"RogerN" fired this volley in news:3I-
:

Any thoughts on suitable presses to start with?

The only thing I've ever reloaded was shotgun shells, and that wasn't for
the cost, but because we were loading special flare inserts for the
Forestry Service.

But based upon what I've seen of progressive loading equipment, they
don't look too conducive to being extensively modified and automated.

Personally, I think it would be better to use commercial dies, and build
an automatic press from the ground up.

I have built two machines almost exactly like that for making pyrotechnic
gerbs (fountains). They feed "cartridges" (paper tubes) from bulk, size-
check each one, orient the mouths the correct way, place empty tubes for
loading, measure powder to within 0.15 grain, pour it in multiple
increments into the tubes, consolidate each increment, check the final
powder height, seal the tubes, eject the finished product from the
loader, and store the loaded tubes in containers.

I do not think I could have adapted manual loaders to do that... they
didn't build them with accommodating all the necessary "satellite"
mechanisms in mind.

LLoyd