Olympus
Member
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2008
- Messages
- 4,212
Well I thought I'd share my experience with the press after 6 months and a couple hundred rounds of rifle reloads. I'll be the first to admit that I had high hopes for this press when it was announced. The biggest competitor to the Redding with one more die station and about half the price. I just knew this press was going to be great, especially since I've always been a fan of Lyman products in general.
I have to say that after 6 months, I'm less than impressed with the press. My first complain I noticed fairly early on in the press use. The spent primer catcher only catches about about half of the spent primers when the cases are deprimed, the other half fall on the floor. I've never noticed with my other presses, but when this press deprimes, the primer comes apart in two pieces. There is the cup and the other piece is the little star shaped piece that is seen inside the primer cup. I'm using my same Lee dies that I've always used. But for some reason, the primers tend to break apart more with this press. So that means I have twice as many pieces in the floor to pick up when I'm done. I have a bunch of random star shaped pieces and empty primer cups and also complete decapped primers.
The second issue I ran into was when I wanted to switch the on-press priming system from small to large primer. I could not get the small primer seating ram out of the lever that it sits in. I removed the set screw completely and it still wouldn't come out. I ended up having to put the lever in a vise and use a pair of pliers to get the seating ram out. It gnarled up the spring and the primer cup to the point of not being able to use them anymore. That aggravated me.
Then last week when I was reloading large primer rifle rounds, the large primer assembly just came apart in the middle of loading. It's like the set screw backed out while was priming it pulled the assembly apart as was I trying to seat a primer. Needless to say, the little spring that sits under the primer cup disappeared and I could not find it anywhere. I'm afraid that it might have went down inside the ram where the spent primers go. If that's the case, I'm further afraid that it could block the passage for future spent primers. If that's the case, I may have bigger problems on my hands in the future. We shall see.
And lastly, I've never been a fan of the primer pickup tubes. I have a Dillon that uses pickup tubes and they are fantastic. These tubes are junk. They are just a solid brass tube without any special tip on the end like the Dillon tubes. Primers go inside fine, but when you turn the tube upside down to go into the press, the primers don't slide down inside the tube. They ALWAYS hang up in the tube. I have resorted to using the blast shield to tap on the sides of the tubes up and down to encourage any hung up spots to settle down. Usually this works, but occasionally they will still get hung up in the tube.
So I called Lyman customer service today and explained all the issues. They are going to send me new large and small priming assemblies and also new pickup tubes. So I will see if that improves things. But so far, my issues within the first 6 months have been more on this press than I've had with any other press aside from a Lee Loadmaster. I have to say that I'm not impressed and I'm already doing a little window-shopping for a possible replacement. I sure thought this was going to be "the one".
I have to say that after 6 months, I'm less than impressed with the press. My first complain I noticed fairly early on in the press use. The spent primer catcher only catches about about half of the spent primers when the cases are deprimed, the other half fall on the floor. I've never noticed with my other presses, but when this press deprimes, the primer comes apart in two pieces. There is the cup and the other piece is the little star shaped piece that is seen inside the primer cup. I'm using my same Lee dies that I've always used. But for some reason, the primers tend to break apart more with this press. So that means I have twice as many pieces in the floor to pick up when I'm done. I have a bunch of random star shaped pieces and empty primer cups and also complete decapped primers.
The second issue I ran into was when I wanted to switch the on-press priming system from small to large primer. I could not get the small primer seating ram out of the lever that it sits in. I removed the set screw completely and it still wouldn't come out. I ended up having to put the lever in a vise and use a pair of pliers to get the seating ram out. It gnarled up the spring and the primer cup to the point of not being able to use them anymore. That aggravated me.
Then last week when I was reloading large primer rifle rounds, the large primer assembly just came apart in the middle of loading. It's like the set screw backed out while was priming it pulled the assembly apart as was I trying to seat a primer. Needless to say, the little spring that sits under the primer cup disappeared and I could not find it anywhere. I'm afraid that it might have went down inside the ram where the spent primers go. If that's the case, I'm further afraid that it could block the passage for future spent primers. If that's the case, I may have bigger problems on my hands in the future. We shall see.
And lastly, I've never been a fan of the primer pickup tubes. I have a Dillon that uses pickup tubes and they are fantastic. These tubes are junk. They are just a solid brass tube without any special tip on the end like the Dillon tubes. Primers go inside fine, but when you turn the tube upside down to go into the press, the primers don't slide down inside the tube. They ALWAYS hang up in the tube. I have resorted to using the blast shield to tap on the sides of the tubes up and down to encourage any hung up spots to settle down. Usually this works, but occasionally they will still get hung up in the tube.
So I called Lyman customer service today and explained all the issues. They are going to send me new large and small priming assemblies and also new pickup tubes. So I will see if that improves things. But so far, my issues within the first 6 months have been more on this press than I've had with any other press aside from a Lee Loadmaster. I have to say that I'm not impressed and I'm already doing a little window-shopping for a possible replacement. I sure thought this was going to be "the one".
