Has anyone seen or have a resource on an optical counter for a 650 press?

I obtained a surplus Veeder-Root mechanical counter and set it up so that its actuating lever gets moved as needed every time I pull the handle on my 650.  It's pretty easy to figure out a suitable spot.

I don't know if anybody's making a specific aftermarket counter setup for a press but I think it'd be a good product to market.

Dillon Press monitor is a nice tool.

Link

Just curious why you need a optical counter?

The mechanical counters are pretty simple and cheap.

I mounted a cheap mechanical one near the base of the ram.

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I count rounds by how many primers I use.  They come in flats of 100, so it isn't that hard.

Just loaded 400.  Gonna do 400 more tonight.

I will keep my eye open for a mechanical counter on scrap equipment.  Now I feel I must add more doo-dads to my press.

There are a lot of the mechanical ones on eBay specifically for the 650 cheap.

This is what I do

I just keep track of the empty primer boxes.

I too use the empty primer box method, but when I’m processing rifle brass the mechanical counter is helpful.

You can use bullet boxes, primer sleeves, volume or weight. I briefly considered buying a counter decades ago, deciding that it wasn't needed.

It is nice to have a counter when processing brass.  I put one on the NO side of the limit switch for the case feed that is wired to a HV pulse counter.  The limit switch arm moves for each case so each case is counted.  Small and battery powered, fits within the housing on the lower side of the case feeder, reset button on the front cover.  If I recall, it was like $40 and took about a half hour to install, most of that time cutting the square hole to fit it into.

Counter I used

This is on my red brand press and it's kinda home brewed but I'm just now making a round counter for my press.  I used an IR photogate on the drop bin because I only want it to count finished rounds (whether that means loaded or the first cycle for sizing on rifle brass).  It's a "prototype" but the photogate is working perfectly, it can tolerate a good bit of misalignment between the IR LED and the receiver yet the brass always breaks the beam so my arduino can detect and count the DI transition from on to off.

This is all just a temporary setup but it's usable as is, at least with 9mm and .223 (the only ones I've tested with so far):

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