Lee new cast iron press the Classic

[44and45]

Scott, you might try contacting C-H Tool & Die/4-D Custom Die Co.

They are about the best for your money value.

Their website addy is www.ch4d.com they have an on-line catalog. On p.15-16 is the swaging equipment and write them for any questions you may have.

They sell the swaging dies for copper jacket cups to insert soft lead wire and then swage them to the caliber you select.

I don't do jacket swaging, I custom order my swaging dies to the diameter that I want to fabricate. For example, .44 jacket copper cup jackets require a smaller diameter soft lead wire to fit into the cups which then combine to form the diameter caliber you require.

My custom swaging dies are the exact diameter of the caliber I want to load, (no copper jacket cups) just lead bullets. Or even plated or jacketed bullets can be reformed with different nose shapes with different nose punches.

Though I'm using the new Lee Classic press to swage with, it is going to require some modifications to make me competely satisfied...more on that later when I get with a machinest to do a couple of things on it. The ram top needs to be cut down about 1/2 inch which should make for the swage die being able to screw further into the presses frame.

Attached is an image of my good ole Herter's Super O Maximum press that has a whopping big 1 1/2 inch dia. ram. This model is nearly 50 years old but about the best I've found so far. Found this one on ebay and it is the only Herter's Super O Maximum that I have ever seen forsale there.

Jim

PS -- Did you notice the die-body lock ring on the ram's nose punch. Had to open it up a bit on the inside diameter to fit the nose punch and the hex screw tighten's down the nose punch to very securely tight state on the ram's shellholder.

 

[M2HMGHB]

Thanks Jim. I was looking for more info and prices but Corbin was just too expensive for my taste. I'll have to look into this. One more question though, Do you know if you can make the jackets out of copper piping and if so do you need a special die? Thanks again,
Scott

 

[44and45]

Scott, I rather doubt it -- making jackets out of copper piping, that piping is too thick and how would it form a bottom flat.

A proper copper jacket cup is just that...a cup like capsule with a bottom and it is not very thick.

I believe C&H sells those copper jackets in the calibers you may need.

Though like I said, I never got into copper cup jacketed bullets.

If you are a machinest or know one, you could make a punch and die that can form these jacket cups out different metals. Maybe Bufflo Arms in MT. could help you out there. They sell sets for gaschecks.

I once tried some of C&H zinc washers in nine mm caliber but it don't work with hardcast lead bullets, you need their soft wire lead.

Jim

 

[Ross]

We almost need a new thread here.
Back in 1914 IIRC, there was a notable outfit, Western Tool & Copper Works, in Oakland California, that made fine bullets with copper tubing. I have no idea what they used other than it was called a special guilding metal tubing. The bases were spun and swaged, the noses drawn thin enough to allow proper expansion. (Sharpe, Complete Guide to Handloading, 1953) By 1962 the Handloaders Digest does not list them. I know that Elmer referenced them.
I believe that the Corbin books address the issue of copper tubing jackets.
Cheers from Darkest California,
Ross

 

[Matt Dillon]

Folks, if we're still talking about the Lee Classic press, I just had to give you my first impression. It arrived today, from Midway, and it is as different as night is from day from my old lee Challenger press. In the first place, I always had my old Lee Challenger press mounted to a piece of plywood, then used hold downs and clamped this to my work bench. It worked fine, but it still had quite a bit of play, compared to this new press. This evening I drilled 3 holes into my bench, then mounted it with 5/16" bolts. It is solid as a rock! Before I had my Challenger, I had that entry level Lee press, on the which I loaded thousands of .38 special wad cutters. I loaded ~100 .357 Magnum cartridges this evening, and can't wait to load up some rifle cartridges. This press is solid, weighs 15 pounds, and I'm glad that I was able to get it. Hats off to the Lee folks, who have come out with an excellent press!

 

[Ross]

I'm going to start a new thread: Swaging
Ross

 

[Rico567]

As a reloading press, the Lee Classic looks very impressive (I am using my Rock Chucker, which has served me well for over 20 years, as a frame of reference), but I detect a lot of what I call "Swiss Army Knife" thinking in this thread.

It all comes down to whether you use a multi-purpose tool (crescent wrench, vise-grips, etc.) for the job, or a dedicated tool (e.g., a set of socket wrenches). There is a gray area of utility/practicality that's always going to dictate the tool being used, and I'm no purist in this regard.

Nevertheless, there is a tendency to want to see a particular tool as more capable than its stated or advertised purpose would indicate. This is a perfectly natural inclination, since if it works it saves money and space. However, if heavy Lyman presses fail at bullet swaging and an RCBS rep positively states that the Rock Chucker not be used for this purpose, I don't think anyone should be too disappointed if the Lee Classic won't swage satisfactorily.

I have followed certain threads on a reloading press I use, the Lee pro1000, and have read much on people's problems, but suspect in many cases that individuals are using the machine beyond its capabilities. It's a capable machine, ONLY for loading pistol cases, and ONLY at a certain speed, and ONLY if the operator learns its quirks, and keeps it pretty clean and well lubricated. Color too far outside the lines, and it won't perform well any more. And aren't a lot of machines this way? The trick is to learn the machine's capabilities and use it accordingly, and get something else if your needs go beyond.

The little reading I've done about the forces and pressures required for swaging indicate that the long-run solution for this problem, as someone suggested earlier, is a Corbin dedicated swaging press.

 

[44and45]

Rico, check out the continuing saga on Lee Classic press on another thread titled "More on Lee Classic cast iron press".

The whole idea of this discussion is to explain that it is possible to controll swaging pressures in an ordinary reloading press if its built to handle it.

It was my opinion, and that's all it is...that the Lee Classic is a good canidate to meet that criteria of cutting the mustard so to speak.

Not everyone has the bank roll to buy a Corbin swaging press or the dies and punches that are astromomical in price.

It was not a sure thing when I voiced this opinion, but I do have years of experience in swaging bullets, making nose punches and die rod ejectors.

Plus, I have had the experience of certain presses failing to make the grade in swaging operations.

And for my money the Lee Classic has good prospects of fullfilling that ambition...as well as being a terrific regular reloading presses which it was designed for.

Who's to fault me if I'm successful in aultering the ram shellholder head by a half inch on a mini-lathe then pin the two parts together with hex screws as the top part sleaves into the bottom part. The reason for this is to be able to seat the swaging die further into the press so it doesn't put undue stress on the press handle being deployed downward and the ram is at its top most position into the swaging die.

This is known as stress relief which makes for a smooth ram press stroke and an excellent swaged bullet.

The only gray area I can see for this new press is the two part ram pin, which is designed to allow primers to fall through out the bottome on the ram.

But so far with a couple of hundred bullets ran through my press there are no signs of stress or impending failure. And, even if it does fail Lee has assured me that the ram pin can be made to be one piece 1/2 inch diameter pin.

If all I've said comes together why buy an expensive swaging press.

Jim