, I used a Pro 1000 to load 9mm. I had some that would not go in the chamber gauge due to differences in brass thickness of my mixed brass. A quick pass through the LFCD solved the problem, but had to be done on a single stage as a separate operation as the Pro 1000 is only a 3 stage press. I changed the press over to .38spl. It works fine for that. I still have it somewhere, but haven't used it for a decade or so. Be sure to chamber gauge your loaded rounds before going to the range. It might save you a lot of grief. Now get to loading!!

Savage

1911crazy · « **Reply #8 on:** March 27, 2010, 05:48:26 PM »

I did find out not to go by the lee powder charge disc too. I check the setting to my scale to see if its right. I found the charging disc to be off on what the lee book says to set it at for the correct powder weight. The auto disc setting was way off on the powder charge. I had to go to a larger diameter hole in the auto disc to get the charge i needed. Never trust the number setting on the disc. I'm always double checking when it comes to the powder charge when i'm first setting things up.

I figure the bullet loader will help me out with my arthritis in my shoulders/arms on the bad days when i want to reload. I'm not so flexable at times. It sucks growing old but thats another post.

Mikey · « **Reply #9 on:** March 28, 2010, 01:53:01 AM »

Savage: I had exactly the same problem as your friend, except that my bullets never even made it out the barrel of a snub nose and then they were a witch to get back into the cases so I could at least open the cylinder.

I had loaded 200 38 Spls one night and the next day I went off to the range to shoot them up. I maee the mistake of not visually checking that each powder charge had dropped as it was supposed to and I am not kidding when I tell you that 50% of these loads, which were supposed to have been my practice defensive loads, did not have a powder charge, only the primer. I had to pull all the bullets and reload them and I promised myself I would always visually check my powder charges in each case. That was certainly a learning experience.

williamlayton · « **Reply #10 on:** March 28, 2010, 02:29:21 AM »

I have the Hornady Lock-N-Load and it work fine. Not a big problem with it----but----on the occasions when I am loading a number of more than 200 or so, I find myownself thinking about the Dillion.
On the other hand, I do like knowing the charge is the same in each load.
Some folks, like me, are just never satisfied.

IF, I were a games shooter or shooting a 1000 rounds a week---Dillon would be on the bench and the LNL would be for my carry rounds or experiments.
Blessings

Savage · « **Reply #11 on:** March 28, 2010, 03:39:08 AM »

Mikey,
Weird stuff happens more often than you would think. I load my high volume stuff on a progressive, but I insert all my bullets by hand. I absolutely MUST do a visual check on the powder level before a bullet goes in. I also gauge every round I reload before it leaves my bench! I use the LFCD in the 5th station of my press, so I have confidence that they will chamber, BUT, I insist on checking them anyway. Experience has taught me to ALWAYS check those two things, along with normal visual inspection of my loads. I don't like surprises at the range!
Savage

rbwillnj · « **Reply #12 on:** March 28, 2010, 03:45:08 AM »

I shoot about 10,000 rouds of 45 ACP semi-wadcutters per year. I do all my reloading for handgun on Star reloaders. They last for ever.

Savage · « **Reply #13 on:** March 28, 2010, 06:50:59 AM »

Yes they do! Nice setup you have there, rbwillnj!! I don't shoot that much .45 anymore, but more than make up for it in my volume of 9mm and .40.
Savage

doc-and · « **Reply #14 on:** March 28, 2010, 03:12:14 PM »

When I was shooting ISPC Matches, I loaded all my ammo on my C&H AutoChamp, Works great at about 550 rounds per hour. Kept my Colts loaded all the time

docand

williamlayton · « **Reply #15 on:** March 29, 2010, 02:31:48 AM »

RB---great set-up. OH to have that much room

. I would like too see more pictures, if possible.
Savage---you and I, I am too anal about powder and double and squib charges.

I must say thought, that the Dillon's, seem too have the powder drops under control----not too say that Murphy doesn't lurke.
Blessings

Savage · « **Reply #16 on:** March 29, 2010, 03:08:08 AM »

Bill, I've been reloading a loooong time. So far, (Fingers Crossed) never had a double charge. If that's anal, I can live with it! I just have to look into that case before the bullet goes in. Even using a progressive. I have seen a couple of double charges at pistol matches, and have seen the results of a half dozen more. If you ever decide to go Dillon Progressive, go with the 650. Most of the double charges I've seen were loaded on the manually indexed 550. Either way, keep checking those powder charges!!
Savage

rbwillnj · « **Reply #17 on:** March 29, 2010, 04:35:27 PM »

Bill, Anything in particular that you would like to see pictures of?

Bruce

25-0mike · « **Reply #18 on:** March 29, 2010, 05:53:15 PM »

my experience is only with the 550 and for 45's its awesome 250-300 an hour also with 38 super. but when it comes to 357 and 9mm its a whole different story. using 38/357 dies hasnt worked very well thinking about straight 357 dies would probably work better. and i have to resize then hand prime then back and skip position one to charge then seat, on 9mm . its no fun at all and i have to be really carefull and think a whole lot. it really defeats the purpose. but luckily i dont shoot a whole lot of 9mm.could be because im using a shellplate marked 9mm and 38 super, they might have one thats straight 9mm that would work fine i dont know. but if it says either or. it should work for either or in my opinion. but thats just me. it sure will crank out some 45 SWC's though

Mikey · « **Reply #19 on:** March 30, 2010, 02:39:18 AM »

25-0mike: Hmmm, I think I would get a straight shellplate for the 9 and one for the 38 Super. The 9 is rimless while the 38 Super is semi-rimmed which is why you may be having problems with the 9. I use 9x23 brass for my 38 Super loads and have no problems what so ever with my old Dillon when loading for the 38 Super.

I use my Dillon to first size and bell, then I prime and charge by hand, and use the Dillon to seat and crimp. It takes longer, of course, but I am assured that each case has been properly primed and charged.

1911crazy · « **Reply #20 on:** April 01, 2010, 01:00:20 AM »

I check and watch every powder charge very closely so nothing gets a double charge. I also have a no talking & no interuptions rule while we reload so we don't get distracted too. I'm in my reloading zone only. There's no room for error.

I do check the length of my brass after resizing them too. And i check the overall assembled length too when there finished.

I just ran 800rds of 308 in a single press. My son was priming the cases in one press while i charged them and seated the bullets in another press. I can sit long enough to run 400rds at a time(per day). I need to speed up all my reloading. With 3 or 4 of us shooting at times were going thru some ammo now.

Does anyone change over to other calibers on there LEE pro 1000??? I been thinking of getting the shell plates and the die plate with the carbide dies and the powder dispenser on every die plate so i can just swap them out on every caliber.

William; I have a new larger reloading bench with 5 presses set up right now and its still too small. I'll post pics soon of it.

Many years ago me and my dad were talking and designing a progressive motor driven reloading press but we never built it. Now my son who is a mechanical engineer is interested in picking up were me and my dad left off. The plan is to decap the brass and polish the brass then put them in the press and they come out finished ready to shoot. I figure it will resize, trim the length, chamfer the neck. clean the primer pocket ect. I built machines that we call chuckers that are multi spindle indexing machines that have power driven spindles. When it indexes at each staion or stop that one station performs a task. We had 6 spindles, 8 spindles, 12 spindles and 16 spindle chuckers that weighed up to 65k lbs. They manufactured trailer truck brake drums to car pistons. The reloader would be smaller in scale of course. Some chuckers were completely mechanical in operation too. My dad worked for Remingtom arms as a repair/proto type machiniest too. He also repaired the bullet manufacturing machines.

SharonAnne · « **Reply #21 on:** April 04, 2010, 04:53:52 PM »

the Lee Pro 1000 in .45acp was my first progressive press. I have loaded 35,000 rds in one year on it. I lost track of the total number I loaded. I found it an inexpensive reliable press.

After working some overtime I treated myself to a Dillon RL1050. Wow what a machine!

The Star Universal is a mechanical marvel. Sadly they are out of production.

For truly mass production you want something like the Camdex. They don't even publish a price list.

williamlayton · « **Reply #22 on:** April 05, 2010, 01:27:38 AM »

RB
I wasn't ignoring you---sorry for the delay.
Nothing in particular but the place and the set-up looks good.
I have just a portion of a 10x12 storage bldg. and I like looking at big spaces for man caves and drooling.

Blessings

1911crazy · « **Reply #23 on:** April 05, 2010, 06:12:53 AM »

My new reloading bench is filled up now and to add more presses i need to take some presses away. But my problem is that i will still need the other presses too. If i was younger i would add a circular stand that can be rotated with the presses on it. This way i could have it all and the press i need right infront of me. Maybe an Octagon shaped rotating table for the presses that i can index.

I ran 2k of 308win and 200rds of 7,5mm french MAS this weekend while waiting for my 45acp RN leadcast bullets to arrive here. I got 1,000rds for just $77 while most leadcast companies are hitting $60+ for 500rds. Its tough to get a deal on leadcast unless your buying 5,000rds at a time.

rbwillnj · « **Reply #24 on:** April 05, 2010, 07:49:53 AM »

Bench space is always at a premium, even in my basement. That's why I went with the Midway Pedistals. You need some floor space, but no bench space, and you can interchange the tops to swap out reloaders if needed. The one problem is that they are way to light. I filled the bases with concrete to add weight.