Re: Someone talk me into a press

27
I'm not telling you what to get but I will let you know this. Some reloaders come with a superb lifetime warranty and one that goes with the press so if in the future you decide it isn't for you you can sell it used at very little loss of investment. Or if you had a dillon like the one I bought back in the mid eighties you could at least double your initial investment. RCBS and I think Hornaday are the same that way. Like anything else in life you get what you pay for.

Re: Someone talk me into a press

30
Marlene wrote:You can put the sizing die down on a solid surface rather than just supporting it with your hand. Just needs to be something that won't dent the die, like a slab of thick leather. Does that solve your hand stress problem?
Cats work as good as leather. Well, you have to use them a few times before they sit still enough, but once trained they work great for a whack a mole pad. Cheaper than leather too.

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This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

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Re: Someone talk me into a press

31
mahkagari wrote:
Marlene wrote:You can put the sizing die down on a solid surface rather than just supporting it with your hand. Just needs to be something that won't dent the die, like a slab of thick leather. Does that solve your hand stress problem?
Nope. It's the grip of holding the die on the solid surface that strains my thumb. Occasionally, I'll do a modified grip weaving the die between my other fingers. If I don't hold it steady and the mallet strike is slightly off, I get to go retrieve the the die from across the room. It's the last 1/8" that is the worst. Lube takes care of the rest. If I don't make sure it's fully resized, they tend to get stuck in the cylinder.

Beyond the hand strain, it's just really getting annoying having to clear every thing off my workbench so it doesn't go bouncing around. Even lube containers.
Let's design a jig that will hold it for you.

Please post a pic of you holding it in position.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: Someone talk me into a press

36
CDFingers wrote:
mahkagari wrote:
Marlene wrote:You can put the sizing die down on a solid surface rather than just supporting it with your hand. Just needs to be something that won't dent the die, like a slab of thick leather. Does that solve your hand stress problem?
Nope. It's the grip of holding the die on the solid surface that strains my thumb. Occasionally, I'll do a modified grip weaving the die between my other fingers. If I don't hold it steady and the mallet strike is slightly off, I get to go retrieve the the die from across the room. It's the last 1/8" that is the worst. Lube takes care of the rest. If I don't make sure it's fully resized, they tend to get stuck in the cylinder.

Beyond the hand strain, it's just really getting annoying having to clear every thing off my workbench so it doesn't go bouncing around. Even lube containers.
Let's design a jig that will hold it for you.

Please post a pic of you holding it in position.

CDFingers
Vice grips?

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This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

I must proof read more

Re: Someone talk me into a press

38
Like Marlene mentioned you could get an Arbor press to stop the hammering and keep on using your lee loaders..

If the lee loaders otherwise work for you, an arbor press would save the cost of the new dies you would need for a regular press.

If you do decide to get a new "regular" press, go with a turret press. The Lee Classic turret press saves a lot of time with die setup. You place each set of dies into a plate. You put the plate into the press and you are ready to go after a check of the measurements needed. You'll only need to make tweaks as you change components. If you are doing only 20 rounds at time, you could possibly load several cartridge's worth in the time it would take you to do one cartridge with the lee loaders.

fwiw..

:beer2: :beer2:
Bleeding Heart Liberal with Second Amendment Benefits.
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Re: Someone talk me into a press

39
drigeba wrote:Like Marlene mentioned you could get an Arbor press to stop the hammering and keep on using your lee loaders..

If the lee loaders otherwise work for you, an arbor press would save the cost of the new dies you would need for a regular press.

If you do decide to get a new "regular" press, go with a turret press. The Lee Classic turret press saves a lot of time with die setup. You place each set of dies into a plate. You put the plate into the press and you are ready to go after a check of the measurements needed. You'll only need to make tweaks as you change components. If you are doing only 20 rounds at time, you could possibly load several cartridge's worth in the time it would take you to do one cartridge with the lee loaders.

fwiw..

:beer2: :beer2:
The thing about the Lee units I believe is that they are a neck sizing operation for bottle neck brass. They do require full length sizing and case trimming eventually.

Re: Someone talk me into a press

40
eelj wrote:
drigeba wrote:Like Marlene mentioned you could get an Arbor press to stop the hammering and keep on using your lee loaders..

If the lee loaders otherwise work for you, an arbor press would save the cost of the new dies you would need for a regular press.

If you do decide to get a new "regular" press, go with a turret press. The Lee Classic turret press saves a lot of time with die setup. You place each set of dies into a plate. You put the plate into the press and you are ready to go after a check of the measurements needed. You'll only need to make tweaks as you change components. If you are doing only 20 rounds at time, you could possibly load several cartridge's worth in the time it would take you to do one cartridge with the lee loaders.

fwiw..

:beer2: :beer2:
The thing about the Lee units I believe is that they are a neck sizing operation for bottle neck brass. They do require full length sizing and case trimming eventually.
Almost all rifle brass requires this eventually. This is not a Lee phenomenon. When you apply pressure to brass, or metal in general, it deforms. And lee makes full length dies for rifles, not just neck sizing.

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This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

I must proof read more

Re: Someone talk me into a press

41
dandad wrote:
eelj wrote:
drigeba wrote:Like Marlene mentioned you could get an Arbor press to stop the hammering and keep on using your lee loaders..

If the lee loaders otherwise work for you, an arbor press would save the cost of the new dies you would need for a regular press.

If you do decide to get a new "regular" press, go with a turret press. The Lee Classic turret press saves a lot of time with die setup. You place each set of dies into a plate. You put the plate into the press and you are ready to go after a check of the measurements needed. You'll only need to make tweaks as you change components. If you are doing only 20 rounds at time, you could possibly load several cartridge's worth in the time it would take you to do one cartridge with the lee loaders.

fwiw..

:beer2: :beer2:
The thing about the Lee units I believe is that they are a neck sizing operation for bottle neck brass. They do require full length sizing and case trimming eventually.
Almost all rifle brass requires this eventually. This is not a Lee phenomenon. When you apply pressure to brass, or metal in general, it deforms. And lee makes full length dies for rifles, not just neck sizing.

Sent from my LGLS770 using Tapatalk
I'm talking about the whack a mole dies.

Re: Someone talk me into a press

42
eelj wrote:
dandad wrote:
eelj wrote:
drigeba wrote:Like Marlene mentioned you could get an Arbor press to stop the hammering and keep on using your lee loaders..

If the lee loaders otherwise work for you, an arbor press would save the cost of the new dies you would need for a regular press.

If you do decide to get a new "regular" press, go with a turret press. The Lee Classic turret press saves a lot of time with die setup. You place each set of dies into a plate. You put the plate into the press and you are ready to go after a check of the measurements needed. You'll only need to make tweaks as you change components. If you are doing only 20 rounds at time, you could possibly load several cartridge's worth in the time it would take you to do one cartridge with the lee loaders.

fwiw..

:beer2: :beer2:
The thing about the Lee units I believe is that they are a neck sizing operation for bottle neck brass. They do require full length sizing and case trimming eventually.
Almost all rifle brass requires this eventually. This is not a Lee phenomenon. When you apply pressure to brass, or metal in general, it deforms. And lee makes full length dies for rifles, not just neck sizing.

Sent from my LGLS770 using Tapatalk
I'm talking about the whack a mole dies.
Ah, I just assumed...

My bad ..

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Last edited by dandad on Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

I must proof read more

Re: Someone talk me into a press

43
I suppose you could modify a Lee Loader die to knock the shoulder back a couple thousandths. L.E. Wilson makes arbor dies which are in essence the same as a Lee Loader. They have removeable inserts to customize the amount of neck sizing. I would speculate that if someone is serious enough to use Arbor dies only, they are either: 1. Making them from cut off barrel blank pieces using a chamber reamer to custom dimensions or, 2. Having a custom die made, which a number of shops are set up to handle.

It's an interesting thought to consider if neck sizing only has the same effect on case length as full length sizing. Since I don't measure cases and record the data every time I reload them i wouldn't have any data to make a call on that. In my world, the only reason to full length size if you are primarily using neck sizing (for bolt guns or single shot only) is that the cases will no longer chamber. When you do that you usually lose some accuracy, depending on your application and standards.

Of course this assumes that your rifle, shooting, and reloading skills are at a place where you could see the difference between these (expensive) tweaks. I recently did a scouting mission down the path of custom dies. I figured I should work on my shooting and reloading until I get to the point where I can clearly identify that my current dies are holding me back.

I have a spare Lee Reloader press which I can sell you cheap if you want it. It's a great press for learning and for low volume use. Pm me if interested

:beer2: :beer2:
Bleeding Heart Liberal with Second Amendment Benefits.
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