Hello – this is my first post here, and I hope I can make my question understandable.

I have been reloading for pistol and rifle for nearly 40 years, and all I have used is a simple press; namely, an RCBS Jr., an Ohaus M5 scale and a Lyman No. 55 powder measure. These have worked well for me. A couple of years ago I bought a Lyman 1200 DPS and really like it.

The process I have followed has been:
1. Clean the brass with mineral spirits, then dry
2. Lubricate and size
3. Clean it again with mineral spirits
4. Measure case length and trim as required (rifle cartridges primarily)
5. Tumble
6. Prime
7. Powder charge (if .308 or .30-06, weigh each charge; if .45 or .223, weigh every 10 charges)
8. Press bullet

After much reading and talking with friends, I recently bought a Lee Classic Turret Press, which I intend to use for reloading .308 and .30-06 (just a few hundred rounds a year). I also bought a Hornady Lock-N-Load AP for reloading .45 ACP, primarily for IDPA, and .223 for high power service rifle matches. The later two will likely be in the 1000’s per year; hence the progressive press.

Obviously, if I try to follow the same procedural steps I had been using, with my new presses, I will defeat their inherent advantage for faster reloading.

My Question:

If you use a progressive press, when do you clean, length-trim, tumble, etc.?

Thanks!

I only use my 550B for pistol rounds & they never get a trim except for the 44mags. I tumble first, inspect the brass then load them up. If I were loading for say the .223, I would size & trim all the brass 1st time. Then load them as the pistol rounds. I would only look to trim every 3-5 loads. The pistol rounds are loaded on carbide dies so I don't lube cases. The rifle rounds can be wiped off by a hand towel if you are using a water based lube. I find that faster than tumbling, sizing & tumbling then loading but your mileage may vary.

As you no doubt have discovered, trimming rifle brass limits your use of a progressive press. Checking trim length or just plain trimming must be done each and every reload. Cases grow unpredictably on each sizing. Like many, I size rifle brass on a separate press. Currently, mine is a Redding T-7. Then I trim. At this point I either use a Giraud, Gracey or an RCBS. I hate trimming and have spent probably a $1000.00 to reduce the time I have to do this onerous task. After that I wash the lube off in soap and water, dry in an oven set at its lowest setting. Always clean rifle primer pockets and hand prime. I do not recommend priming rifle brass on a progressive. You cannot inspect them until after you have created a loaded round. And on my Dillion, seldom do I ever get a nice flatly seated primer. They are always a bit cockeyed. On a pistol, not that much of a problem, but my rifle ammunition must also function in semi automatic rifles, and I do not want a high primer in one of those.

I cannot tell you the quantity of pistol brass that I have loaded on my Dillion, probably close to 100,000. I only trimmed some 44Mag brass to see if it made any functional difference in a lever action. It did not. I highly suspect that some of my pistol brass is overlength after sizing, but never had a problem. Did spend an hour measuring sized 45 ACP brass and my recollection everything was below max. I do not think it is of any value to trim pistol brass, and once you load a bunch on your progressive, I think you will agree.

Ingeniero1,

You're right. Progressive presses are not particularly perfect for bottleneck cases that really ought to have some intermediate steps for case prep. Fortunately you have the right AP press to handle it though. The LNL-AP press makes it easy and quick to put in only the dies you need for the operation(s) you are interested in.

I've done "full-cycle" .308 win with the LNL-AP and it works well. By "full-cycle" I mean size - prime - charge - seat - crimp. But as you point out, that's really appropriate only for "blaster-grade" ammo as you can't do the case prep that ought to happen between decap and size, and size and prime.

But you can do the case prep as a separate cycle. And the priming as well (though the LNL-AP does have a very realiable priming system -- but some people like to prime separately with a hand primer). Then just leave out the sizing die (and perhaps the primer tube if the cases are already primed) and just do the charge - seat - crimp operations "progressively".

Interestingly, if you do size and decap as a separate operation, it can be a little faster with the progressive press than with a normal single-stage press. Just put in only the sizing die and let the cases rotate around and eject into the bin. That way you are only handling the brass once as you put it in rather than twice (in and out) like you do with a single-stage press. Oddly, it really is noticeably faster as you can load cases with your left hand and work the press handle with the right hand. While the handle is being cycled, the left hand can be reaching for and orienting the next case. Slipping the case in with the left hand is then very fast, so the ram can pretty much be in constant motion.

You may even want to decap as a separate operation from the sizing so that you can clean the primer pockets at the same time you clean the rest of the case. Yes it's slower than decapping and sizing at the same time, but you may want to do it that way. If so, just put in a universal decapping die in the first die station and do the same as above. The LNL-AP press will again only be doing a single operation, but it'll be faster because you don't have to handle the case coming out.

In summary, the LNL-AP is really great for "partial-cycle" progressive reloading as you can quickly slap in the appropriate dies for the partial cycle you are interested in, and the fact that you don't have to handle the cases coming out turns a three-hand operation into a two-hand operation and speeds even these single operations.

Here's what I do.....mind you it's my thing.....many won't like it at all!

I buy new cases and run them thru the FL die in the rockchucker and trim the length to .030 under max.....yes.... .030!

I chamfer ID and OD and clean them in Gasoline and use a compressed air to blow them dry.

From that day foreward I just run them thru the progressive press and tumble them when they are dirty.......I use spray lube, check length.....run thru the press and shoot!

When the length of the fired case reaches -.005 I toss them and buy new again.

The idea of trimming brass every reloading is pure bunk! Do it once and get on with shooting!

Regarding the .45 ACP -
I measured several unfired factory loads (three brands), plus several of my once- and twice-fired cases (using three different pistols) both before resizing and after resizing, and their lengths are within a few thousandths of nominal – they just don’t seem to change that much. I believe I will skip trimming for these.

Regarding .223 Rem -
After more reading and more searching on the subject, I found something that I wish I had known long before: the RCBS X-Dies. I have not ordered any yet, but plan to order only the full length sizer die for 223 Remington - small base.

From what I have read and according to RCBS, the cases are trimmed to 0.020 under the nominal length, and never have to be trimmed again. Does anyone here have any experience with these X-dies?

Thank you much for your responses!

If you're really, really anal about rifle caliber cleanliness and perfection, then a progressive is not for you.

Where I used to clean primer pockets every single time with a single stage press, I now only do it every 5 loadings using my RL550B. No accuracy difference or primer seating problems. I don't tumble clean as much either. I use a small patch of 3M maroon colored Scotchbrite pad to get off the crust on the neck, that's all. Then I smear on a bit of Imperial sizing die wax. I wipe clean each round with an old cotton t-shirt once it is in the completed bin. I tumble and trim after the 4th loading. I modify the procedure as each caliber dictates Straight-walled pistol calibers don't require trimming much unless you go crazy with a heavy roll crimp. I can even get lots of loadings from my bottle-necked .357SIG cases. I tend to use nickel plated pistol brass cause it cleans up much easier than brass.