RX8er wrote:Thank you Jumping Frog. You have been spot on so far with your comments and feedback. I'll take your advice on this one as well and look for this powder.
BTW, the brass arrived today as reported from user The_Busy_Mom, aka the wife. Thanks much!!!
Glad the brass arrived safe and sound.
Regarding my recommendation for Hodgdon's Universal, the actual label will be Hodgdon's Universal Clays. Hodgdon makes three different powders that says "Clays" on the label: Clays, International Clays, and Universal Clays. People usually refer to it as "Universal". Don't get the wrong kind of Clays.
Also, I realize the shelves are pretty bare these days. If your store doesn't have Hodgdon's Universal, feel free to give me a call from the store and we can discuss what choices they have in stock would work (you have my telephone number in the PM where I sent you my address).
My #1 suggestion for installing your new Loadmaster is to mount it on something that is rock-solid steady. If there is any movement or rocking of the press when you are operating it, it can (will) create problems, such as the primer system not working correctly.
(One way to check is to have someone video you operating the press. It is amazing how you can see the press move in a video that you miss when actually operating it.) You would also be surprised the amount of stress it generates. The first time I mounted my Loadmaster, it was on a 3/4 inch wood top to my bench. I cracked that top within the first 5-10 hours of using the press. Then I mounted a 2"x12" to the bench top and mounted my press on top of it. That worked fine. When I moved and then built a new bench, I have a 1.5 inch bench top, then my Loadmaster is mounted on a 1/2 inch thick aluminum sheet (scrap yard) mounted to the bench top. I have pictures of both if you are interested.
My #2 suggestion for operating your new Loadmaster safely is to have a safety checklist. I had some squib loads when I first started reloading and brand new with the Loadmaster. Then, with coaching from Darwin over at
LoadmasterVideoForums, I developed a mental checklist, where I literally said out loud, like a mantra, "
Decap, case, primer, powder"
every single time I operated the press lever arm.
I said it out loud so many times that even though I now load in silence, it still just automatically gets echoed in my brain.
Each word of the mantra corresponds to:
- ("Decap") - Ram at top of stroke, make sure decapper is still in correct position. The Lee decapper pin will slide up instead of break if it cannot decap a case. This has saved me on rare occasions when the pin it slid up loading an inadvertent berdan-primered case.
- ("Case") - Ram traveling downwards, glance at case feeder (station 1) and ensure a new case has dropped and is not upside down.
- ("Primer") - Ram approaching bottom of stroke, watch primers drop in the primer trough during shellplate indexing (station 2). If the primer doesn't drop, STOP, and fix. Avoids crushing something or getting unprimed cases.
- ("Powder") - Visually verify the powder level in case (station 4). Then insert bullet. You will be surprised how quickly the eye adjusts to noting the correct powder level in the case. A case that has too little or too much powder is immediately obvious. Many people, myself included, have mounted little LED lights on the Loadmaster that shine down into the case to give better powder visibility.
This a four-count mental checklist has identified and prevented numerous problems over the years.
The third trick to using a Loadmaster is to be in a rhythm and be aware of what the press feels like when operating correctly. If something feels wrong, always stop and identify what is not right -- don't "force it". Ram speed in the middle of the stroke does not really matter too much, but always slow down at the top and bottom of stroke and kind of "ease" the ram into place.
You don't have to jam the cases into the dies, just ease them in and reach the very top of stroke by making sure the press lever is pressing against the press stop and lean into it with about 15 pounds of pressure. Similarly, at the bottom of stroke, don't slam the press lever against the press which would spin the shellplate spraying powder. Slow down and ease into it at the bottom, again making sure you reach the press stops. There are press stops at both the top and bottom of stroke. Make sure you complete the stroke -- if you "short stroke" the press you will have problems.
Finally, my 4th recommendation is to start using the press like a single stage press at first so you know how each die works, and what to expect at that station. Install the turret with only one die at a time and try a couple of dozen rounds.
Then, install all your dies in the turret, but operate the press as if it was a turret press, running only one case through all the stations at a time. Decap/size, primer, bell/powder, seat/crimp. If you are only watching for one case at a time, you can watch each station closely and see what is going on. Keep operating it like this until you are comfortable that you know what is going on at each station.
Next, operate it like the progressive press that it is. I would suggest that you skip the case feeder and insert the cases by hand for the next few hundred rounds, just to simplify information overload. Once you are familiar and comfortable with the press operating as a progressive, then add the case feeder when you want to tackle that.
Good luck.
Gonna cast some .44 mag hollowpoint bullets today.