Lee precision hand press experiences?

It is one way to do it.
I have one. I use it only for depriming. I think it may be a bit much to ask of it to size a case that big.
Yes, it will work, but it won’t be easy.

If you like handloading you will want a full size press.
If you don’t like loading, you aren’t out much.

I used one of those to cobble together 200 rounds of 38 special this week.

The largest cases I've used on it are 308win and 500mag. It sized them both quite well. Including some brass that got hammered in a CETME.

I've got other presses (Lee turret, Hornady LNL progressive) but they haven't got set up since my last move.

It will build your pecs and maybe biceps if you try 1K rounds, if you last past the first 100 of rifle.

I have one also.
I too use it mostly for depriming. I can sit at my desk when work is slow or when watching some TV.

But I also put it in my gear that I can take to the range or with me if I need to make rounds away from home.

FYI they’re fine for pistol and small rifle like 223. But It won’t be fun on large rifle calibers. And I’m very strong!

Also they work best with a little lube on the shaft.

I have one of the older ones without the twist in adapter. I also use mine to assemble rifle ammo at the range when working up a load. It will resize your brass but I find it much easier to do that on a bench mounted press. If I had not ended up with mine in an estate buy it would have been a "C" press that I spent my money on. YMMV

You're going to struggle using it for 7.62x54r or any other rifle round for full length resizing. Neck tension only it may be okay, but you're really better off using it for pistol rounds.

It was my first press and it's still useful for me, mainly use it for decapping or taper crimping my special .327 handload.

If all you are looking to reload is 7.62x54, then get a single stage that you mount to a bench or table. It's going to be more accurate and comfortable. The aluminum Lee one will do everything you need and costs half as much as the heavy, cast iron one.

I echo the above sentiments. I have one, I resized/de-capped a bajillion 9mms and .45s with it. Mindless tasks while watching re-runs of House and Law & Order. I never tried sizing any large rifle cases with it.

So then I buy a Lee auto-lock breech pro progressive. (This is a whole nother setup with it's own quirks and threads in here.) I cranked through a 1000 9mms on it, and I get the system down. And then...quarantine. I figure this is a good time to catch up on menial chores. Even if I am waiting on primers and bullets, I can prep the cases, right? So I pull out the old hand press again. I did about a hundred. And I changed my mind. I pulled out the progressive and used it instead. (Almost all of the effort on the up and down stroke on the progressive press is on that first sizing/de-capping stage. I figure having that stage already done will make the rest of the process a lot easier.)

Most of the reason I keep the hand press around is for load workup at the range. And even then, honestly, it's probably not going to be scientifically precise. I think it would be silly to put a micrometer seating die in it and expect it to be anywhere near as precise as a good bench press. But if you have rifle cases that are prepped, and a good trickler and scale, yeah, you can tweak loads on-site.

Man, if you go that route to load that round, you're gonna hate reloading. Do yourself a favor and at least get the O-frame single stage press. The heavy one. Even if you wind up with a progressive later, everyone NEEDS to have a single stage and it's actually a good press. I shoot my .308 out to 1000 yards and load my ammo on a Lee single stage. It makes good ammo.

I have the older version. It is the only press that I own. The largest caliber I used it on was a .300 RUM (before I got rid of it). You need to be creative for the larger cases and case + bullet. If I recall correctly for the RUM I had to insert the case into the shell holder then partially insert the case neck or neck with bullet up into the die and then inset the shell holder into the press. It worked.

I have enough brass for the calibers that I reload that I don't have to resize, trim, and load in one sitting. Have reloaded thousands of rounds with the Lee Hand Press - pistol and rifle.

TonyAngel said:

Man, if you go that route to load that round, you're gonna hate reloading. Do yourself a favor and at least get the O-frame single stage press. The heavy one. Even if you wind up with a progressive later, everyone NEEDS to have a single stage and it's actually a good press. I shoot my .308 out to 1000 yards and load my ammo on a Lee single stage. It makes good ammo.

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Explain to me why the OP needs to pay twice as much for "the heavy one" when the lighter aluminum one will be half the price and still dip his toe in the reloading water?

If he's going to be spending $150 on a single stage, he may as well put out the extra $30 and get the MEC Marksman with the floating shell holder. Great for rifle reloading.

Because he will probably like it, and will have a nicer press to start with. Or he could be allergic to aluminum. Or he might need the extra weight to keep it steady on his portable stand.
Perhaps too he only likes Lee products.

Could be any number of reasons.

Like ductile irons resistance to elongation and fatigue fracturing, from its spheroidal graphite structures in the metal grain. It’s stiffer than aluminum.

Or that it’s red, and not blah grey.
The linkages in a Hornady press are hardened bar stock, not pressed steel sheet.

Even though it’s iron, the top portion of the MEC’s “C” is twice a long from the center axis of the ram to the stand over body as Hornady’s Iron Press, which could give more flex on hard to process brass, such as the Russian case.

Just thinking out loud...

This is essentially how I started daniel craig. The Russian case will be a bit difficult to resize, but it can be done. I never processed more than 20 pieces of .308 at a time. It's not fast, but it's great for learning all the intricacies of handloading. BTW, for $3 more, it may well be worth considering the Lee C press. It provides a greater mechanical advantage.
https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Reloadin...+press&qid=1585569863&s=sporting-goods&sr=1-5

daniel craig said:

Has anyone used one of these before? I’m thinking it might be a good way of seeing if reloading is for me without spending a ton of money. I hunt with a 7.62x54r and finding soft hunting ammo is as easy as it once was.

https://www.amazon.com/LEE-PRECISION-90180-Breech-Press/dp/B0050Z5A6E

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If you're loading only 30-40 rounds per year, get a Lee Loader and a 4 ounce plastic hammer.

Millions of rounds have been loaded that way.

I promote the hand press to new guys all the time, the kit(press, ram prime, lube, and funnel) set of dies, a FA scale, HF calipers and the book, all in with a couple flats of primers and a bottle of powder is 200-ish bucks.
It is how I started, and I still have mine as a back up or for little odd jobs like decapping something I don't want to reset a bench press set up for.
If they like then they make a plan for a bench, whatever, if they don't they can sell it and make a good chunk of the money back.
Big rifle on it can be done, but it would not be fun to do much past the occasional 20 box. The typical new guy just wants to load 9mm and maybe .223.

When I was young and broke I had a hand press. Loaded 7.62x54R and 6.5x55 swede. As long as you lube correctly you should be ok. You don't need guerrilla arms either. I loaded many a round on it. It was slower than a regular press, but workable. I still have a hand press, but now its a Buchanan that I use at the range now and again. That Lee press worked great for I don't know how many years.

@daniel craig - to be honest, at the scale you’ve described, reloading 40 rounds per year for a Mosin and limited on space, reloading is an ABSOLUTE waste of time and money for you. Don’t bother.

I think you will be happier in the long run with a single stage for the 7.62x54, I've used the hand press for pistol and think it would be pushing the limit for the press and my hand/arm. You can find a used single stage for about that same price, ( I've seen used Lee single stage presses for $25, used Lee C presses for less) then get some Lee dies with a dipper, (don't use kitchen scales, get one that measures in grains not grams), I've seen some very nice benches here or use a B&D workmate, even a used end table with a press mounted to a 2x8 clamped would be a good start, if you have a truck with a receiver hitch there is pictures on here of a "field" reloading setup that looks good, look closely at your brass and make sure it has one flash hole and not two, one can be reloaded, two is a different story.
I enjoy reloading, (gets me out of the house while my better half is working from home), maybe you will find it enjoying also.

daniel craig said:

Lastly I’d probably only load about 40 rounds a year. 20-30 for pre season verification and 10-20 for hunting season.

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Oh. Never mind. Like Varminterror said, you are miles ahead just buying some nicer ammunition.

If you were going to buy a large amount of surplus for shooting a lot, and just replacing a few bullets for hunting, a hand press would do it.
(But then you’d need a hammer puller, even if you reuse the powder. And about the scale, a food scale is not it. It needs to read to grains, like a pharmacy scale, see, it snowballs...)

But for the amount we’re talkin’, the hassle ain’t worth it.

@daniel craig - for low volume reloading, it really just doesn’t pan out.

If your shooting interests increase and you find yourself shooting enough to warrant the time, money, and energy investment someday in the future: You CAN set up a conventional bench mounted press in a small space, one of my college apartments was built by walling off 2 bedrooms of a 4 bedroom apartment and converting one into a kitchen and living space. In 293 sq.ft. I set up a Black & Decker Workmate with a 2’x2’ MDF tabletop clamped in the jaws, with two presses, two means of powder dispense, electronic case prep and trimming. I could break it down in a couple of minutes and slide it under my bed. I’ve used it to reload inside of a van at benchrest matches, loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds on it in hotel rooms while traveling on business, and have re-deployed it as a temporary bench every time I have moved for different jobs since then. But... again, that’s a means to support a much higher volume of shooting than you’re describing.

Keeping your life simple by avoiding unnecessary complications is always a good thing. Skip reloading for now.

Lyman Pocket scale is $25.