picking up speed

[svandamme]

It was only late september that i got a hold of my permit, and picked up the PM7.. Less then 2 months and so far i've gone through 600 rounds of ammo.

I'm sure some will probably have a higher burn rate, but i'm pretty chuffed about my efforts so far. So much in fact, that i've gone ahead and dropped some moolah on reloading gear.

I'm just gonna post this thread, to keep track of my own progress in these matters.

Well, since i decided to quit my previous hobby, eg old Porsches, aka Moneypits. I've sold off my stock of parts... So basically i'm trading one really expensive vice for a less expensive one.. It don't hurt much that way.


So what did i get?


The press.. well, i figured if i'm going to do plenty of shooting, i need volume.
Progressive , people be telling me Dillon, don't look back.
So Dillon it is.

Square B, 550 or 650?
Square B was tempting, but no case feeder... So that's one down with 2 to go, coz i'm lazy
550, No auto indexing...And only 4 stations... That would rule out the use of the powder check die. I like the idea of the powder check die , might save my bacon one day..

so there we go, 650 XL... It arrived last monday.
Carbide dies
case feeder

So far i've figured out, that i should not have gone cheap and figured i'de mount it as is.. It's a royal pain in the ass to keep such a big thing steady..

Strong mount already ordered to cure that problem
also got the Dillon powder check Die
couple of Dillon 100 rnd boxes
spare part kit and decapping pins
Lyman 1000 xpdigital scale
Lyman pro 1200 tumbler
kinetic bullet puller, primer flip tray

1500 fiocchi primers,
accurate arms powder #7 (all they had in stock, we don't have gun supermarkets here)
and 500 HN 190 grain semi wadcutters.


Hope to get the mount early next week, but in the mean time with some clamps i can start getting a feel for the thing.

I test one station at a time.. the decapping was first.. pretty easy really
The only tricky part is that it sometimes doesn't go square in the shell, of the rig wobbles to much , strong mount will cure that.

The re-priming station... ain't rocket science either... just need to start counting the number of pulls till the first primer comes up ...

As a test i primed 15 rounds, fired em off in the gun
then ran those 15 rounds through again, decapped, reprimed..
i love it.. The cheerful "plink" when yet another round ejects into the basket...

this might become an addictive thing... Like a one armed bandit , except it's a Blue one.

Next week, the strong mount, final setup, and the first loads..

[Hoss in IL]

Congratulations on the new equipment! I can't give you any "Dillon" advice, I bought a different color.

As far as the case feeder and bullet feeders go, I figure I was born with a perfectly good one at the end of my left arm I've seen the you tube videos of the case and bullet feeders and listening to the cases and bullets rattle around in the hoppers would drive me nuts, that's just me. You didn't ask but I'd spend the money for the feeders on more reloading components.

I noticed you're not in the U.S. so it may be difficult for you to get supplies/limited options and availability. I'd try to buy smaller batches of powder and bullets until I found what shot best out of my guns and then load up on the magic receipe. Maybe you've already done all of the trial loads and found that what you bought will be a great combination.

Good luck with the operation. I like reloading. Put some pictures up when you get rolling.

Take care,

Hoss

[svandamme]

The Bullet feeder noise it did seem loud on the youtube vids, but it's not that bad in real life.
Case rattle sound yes, but you get that when you grab shells from a bin too.
The motor itself is reasonably quiet.

The only thing annoying about it , is when it keeps starting/stopping on every pull of the lever. But i simply turn off the feeder if i'm not quick enough for it.

Supplies is a problem, basically the gunstores are small, few have reloading gear and those who do, well, they are reloaders and pretty much sell what they use themselves.
No mail ordering either.

Found one in close proximity, all he had was accurate powder #7
I figured i needed to start somewhere, so it's good to start with.
Next time i'll have to drive a bit more, to get some more choice.

[douglas_knott]

Reloading is addictive imo. I enjoy it.

[Thedragonslayer]

[QUOTE=svandamme;9612]As a test i primed 15 rounds, fired em off in the gun
then ran those 15 rounds through again, decapped, reprimed..
i love it.. The cheerful "plink" when yet another round ejects into the basket...


Makes a guy want to take-up re-loading!!!

[Hoss in IL]

I got ya Stijn.

Do y'all have lead bullet casters over there, like we do here, or are you relagated to shooting jacketed/fmj bullets? What bullets are you shooting?

I'm surprised Vihtavuori powder isn't readily available (maybe it is), it's made in Finland. If you could get it, I'll bet it would be expensive. It's crazy expensive here (my opinion).

Keep us updated on the goings on.

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by Hoss in IL

I got ya Stijn.

Do y'all have lead bullet casters over there, like we do here, or are you relagated to shooting jacketed/fmj bullets? What bullets are you shooting?

I'm surprised Vihtavuori powder isn't readily available (maybe it is), it's made in Finland. If you could get it, I'll bet it would be expensive. It's crazy expensive here (my opinion).

Keep us updated on the goings on.

Leadcasting gear is available, haven't decided yet if i wanna cast lead bullets or not. For the time being i'll use HN 190 grain semi wadcutters. and see how that works out.. Got a box of 500 to keep me busy

Just buggered around some more with the Dillon, powder die set, seater and crimp die set.
Ran a bit of test cases.. no powder yet, as i don't have any scales to measure the load yet, that arrives tomorrow..
Left the primers out as well, as i don't want to risk having a powder less but finished looking shell laying around to get mixed up in the rest.. potentially causing an issue @ the range.







For all intent and purpose, these shells ran the merry go round, no jams, the assembly works.I cycled them through the 1911, no issues there either..


All i gotta do now, is
- Bolt the big sucker to my desk when i get the strongmount
- install the powder check sensor
- run the cases through the corncob tumbler
- look up what loads to use with the powder i have and the 195 grain bullets
- Run some test batches

I'm almost good to go.

[Snipersnest]

Sold all my reloading stuff several years ago, and am now kicking myself. Getting the urge to start rolling my own again.

[Hoss in IL]

Stijn, I hope the rest of your stuff shows up quickly. The wait is the most nerve racking part for me.

I'll tell you what.....shows how much I know, I was under the impression that Europe had pretty much put the hammer down on gun ownership. I'm glad you can shoot and reload with out being an outlaw!

How common is gun ownership in Belgium? I was surprised to see that there are a number of small gun stores around you. What kind of stuff (firearms) do they have to choose from?

[svandamme]

It's not to bad as far as ownership, though the legislation has gotten a bit more strict the last 10 years. But pretty much anything goes except full auto. Did have to go to a club, rack up range time.. did theoretical exam(about laws, very basic) and a practical, safe handling exam for pistol, rifle and smoothbore.. no biggie either.

Common, hard to tell, estimates are about 2000 000 guns for about 11 000 000 Belgians.
Obviously many of those guns are grouped with people owning more then 1 gun. Of those 2 000 000 gus, about 800 000 are registred, eg legal. A lot of people have a shotgun in the attic, mums the word.

Ammo is not available over the counter you need a permit. But i'm sure somebody who really wants to buy ammo without a permit, will find somebody selling it.. That speaks for itself.

The reality is, Belgium is a crowded country, there isn't much free room , you'll be hard pressed to find a single spot in Belgium where you aren't within a mile of a house, especially the Flemish part is "full".. the Frech part (ardennes) probably less.
And as such it's not possible to shoot in your backyard as you would in more rural regions of the world...

As for choice, because it's rather strict,you gotta buy what's available.
A lot of gunstores have closed down because of strict regulations.. and one store closes, other store buys up the stock, etc etc..

Belgium as far as strict laws, it's not to bad... I got my permit in about 9 months, there is mandatory club membership with minimum amount of range attendance..
Holland is ok, but very regulated as well, France is worse (free guns for hunting, .22 is free,blackpowder too.. but lot's of limitation on types of calibers, any war caliber is no-no, hunting is ok).. UK as far as i can tell is ultra strict..I think Germany is slightly easier then Belgium. Switserland is gun country.. Austria, dunnu, but i think it's like Germany....

When i wanted to buy my pistol, i wanted a SA 1911.. but couldn't find any, just a SA1911 doublestack, which didn't feel comfortable. As i was looking around i foudn a DW1911, asked some buddies in the US, they told me , what, that price, go get it now, those are great guns and they are best bang for the buck.. so i went and got it the next day.

Reloading is actually a bit of a grey area.. i can buy the equipment , i can buy shells, primers, powder..
But actually putting it together... it's not entirely clear if that's legal. In fact i can't find jack chit about reloading regulation.. all i know is that many do it.
I have actually sent in a request for information to the Wapenunie (Belgian NRA) about reloading, curious to see what they tell me..