Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life

In case you didn’t know…. so is an oven!!! Regards Gateway Kid

When I first setup my 750 i tried several types of primers and with one of the European brands they seated fairly hard. This had the effect that sometimes the handle wasn’t fully forward and the shell was not completely in place entering the sizing die. The end result looked just like yours. Changing primers to federal made for easier seating and that change in technique made the problem go away. Mine was so infrequent that I didn’t make any adjustments. Though I am not sure what adjustments could be made. Regards Gateway Kid

JB Weld….. the bacon of adhesives! Regards Gateway Kid

Buying a ticket to see a sporting event gets you in the door. It does NOT give someone carte blanche to be an a$$. Don’t like a players performance? Comes with the territory. If you have something to say that you wouldn’t tell your mom at family dinner, keep it to yourself! Don’t understand the mentality of some people! Regards Gateway Kid

550 in any configuration (A, B, C) is a great press. My first in 1982! Had (and still have a Rock Chucker) that has a semi permanent place in the shed these days. Over the years have acquired a 650 and a 750 as well, but for small runs (<200 or so) of calibers I don’t use a lot, the 550 is my go to. Used as a more or less single stage, all my hunting ammo will produce 1 inch groups at 200 yards if I do my part. Plenty accurate enough for me. Love the quick change tool heads (which are considerably cheaper than the 650/750 versions. Only complaint is when making 1000 plus of something could really use a powder check like the 650/750 has. The 550 will produce 300-400 an hour comfortably for me if I have preloaded primer tubes. I check weight, COAL, and crimp about every 80, so could probably go faster but not necessary for me. Good luck in this adventure! Regards Gateway Kid PS some will tell you to learn on a single stage (which I did for the week or so it took to get my 550 here) but the 550 can be used as a quality single stage so in retrospect I can’t think of any compelling reason to have both, unless you want! Do what makes you happy!

Of course if you are shooting holy black or some other explosive that might be a combination to avoid! LOL Regards Gateway Kid

Just watched the video. Cool concept! I use the coffee cans because I got tired of repeated handling of my rounds as I put them in the cartridge boxes. Load up strips the night before and give a general inspection at that time. Normally don’t case gauge cartridges, but double check for primers, crimps, splits, obvious defects at the loading table. With this method may have to rethink that. Regards 🇱🇷 🇱🇷 🇱🇷 Gateway Kid

Close enough! Regards Gateway Kid

When I started CAS I had been reloading cartridges on my Dillon 550 for nearly 25 years. I had never reloaded a single shot shell. Quickly realized I could save a lot of time and money using progressive shotshell presses. Started/learned on a MEC Sizemaster. Spend an evening once or twice a month, load 200-300 rounds (all the hulls I had at the time) and they looked, loaded and fired like factory. Bought a MEC 9000 from Cabelas and have never regretted it. In the couple evenings per month that I had previously made 2-3 hundred shells on the Sizemaster the 9000 will crank out 800-1000 at least. I don’t reload as fast as some but my 9000 fulfills all my shotshell needs at a nice comfortable pace, the shells look nice and I have found it very easy to maintain and adjust. If you want a case feeder machine go for it but unless you’re shooting four matches per month with family it is a bit of overkill. I like the collet resizer, (i shoot a double) which puts the base to minimum and everything going into the hull being right in front of you means it is easy to monitor. Only problem I have had was I got a shot pellet wedged into the collet once and broke one of the fingers. Ordered a new one, arrived 3 days later and 25 minutes later had it installed and adjusted. Regards Gateway Kid

I live in western Colorado, which has been known to be pretty dry, dusty, rocky and grass is a bonafide luxury. In the winter it can get muddy and sometimes we will have a monsoon but that is infrequent at most. Then I will let the hulls dry and wipe down with a dry towel to get the mud off. Otherwise the only cleaning is a quick swipe between thumb and forefinger as I set the hulls into the sizing collet. If I miss some dirt I will catch it either when I case gauge off the press or when I case gauge at the range before loading my belt. Don’t care for silicone spray or wipes either as I prefer my shells dry. Clean chambers help a lot. So far this year I have had one hung hull and it had more to do with sloppy technique than dirty hulls. YMMV Regards Gateway Kid

Yes, unless I am helping guide during hunting season I don’t normally carry at all. To many other things going on when moving cows and can be uncomfortable at the end of a 12 hour (or longer) day. Very rarely, during calving time I will take a rifle in a scabbard (savage 99, 250-3000) if we have seen coyotes around. Regards Gateway Kid

Here are the older ones and the 6 month old.

Face on shot of two of my girls.

Got our newest yesterday. Now have 2x 12 1/2 year olds, 1x 6 month old and 1x9 week old. IMG_0945.mov Puppies at play

If you know then you know! Regards Gateway Kid