Post-run quality checks on reloaded ammo?

[howiepa]

I finally have my Hornady LnL setup to the point where I experience 1 (or zero!) failure per run of 100x9mm, and usually that failure involves a primer not wanting to be fully seated.

Previously I had issues with not enough belling which would cause the seater to scrape some of the copper plating off, too much belling in which case the bullet would drop into the case and contact the powder, and forgetting the downstroke to seat the primer (powder makes a mess).

I have a post-run ritual that involves checking every cartridge with a Wilson case gauge and, if it fits, popping it into an MTM ammo container. This seems to work well as all the rounds chamber in my Sig P226 and P229. During the run, since I know someone will ask, I check my Hornady Powder Cop to make sure I see the little white ring indicating there's enough powder in the case. That's about it.

What is your quality check, post-run (or during)?

[Trucker76]

Well as I use a single stage every round is checked every stage. As I only have 1 shellholder (ie plastic tray that has holes for 50 shells, not the shellholder for the press) I also use a plastic tray from the factory box. I get my cases out of the tumbler and insert them in the factory tray primer side up. I do batches of 50 at a time. I deprime/resize each shell and put it primer side up in the rcbs tray. Then I clean the primer pocket and place the shell in the factory tray primer side up. I bell out each case put it in the rcbs tray primer side up. Then I prime each case and place it primer side up in the factory case. Then I take the primed cases, charge them and place them in the rcbs tray (primer side down obviously). Then I seat the bullets and put them back in the rcbs tray (it's pretty obvious which cases have bullets in them). After all the bullets are seated I crimp them and place them in my labeled plastic storage boxes.

Using this method a step is never missed on a shell as it moves from one tray to the other for each step. And a bullet never gets put on a case without powder since a case stays primer side up until charged.

As my .38 special rounds are fired out of a .357 mag revolver OAL isn't too much of an issue, just crimp on the cannelure. For my .45 auto shells I take the barrel out of my XD and drop the shell in the chamber to check length. Only issue I had with scraping copper jackets was with the .45 shells and that came down to cheap bagged bullets with dents all over them, switched to barrys bullets and all went fine.

[frankski]

After brass tumbling, I work with a batch of 50 to deprime, clean primer pockets, and examine cases for any splits or irregularities. (I was originally depriming and re-priming in the same operation, but after a couple primer failures (which fired on 2nd try), for now I have been cleaning primer pockets before re-priming.)

Then I seat primers for all 50.

Charge all 50 with the dispenser of the 550B, weighing every 5th manually on a digital scale. (I verify the digital with calibration weights as well as an occaisional check with a beam scale.) Each charged case goes into a loading tray. I eyeball all 50 cases at this point to verify every case is charged, no empties or doubles. (I have had a RCBS Powder Check Die on backorder for a month, but this is my process for now).

Then back into the press for bullet seating and crimping.

Final check by dropping into a case guage.

Then I admire them.

[Twoboxer]

. . . usually that failure involves a primer not wanting to be fully seated. . . . not enough belling . . . too much belling . . . forgetting the downstroke to seat the primer (powder makes a mess). . . . What is your quality check, post-run (or during)?

Quality is in part setup, part operation, and part "QC checks". The belling issues I've resolved by getting a powder die for each caliber to avoid re-adjusting the PTX height. Sorry for the length, but here's what I do on a Hornady LnL AP (pistol and 223 plinking ammo):

Powder Setup:
Calibrate beam scale at 0 and at a weight at or near the desired charge weight using RCBS Check Weights. Discarding two throws after each adjustment, get 3 consecutive correct weight charges.

OAL Setup (Important):
Seating die measurements and adjustments are ONLY made when there is also a case in the seating die and powder die, ie, with the ram under the same pressures it will be in operation. At least three are measured after any adjustment. Close enough on average is close enough. (see below)

On case insert:
Without case feeder each case is quickly felt and examined for defect. With the case feeder installed, only a visual check of the next case's facing side is performed. Note that most any defect was likely to be found earlier when I picked the fired case up from the range floor, or prepped it (rifle).

On "ram up":
Check powder cop die for safe powder charge, check primer rod for "no more primers", check primer cam arm still in place.

On "ram down":
Insert next case (or check autofed case), force ram down to seat primer. With ram all the way down in "primer set" position, eyeball powder in case as bullet is placed on case for seating. This has helped ensure I don't forget to seat the primer.

While transferring finished cartridge to 100-count, primer-up storage boxes:
Examine all primers. This would catch flipped primers (never had one), and is likely to catch high primers (very rare) by comparison to other cartridges.

Powder measurements during run:
These are now done very rarely once the charge is set. I've learned that the RCBS Powder Cop Die gives me a pretty good idea that the charge is correct. If I get 2 in a row that look a hair low or high, I may just dump the "incorrect" charge or weigh that second charge and the next. Adjusting the throw volume is rarely if ever needed.

Every Primer Refill:
I've stopped chasing small OAL variations as they do not translate to significant differences in seating depth. So I'll only check/measure the last cartridge made before a primer refill. Check to make sure the dies have not loosened. Visually check the primer shuttle for powder etc and manually cycle it to feel for any resistance. Hand vacuum or brush away loose powder.

At the end of every run (Important):
Remove primer shuttle and clean it, clean primer shuttle track, reinstall shuttle. Remove primer punch, clean thoroughly, and re-install. This is also done when made necessary by powder spilled or "popped" out of (eg) 9mm cases.

Potentially Useful: May sound silly, but I found repeating a "mantra" while cycling the press helped shut out distractions and ensured each check was done. "Up, powder, primer, primer . . . down, case, primer, bullet". Eventually I could do it without the mantra. Apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks

[howiepa]

Quality is in part setup, part operation, and part "QC checks". The belling issues I've resolved by getting a powder die for each caliber to avoid re-adjusting the PTX height. Sorry for the length, but here's what I do on a Hornady LnL AP (pistol and 223 plinking ammo):

I got a wholly separate powder setup for .223. I only shoot 9mm and 223 (for now, anyway) and didn't want the hassle of swapping the rifle powder measure drop with the pistol powder measure drop.

The pistol/9mm setup has the PowderFunnel.com PTX which is significantly easier to handle than the Hornady one, although it does involve screwing the entire powder contraption further down/up. I currently lack a headspace gauge for .223 so I haven't reloaded anything there, but from what I gather it does not need an expander like pistols do.

Powder Setup:
Calibrate beam scale at 0 and at a weight at or near the desired charge weight using RCBS Check Weights. Discarding two throws after each adjustment, get 3 consecutive correct weight charges.

I do 10 throw-away throws whenever adjusting the powder drop. Do you have the Hornady pistol micrometer? It's made adjustments a lot easier.

...
On case insert:
Without case feeder each case is quickly felt and examined for defect. With the case feeder installed, only a visual check of the next case's facing side is performed. Note that most any defect was likely to be found earlier when I picked the fired case up from the range floor, or prepped it (rifle).

I'm a little jealous of your casefeeder What lube do you use for your cases? I've heard that some lubes will gum up the case feeder and would just as soon avoid those. I'm currently spraying down my cases with Hornady (I seem like a fanboy!) One-Shot case lube. I pop a bunch in a Rubbermaid container after tumbling, then give a generous spray of One-Shot, put a top on it and shake them up a bit. Seems to work well.

On "ram up":
Check powder cop die for safe powder charge, check primer rod for "no more primers", check primer cam arm still in place.
...

Did you label your primer rod? I put some red tape on mine to indicate when 9mm/small pistol primers are out. I've also noticed that the press feels/sounds different when the primers are out.

[Argentum]

I do lots of the things already mentioned above, but I'll toss in a few key ones I do:

• After case tumbling, I do a very close look at every case under the table's bright fluorescent work lights to look for cracks, splits, pits, etc. Anything even a little questionable I toss. Installing a hanging, bright worklight directly over the bench is probably the best "upgrade" I've ever done. The room was not dark by any means, but the contrast was amazing.
• For rifle rounds, I reside/deprime only in a first run. Then I measure, trim, and measure again. I basically set the calipers open to what the trim-to length is and try to fit the case in. If it's too long, I trim and re-test. If it fits in but has too much play between the outside jaws (this is admittedly somewhat subjective), I toss the case for being too short.
• For rifle rounds, I try to use the Hornady Powdercop Die but I've found it unreliable. It seems to hang up quite often on the side of the case neck. I can tap the case and it releases but that obviously causes powder to settle so I'm pretty frustrated with it right now. For pistol rounds I use an RCBS Lock-Out Die. I also spot-weigh every 5-10 rounds for rifle and every ~50 rounds for pistol to verify the powder charge (+RCBS Lock-Out).
• When I put the cartridges into the box, I do a "finger rub" inspection of the primers to make sure they're flush.

At the end of every run (Important):
Remove primer shuttle and clean it, clean primer shuttle track, reinstall shuttle. Remove primer punch, clean thoroughly, and re-install. This is also done when made necessary by powder spilled or "popped" out of (eg) 9mm cases.

THIS!

[JoshIronshaft]

I loaded 600 rounds of 223 yesterday on my Dillon 650.

I did two batches of 300. I use the Dillon electric trimmer in a single stage and I check the first and last cases I run through it.

As I'm loading on the 650 I can feel if there is a primer issue. I have a really good feel for that now. I have my eyes on every case after the powder measure and I know if it the powder charge isn't right by the powder level in the case. I had only ONE light powder charge out of the 600 I did yesterday. I don't let the 650 kick the rounds out automatically, I take each one out and place it in a bin to visually confirm no primer/seating issues. So it is up, down, push down further to prime, look at powder in case, place bullet on case, remove loaded cartridge and visually inspect, repeat. Takes a few seconds.

[sprrdhawk44]

I, too, reload on a 650. You can definitely feel if there is a primer issue. The machine will also kick a good primer into a little catch tray as well, which is obviously a red flag. Other than that, I will mike one in every ten or fifteen rounds. I also have the powder check installed, so I'll know if there is a light charge or an overcharge.

[Twoboxer]

I do 10 throw-away throws whenever adjusting the powder drop.

Apparently I have much more confidence in the PM than you do lol. Once I get 3 straight on target, it just does it's job for me using Win231/HP38 and H335. I can't emphasize enough how valuable the powder cop die is to alert me to variations that are acceptable, and to those that are not. After a lot of (useless) weighing during the process, I've learned to just . . . stop.

Do you have the Hornady pistol micrometer? It's made adjustments a lot easier.

Yes, both rifle and pistol. And yes, it's a pleasure lol. I also picked up the powder dump tube thingee to try it. Not really worth it. I cut the bottom off a LARGE plastic soda bottle and then made a u-shaped cut out on one of its "sides" to make a funnel that accepts the PM tube into its side. Powder pours into the funnel, and can't go anywhere but back into the bottle no matter how much is left or how fast I pour it. Works better given the Hornady bushings.

I'm a little jealous of your casefeeder What lube do you use for your cases? I've heard that some lubes will gum up the case feeder and would just as soon avoid those. I'm currently spraying down my cases with Hornady (I seem like a fanboy!) One-Shot case lube.

Merry Christmas to me, merry Christmas to me . . . just got the case feeder installed during the past week. Out of the box, it did 45ACP no issues. On 9mm I had a couple of jams at the top, and discovered you cant really just dump 500 cases in lol - too much weight stops the collator from turning. Also a couple of upside down cases. These things were so easy to deal with that I didn't bother to adjust the top slot to control case falls better. I've fed maybe 150 x 45ACP, 550 9mm, and no 223 yet . . . not enough experience to do a valid review. But, yes, it's sweet.

The instructions suck . . . OK, sure, they'll get you there but someone else should have written them, and actually labelled the parts lol. With more than half of my left arm's work now automated, it no longer hurt the day after ~550 rounds lol.

I don't lube pistol at all. For 223 I was using synthetic motor oil, but recently changed to Unique (wax). I don't expect it to be a problem with 223, nor do I anticipate any issues with that lube transferring over to small pistol cases done later. But we will see.

Did you label your primer rod? I put some red tape on mine to indicate when 9mm/small pistol primers are out.

I had originally marked the white rod directly with a red Sharpie for small primers at 25 primer intervals, but I got a different rod that has a cap on it that rests flat on top of the primer tube only when there are no primers left. It's obvious when I am running low, and I now know exactly when the last primer has been fed..

The rod came from an Inline Fabrication mod of the Dillon "primer alarm" that turned out not to fit because my PM is in station 2. It would sound an alarm when primers got down to 5 left. I could jury rig the alarm so it works, but it's just another thing I bought that I don't need lol.

I've also noticed that the press feels/sounds different when the primers are out.

That white rod is supposed to jam the primer shuttle when there are no primers left. But I stopped using it before I ever saw if it actually happened lol. There are lots of different "feels" and sounds, but when things are going smoothly I can't yet tell the difference between easy primer in and no primer in. Maybe it's the Inline Fabrication handle giving more leverage. . . dunno.

[FO 1/501]

Howiepa,

I set up my dies, 4 stage press, Dillon SD press. Run NO Primers, NO Powder during set up. Run as single stage press. pull shell at each stage and check.
After the stages/dies are set per load.
I make 6 to 7 dummy rounds. again no primers, no powder. case gauge those dummy rounds.
If all is good with those dummy rounds? Primers & powder.
First 10 rounds check/weight powder. all good every 10 round there after.
On the Dillon SD U can get a feel when the primer seats, or there is a primer problem, including no primer.
Read here and other sites about primer problems? New to reloading?
Just load your primer tubes to say 25 primers or what ever makes U feel at ease.
Loaded 200 rounds of 38 specials DEWC 148gr over Titegroup 3.3 gr. col.1.225
That was yesterday.
Today move the dies for 357.
So my take on all this is, set up first and run the dummy rounds.
Merry Christmas & be safe