David2011
05-27-2014, 03:08 PM
Back when you cold get 3000 pieces of 5.56 for $80 I bought a batch and started processing it for reloading. That's a lot of brass for single stage processing. Lube, decap and size each piece and then swage 'em all. Trim after swaging. Trimming started with the Lee and a drill, progressed to a Possum Hollow and finally a WFT. Willingness to exchange money for speed crept in.
A fellow shooter wanted to sell his RT1200 at a fair price. After purchasing it recently I finally got it running to my satisfaction. I bought a .223 conversion kit and Dillon case gauge to get the sizing die set up right. All of the cases that I had originally sized on the RockChucker had a hair too much shoulder setback. The sizing die had been set prior to buying the case gauge so it was set up per the die instructions to make cam-over contact with the shell holder. The excessive setback is just enough that the case heads are scant thousandths below the minimum on the case gauge- .001 to .003 excess setback. It's hard to measure accurately because the headstamps raise the metal.
The toolhead was set up with a Lee Universal Decapping Die in position 1 (just to be sure the primers had all been punched) and the RT1200 in position 3. Some trimming revealed that position 1 was not the best position for the decapping die because cases have to be perfectly aligned for it to work. I replaced the bent decapping pin which was cause by tilted cases going up between the pin and die body. It was the first time I've ever damaged one. I moved it to position 5 and it worked better.
I attempted to adjust the setback using the RT1200 trim die which is supposed to be a sizing die as well. Using unsized cases, I just couldn't get the setback to gauge between the high and low limits of the case gauge. They were remaining proud of the maximum. I finally got a case stuck trying to get enough shoulder setback. After breaking the trimmer down and extracting the case I decided to change things up some more.
I was having trouble getting consistent case lengths. A FL sizing die was installed in position 1. Sizing with a conventional die immediately brought the case length consistency under control. In the troubleshooting I found the case necks were a few thousandths too tight. Positions 5 got another .223 full length sizing die. I had dies for the 650 and the RockChucker so robbed the RockChucker's sizer. The second die was set loose just to align the case and run the expander through the neck. The cases were falling out of the press almost ready to reload. All they needed was a short trip through the polisher to remove the lanolin based lube.
The RT1200 cuts very cleanly. Any "burrs" were cosmetic and came off with a touch of the finger or the trip through the polisher. The expander ball applied after trimming smooths the inside of the mouth and the outside is just a clean almost square, I believe 94 degree corner.
This has dramatically sped up processing and reduced the number of times the case ahs to be handled.
When I load the cases I'll move the sizing die to position 1 of the other toolhead to make sure no corncob is in the flash holes. I've been using 14/20 grit but will go to the smaller 20/40 when I run out of the current supply. The 14/20 sometimes gets stuck in a flash hole but the 20/40 passes right through.
Update: Some time in the polisher knocked the sharpness off of the outside corner that the trimmer had left so sharp. A little inside chamfer may be needed for flat based bullets but for boat tails, they're ready to go.
David
A fellow shooter wanted to sell his RT1200 at a fair price. After purchasing it recently I finally got it running to my satisfaction. I bought a .223 conversion kit and Dillon case gauge to get the sizing die set up right. All of the cases that I had originally sized on the RockChucker had a hair too much shoulder setback. The sizing die had been set prior to buying the case gauge so it was set up per the die instructions to make cam-over contact with the shell holder. The excessive setback is just enough that the case heads are scant thousandths below the minimum on the case gauge- .001 to .003 excess setback. It's hard to measure accurately because the headstamps raise the metal.
The toolhead was set up with a Lee Universal Decapping Die in position 1 (just to be sure the primers had all been punched) and the RT1200 in position 3. Some trimming revealed that position 1 was not the best position for the decapping die because cases have to be perfectly aligned for it to work. I replaced the bent decapping pin which was cause by tilted cases going up between the pin and die body. It was the first time I've ever damaged one. I moved it to position 5 and it worked better.
I attempted to adjust the setback using the RT1200 trim die which is supposed to be a sizing die as well. Using unsized cases, I just couldn't get the setback to gauge between the high and low limits of the case gauge. They were remaining proud of the maximum. I finally got a case stuck trying to get enough shoulder setback. After breaking the trimmer down and extracting the case I decided to change things up some more.
I was having trouble getting consistent case lengths. A FL sizing die was installed in position 1. Sizing with a conventional die immediately brought the case length consistency under control. In the troubleshooting I found the case necks were a few thousandths too tight. Positions 5 got another .223 full length sizing die. I had dies for the 650 and the RockChucker so robbed the RockChucker's sizer. The second die was set loose just to align the case and run the expander through the neck. The cases were falling out of the press almost ready to reload. All they needed was a short trip through the polisher to remove the lanolin based lube.
The RT1200 cuts very cleanly. Any "burrs" were cosmetic and came off with a touch of the finger or the trip through the polisher. The expander ball applied after trimming smooths the inside of the mouth and the outside is just a clean almost square, I believe 94 degree corner.
This has dramatically sped up processing and reduced the number of times the case ahs to be handled.
When I load the cases I'll move the sizing die to position 1 of the other toolhead to make sure no corncob is in the flash holes. I've been using 14/20 grit but will go to the smaller 20/40 when I run out of the current supply. The 14/20 sometimes gets stuck in a flash hole but the 20/40 passes right through.
Update: Some time in the polisher knocked the sharpness off of the outside corner that the trimmer had left so sharp. A little inside chamfer may be needed for flat based bullets but for boat tails, they're ready to go.
David