To all you reloading types: I just made a deal for the equipment listed below for $441 including shipping (shipping was $90.69). Do you think I got a good deal? Now all I have to do is learn to use it. :-)
(1) Dillon Precision Reloader Model # 550B. (1) Low powder sensor. (1) Automatic primer system Die sets (1) each (Lee): 9 mm Luger, 45ACP, 38/357, 30 mi carbine. Die set (1) each (Dillon): 308 cal. Brass polisher (works good but very used) Berry Mfg. Inc. Hand Crank Separater (Dillon) To separate brass from polishing media after polishing. Nosler Reloading Manual #3 (published May 1992). Variety of loose mostly unpolished brass: Approx. (200) 9mm Approx. 100 45ACP over 100 .358 mag. approx 100 38 special Miscellaneous stuff: mallet for ejecting bullet and powder from misaligned reloads. Various brass reams and deburrers
You did much better than me buying the exact same machine new. The folks here on RCM were quick to help with all my newbie issues. I went pretty slow at first, made a few bad bullets and got a case stuck in the sizing die, couple other snafus. After that, crank 'em out about as fast as you can shoot 'em.
DAMN! I was hoping I was going to have to buy a new firearm...I'm disappointed. I have collected about 600 .40 cases when I pick up my 9mm and .45. I hate to see those cases go to waste, so I'm looking.
Seriously, you have good equipment. Take your time, triple-check everything, make a quality product without regard to speed. ALWAYS keep in mind that a squib can cause the worst of problems! If a squib goes without detection and leaves a slug in the barrel and another round fires off behind it, it can destroy the gun, your hand and your face! Get a "Powder Cop" die.
9mm are tapered cases so don't be surprised that they are a bit tougher to resize than you'd think. Hornady "One-Shot" case lube is the best I've used and I don't feel like I'm going to break anything resizing 9s.
There are a few reloaders here and most are much more knowledgeable than I. Post any questions and I'm sure you will get good answers.
I am the Sword of my Family and the Shield of my Nation. If sent, I will crush everything you have built, burn everything you love, and kill every one of you. (Hebrew quote)
(I bought a bag of the most beautiful Gala apples last week. I was SO disappointed! The first one I ate was dry, not quite mealy and not sweet and rather tasteless. They didn't look old at all! What's the secret? We made a pie that turned out very good but I'd rather just eat a fresh, juicy, cold, plain apple.)
The secret is don't sell your customers your quality problems.
The secret to having no quality problems? I'm still working on that one. let me get back to you when I get enough experience, this is only my thirtieth season.
I am the Sword of my Family and the Shield of my Nation. If sent, I will crush everything you have built, burn everything you love, and kill every one of you. (Hebrew quote)
Well, I guess I'll have to actually check that .357/.358 brass to determine which it is. The rest of the brass I'm going to keep since, with the exception of the .30 cal carbine stuff, I have a gun to fit it.
It took my Dad a lifetime to learn how to manage his 50 or so trees, in the end he subscribed to a mailing list to commercial apple growers from the Cooperative Extension Service on the emerging issues (nutrients, pest control, etc.) that would need to be addressed each week as they arose, it really did take constant effort. He only started to get good yields the last few years.
He did it for fun, so would sell them at the end of the driveway for a pittance, along with sweetcorn, squash, potatoes and onions. It was a great conversation starter, which was mostly his goal (besides playing in the garden all day).
When he passed away, we couldn't hardly get anyone willing to come out and pick them, not food banks, no-one...they'd only accept the apples if they were picked for them, which Mom couldn't do, and all us kids are too far away. So other than what we picked for ourselves, and the one or two groups who came out and picked a few bushels at most, they ended up all just rotting...and maybe feeding deer and the occasional black bear.
Hopefully the new owner of the property (another Ag professor) will have as much fun with them as Dad did.
My wife now has a handful of trees, but doesn't have the time to give them the weekly attention they really need for a good harvest. Between that, and the late hard frosts, we've not grown enough for a pie most years. Peaches seem to be a lot less work, for all that the trees we have don't seem to like our winters much. They'll either grow in healthy abundance or they won't...they don't seem to need the constant management that apples need to thrive.
It should be easy to tell..the .357 mag brass will go neatly into the .358 cases. About 3-4 of them actually..maybe more
Gunner
I am the Sword of my Family and the Shield of my Nation. If sent, I will crush everything you have built, burn everything you love, and kill every one of you. (Hebrew quote)
Sounds like the slight difference between a 9mm round and a .50 BMG, eh?
.358 BILLET brass, is it?
-- Not merely an absence of noise, Real Silence begins when a reasonable being withdraws from the noise in order to find peace and order in his inner sanctuary. -- Peter Minard
What? You mean you don't just fill the cartridge to the top and cram in a bullet??? Seriously, I think one is included with the stuff and if it's not I WILL get one. It should be here any time now. UPS' website said that it was "Out for delivery". I hope he gets here before I have to leave for my Lions Club meeting.
Wes means a "powder scale". You can get a Lee scale for $20 that will do the trick. If the load of stuff is all the guy's reloading equipment, there will be one in there...most likely.
-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller
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