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Idaho Mule
01-07-2018, 07:47 PM
I am just curious about how others go about re-loading. No specific caliber/cartridge, just in general, your order of case treatment from "empty" case until you have a freshly re-loaded round ready to go. I will list my order, and am open to hear critique.
1. de-cap using Lee Universal d-capping die, I brush primer pocket clean at this point, and....
2.toss them into my polisher (Frankford Arsenal vibratory), then sift and clean out flash holes...
3. run through appropriate sizing die (full length or otherwise, depending on victim)....
4.trim to length, I use LEE's length gage method, I adjust these to fit my needs but they work quite well....
5.size case, sometimes this can vary from full length to neck sizing only to some things more complicated.... (belling)...
5.prime....
6.charge with powder (hopefully a charge that is compatible with one of my powder measures)....
7.seat bullet, or boolit to correct OAL....
8.crimp, if needed
9.polish off with a semi-clean rag and visually inspect, before storing in appropriate box.....
10.fill out load manual, and load label for "new" box of ammo.....
Just curious to see if others do it close to the way I do it. As said before, I am open to critique to see if I can improve on anything, other people look through different eyes and may see something I don't. Thanks. JW

PhantomRider64
01-07-2018, 07:58 PM
I do it basically the same way. If the brass is very dirty,,,I load my .45 Colts with BP sometimes I will clean with walnut then polish with corn cob.

Dave W.
01-07-2018, 08:17 PM
Sounds like you are doing fine.

I use a Dillon 550 progressive so the procedure is a little different.
For straight wall pistol cases:
1. Sort by caliber, primer hole size and finish.
2. Run through the tumbler.
3. Consult a couple different reloading manuals to get the powder charge and OAL for the bullet weight.
4. Set up the press with the correct dies, primers, bullets and power.
5. Using one case (one station at a time), adjust the power charge, bullet seating depth and crimp.
6. The first several rounds will get checked at each station to make sure the adjustments are correct. Getting the powder adjusted may take several tries.
7. Load up several hundred rounds. About every hundredth one will double check the powder charge.
8. Clean and inspect each round, put in a box and label it with the load particulars.

For rifle cartridges there is more case prep;
Remove the primer and either neck size or full length size.
Trim to length.
Tumble.
Clean the primer pocket and inspect each case.
After that the steps are pretty much the same as with pistol cases except that each power charge is weighed individually.

Last, but not least, have fun shooting them!

MyFlatline
01-07-2018, 08:22 PM
I de-cap and put in the wet tumbler, 99% of the time the pockets are clean. For rifle I size and trim, not so much on pistol. Hand prime as I sit in front of the computer, load 1 round at a time. RCBS Charge Master dispensing, I flare the mouth, then charge the case ( in a loading block), seat the bullet and crimp. I use the Lee turret with the auto advance disconnected. So far it works and no chance of a double charge.

hornet112
01-07-2018, 08:25 PM
I skip the universal de-capper and re-size and de-prime in one step. Then off to the tumbler walnut then corncob and back to finish reloading.

NoZombies
01-07-2018, 08:31 PM
It depends on caliber and purpose. Blasting ammo for subguns goes through the SS pins and then the dillon. Match grade rifle ammo is substantially more involved, anything in between will get the requisite amount of effort required to produce the results I'm looking for.

smoked turkey
01-07-2018, 09:07 PM
I do basically the same way as you have listed with exception of case trimming. I measure case length and try to get a length that is below max that has a large number of cases. The longer cases go into a container with a note "needs trimming". Confession time. I must admit that I am not one that enjoys the case trimming process. As such I put it off if I can. I am a stickler for nice clean cases with the primer pockets cleaned. I know that uniform length cases are a part of making good ammunition. I need to place a higher priority of trimming all cases to uniform length. Maybe that would be a good new year's resolution for me?

country gent
01-07-2018, 09:18 PM
I load a lot of bpcr rounds and for them here is what I do
Brass goes into jug of lemi shine dish soap water as fired, during a match its after the string is done
when I get home a hot water rinse 3-4 times to get most of the crud and soap out.
deprime with a hand tool
Scrap primer pockets
let dry
clean in vibratory with corn cobs and a small amount of Iosso brass polish and nu finish
Anneal if necessary
A light repolish if annealed
prime
charge cases with appropriate Black Powder
add wads as needed
compress charge
Hand seat bullets onto wads
size to set neck tension around bullets
wipe bullets to remove any excess lube

Walter Laich
01-07-2018, 09:26 PM
another method:

remove the tool head and primer assembly on my Dillon SDB (all of 7 screws)--replace tool head with one that only has depriming pin

run cases through (only have to put them in--they rotate out and into bin)

wet tumble with SS chips (for me faster than SS pins)

lay on towel which is on wire rack that is 4" off ground till dry (or overnight if no Sun)

reassemble press and off to races

MT Gianni
01-07-2018, 09:40 PM
Rifle, deprime and inspect. If dirty they get tumbled, if not set with the rest of that group if hunting loads. 223 get thrown in the 5 gallon bucket. Resize and prime, fill and seat. Generally done on the Rockchucker.

Pistol are looked at the same if dirty tumbled and inspected. On the Lee turret they are resized, deprimed and primed, next station bells and charges, third seats a bullet and last is usually empty. If I am using non lee dies I use a Lyman M die for step two and charge from a Lyman 1200 digital powder system. I empty the pan, hit next on the scale and it is ready before the next time I need powder.
I run cases by a length gauge for caliber and trim the long ones.
I have a couple of sets of labels from an old estate I bought with date, bullet, powder, primer, and a comment section I put the lube and hardness in. They are so old the box doesn't have a zip code in the address but they work fine.

brewer12345
01-07-2018, 10:28 PM
Mostly working with pistol caliber stuff these days. I wet tumble without the pins, then decap/resize/reprime. I flare the brass and chuck it in a bin. I try to keep the brass bins full for my primary calibers (practically speaking at the moment, 38 special is my primary object of affection). Once the bins are as full as I can get them, they await my whims. Want to try a different powder or charge on a given boolit? They are waiting. Want to try a new boolit? Ditto. Want to fill an ammo can after emptying one at the range? Ditto.

I am about to start working with .30-06. I will start by piling up a bin of prepped brass. Main difference will be to deprime before tumbling and trim to length as necessary.

OS OK
01-07-2018, 10:53 PM
2.toss them into my polisher (Frankford Arsenal vibratory), then sift and clean out flash holes...
Thanks. JW

Pet stores sell a ground walnut for 'Lizard bedding' that is too small to stick in the flash holes and it really cleans the primer pockets...good stuff and way cheaper too.

earlmck
01-08-2018, 02:54 AM
1) If bottle neck cartridges needing F.L. sizing I spray on lube (Hornady One-shot, or homemade version thereof).
2) Size/deprime
3) Bell/prime, place in loading block
4) Charge w/powder
5) Visually inspect powder level under good light
6) Seat/crimp boolit
7) Wipe w/paper towel and inspect and place in cartridge box
8) Enter load data in my loading book.

I tumble in soapy water if they got muddy or dirty on last shooting session, but not as a normal thing.
I trim rifle cases when they get too long -- so maybe twice in the life of a normal case? For this I like the Lee Quick-Trim with the turning done with cordless drill.
I haven't cleaned a primer pocket in 40 years (been loading over 50 years, so yeah, I did at one time think that was something to do).

fcvan
01-08-2018, 05:11 AM
I am so retentive about keeping my press and dies clean I deprime with a small Lee Reloader press. 30+ years ago, Midway had a special where if you bought dies, you could get the press for $10, but it is still a bargain today. Anyway, hot soapy wash with Dawn, it cuts grease! (and vegetable oil) If loading bottle necked brass, I put the brass in a container with a screw on lid such as the larger cashew container. Add a dribble of vegetable oil and shake vigorously to apply an even coat. While sizing I am only handling the brass with my left so I get oil on my fingers. Every fifth or so piece I wipe my finger across the case mouth to apply lube for the expander ball and it doesn't take much. When done, hot soapy wash followed by soapy wash with lemon juice, maybe a table spoon per 1/2 gallon. I let that sit for 5 minutes, longer if the brass is really tarnished. I strain but don't dry the brass as it is going straight to the tumbler. The media is lizard bed walnut with 2 tablespoons of Turtle Zip Wash as it shines and seals the pores of the brass to prevent future oxidization. By leaving the brass wet, it reactivates the Zip Wash. And, what does wood fiber do when it gets wet? It expands. Over time, the media gets smooth from working against the brass. The wet brass reactivates the media as well. The media I have been using for the past 5 years (yes, he said 5 years) is still going strong because once it is really sooty, even after all the brass baths, get placed in a small zippered burlap bag that some brand of rice comes in. I take the bag to the sink, put some Dawn in it and rinse the heck out of the media until the water runs clear. I zip the bag shut and hang it on a fence post in the sun. Oh, those bags have a handle. Once the bag/media is dry I set it aside as the second bag of media that has already gone through the cleaning cycle goes into the tumbler. All of the other usual things as have been stated before are accomplished and everyone develops their own style and habits. Amusing anecdote, back in the 1970s when dad was teaching us boys to reload, we used steel dies and only wiped the lube off the cases. Nothing ever got washed and the brass turned darker and darker. Dad used to say that brass showed experience, like the Uki (Japanese belt for the Gi) started out white and turned darker from the oils of the hands until it turned black, signifying your experience level.

Cherokee
01-08-2018, 12:25 PM
First thing I do is clean my brass in the polisher with corncob material
Then size & de-prime, clean primer pocket
Trim case to length (better done here because sizing tends to lengthen the case)
Expand as necessary for jacketed or cast bullets
Store until needed, then
Prime with Lee hand tool
Select load from my reloading records of proven loads (or several manuals if trying something new)
Set up my press according to what I'm gona load (RCBS, CH 4X or Dillon 650)
Load the ammo
Store in ammo boxes with labels

mdi
01-08-2018, 12:48 PM
I like to quickly inspect my brass then toss it in the tumbler.
Then size/decap (I haven't found any need/benefit to scrub primer pockets).
For my rifle rounds I'll measure and trim if necessary (I too use the Lee system; gauge and cutter)then chamfer/deburr.
For my handgun ammo I'll flare/M die the case.
Prime. Most of the time I'll stop here and bag the prepped brass for later when I either need some ammo or have a load too try. In my ammo cabinet there are several hundred primed and ready cases.
When I have determined a load, I'll charge all my cases and look inside to check for powder.
Seat bullet. I still like to seat and crimp separately after 30+ years.
Crimp and if semi-auto ammo I'll plunk test.
Box/bag 'em up and enter load in my computer...

Last four steps done in one setting and inspection is done between each step.

OMG!!! I just saw 5,000 posts! [smilie=p: I'm becoming a forum freak, computer jockey, arm chair expert...:holysheep

JonB_in_Glencoe
01-08-2018, 12:58 PM
It depends on caliber and purpose. Blasting ammo for subguns goes through the SS pins and then the dillon. Match grade rifle ammo is substantially more involved, anything in between will get the requisite amount of effort required to produce the results I'm looking for.

+1
it varies from caliber to caliber and sometimes from boolit to boolit.

One other thing I will add, I always sort by Headstamp, even 9mm. When doing that, especially with range brass, you'd be surprised how many imperfections you can find.

reddog81
01-08-2018, 01:11 PM
For pistol ammo I rinse with the brass warm water, wait for them to dry, and then reload on a Hornady LNL. Hornady LNL is a progressive press - 1st stage resizes & deprimes, then seat new primer, 2nd die expands case, 3rd station drops the powder, 4 station seats the bullet, 5th station might have a crimp die.

For rifle cases I trim to uniform length before the first reload and about every 5th reload there after otherwise the process is similar. I'm not concerned with pretty looking brass.

robg
01-08-2018, 02:10 PM
Size decap ,sonic clean then polish in tumbler .trim if rifle brass ,expand if loading lead ,prime .
Box up till ready to load .add powder seat boolits then Lee factory crimp ,box up and label .
Shoot and repeat.

Tazman1602
01-08-2018, 02:43 PM
I was just talking about this kind of thing with the contractor and his young helper who are finishing up my new reloading/casting shop above the garage we've built. Last weekend I was finally able to get into my new shop and setup the first press that's going there --- don't get to thinking I'm some rich boy, I've been reloading and casting and building rifles for 30 years and at long last my wonderful wife of almost 37 years and I have a place inside to park our trucks and not have to scrape 3 feet of snow off of them when we have to go somewhere.

My contractor is also one of my best friends, former Marine, and the single person i know whom I can talk guns and ballistics with on my level. Our new friend the young guy (ok, 35 or so, young to me...) has been suckered by us into getting into reloading on the premise he will save money by doing so.....uh-huh, I can hear you all laughing now.

Our young friend had a question "Art can you tell me why if you were reloading 308's on the new 550, a cartridge you seem to know real well, then WHY do you have three loading manuals, one beam scale and one digital scale, and two sets of calipers out?"

My answer was simply "Safety". I NEVER EVER load ammo without checking at least two load manuals and verify my charges three times before I go on a run.

ALL of the suggestions I've heard are great, but I have grown accustomed to all my fingers and have grown fond of them over my 60 years of life -- I hope this post helps some young reloader to retain all of his digits as long as I have.

CHECK, DOUBLE CHECK, THEN CHECK AGAIN!

Regards,

Art

PS - What ya' think of my new shop?


http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc336/Tazman1602/New%20shop/IMG_4061_zpsvlrafshv.jpg (http://s525.photobucket.com/user/Tazman1602/media/New%20shop/IMG_4061_zpsvlrafshv.jpg.html)

Big Boomer
01-08-2018, 03:06 PM
After many years of using walnut polishing media because I liked shiny brass, I transitioned to citric acid cleaning only and follow this regimen:

1. First, deprime all cases by hand, pistol and rifle, with the deprimer stem from a set of Lee dies and a brass hammer. It is at this point that all brass gets inspected. If military crimp has to be removed, I use the RCBS system. Then I use citric acid with a dash of Dawn dish detergent in an old crock pot that really gets the job done. Haven't used my RCBS vibratory tumbler in ages. Fill the crock pot about 2/3rds full of water, add a good tablespoon full of citric acid, turn the crock pot on high heat and add the brass and let it cook for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally. This method virtually eliminates by softening the carbon deposits left in all primer pockets so that when stirring and rinsing any debris falls out of the primer pockets. Do not have to fool with cleaning primer pockets.

2. After drying and sorting, all handgun brass gets loaded either on a Dillon XL 650 (.380, 9mm,
.38 Spl., .357 Mag., .41 Mag, .45 Colt) or an old Hornady/Pacific Projector (reserved for .45 ACP). Do not care for the Hornady/Pacific Pro-Jector priming system so I use an ancient Lee hand priming device (with the round primer retainer) for the .45 ACP and all rifle brass. I load all rifle ammo (.223, 5.56x45, .243, & .30-06) on an old Lyman Spar-T turret press.

3. Trimming is reserved for serious shooting and employs a Forster device, a mini lathe. That includes primarily .41 Mag., .45 Colt and the rifle rounds. I have a large amount of .41 Mag. R-P once-fired brass that I purchased several years ago from a police dept. and several hundred pieces of new Star-Line .45 Colt brass. I was surprised to find that the brass from both the R-P and Star-Line varied in length and that the case mouths were not square with the case body. Could have just been the specific lots I suppose. Sometimes I use the Lee trimming device in a variable speed drill (DeWalt) for large lots of 5.56x45 and .223. After trimming, I use an RCBS de-burring device.

4. Since I am into shooting lead alloy boolits that I cast not only in all the handguns but in the rifles as well, in order to expand the case mouths and necks I had a machinist make appropriately sized neck expanders for .357, .41, .45, 224, .244, & .310 that fit in the Lee Universal neck mouth expander. The Lee neck mouth expander itself is still around somewhere but useless. I only use the die body like a Lyman M die but have only one die body and several expanders instead of several separate die-bodies with expander units. Very handy when you want precision.

5. All boolits are sized and lubed with a couple of Star lube-sizers that I have. My lube is my own concoction of FWFL that seems to work very well for both handgun and rifle ammo. I aim for highest velocity only with the .45 Colt, which is a custom 5-shooter built by Hamilton Bowen. I cast a 340 gr. WLN (Wide Long Nose) gas checked boolit from a mould by LBT (Veral Smith) that rolls along at 1400 fps over a generous load of H110.

6. Several years ago a friend and I purchased large lots of W820, W680 and W844. Old W231, newer TiteGroup, old Hercules 2400, W820 and H110 works well in the handguns according to caliber and powder relative speed required. The W820, W680 and W844 are used in the rifle rounds, depending on caliber.

BTW, Tazman1602: I am totally green with envy!

largom
01-08-2018, 04:09 PM
I do very little loading for handguns. All of my rifle brass gets the following treatment:
1. Deprime with universal deprime tool [RCBS]
2. Run through tumbler with Dawn and lemon juice added to water. 30 min.
3. Deprime with RCBS universal deprimer in a designated press
4. Resize in Rockchucker press.
5. Wipe sizing lube from case.
6. Trim to length.
7. Debur case mouth inside and out.
8. Ream primer pocket with Redding reamer.
9. Debur flash hole [inside]. Only needs to be done once, thank goodness!
10. Run through tumbler with corn cob and a dash of auto wax.
11. If new or unknown cases they are then sorted by case weight.
12. If loading cast boolits case mouth is belled with tools I have made.
13. Cases are placed in a loading block. A second empty block is placed a distance away.
14. Powder charge is weighed to 1/10 gr. As case is charged it is placed into second loading block.
15. When all cases have been charged and in second block I inspect the powder in each case with a small flashlight.
16. Boolits/bullets are loaded on my Rockchucker single stage press. Seating die is set using Hornady overall length gage.
I enjoy handloading as much as shooting and I strive to make my ammo as perfect as I can. In some cases I will also turn case necks on new cases.

David2011
01-08-2018, 05:18 PM
For all ammo:

1. Clean/polish in corncob with NuFinish and mineral spirits.
2. Size/decap on progressive or single stage press depending on cartridge.
3. The rest. Never saw any reason to clean primer pockets. I'm not a benchrest or 1000 yard shooter and can get sub 1/2 MOA groups with my good rifle without cleaning pockets. That is adequate for all of my shooting.



Tazman,

It will take more than a week to properly clutter that much space. Congrats, it's a beautiful shop.

David2011
01-08-2018, 05:36 PM
CHECK, DOUBLE CHECK, THEN CHECK AGAIN!

Regards,

Art

PS - What ya' think of my new shop?




Art,

I noticed a detail that is worth mentioning. The notch for the angled support is brilliant! I assume the other end is the same. That will make the benches so much stiffer and longer lasting!

211423

David

Tazman1602
01-08-2018, 06:44 PM
Art,

I noticed a detail that is worth mentioning. The notch for the angled support is brilliant! I assume the other end is the same. That will make the benches so much stiffer and longer lasting!

211423

David

David --
My buddy/contractor is an artist as am I with certain things. When he asked me how I wanted benches done I told him to run with it and give me the bill ---- worth every dime. I can sit on a barstool and not get my knees knocked now....

It's going to take me a month to get all my stuff in there...

Art

JedYonkers
01-08-2018, 10:00 PM
Walnut/corncob tumble
Size and deprime ,look for splits etc.
Handprime with lee primer
Auto Indexing turret press with lee powder through dies and dispenser ,weigh the first 5 charges and every tenth or so thereafter.
Seat boolit
Put in box
Mark primer with powders assigned color. My powders get assigned a color ,Bullseye =red, Titegroup is pink etc.Makes it easy to spot I f things get disorganized at the range.

Rifle is more involved but I don't have any that I load for right now other than the 9mm carbine.

Idaho Mule
01-08-2018, 11:12 PM
As I suspected we all do "close" to the same. I should have said that I do measure cases, not just automatically trim them all. I also don't always run stuff through the polisher, especially if it is still clean. I do like to "batch" stuff, I guess would be the best way to say it; as in, get brass cleaned, sized, and trimmed so it is ready to load. I load for several 32-20's, and they all seem to like different size boolits so I don't neck expand until I decide which gun they will loaded for. Am also loading for several 303 Brits. (yes, I have a 31 caliber problem) and wouldn't ya know they all like different strokes too, but that's ok, it sure keeps life interesting. I should add that my LEE trimming is done with the 3-jaw universal chuck spun by a cordless drill. Years ago I drove the cutter part into the mouth of a 50 BMG case so I had a handle to hang on to. Looks way cooler than LEE's little wooden ball thing. I have a small LEE press that I de-prime on, and then a Redding t-7 turret that most other stuff is done on, and I use it strictly single-stage, one operation at a time. I appreciate everyone's input, I just may change the way I do some of the process. Oh, Tazman, that is one nice looking gun/reloading shop. Thanks all. JW

OS OK
01-09-2018, 09:56 AM
I was just talking about this kind of thing with the contractor and his young helper who are finishing up my new reloading/casting shop above the garage we've built. Last weekend I was finally able to get into my new shop and setup the first press that's going there --- don't get to thinking I'm some rich boy, I've been reloading and casting and building rifles for 30 years and at long last my wonderful wife of almost 37 years and I have a place inside to park our trucks and not have to scrape 3 feet of snow off of them when we have to go somewhere.

My contractor is also one of my best friends, former Marine, and the single person i know whom I can talk guns and ballistics with on my level. Our new friend the young guy (ok, 35 or so, young to me...) has been suckered by us into getting into reloading on the premise he will save money by doing so.....uh-huh, I can hear you all laughing now.

Our young friend had a question "Art can you tell me why if you were reloading 308's on the new 550, a cartridge you seem to know real well, then WHY do you have three loading manuals, one beam scale and one digital scale, and two sets of calipers out?"

My answer was simply "Safety". I NEVER EVER load ammo without checking at least two load manuals and verify my charges three times before I go on a run.

ALL of the suggestions I've heard are great, but I have grown accustomed to all my fingers and have grown fond of them over my 60 years of life -- I hope this post helps some young reloader to retain all of his digits as long as I have.

CHECK, DOUBLE CHECK, THEN CHECK AGAIN!

Regards,

Art

PS - What ya' think of my new shop?


http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc336/Tazman1602/New%20shop/IMG_4061_zpsvlrafshv.jpg (http://s525.photobucket.com/user/Tazman1602/media/New%20shop/IMG_4061_zpsvlrafshv.jpg.html)

That's a dream come true & awesome shop...doncha love to see a plan come through?

The shop looks well planned out but I'm curious about how and where you will do your case cleaning, casting and or PCing? I would like to combine the three so I can use one large overhead exhaust fan...sorta like one elongated for a grill.
I was sorta spacing out looking at your picture and putting all my junk on your new fixtures and was thinking I'd isolate my fan area over on the left of the door as you enter....what are your plans for those activities?

c h a r l i e

lightman
01-09-2018, 10:59 AM
My routine is not too much different than yours. If the cases need trimming or annealed that will change things just a little. I prime by hand, even when I'm loading on the Dillon. I only have one type of powder out when I'm loading. Powder type and weight get checked and verified. Thrown charges get random checks, somewhere between every 10th to every 50th, depending on the powder type and what the spot check shows. I don't inspect my cases or ammo per say, but I observe them during every step, from putting them in the tumbler the first time to boxing them up. If a batch starts getting neck splits it either gets annealed or scrapped. If a batch starts getting loose primer pockets it gets scrapped.

marek313
01-10-2018, 01:08 PM
Pet stores sell a ground walnut for 'Lizard bedding' that is too small to stick in the flash holes and it really cleans the primer pockets...good stuff and way cheaper too.

Thats what I use and it works great. Also if you find one with damaged bag like I did it will save you another 20-25%

As for my routine
I dry tumble everything first
Resize and decap in one step. Doesnt make much sense to do it twice.
Clean and inspect primer pockets.
Trim if necessary
Then its off to the press. I use Loadmaster for my high volume pistol rounds and classic turret for rifle rounds. Everything else including priming, flaring etc is done on that press.

robg
01-10-2018, 04:32 PM
Dream loading room.

OS OK
01-10-2018, 07:23 PM
Thats what I use and it works great. Also if you find one with damaged bag like I did it will save you another 20-25%

As for my routine
I dry tumble everything first
Resize and decap in one step. Doesnt make much sense to do it twice.
Clean and inspect primer pockets.
Trim if necessary
Then its off to the press. I use Loadmaster for my high volume pistol rounds and classic turret for rifle rounds. Everything else including priming, flaring etc is done on that press.

I see what your doing, cleaning the brass before it enters the size die...makes sense but, I would rather not have to clean or deal with the primer pockets at all.

I use a universal Lee de-priming die, then to the vibratory or wet tumbler, then return to stoage until I want to load them again. I'm OCD so I keep brass sorted by headstamp. The only caliber that does run in circles between the pistol and the loading bench is the .45ACP, in that caliber I run two batches of about 500 that I alternate between and I run them until you can't even read the headstamps anymore and then still the brass has not given out...the only way a .45ACP gets out of the lineup is that I loose it or the case mouth splits. I do see primer pockets loosen from time to time and when I set the primer I'll catch that & mark the entire bottom of the case with a black marks-O-lot as that will be it's last go-round, one last loading and then it is culled.
When I pull brass from stoage, or if they go directly to the press, I hand prime and inspect cases at the same time (pistol) and then to the press starting with the size die. Pistol/revolver loading goes either to the Lymann T-Mag II or the LNL depending on size of the run. .38/.357 FWC's go exclusively to the green machine.
Rifle goes to the Rock Chucker exclusively regardless of caliber where it's size, inspect/measure, trim if needed and then on to loading trays with the typical procedures of hand priming, belling them by batch, charging by batch, seating by batch then crimping by batch when they are casts.
Though I have the shell plates for all the rifle calibers I haven't used the LNL for that yet. All my rifle shooting has been experimenting with specific j-types for precision or experimenting with various cast profiles and weights. For the last 8 years since we moved up here to the rancho most of my shooting has been pistol since I can do that here. Other projects have taken my time trying to maintain and remodel this place. This summer will be the first summer that I can spend more time on the rifle...looking forward to that and a change of loading and shooting...might end up with a couple of cast rifle loads I can run on the LNL.

We are all skinning the same cat...just going about it differently but...the cat gets skinned!