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I've been busy this year with all the little things that go into making these dies sets, base punches, top stop bolts, ejection pins, auto eject systems, new die bodies, etc. etc......
It was challenging but nice to have all the parts done and ready to grab when it comes to the final assembly and polish of these dies, makes the final process go a lot faster, and maybe even better results too.
Here is a pic of the first 5 bullets to come out of a customers 6.5mm die set, I still have a bit of fine tuning on the die yet and these bullets will look even better. These bullets represent the level of quality all of you have to look forward to no matter what caliber you have on order.
Where else can you get 170+ grain bullets like this in 6.5mm?
165-170 grain for the long bullets shown and two 140s.....
https://i.imgur.com/z0km355l.jpg
As I said, with all the little parts made for these dies the final assembly will not take as long and orders will be coming together very soon for you guys.
Thanks as always for your patience.
BT
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A bit of knowledge for you guys.....
When seating the core inside the jacket, if you apply too much pressure it is possible to shear the jacket into two pieces. You will feel a sudden loss of pressure in the handle of the press and at the same time you will hear a somewhat loud "POP" and even though I have done it a few times it still makes you pucker a bit as you feel like you may have broke something, but luckily nothing is broke, just the jacket :)
It is a sign to back off the pressure a bit or you had a core or jacket slip into the batch that was heavier then the rest.
Notice the exposed lead where the jacket sheared in two.
https://i.imgur.com/Ejb6FbNl.jpg
BT
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Been having some good days in the shop lately (and I know I have many phone calls, emails and FB messages to reply to, I'll get replies to you all as soon as I can, very busy in shop at the moment).
Today was a long 12+ hour day but made great progress.
I figure the first two months of this year..... even though very few orders shipped I spent a lot of labor making all the necessary parts that complete a die body and allow it to make bullets. Parts like the top ejection pins, top stop bolts, internal pins, base punches... oh the base punches!!!! Everything different diameters for the various dies I have on order.
It is awesome now to be working on a set of dies, any caliber and be able to grab the items necessary to complete the die set ready to install and use. Dies are coming together quickly now. Still takes time to polish, lap, assemble and tune to customer's specs but it is going very well.
I relate the work I did at the beginning of this year as what I think a sous chef may do in a professional kitchen (could be someone lower on the chain of command?), some one needs to prep all the ingredients that go into a dish, chop, clean, whatever..... so now all that is left is to put it all together into the final dish :) Well it sounded better in my head then what I wrote down but point is I have a lot of these dies on order coming together in their final assembly now.
And even though it took me a while as I was preparing these parts for not just one set of dies but for many, sometimes up to 10 sets of dies in many different calibers...... This has allowed me to finish many dies faster then if I complete only one set of dies at a time. Unfortunately it does mean some customers have to wait longer but in the long run I am getting more done.
Thank you all for your patience, keep posted here for updates.
Brian
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A good week in shop.
Sent out a 30cal and 6.5 set. Took me a couple weeks for these.
I'm now focused on the top three orders on my list, all 6mms. Then it looks like a batch of 30 cals.
Hang in there everyone, progress is moving forward and the die sets are turning out better then ever!
Thank you for your support and patience.
Brian
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Had a good week in the shop. Got a couple orders out the door. Also spent the weekend giving the shop a deep clean.
I always get more done in a clean shop.
I expect some good progress to be made in next couple weeks.
Keep posted.
Thanks
Brian
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Been busy working in shop.
Thank you all for your patience.
I'll have more updates soon.
Brian
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Goodness! How did it get to nearly the end of April already! Time is going by fast and I'm still doing my best getting work done on all orders.
Thank you all for your support and patience.
Brian
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Received 4 Lee Presses today. Still have 8 on back order from December.
I have 10 of these presses now in stock, all need to be upgraded with my improved linkage design but the plan is to get molds, core bleed dies and a press to all that have one on order.
Got many other orders to work on as well, very busy and making slow progress.
Thank you for your patience and support.
Brian
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Here are all the molds I am working on. If you have an order with me that includes a mold, one of these is yours. A lot of work to do and a lot of holes to bore!
https://i.imgur.com/f6iPgrxl.jpg
Thanks for your patience.
Brian
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I'm still here, haven't forgot about any of you.
It was a very trying day. Taxes are almost due and 2020 was not a good year for taxes.
I'll keep you all updated to my progress but today was a bust, spent all day justifying my deductions with the tax accountant. What a head ache!
Thank you all for your support and patience.
Brian
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Actually making holes in molds right now! It's looking good.
My plan is to get a mold, press, core bleed die and derim die to everyone that has one on order then I will resume work on completing individual orders.
Thanks as always for your patience and support, will keep you all updated.
When I have something ready to ship I will send an email to notify the customer.
Brian
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All machine work on all molds on order is done!
Results turned out great.
I'll be working on press and bleed dies now so I can start shipping these items to customers.
For those of you with only a mold on order it will be shipping soon.
Thanks for your patience an support.
Brian
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5 molds shipped out today!
Swage on!
BT
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Everyone with a mold ordered on my list should have one or has one on the way.
Check the list for details.
A lot of molds in the mail and on the way. Sent email to everyone expecting a shipment. Be sure to clean molds of all oils before first use and refer to instructions.
Working on Lee Presses (have 18 of them in stock to cover all orders), bleed dies and derim dies now.
Thank you all for your patience and support.
Good shooting and swage on!
Brian
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All latest shipments shows this Friday or Saturday expected delivery.
Just in time for three day weekend.
Swage on!
Brian
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Hope everyone had a good Memorial day weekend and the molds all arrived to all of you.
I am just returning to shop after my busy week. Traveled to California to visit mother-in-law. Cancer has crept up very sudden and got her in a bad way. My wife is down there doing all she can while I am here taking care of my girl's needs.
Work is resuming and I expect to have the presses, derim and core bleed dies ready for everyone soon.
Thank you for your support and patience.
Brian
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18 presses disassembled and ready to start machine work to improve them.
Having a few computer issues lately as well, may take me a few extra days to reply to inquires.
Moving forward and results are looing good!
Brian
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Slowly getting computer back up and running, darn technology.
Presses are coming together nicely.
I'll keep you all posted.
Did get good news from customer I sent a 6.5 and 30 cal set to a while back. He is making perfect bullets and has made hits out to 1,000+ yards with 1/2MOA or better.
Always good to hear positive reports back from customers. Keeps me going.
Swage on!
BT
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Machine work and upgrades are almost done on all 18 presses.
I expect I'll have them all done and reassembled by end of this week. Then I will work on getting the bleed dies and derim dies out to customers. Will also get back to work on all customers individual orders.
Thanks for your support and patience.
Brian
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All machine work done on all presses. Now reassembling them.
Progress is being made and results look great.
Brian