JonF

Is it a roll pin or a solid pin? I had once bought a roll pin assortment from the harbor freight store that has come in handy a few times to source a broken/lost roll pin. Its easy to trim a long ping to length, however, it is rather lacking in very small diameter pins for the small parts.

Get an Eva-Dry dehumidifier, they're cheap and rechargable unlike those silica packets. They have a handy indicator guage to tell you when to recharge as well. Well worth the $20-25.

Regarding the safe in the unheated garage, its totally fine, i have done it that way in the past for years and no ill effects. Of course, i took some precautions such as having both a goldenrod and an Eva-Dry mini dehumidifier device in there to keep things under control. With those two methods, i've never seen humidity rise over 55% relative even when the humidity is quite high outside (constantly monitored by a remote thermomoeter/humidistat probe. I've also used the silicone/fleece borestore stocks for added measure, but mostly to keep stuff from klinking around. I have several older surplus pistols that i shoot corrosive ammo through and consider those to be the most succeptible to corrosion from humidity and never had an issue with them and those i hung on the door with no protective sock. http://www.eva-dry.com/products.html

Still on the fence but if i do pull the trigger, i'll hit that link. Thanks for the reminder.

Wow, $265 for a case shipped!

The convo reminded me of my first double charge scare and how i was thankful for having the powder cop. I say 'scare' because it wasn't actually a double, rather, a cocoon that was stubbornly stuck in the bottom of a 357 mag case that was already taking up a *lot* of volume before any charge was even thrown. When the charge was thrown, it was damn near the top of the case and so the flag on the powder cop shot way up and made me instantly gasp in fright. At first I assumed a double, so i poured it out, recharged and the same thing! I took that charge and tossed it on the scale and it checked out ok, so the powder measure is ok, something else must be amiss... Peering down in there, there was some cocoon with a dried up little critter still wrapped up inside that was taking up my case volume! Once I "debugged" the situation, all was ok, but nothing like the threat of a double to get your blood going!

Easy: get distracted and short stroke it. Granted, you should have other indicators that something is wrong, but if you have an issue, correct it, and don't recall exactly where you left off with a shellplate full of 5 cases all in some mid-processing state, you might not resume exactly where you left off. I do agree that the squib is far less likely than a double when it comes to user error on the press, nonetheless, it still happens.

No, its merely a visual indicator comprised of a plunger that essentially relays the charge level in the case up to a more convenient location above the die for your eye to inspect. The downside is that you are still checking each case, just more easily. The upside is that its extremely easy to reconfigure for differing charge levels/calibers. I still use it, but only for low volume stuff where speed isn't essential.

I started out with the powder cop, then recently switched to the RCBS lockout because of exactly what Maks mentioned: so many things going on at once. The whole advantage of an AP press is to drive your cyclic rate up as high as possible and when you're clouding your focus with futzing with too many things at once, you can't really focus on your rhythm. Between the tactile inputs of cycling the press and the visual inputs of monitoring the press, it doesn't take much to distract you when the pace quickens.

I've tried a fellow members here once time at shore shot and its a nice gun. I wasn't able to do a side by side, but compared to my Smith, the Rhino configuration does do something for recoil, but its not drastic. The trigger mechanism is very different than your traditional DA/SA revolver and whether or not its related to that, the action is not quite as light (but still nice shooting). You really have to try one next to a smith/ruger, even if you're just dry firing so see if you like it. Shore shot generally has one around to look at.

Yup. When its such a PITA and so expensive to switch calibers, its easier to just buy another press. i keed! Truth is, for any press, it takes a nominal amount of time to switch calibers when you're just switching out toolhead/bushings, dies, shell plates and primer systems. But when you add in the powder measure, case feeder and bullet feeders, its frankly easier to have another setup if you shoot a substantial amount of those calibers. Figuratively, time is money, and although you can't charge anyone for your time spent reloading (or not reloading cuz you're resetting the press), its time wasted going back and forth all the time.

ADCOR also has another variant in the works with an extended rail and 18" barrel coming out soon that has piqued my interest. I think its based on the Elite, but with the longer upper. This will be available in a full rifle and upper-only from what ADCOR told me. No dates available yet. If this upper is under a grand street price, i'll definitely be on it.

The priming system is one of the areas where the LnL really shines over the 650. Its easy to switch back and forth from small to large primers and it will never flip any.

Since you're loading mixed brass, you may want to take a sampling of 5 cases of your most abundant headstamps and see what the length ranges are for each brand (you may find 3-5 thousandths spread for the same headstamp alone). With that info, you can determine and select a average length case to use for your crimp baseline so any longer or shorter cases wont be too extreme. If you find outliers like the PPU cases, you can either set aside and trim or discard since they will be somewhat problematic as you've found.

I didn't mean .010-.015" longer than spec, i meant .010-.015" extreme spread in measured length from the shortest to longest in a large sampling of mixed headstamps.

No, i meant thousandths. I've mic'd a bunch of 9mm once before, something like 8 of the most common headstamps i had on hand, and found about 10 thousandths of an inch variance from the shortest to the longest. The same headstamp alone will often have 3-5 thousandths spread from its hi to lo len so adding different manufacturers to the mix spreads it out even more. Could you imagine hand trimming pistol brass in the quantity that avid shooters reload and consume it?

Harry, sorry, I have not. You can call him weekdays between 8am and 12 noon to inquire though. I was there last month to pick up 45's and he had pallets full of various zero bullets so there's a good chance he has 40's.

Since you're loading mixed brass, it could be the case of bulging cases due to "overcrimping". If you happen to set your crimp with a case that may have been on the short side and these PPU cases are on the longer side (say .010-015" more than a short one), then your crimping die could be exerting extra pressure on the case causing a bulge somewhere down the length of the wall. When i load mixed cases, i always take sampling of my case lengths and set my crimp with something in the middle so there isn't such a dramatic difference in crimp for the shorter and longer cases in the mix.

Chris, FYI, TSM in Toms river is a Zero dealer and sells 230gr, 45ACP FMJ for $120 per thousand out the door. I found that to be a pretty good deal compared to even Montana Gold.

Having some sort of power check die as a beginner is certainly sound advise. Looking into the case each time is certainly a viable option, but as humans, we sometimes err and this isn't the place where we want to miss a potential squib/double especially during those late night reloading binders! I would suggest you substitute the RCBS lockout die for the powder cop since it will physically halt your press if you encounter a squib/double or even a significant mischarge if there is a powder measure issue. The problem with the powder cop is that it doesn't really alleviate the need to have to look at each case each time, rather, it allows a more *convenient* view of each case since you can look at the plunger indicator at eye level rather than stare into a dark shell casing underneath your press. The RCBS, on the other hand, allows you to use tactile feel to check each charge and since the entire process of loading is largely based on tactile feedback (resizing, priming, etc all have thier own tactile sensations through the press stroke). This sensation then becomes yet another indicator that you can pick up through the press rather than diverting your eyes from case loading and/or bullet loading. I have both and the RCBS die allows me to keep my visual focus on constrained on placing bullets on shells and other important tasks and lets my arm focus on the feedback of the press mechanicals. Not that you can't look at each shell, but using freeing up your eyes and offloading that task to your arm (RCBS) or your ears (dillon check die) seems to make things feel less hectic. JHMO.

My account Friday I live by the bay in NJ near sandy hook (10 blocks from the water) and we had a mandatory evac starting Friday, deadline Saturday. I had actually gone to work that day, started thinking about some prep i should look into for the storm when i was informed we actually had to bug out. I cut cut out of work around noon headed home so I could batten down the hatches in the house, elevated stuff in the garage, jacked up the car on stands just in case and packed up my stuff and jumped in my truck and headed to the GF's place a few towns inland to wait it out. Friday night was calm but stressful as we anticipated the upcoming storm and the calamity it may bring. I felt like i ran a marathon that day running all over the property to get stuff done before they came around to tell folks to get lost. Saturday We woke up Saturday to a seemingly overcast sky as the storm was just barely breaching the area. We actually went out to run a few errands and had some lunch before the winds and rain started picking up in intensity. Afterwards, we drove over to the ocean to check out the surf and it was starting to pick up. It was a surfers heaven as vehicles with surf boards were all over the place coming and going. By now though the rain was coming down so hard, it was hard to even see and the ran was starting to knock my truck around so it was time to head back to her place to pack it in for the night. We sat around, killing time playing board games when the power finally gave out around 11:00 pm. Ok, the place is dark, not much more we can do, might as well hit the sack. I tell ya, It was a rough night listening to all the wind and rain, thoughts of my house either getting blown over or washed away dancing in my head all night long as i laid in bed begging to fall unconscious and just sleep the storm away. At some point in the night i eventually passed out but was soon awakened come morning by the GF wanting to get up. Sunday The next day was surprisingly pleasant as the storm had lost a lot of its intensity after skirting the continent for so long. The eye was not the usual island of sun in the storm, but since the tail end was petering out, the rain turned to an occasional drizzle and the winds were gradually slowing and blow drying the rain soaked asphalt. After lunch, the overcast sky started giving way to breaks in the cloud cover with the sun trying to peek in the cracks of moisture. Around noon the power came back on and we rejoiced at no having to bug out a second time. At this point it was clear the storm was kaput and it was time to start thinking about returning to the house to survey the situation. I told the GF we should head out asap while there is light and there is a lull in the wind/rain. We jumped in my truck and headed out on what seemed to be a never ending sequence of detours around the county as we tried to get from A to B. Normally its a 30 minute ride from door to door but with various downed trees, flooded roads, downed electrical wires, traffic lights with no power and other obstacles, the commute was about doubled. Towards the end of this zig-zagging, hell ride, we gradually came into my town and began getting within a few miles of my place. All the while i expected to find my town under water and be turned away pretty much as the border. Much to my delight, i was able to cross into my town and see not only a clear path down the main entry road, but power to some traffic lights in the distance. Surely a good sign, but not the light at the end of the tunnel quite yet. I continued the anxious journey through town, all the while the thought of finding some newly relocated shoreline that much further inland than the day before but i keep finding nothing but dry pavement everywhere i pointed my vehicle. Left turn, right turn, dry as a bone and no sign of any floods, my heart is beating faster and my excitement is shooting through the roof. I finally make that last turn onto my own road and the coast is still clear. I start to approach my house and there it is, exactly as I left it! Relief cannot eve begin to describe my feelings. I considered the worst, but found nothing of the sort. I had notions of loosing everything and starting from scratch, but i was fortunate to pick up right where i left off. I was truly fortunate as i would find later that the rest of the town didn't fare so well. We jumped out of my truck and headed into the house for a once over. Power was out as expected but with the skies opening up, there was sunlight flooding the house and plenty of light to check things out. Downstairs? Check. Upstairs? Check. Garage? Check. Everything is right where i left it. Of course, there were plenty of branches down in the yard but they were considerate enough to not fall on anything important and spare me the misfortune of coping with damage. Lastly, i checked out the exteriors and everything was still attached; the house still retained all its facade. But all was not totally without issue. There was my crawlspace, filled to the brim with water a few inches deep. There is a pair of sump pumps in there but without power, the underside of the house filled with 6 inches of standing water just trapped like a shallow bowl. What could i do? I have no generator, no way to drain it physically, i had to leave it be and pray the sumps would evacuate it whenever the power kicked in. Oh well, time to lock up and head back to the GF's place and wait it out some more. Before heading back to her house, i decided to check out some other parts of the town. I cut out of my street which is situated towards the center of town and headed towards the bay where the boardwalk is. I got maybe 3 blocks away from my house when i came across this. Knee high flooding maybe a couple blocks into the submersion and possibly getting deeper from there. We say some folks wading through it a block or two into it and it was knee high already at that point. Sadly, the police station and one of the fire stations was out there underwater which may have complicated their ability to keep mobilized. I tried to ford this mess but the water quickly came to my rockers so i turned it around and back-tracked out of the soggy mess. i went around the area to try to size up the situation and it appeared to be maybe 8-10 blocks long, by maybe twice as much wide submerged like this, but i couldn't get all the way around to see the extents. There was just too much. We then made our way to the beach near a high spot not underwater and got out to check the shore line. The water swells had diminished but waves were still crashing a lot closer to the dunes than before. The township had smartly piled up an extra protective barrier wall of sand that held the angry bay at bay keeping the water on one side, and the town on the other. Apparently they worked tirelessly through the night to replenish the makeshift wall as the storm charged waves continued to slowly erode this wall all night long. Kudos to these brave individuals for helping to keep the flooding at a minimum. The situation could have been far worse without thier diligent efforts. Monday Business as usual. Get up, head to work, think about what i can do to drain the crawlspace and dry it out. Plan to head home early to tend to it while hardware and home improvement stores are still open. Great, a critical customer issue gets escalated at work and i have to stay late. 7:30 comes and i finally get to cut out. I zip home in 30 mins and as i approach the town, i'm seeing more lights on in homes and businesses along the way so that's promising. First thing i check as i open the front door is if the porch light will switch on. BINGO, I have power! I give another look-over. Everything is kosher so i check the crawlspace. EMPTY! the sumps must have come on when the power was reestablished so they did their part and worked overtime to drain the temporary swimming pool that was under my house. What a relief. I plug in the ventilators and start airing that out. Now i can start un-battening the hatches and getting on with things. What a stressful weekend. Hey Irene, FFFUUUUUUU!

MidwayUSA has those "Bore Stores" which are silicone treated fleece socks for pistols and rifles. They sell a multitude of sizes ranging from pocket guns to long barreled revolvers and all in between. I have a few for mine and they work good to pad one from another when getting knocked around on the safe shelf.

So handguard and a threaded barrel, is that the extent of the differences?

Looks like there is a bed over on the right hand side. Why don't you get rid of that and extend your bench? Who needs a bed in their reloading room?