I realized early on that 1000 was going to take a LOOONG time, so figured it would be cool to see how long it actually took, so I timed each stage.
(12) minutes to UNIFORM FLASH HOLES in 100 brass. (K&M 20cal tool)
(4) minutes to set 100 new brass upright in tray and spray them with Hornady OneSHot.
(14) minutes to SIZE 100 brass. (Hornady New Dimension die on Lee Classic Cast Turret Press.)
(35) minutes to TRIM, CHAMFER, and DEBURR 100 brass. (RCBS Powered Trim Pro with 3-way trim head.)
(10) minutes to PRIME 100 brass and set them in tray. (Lee Auto Prime)
(20) minutes to CHARGE 100 brass. (Lee Perfect Powder Measure)
(20) minutes to SEAT 100 bullets. (Hornady New Dimension die on Lee Classic Cast Turret Press.)
That's 1hr 55min for 100 rounds, start to finish, IF there were no interruptions.
Just over 19 hours for 1000 rounds. I bet I actually spent at least 25 hours at the bench for this batch. It made it easier having done the prep on this lot of new brass this winter. All I had left was to prime, charge, and seat to finish them up.
Figure another 20min/100 if I were to uniform primer pockets, but I decided to leave them alone on this batch, so far. On fired cases, I like to clean the primer pockets before reloading, so I may uniform them all later since I'll have to clean them out anyway.
I've read some don't trim until after first firing. I found that the shortest brass in this lot, as it came new in the bag, was 1.837". Much of it was 1.847 though, and I figured I could get better accuracy on first firing if they were all the same, so I trimmed to 1.837". I did another batch of 1000 this way, and found they shrink to 1.832-1.835 the first time they're fired. I wonder if brass starting at 1.832 will ever stretch enough to have to trim again?
A note on the powder charge:
Doing 50 rounds, especially test loads, I use an RCBS Chargemaster to dispense each charge. Doing 1000 rounds designed for prairie dogs, I decided I would accept whatever accuracy I'd give up by accepting a +/-.1 grain charge. I mainly wanted to avoid the extra 20 hours it would have taken to weigh each of 1000 charges. I decided to use my Lee Perfect Powder Measure, the only measure I own. I found that the charges it threw never varied by more than +/- .1 grain, but the roughness of the powder sometimes getting cut and grinding in the movement was very inconsistent. Sometimes it would turn easy, and other times it would grind bad, and turn hard. All I figured I could do was to try and hit top and bottom with as much consistency as I could.
At about 500 rounds, I got really tired of the grinding feeling of the thing, and had to see if there was something I could do. I tried loosening the screw holding the movement together. This only made more powder than usual leak out the side as it turned. By usual, I mean I've read it's normal for these measures to leak a little, you just have to be careful it isn't enough to add to the charge significantly, or spill into other waiting case mouths. I was satisfied after checking many charges after the first few hundred that the leakage wasn't effecting the end charge weight enough to matter, so I just kept "grinding" away.
After about 700 rounds, I was getting really frustrated with the thing. I also did my usual random sample weight test of the charged cases sitting in the tray ready for bullet seating, and found most to be over 1 grain high. That was it. Not safe. This was the only batch of 100 I was going to dump out and do over, and before I did, something was going to get fixed.
When I took the measure apart, I found a lot of powder that was causing the grinding in the bearing surface. The bearing is plastic against plastic, but was shiny metallic color. I thought, maybe, if I could clean everything out, it would run smoother, because the plastic looked like it was now coated in graphite. I clean it up and put it back together. Within 20 charges, it was back to it's old grinding. Powder had seeped back into the bearing surface, so I took it apart again. This time, when putting it back together, I tightened the screw tighter than I actually preferred. While the handle turned smoother, it was still harder to turn than it had been. What I found though, was that having it tighter, did not allow powder to get into the bearing surface, therefore it leaks much less. I'm not sure you could run the measure as tight as I do now if it was brand new. I think it may help that it had been "treated" with lubricant (crushed gunpowder). I found that for the rest of this batch, it threw the most consistent charges I've seen it throw yet, and never started grinding again. The handle turns harder than I'd like, but it's not too bad. I got used to it.
So a tip for anyone who hated their Lee Perfect Powder Measure so much they threw it away, or someone thinking of trying one. Take it apart and treat the bearing surface with graphite or some other dry lube safe for plastic, and run it almost uncomfortably tight. That will stop you from having to experience the grinding performance I had to go through for so many charges. I may have to do a little youtube video review of this powder measure now that I've figured out a reason not to throw it away. I've wanted a Redding 3BR for 2 years now, but after figuring out how to keep this $15 Lee measure running smoothly. I doubt I could get much more accurate throws.
One thing about the Lee powder measure, is the drop tube inside diameter is too large for a 20cal case mouth, therefore I have to use a funnel. So did I want to try and hold the case mouth up to the funnel while operating the handle on the powder measure? NO. What I did was buy a Satern caliber specific funnel that sits on the case mouth by itself. I then mounted my powder measure up off the surface of the bench at just the right height to slide the reloading tray full of brass under it. It works pretty slick. Somebody else must have figured this out. How do you guys handle getting powder into a 20cal case mouth? I'd really like to see what Dillon does for a powder drop into a 20cal on their progressive presses. I called Lee and they said the powder bridges in any smaller drop tube than they supply, and they won't make one for 17 or 20 calibers. In Lee's defense, when I first started using the Satern funnel, I had powder bridge in the bottom of it a few times. Look at where the brass tube meets the aluminum funnel on the inside of the Satern funnel, and you''ll see there's a seam. A seam big enough for powder to get into. It was actually kind of a very thin ledge on mine. When I first saw this, I knew I didn't care if it was only 1 or 2 flakes getting in that seam. It had to be taken care of. What I did was apply some clear 2-part epoxy to the seam and spin it for 5 minutes while it set. it made a shiny smooth filling for the seam, and I've never had a charge bridge again.
Notice the white tape on the powder measure bracket (behind the funnel). I put this there so I can see the dark powder as it drops. It gives me more confidence each drop is consistent if I can watch each one, and I couldn't see the powder against a dark background. Thought this might help some.
As I mentioned above, when I trim with the RCBS Trim Pro, it deburrs the outside case mouth, and chamfers the inside. When I'm reloading fired brass I don't need to trim, I use the RCBS Trim Mate. A Giraud case trimmer is on my list. The only case I load in high volume is the .204, so it would be nice to be able to trim/chamfer/deburr 50 per minute.
