Santa Claus Delivery

Status
Not open for further replies.
JDinFbg

Wow you hit the reloading Mother Lode with that set-up!

Santa been very, very good to you my friend!
 
lightman said:
I like the workmanship that went into your bench too.
Click to expand...
My dad built that workbench for me some 60-years ago. It has some 'real' lumber in it - old southern yellow pine. Everything is bolted together, no nails or screws. I've made a few modifications to the bench over the years, but it has held up really well. I have used my dad's design as a model for some other workbenches I've built over the years. They will all outlast me.
 
JDinFbg said:
My dad built that workbench for me some 60-years ago. It has some 'real' lumber in it - old southern yellow pine. Everything is bolted together, no nails or screws. I've made a few modifications to the bench over the years, but it has held up really well. I have used my dad's design as a model for some other workbenches I've built over the years. They will all outlast me.
Click to expand...

Surely you put out cookies and milk for Santa.

Nice present and nice bench. I helped my dad build his retirement home from 45 year old yellow pine before air nailers. I bent a bunch of 16 penny nails trying to drive then into that hard stuff. No carbide saw blades either and it required numetrous trips to the saw sharping service. Sparks would sometimes fly when making a cut.
 
Please give a review after you have had a chance to use it. I am seriously considering this press to leave set up for my two most used handgun calibers.
 
buck460XVR said:
Please give a review after you have had a chance to use it. I am seriously considering this press to leave set up for my two most used handgun calibers.
Click to expand...
This is a partial review based on the setup of the new press. I installed the 4 dies I use for loading 45 Colt (size, expand, seat, crimp). Compared to where I had the die lock collars set for use in my RCBS Rock Chucker, I had to loosen the lock collars and screw the dies in a little farther in the Lyman All-American turret press to get them to the same position relative to the top of the ram stroke. For the expand, seat, and crimp dies, I set them up so they firmly touch the shell holder at the top of the press stroke to eliminate any linkage slop. The one thing I noted with the Lyman turret press is that there was not the obvious 'cam over' feel that I had with my RCBS press. This is neither good nor bad, it's just that the press operation feels different than what I've been used to.

I'll plan to submit an update once I've used it to actually load some ammo.
 
buck460XVR said:
Please give a review after you have had a chance to use it. I am seriously considering this press to leave set up for my two most used handgun calibers.
Click to expand...
I gave a partial review in Post #16 above based on my experience of setting up my 45 Colt dies in the Lyman All-American 8 turret press. I have now loaded my first batch of 45 Colt ammo, so will comment on my observations.

In all 4 loading stages I use for 45 Colt (size, neck expand, bullet seat, bullet crimp), the Lyman turret press worked fine and as expected. FYI, did not use the on-press priming system that came with the press as I have an RCBS bench priming tool that I use for all priming operations. I have never cared for on-press priming regardless of the press manufacturer (that may just be me). I did observe that for each operation there was a very small deflection of the turret head as ram force was applied in each loading stage. Although the Lyman turret press has a cast iron stop 180 degrees from the ram (see picture) to counteract the bending moment forces on the turret, the fact that one has to be able to easily turn the turret means that this or any turret press will never be as rock-solid as an O-style press like the RCBS Rock Chucker. For this reason I limited the amount by which I allowed the die bodies to contacted the ram at the top of its stroke so as to not introduce any undue force on the turret. I think that the Lyman (and any turret press for that matter) should be limited to loading straight-wall cartridges which typically do not require as much force to size as many bottleneck cartridges require. I wouldn't even think about any case forming on a turret press or operations which require a lot of ram force.

The other thing I observed was that the shell holder fit fairly loosely in the ram and kept turning on me, and I would frequently find the shell holder turned part way around. I had to be careful to make sure I didn't inadvertently move the shell holder when slipping cases in and out of it. I never had this issue with either my RCBS Jr. or RCBS Rock Chucker presses or my RCBS bench priming tool. I am using an RCBS shell holder and not a Lyman shell holder, but this should make no difference as these things are all supposed to be 'standard' across all reloading presses (or so I've been lead to believe). I plan to contact Lyman customer service about this.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I like the press for loading straight wall cartridges, and it saves a lot of time by not having to screw and unscrew dies from the press as I go from one operation to the next. This aspect was particularly useful when adjusting the neck expanding plug as I could quickly switch back and re-size the case and then adjust the expanding plug before re-expanding the case until I had the amount of case neck expansion to my liking. I like the fact that I can just leave the dies in the turret. I would give the Lyman All-American 8 a 'thumbs up' for loading straight wall cartridges that require 3-4 die operations. I don't think you could go wrong with buying this press.

Press.jpg
 
I've had one for a couple years.. set-up for .38 Spcl and 9 MM. It has been flawless. I reserve my Rock Chucker for everything else.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
  • Locked
Santa has a CCW (xmas story)
Replies
4
Views
659
f4t9r
F
S
  • Locked
"Twas the night before Christmas...
Replies
7
Views
782
Amegatek
A
B
  • Locked
Twas the night before Christmas
Replies
8
Views
1K
bigbadgun
B
A
  • Locked
Loading Large Rifle Cartridges
2
Replies
40
Views
3K
awgrizzly
A
Y
  • Locked
need help with new turret press
Replies
11
Views
1K
1SOW
1
Back
Top