Buchanan Hand Press

[dh1633pm]

I used to own a Lee Hand Press and was looking for something a little better. I stumbled upon this on Cast Bullets (a place where I don't ever post) about someone in California who makes something called a Buchanan Hand Press. Any thoughts on this thing? A little more than the Lee, but it appears to have excellent leverage built in. Any thoughts? My go to presses are a Co-Ax and a C&H single.

http://buchananprecisionmachine.com/products/buchanan-precision-machine-hand-reloading-press

I am that close to getting one. Price isn't the issue, its all about meeting a need.

 

[dh1633pm]

Well with nobody to assist me in the choice. I ordered one. Will review when it arrives.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

What don't you like about the Lee?
What do you think this will do for you that the Lee won't?

I have a Lee hand press and love it. It's small, inexpensive and does the job. In my case I use it for depriming. I also like that I can put it in a bag and take to the range if I want to work up a load there. Or if I just want a portable setup for low volume reloading.
I also have a bench press. I use that for making larger volumes.

With that said, internet service was down for a bit so couldn't watch the video on the Buchanan. From the little bit I saw it looks nice but bigger and less portable than the Lee. IMHO it looks more like a press you'd sit on a table or bench than a true hand press. But does look more solid.

For the price, I'd just get a single stage press, mount it to a board and use a workmate to hold it. But that's just my opinion not seeing more than a pic and website info.

So, I'd love to hear what you think of it when you get it. What you like, what you don't and what niches it fills.

 

[Walkalong]

Looks like a quality product.

 

[jmorris]

He is also making a version that uses the Hornady bushings.

It's nice work for sure, I just couldn't talk myself into one. I have always been able to mount a regular press to something and make it work, no matter where I was at.

I used to own a Lee Hand Press and was looking for something a little better.

You found it and then some.

 

[dh1633pm]

Good Point Dr Hokie. The Lee for me worked well with smaller cartridges, but when the cases started to get large, the press wasn't as functional. Looking for a bit more leverage. Price seems high for the press, I consider it more of a custom than a production model. It certainly appears over engineered. I have two single stage presses already.

 

[old heeler]

I used to own a Lee Hand Press and was looking for something a little better. I stumbled upon this on Cast Bullets (a place where I don't ever post) about someone in California who makes something called a Buchanan Hand Press. Any thoughts on this thing? A little more than the Lee, but it appears to have excellent leverage built in. Any thoughts? My go to presses are a Co-Ax and a C&H single.

http://buchananprecisionmachine.com/products/buchanan-precision-machine-hand-reloading-press

I am that close to getting one. Price isn't the issue, its all about meeting a need.

I have the Huntington Compac and they upgrade but they made it bigger.

Here is what Huntington looked like

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/641737833

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

I have a Lee Classic Turret and a Pacific Multi Power single stage. I can do anything I want on the Pacific and it's mounted to my bench, which is a great advantage over any hand press.

 

[dh1633pm]

We all have our favorite presses. They make us ammo to help us with our obsession with shooting. Some presses are better than others, but most are very equal in their ability to process good ammunition for the majority of shooters. I thought about it a lot last night after I made the post and had a couple beers. I was making cat5e cables to clean up the spaghetti of wires in the basement. But thinking presses the whole time. With a firewall, wireless controller, switch, SAN, three APs, and lots of other networked things it took me a bit to make things all pretty. Even though I do this for a living. I then said, "what the heck", but used a word that started with the letter "e" and "g" instead of the word heck. I may regret it, or I might not. Full review next week when I get it.

 

[Stumper]

Looks like a great piece of equipment. What the "e" "g" has left me befuddled.

 

[old heeler]

I have a Lee Classic Turret and a Pacific Multi Power single stage. I can do anything I want on the Pacific and it's mounted to my bench, which is a great advantage over any hand press.

If they made new Press like old it can be bench mounted also.

 

[dh1633pm]

Looks like a great piece of equipment. What the "e" "g" has left me befuddled.

e....f.....g

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK guys dh1633pm just alerted me to this site and this thread. Thanks Doug!!!

I am W.R.Buchanan, This is my first post on this site but I am a heavy contributor at Cast Boolits.com, Perfect Union, and Calguns and others. I run a small machine shop in Ojai CA and make the Buchanan Precision Machine Hand Press among other things.

This is the finest device of this nature ever produced and the advantages are many.

First: Everyone wants to compare it to the Lee Hand Press. I had one in hand when I designed this tool. There is no comparison because they are completely different tools, and mine was not designed in any way to compete with the Lee tool.

*Mine corrected every problem that the Lee Press has.
*Mine will stand up by itself, and can easily be clamped to a table top it you desire.
*You don't need 3 hands to seat a bullet. This is because mine will stand up by itself.
*Mine has 25% more leverage than the Lee tool. Mine will easily F/L Resize virtually any Brass Cartridge Case with ease. .375 Weatherby Mags are my biggest so far. It sizes .45-70 cases (as shown on Youtube) with ease. Capacity is up to 3 3/4"
*It is more expensive because it is made from Machined Aluminum, and Stainless Steel and assembled by hand by ME. It will last a lifetime. I was not designing a bargain priced tool, I was designing a high end tool. I had no intention of attempting to compete with Lee because I am not stupid! Lee is everywhere!
*This tool is capable of loading "Match Grade Ammunition" in just about any caliber below .50 BMG. The Precision and Alignment of the parts is second to none. I have sold over 100 of these tools and many have went to competitive shooters who enjoy the ability to load their match ammo at the range. I just attended a Bench Rest shoot last weekend and several of the guys shot ammo they loaded with my tool at the range, and their groups were the same as the ammo they loaded on their bench mounted presses at home. All of the rounds loaded were checked with a Concentricity Gauge and were less than .001 run out !

I considered this to be an affirmation of the capabilities of the tool.

There are two versions of the press. One has the standard method of mounting dies by screwing an 7/8-14 Threaded die into the top plate. The other includes a top plate that incorporates the Hornady Lock-N-Load Quick Change Die System.

If you are interested you can go to my website http://buchananprecisionmachine.com/ and there are links to the videos and more videos are coming soon.

Thanks guys and I hope I answered all your questions.

Randy

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

And Doug,,, Thanks for the Purchase! Pretty sure you'll be happy. So far the feedback has been 100% positive.

Randy

 

[thomas15]

Randy-- your press looks awesome! I would never consider the other one because quite frankly it just screams "a lot of work for little gain". But no so with your tool which looks like it would be a joy to use. Might actually change my attitude about hand presses.

 

[someguy2800]

hmmmm.... That looks like a real high quality tool. Whenever I load for other people I make them bring the gun to my house so I can test fire as we load but this would let me take the show on the road.

 

[dh1633pm]

The Lee press has its uses as well. And as said earlier, the press wasn't designed to compete. I got my Lee hand press back in 1986 when I was still in the Air Force. I loaded many a round with it. And thanks for the additional information.

 

[dh1633pm]

Received my new press today. I ordered it on 24th and it arrived on the 26th. Fast shipping to say the least. I opened the "fits it ships" box and I noticed that their was a box in a box. After cleaning up the Styrofoam peanuts I noted there was another box inside. Nice packaging.

The press itself was much smaller than I expected it to be. I thought it much larger. Pictures can be deceiving. See attached. The press is smooth as silk. All surfaces are also very smooth. There is very little if any wiggle between the parts. While on the Lee Hand Press you push and then pull apart, this press has a flat bottom that you can use to gain extra leverage.

I found my 7.5 french die and shell holder. I noted that their is a small wire or whatever you want to call it that is used to hold the shell holder in place. Again, see picture. It hold it just fine. I then placed the die into the press and adjusted it. I was able to size a 30-06 piece of brass in the 7.5 die with minimum effort. The press will say upright even when your not holding it. It is flat on the bottom. I pushed down on the levers and then pull them together to complete the task. No problems noted.

I noted a lot of room between the shell holder and the die when the levers are fully upright. You should be able to size some pretty big stuff.

Every part of the press is very high quality and then some. It is also smooth like butter. You can tell right away the quality is there. The way the shell holder fit as well as the die. All so so smooth.

I will be using it to load some shortly. Will report my findings. Looks like this press is a winner.

 

[Walkalong]

Very cool.

 

[Blue68f100]

Thanks for sharing the very new unusual press. Looks like it is a winner.

 

[someguy2800]

Based on the picture next to the can of rem oil it's about half the size I had imagined. Now I am really interested!

 

[dh1633pm]

Like thinking it would take longer to get old, it sure is a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The other thing is there is no movement outside of where it is supposed to move. Its is not loose at all.

 

[kcofohio]

Mr. Buchanan, looks to be well designed. I like the guide rods. And enough stock to keep the rods in alignment. Kudos!

 

[W.R.Buchanan]

Doug: thanks for the nice write up, and I'm pretty sure the tool will grow on you the more you use it.

For those of you who don't know me, I am a highly skilled Machinist/Toolmaker with 35 years of designing and making tooling fixtures and a myriad of machined parts. I am 67 years old and not retired.

When I designed the tool I was not screwin' around. My intention from the get go was to produce something that would benefit the Shooting Community, be the best there is, and outlast me. If you goto the website and read the "Our Story" section of the site it pretty much describes my attitude towards things in general. I have no tolerance for mediocrity and even less for those who don't care about what they do. I don't care if you're Designing Rockets or Flippin' Burgers, if you don't care about what you produce,,, I got no use for you, and I'm usually not too shy about telling you about it either.

This is because I see a distinct lack of self discipline in the younger generations who feel that they deserve the best, but are not willing to work for it. I'm not exactly a Socialist either!

One of my best friends was originally my boss when I first started as a full time machinist after being a Millwright for 10 years. He told me about Attention to Detail and Personal Responsibility being the cornerstones of Craftsmanship. It took a few years to sink in, but by the time I started my business in 1986, I had it down and have pushed it to the front everyday ever since. The willingness to throw a piece of metal, that you just spent 8 hours machining on in the scrap bin because you dropped it and put a big ding in it is the "Personal Responsibility" part of the equation. The "Attention to Detail" part is what found the flaw in the first place. There is quite a few Hand Press parts in my scrap bin in the shop, including one complete run of the SS Links that I cut too short. (Loss of $220 in wasted stock.) Just so you know,,, nobody's completely immune from screwing up, the willingness to do something about it is what I'm talking about.

The comments Doug made are typical of the feedback and comments I have received since the original tool was released last year at this time. So far there has not been one negative comment about it unless you count a few people whining about the price. Most people who appreciate quality understand that most times quality costs money, and I assure you that I am not getting rich off this product. Many say why are you selling it so cheap, but it's more about contributing something of value to the Shooting Community than getting rich.

Sometimes you have to give something back for the love of the game.

Randy

 

[dh1633pm]

I can understand what your saying. I have been doing networking for almost 20 years now. Big ones. I get paid appropriately. By doing quality work and understanding the customer, I can run circles around more technically adept engineers with degrees from big name schools. Quality work pays and is in a class all to itself. I am in high demand which helps to fund my firearms purchases. I travel all over the country by request. To be honest I could live a very happy life on half my salary. Just like your machine work, my work is spot on.

You certainly have a product that shows your commitment to quality. I did find a small flaw. There was a slight scratch on the outside of the US Postal Service, if it fits box. I fixed it by putting it the recycle bin.