Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life

3.2 grains of TiteGroup Federal magnum primer 125 grain TC bullet in pistol, crimped in crimp groove 140 grain TC bullet in rifle @ 1.5 COAL 105 grain TC bullet loaded long (approximately 1.47 COAL) in pistol and rifle for SWMBO Regards Gateway Kid

actually I do get it, what I don't get is where these lunatics come from (since they are found all around the world) and why the locals aren't allowed to slap them silly everytime they come up with another piece of poo like this! Regards Gateway Kid

BB You know I love you, but if this is really a priority here is my list of things they should seriously focus on: Make killing people illegal Make robbing people illegal Make stealing cars illegal Make robbing banks illegal Make dealing drugs illegal If those things are already illegal, yet still occuring why not take the money allocated for this "welfare guideline" nonsense and spend it on real crimes, not some wishy washy feel good garbage!! Regards Gateway Kid BTW here we had (past tense) animal caretaker laws in the peoples republic of Boulder until one of the city councilmen ran afoul and led a drive to shut them down!

Yep our friends ran bison for years. Always used to say “you can lead a bison anywhere it wants to go!” They kept some beat up farm trucks around and using the cheapest horse cubes they could find in a white bucket would bait them into moving from one pasture to another. Secret was to introduce the babies to the bucket early. Asked why he didn’t fix the body damage he said it didn’t matter cuz when a big adult wanted to be first in line anything in the way was bound to be tore up! As far as the whole “bison vs buffalo” thing he figured it didn’t matter cuz people call things wrong all the time, couldn’t correct everybody. Regards Gateway Kid

Here in Colorado, our socialist governor and his minions pushed through a 6 1/2% excise tax on ALL GUN RELATED items. Need cleaning jags or solvents?Add 6.5%. Want some bullets from Midway? Plus 6.5%. Planning to upgrade your 1911? Cough up 6.5% more for the parts. And of course guns themselves have this tax. All are paid by the end purchaser with vendors responsible to keep track of how much they have collected. Doesn’t really meet the definition of an excise tax which is normally paid by manufacturers and hidden in the price, but that’s what they call it. Most vendors break it out as Colorado is one of few that require it. And I suspect that there are other actual excise taxes hidden in the pricing that were there before this one! Disgusted with politicians in general and those in my beloved state especially! Gateway Kid

And that, ladies and gentlemen is why women live longer than men! Regards Gateway Kid

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

My wife and I do something similar. If possible we take both sides of the pump, I fill my car, pass her the hose and she fills her car, meanwhile I unload whatever empty 5 gallon gas cans I have at the time, when she is done she goes home and I fill as many of the cans as I have the discount for (Kroger limits you to 35 gallons). We try to purchase fuel in 35 gallon increments as much as possible to stretch the dollar discount. We top off our vehicles when they hit 1/2 tank from the gas cans. 35 gallons = 35 dollars saved on something we definitely will use. Regards Gateway Kid

I use the Dillon powder check on both my 650 (dedicated 45 ACP) and 750 (dedicated 38 special). Once set properly mine will stay in adjustment for at least a year, sometimes longer. Not hard to set, and boosts my confidence as to my NOT having a squib or low powder situation. Last week I loaded 2,500 rounds in 45ACP and very comforting to see the pointer within spec everytime. I don't use a bullet feeder as I still have about 15,000 lubed lead bullets in various calibers and those feeders I have tried did not work worth a tinkers dam unless you had coated bullets. In the next year or so I will run out of plain lead, then I will try something different in that spot. Each to their own of course. Keep in mind the powder check does NOT weigh the powder, it simply measures the volume of powder in the case, same as the measure does. Charge weight is a function of adjusting the measured volume to correspond to the desired weight and many factors can change that relationship. In Colorado we have very low humidity but I still dump the measure after every session. One time got lazy and it rained like a big dog that night and just for grins checked the weight and the humidity had bumped up the charge weight from 3.2 grains to 3.4 grains. Not a big deal for what we do but interesting. Regards Gateway Kid

Probably a learning thing, may need cleaning or adjustment. That said…. My man cave is currently home to a 550, 650, and a 750. NEVER I repeat NEVER force the 650 during a priming operation. There is a distinct possibility of the primer detonating and setting off the remaining primers in the circular disk and the magazine. This situation is why we now have the 750 with a clone of the 550 priming slide. It is also how I ended up with a 650 after a pard forced a primer and stuck the weighted rod in his ceiling. Shook him up and I traded a 550 for his 650 after Dillon rebuilt it. I personally have had no problem over about 90,000 rounds but I am obsessive about cleaning, lubricating and keeping things in adjustment. Regards Gateway Kid

Around here we follow the EOT (formerly WR) conventions, for "at the ready" which are if no other body position is given the shooter may assume any athletic position they choose, hands not touching guns or ammo. If a modifier such as hands on hat or touching table is specified the body may still be in an athletic position of shooters choice that includes the modifier. ie hands on hat and hoovering, hands on table and crouched. Only time that could be anything else is if stagewriter says "SASS default" or "upright and erect". "in hands" means exactly that, gun held in hand(s), not touching ammo, may be aimed, pointed downrange, hands ready to cock hammer at the shooters discretion. And we cover this in the walk through at our monthly matches and annual with the posse marshals. Regards Gateway Kid BTW we used to call "at the ready" by our nickname of "AGAP" - as gamey as possible! but not touching guns or ammo but chose to follow the convention laid out by EOT