I bought a 1200B from a Hide member a couple weeks ago and have had a chance to wring it out. Here's my situation and observations:
I have literally ~300# (pounds!) of .223Rem brass in bins in my basement. I shoot AR's and AUG's in classes and competitions. I refuse to shoot steel cased Russian crap in my $1,500+ guns, so I'm going to reload until my components run dry.
I looked at the Giraud and it seems like a great trimmer, but I want to handle the brass individually as little as possible. In comes the 1200B.
I set up a case-prep head on my XL650. Started with this: #1 Decapper, 3 Trimmer, #5 Full-length sizer w/ decapping pin removed. I quickly determined that the trim/size die does a great job at sizing the case back down where it should be. The trimmer doesn't leave much of a burr on the neck, and since I load boat-tail bullets it isn't an issue.
I was concerned about the neck, which is why I added the sizer on #5. After some experimenting, I determined that I could leave the f/l sizer on my reloading head, and it would do the same thing over there. Additionally, since I was only hitting the neck, I didn't need any lube once I got to the reloading stage. Big advantage in putting bone-dry cases into the reloading process, since powder and other crap aren't sticking, and it isn't imparting lube into the dies. The neck button on the die knocks down any burrs. Here's my final setup:
Tumble or liquid clean cases, depending on how dirty they are. Spray lube and load into case feeder.
<span style="text-decoration: underline">Case Prep Head</span>
#1 Lee Universal Decapper
#2,3 empty
#4 Dillon RT1200B Trimmer
#5 empty
Tumble the lube off.
<span style="text-decoration: underline">Reloading Head</span>
#1 Dillon f/l size die
#2 Powder dump
#3 Powder check
#4 Dillon seating die
#5 Dillon taper crimp die
I found that primer pocket crimps are present in only about 5% of my cases. I cycle the press slow enough to feel the primers and just set the crimped cases aside if I feel resistance. I'll swage them later and throw them back into the mix.
I have literally ~300# (pounds!) of .223Rem brass in bins in my basement. I shoot AR's and AUG's in classes and competitions. I refuse to shoot steel cased Russian crap in my $1,500+ guns, so I'm going to reload until my components run dry.
I looked at the Giraud and it seems like a great trimmer, but I want to handle the brass individually as little as possible. In comes the 1200B.
I set up a case-prep head on my XL650. Started with this: #1 Decapper, 3 Trimmer, #5 Full-length sizer w/ decapping pin removed. I quickly determined that the trim/size die does a great job at sizing the case back down where it should be. The trimmer doesn't leave much of a burr on the neck, and since I load boat-tail bullets it isn't an issue.
I was concerned about the neck, which is why I added the sizer on #5. After some experimenting, I determined that I could leave the f/l sizer on my reloading head, and it would do the same thing over there. Additionally, since I was only hitting the neck, I didn't need any lube once I got to the reloading stage. Big advantage in putting bone-dry cases into the reloading process, since powder and other crap aren't sticking, and it isn't imparting lube into the dies. The neck button on the die knocks down any burrs. Here's my final setup:
Tumble or liquid clean cases, depending on how dirty they are. Spray lube and load into case feeder.
<span style="text-decoration: underline">Case Prep Head</span>
#1 Lee Universal Decapper
#2,3 empty
#4 Dillon RT1200B Trimmer
#5 empty
Tumble the lube off.
<span style="text-decoration: underline">Reloading Head</span>
#1 Dillon f/l size die
#2 Powder dump
#3 Powder check
#4 Dillon seating die
#5 Dillon taper crimp die
I found that primer pocket crimps are present in only about 5% of my cases. I cycle the press slow enough to feel the primers and just set the crimped cases aside if I feel resistance. I'll swage them later and throw them back into the mix.