Product Preview: GSI Bullet Feeder

by
posted on June 24, 2015
gsilead1-2_2.jpg

If you regularly put a lot of rounds through your pistol and don’t have an ammo sponsor, you’re probably loading your own ammo. And there's a good chance you are doing your loading on one of Dillon Precision’s excellent progressive loading machines—the XL 650 or Super 1050 are king of the hill. But there are a couple of things that prevent users of these fine machines from getting all there is from one: keeping the hoppers and tubes fed with components, and having to manually place each bullet atop the charged case. The cure for the first ailment is an assistant; the cure for the second just may be GSI’s automated bullet feeding accessory. undefined

The operation principle of this bullet feeder is similar to the Dillon automated case feeder. A hopper with a slowly rotating bullet plate with indentations mimicking the bullet profile is mounted on a pedestal to the left of the machine. Bullets are dumped into the hopper’s opening and the DC-powered motor rotates the bullet plate. The bullets can only be carried on the plate in one direction, ensuring that they will enter the magazine bottom down and ready for loading. This system requires the use of GSI’s toolhead and seating die.

Assembly is pretty simple, provided that you read the instructions carefully and follow them to the letter. After I finished putting this on my XL 650 and performed the necessary adjustments, it worked flawlessly with the jacketed hollow-point bullets I was loading in .45 ACP. This product handles jacketed bullets well and the company claims it will also accommodate cast bullets, provided they are very hard and have either a hard-wax or dry lube. My experience—and that of others I have talked to who have one of these—is that it’s too much trouble for cast bullet loading because even with the hard-cast, dry lube bullets, you will need to disassemble the unit and clean it every 500 rounds or so. With these Dillon machines, that could mean cleaning every 20 to 30 minutes. I’ll reserve mine for jacketed bullets.

At $499 for the feeder and $299 for a caliber change kit, this isn’t for the casual reloader. However, if you are loading 10,000 rounds at a time with jacketed bullets, the GSI Bullet Feeder is a real time saver. It also minimizes the chance of catching the fingers of your left hand in the loader and crushing them if you get in too much of a hurry.

For more, visit GSI.

Latest

NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, Atlanta
NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, Atlanta

The Rifleman Report: New Developments

Our official coverage of new products for the current year is set for next month, but we included two substantial new developments in this issue that have the potential to make significant ripples in the firearm business even before then.

Arkansas To Begin Mandatory Gun Safety Lessons In Schools

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law requiring public and open enrollment public charter schools to provide age-appropriate firearm safety instruction beginning during the 2025-2026 school year.

Adams Arms Set To Relaunch

Alexandria Pro-Fab, a contract machine shop based in Minnesota, announced that it has purchased the assets of Adams Arms, along with all of the company’s intellectual property, and it plans to relaunch the company in the second quarter of 2025.

I Have This Old Gun: Bayard Auto Pistol

The Herstal, Belgium, firm of Anciens Etablissements Pieper was apparently expecting big things when, in 1908, it named its new semi-automatic pocket pistol “Bayard.”

The Armed Citizen® March 31, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

New For 2025: Benelli USA Nova 3 Tactical

This latest update to Benelli’s pump-action shotgun gives users a few upgrades over previous generations, making the new NOVA 3 the most exciting pump-gun yet to come from the Italian maker.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.