I arrived home from work today to see a big brown box sitting on my apartment's doorstep from Midwayusa 
. Finally, I had it, my first set of reloading equipment. Opening it with almost uncontainable enthusiasm I inspected all of its contents until satisfied that everything I ordered was in it. This shipment brought me a Lee .30-06 Full Length Die set, a .30-06 Classic Lee Loader, a .45 ACP Classic Lee Loader, a Frankford Arsenal 6" Dial Caliper, a Lee Primer Pocket Cleaner, Chamfer Tool, a Lee 7.62x39 RGB die set, along with a 7.62x39 Factory Crimp Die, and finally, a Lee Hand Press Kit (with case lube, funnel, and ram prime tool).
You may wonder why I bought both a Lee Classic Loader and a .30-06 Die set. I bought both in order to try both tools out as well as to bring the Classic Lee Loader to the range and load for my .30-06 bolt action. The full length sizing die will be used for reloading an M1 Garand.
Now down to business. I had 18 fired .30-06 cases that needed to be prepared. So I set up the hand press with full length sizing die and prepared 3 cases for full length sizing. That was easy enough, cleaned them, lubed them and put one in the shellholder on the press. Driving down the press handle the case went in easily until the last 1/4 or so which then required a good amount of pushing to fully size the brass. I repeated for the next two cases and had no problems. I then used the Lee Loader to decap the remaining cases and neck size them with little difficulty (really, how hard is it to hit something with a hammer) Unfortunately I didn't have enough money to buy primers, powder and bullets so loading the ammo will have to wait for now.
Overall, the experience of using both tools was positive. Initially, I though the hand press would be a pain to use since all the advertisements I saw said that turret presses were so much better because I wouldn't have to waste so much time readjusting my dies. Honestly though die adjustment was quick and simple. The amount of force required to size the brass with the hand press took me by surprise at first but I got a feel for it quickly. Ultimately, I think that if you're like me and live in an apartment and don't have the room to set up a good bench, the hand press and Classic Loader may just make a good set of reloading tools.
. Finally, I had it, my first set of reloading equipment. Opening it with almost uncontainable enthusiasm I inspected all of its contents until satisfied that everything I ordered was in it. This shipment brought me a Lee .30-06 Full Length Die set, a .30-06 Classic Lee Loader, a .45 ACP Classic Lee Loader, a Frankford Arsenal 6" Dial Caliper, a Lee Primer Pocket Cleaner, Chamfer Tool, a Lee 7.62x39 RGB die set, along with a 7.62x39 Factory Crimp Die, and finally, a Lee Hand Press Kit (with case lube, funnel, and ram prime tool).You may wonder why I bought both a Lee Classic Loader and a .30-06 Die set. I bought both in order to try both tools out as well as to bring the Classic Lee Loader to the range and load for my .30-06 bolt action. The full length sizing die will be used for reloading an M1 Garand.
Now down to business. I had 18 fired .30-06 cases that needed to be prepared. So I set up the hand press with full length sizing die and prepared 3 cases for full length sizing. That was easy enough, cleaned them, lubed them and put one in the shellholder on the press. Driving down the press handle the case went in easily until the last 1/4 or so which then required a good amount of pushing to fully size the brass. I repeated for the next two cases and had no problems. I then used the Lee Loader to decap the remaining cases and neck size them with little difficulty (really, how hard is it to hit something with a hammer
) Unfortunately I didn't have enough money to buy primers, powder and bullets so loading the ammo will have to wait for now. Overall, the experience of using both tools was positive. Initially, I though the hand press would be a pain to use since all the advertisements I saw said that turret presses were so much better because I wouldn't have to waste so much time readjusting my dies. Honestly though die adjustment was quick and simple. The amount of force required to size the brass with the hand press took me by surprise at first but I got a feel for it quickly. Ultimately, I think that if you're like me and live in an apartment and don't have the room to set up a good bench, the hand press and Classic Loader may just make a good set of reloading tools.
