Fine Figure of a Man
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Sound a little fruity, use your propane torch and singe it like a man.
Stepping up to a progressive press
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preacherJohn
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Great idea; but I don't mess around with the sissy propane, I exclusively use map gas now.
DRAINSMITH
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I asked my daughter and told her that you asked for advice on a reloading form and here are her exact words. "Poor old geezer he's going to die"
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preacherJohn
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She's probably right. My wife had to fly to Houston for a training seminar and will be gone till Thurs aftn, so she was no help when I called her. Said something about some "nair?" I think I'll just use some old ingenuity and use my beard trimmer; it works on the face pretty well.
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preacherJohn
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ALRIGHT, THE PRESS HAS ARRIVED AND IS IN THE HOUSE! Hallelujah! That booger in the box was heavier than an old King James Bible; good thing I still lift weights at my age. I unboxed it on the living room floor, and kind of wished I didn't. Then I drug it down the basement and sat it on the floor in front of the bench. Now I'm just going to start reading the booklet. I did set it up on the edge of the bench next to the Lee. I have the Lee raised up 3" on a 36" tall bench. The Classic turret is bolted to a 2x6 that sits on another inch and a half piece of plywood that's C-clamped to the bench for mobility reasons. For the time being, I'll probably do something temporarily similar to this set-up for the LNL press until I finish building the bench to exactly how I want it. In the meantime I do have a question about height. Without the accessory stand, what seems like the best height to mount this press? I normally sit on a bar stool because the bench I'm using is 36" high. But even at that height, press rod can go lower than my arm can reach and I had to readjust the Lee's rod rearward a good bit to make-up for that. How high are your presses?
DRAINSMITH
Member
My stools are 30" high and the top of my press handle is 52" high. And I am 5' 8". It could go up another inch to be perfect.
Fine Figure of a Man
Member
My LnL is mounted directly to a 44 inch high bench, I'm 6'1". It's comfortable, I nearly always stand when I load.
I did order an ERGO handle just because everyone seems to like them, haven't received it yet.
If you are building your own bench there are a bunch of threads and pics on THR for ideas.
I used a wood door from the local hospital for a bench top.
I did order an ERGO handle just because everyone seems to like them, haven't received it yet.
If you are building your own bench there are a bunch of threads and pics on THR for ideas.
I used a wood door from the local hospital for a bench top.
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Blue68f100
Member
If I recall I like the ball handle to be around shoulder height. This should allow you some downward motion without leaning. I have mine on a Strong mount and use a lab stool when I sit. I load both ways, depending on how my back is doing.
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preacherJohn
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I guess this would be the best question; "the handle height." I didn't think about that, but that always seemed like a small problem to me. It was fine the way it was on the Lee on the up, but would go to low and be a problem reaching at the bottom of the stroke. I didn't know about the "shorty" handles until recently (another expense), but do you notice much difference in leverage with the shorter handle? I like how that roller would work too. For now I'll use what came with it. If I have time tomorrow when I get back from a doctor's appointment, I'm going to pull out the table saw and cut up a few pieces of 3/4" plywood to mount the LNL on. Then it'll just be trial and error until I find that "sweet spot" height. I'm going to stop at Academy Sports too and see if they have any of the LNL gun cleaner and lube. It will be nice being able to use one of the Lee Pro powder measures for awhile as this thing starts coming together. I haven't looked at the manual yet; I guess the dies would set up similar to the turret.
I like to see some of those; before early retirement because of arthritis my employ was a finish carpenter/cabinet builder. I still have my tools, and small shop in the garage.
Is this just another brand of a mount? And do these mount come in different heights or are they pretty much standard on size?
Dudedog
Contributing Member
Faster powders like Titegroup and AA#2 work better for hair removal.
Longshot would probably work but it would be loud.
(no I do not recommend gunpowder for hair removal but couldn't help myself)
Being a single guy I don't have a wife/girlfriend to ask about leg shaving but a hot shower first would probably help.
Hornady recommends cleaning the powder measure rotor with it their gun cleaner lube..
The rotor is covered with the same sticky protective lube as some of the other parts.
Looked at Birchwood Casey gun scrubber on their site and didn't see any mention of lube.
When it dries does it feel like the surface is lubed? Maybe about the same stuff as the Hornady product??
I used the Hornady product but nothing magic about it.
You can use the Hornady powder measure as it comes if you want to you just won't be able to flair on that station without the PTX. As I mentioned the Lee powder meaure will work as well, I use mine on my LNL sometimes.
(Hornady measue is a little nicer IMO)
Like I mentioned earlier I like to make two passes so I can clean my brass after depriming'/resizing. (flair here as well just so it's done already)
When thinking about it it might be a help when first using it to start with primed flaired brass, then later do it all in one pass if you want to.
Another thing I would suggest at first is just running one case thru the press at a time until you get used to how everything works. (sort of turret mode)
If you want to feel free to PM me, but probably best to ask in this thread so you get multiple opinions/answers. With luck some will agree with each other.
"Normal" Progessive sequence
1 Deprime/resize
2 seat primer/drop powder
3 flair if not done on #2
4 seat and crimp bullet
5 free station (Lee FCD if you own it, and like it)
Powder comp/Lockout die goes in after dropping powder so #4 in the above, 5 becomes bullet seat and crimp
Bullet feeder would go in at 4, 5 becomes bullet seat and crimp
Another reason I make two passes other than cleaning after deprimeing is I don't have enough stations for everything I want when I do 9mm
Feeding Primed flaired brass I have
1 Powder drop (could flair here if I wanted to, but already flaied in pass 1)
2 Lockout die
3 bullet feeder
4 Seat/and initial crimp
5 Lee FCD Final/crimp
So not enough stations to do it in one pass with the lockout die/bullet feeder/FCD
(none of which are necessary to make good loaded ammo)
the way I like to do it. My way works for me, others have their own sequence.
Longshot would probably work but it would be loud.
(no I do not recommend gunpowder for hair removal but couldn't help myself)
Being a single guy I don't have a wife/girlfriend to ask about leg shaving but a hot shower first would probably help.
Hornady recommends cleaning the powder measure rotor with it their gun cleaner lube..
The rotor is covered with the same sticky protective lube as some of the other parts.
Looked at Birchwood Casey gun scrubber on their site and didn't see any mention of lube.
When it dries does it feel like the surface is lubed? Maybe about the same stuff as the Hornady product??
I used the Hornady product but nothing magic about it.
You can use the Hornady powder measure as it comes if you want to you just won't be able to flair on that station without the PTX. As I mentioned the Lee powder meaure will work as well, I use mine on my LNL sometimes.
(Hornady measue is a little nicer IMO)
Like I mentioned earlier I like to make two passes so I can clean my brass after depriming'/resizing. (flair here as well just so it's done already)
When thinking about it it might be a help when first using it to start with primed flaired brass, then later do it all in one pass if you want to.
Another thing I would suggest at first is just running one case thru the press at a time until you get used to how everything works. (sort of turret mode)
If you want to feel free to PM me, but probably best to ask in this thread so you get multiple opinions/answers. With luck some will agree with each other.
"Normal" Progessive sequence
1 Deprime/resize
2 seat primer/drop powder
3 flair if not done on #2
4 seat and crimp bullet
5 free station (Lee FCD if you own it, and like it)
Powder comp/Lockout die goes in after dropping powder so #4 in the above, 5 becomes bullet seat and crimp
Bullet feeder would go in at 4, 5 becomes bullet seat and crimp
Another reason I make two passes other than cleaning after deprimeing is I don't have enough stations for everything I want when I do 9mm
Feeding Primed flaired brass I have
1 Powder drop (could flair here if I wanted to, but already flaied in pass 1)
2 Lockout die
3 bullet feeder
4 Seat/and initial crimp
5 Lee FCD Final/crimp
So not enough stations to do it in one pass with the lockout die/bullet feeder/FCD
(none of which are necessary to make good loaded ammo)
the way I like to do it. My way works for me, others have their own sequence.
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preacherJohn
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Ha, ha.. the only reason I brought that up was to see who was and was not a "jokester" out there, seeing I'm pretty new to the forum and just feeling my way around. (btw, I have a few lbs of titegroup laying around, but never used the AA#2)Faster powders like Titegroup and AA#2 work better for hair removal.
Longshot would probably work but it would be loud.
About the Hornady gun cleaner, I seen that lube tack on the label after taking a second look and I thought it would be better to use it than not. It's not that I'm trying to cheap out; but I do have many other degreasers and it's a long drive to a town. I'll be using my other powder measures to start out anyway, so I'll go ahead and do what they and the forum recommends.
Reeferman
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- Jan 9, 2013
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I use rubbing alcohol. Also get some powder graphite and cycle it through the powder measure after cleaning it.
mstreddy
Member
Oh, there's no jokesters here. However, I don't know why anyone would recommend Titegroup or AA#2. We all know that it's Unique, or was it Bullseye?
BTW, the Hornady One Shot cleaner is a pretty good dry film lube. I'll second the clean that powder measure out really good. It will be erratic otherwise.
BTW, the Hornady One Shot cleaner is a pretty good dry film lube. I'll second the clean that powder measure out really good. It will be erratic otherwise.
Dudedog
Contributing Member
Seem to recall it is some kind of foaming hair remover.
AA#2 is great, meters like water Best metering powder I have ever tried, works well for .380 + .45 loads.
Legs---
Bullseye would leave your legs very dirty requiring extra scrubbing afterwords, flaming dirt, or is that Unique, I forget.
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The "bend" in the Inline Fabrication Ergo handle would address that
"Strong Mount" is what Dillon calls their elevated mounting system. The bolt pattern is drilled for their presses.
The Inline Fabrication Ultra mount is 9.75" tall, their Junior is 7.5", and their Micro is 4" tall.
The Inline mounts are much more stable than the Dillon ones...thicker metal, better geometry
Crunchy Frog
Member
One more setup tip not found in the instructions: Polish the primer shuttles using very fine wet/dry sandpaper or emery cloth. Clean all of the moving parts in the primer feed/primer seating area frequently. Tolerances are tight and can be fouled by unburned powder or grit.
In the “for what it’s worth” category, I set up my stations in different ways depending on ammo type.
For revolver cartridges, I seat and crimp with the same Die, so Station #1 is sizing, expander Die in #2, powder measure in #3, RCBS Lockout Die in #4, and seat/crimp in #5.
I seat and taper crimp with separate dies for autopistol ammo so my setup is sizing, powder measure with PTX to expand/flare cases, Lockout Die, seat bullet, and crimp.
For loading rifle with jacketed bullets my setup is size, charge powder (I sometimes use a Lee Auto Drum instead of the Hornady measure), Powder Cop Die, and seat (this leaves one station empty).
It gets interesting loading powdercoated cast bullets for .300 Blackout; usually I resize, expand and flare with Universal Expander, charge powder, seat, and Lee Factory Crimp Die in Station 5.
In the “for what it’s worth” category, I set up my stations in different ways depending on ammo type.
For revolver cartridges, I seat and crimp with the same Die, so Station #1 is sizing, expander Die in #2, powder measure in #3, RCBS Lockout Die in #4, and seat/crimp in #5.
I seat and taper crimp with separate dies for autopistol ammo so my setup is sizing, powder measure with PTX to expand/flare cases, Lockout Die, seat bullet, and crimp.
For loading rifle with jacketed bullets my setup is size, charge powder (I sometimes use a Lee Auto Drum instead of the Hornady measure), Powder Cop Die, and seat (this leaves one station empty).
It gets interesting loading powdercoated cast bullets for .300 Blackout; usually I resize, expand and flare with Universal Expander, charge powder, seat, and Lee Factory Crimp Die in Station 5.
Blue68f100
Member
I go one step farther and add a little bevel on the front bottom lip of the primer sled to give more room. I used 600/1200 grit paper to polish the base with. The Zinc sled was already smooth. Don't forget to tie a string to the sled return spring. This make it easy to change and control the spring.
TheGerman
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Dudedog
Contributing Member
Sort of a side track on press height but what works well will depend on the height of the chair/stool you are using.
Sometimes it is easier to adjust the chair/stool height than the press height.
I have two small loading benches (no room for one larger one) different heights.
For one I got a wood stool from Target and I cut the legs off (twice, better to tall than to short, still to tall after the first time I cut them) to get the height I wanted.
Have you got the press all un-boxed and put together?
Sometimes it is easier to adjust the chair/stool height than the press height.
I have two small loading benches (no room for one larger one) different heights.
For one I got a wood stool from Target and I cut the legs off (twice, better to tall than to short, still to tall after the first time I cut them) to get the height I wanted.
Have you got the press all un-boxed and put together?
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ColtPythonElite
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- Jan 8, 2011
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I use a heavy metal stool with a top that spins. The height has and adjustment range of at least 6".
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preacherJohn
Member
It's unboxed in the basement on the floor in front of the bench right now. It's been a busy day, and the time I was going to spend with it was spent trouble shooting and fixing one of the circuits in my detached garage. One of the GFI's tripped when I hooked a battery charger up to my old truck that I wanted to move from outside into that garage. I couldn't get it to reset, so I had to figure it out. After killing the breaker to that circuit, I ended up taking the GFI out, and of all things, it was full of lady bugs! The whole back side of the plug box was full, so I figured they got inside the GFI and ruined it. I had to pitch it, and wire that box direct for the time being to be able to close the overhead door. But I finally did get that old truck in there, and it didn't want to start either. It's been sitting so long this summer, the lifters probably let down and had to pump up. I did get the plywood mounts ripped out off the table saw, and marked for the mounting holes; but it was getting late, I was hungry, I ate then found a couch with some college basketball on. I was just watching a video on setting this thing up when I checked this thread. I'm going to try to get it cleaned up and mounted tomorrow sometime, but I teach a small group class on Wed afternoons, and I have some curriculum I need to review tomorrow too. So, maybe by this weekend? We'll see. Wife will be back Thurs from Houston, and we'll go out and eat that evening. You know, I usually have all the time in the world, but ever since I've gotten this thing, I haven't had time to sit down. ARGHHHHH....
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preacherJohn
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OK guys, I started setting up this press last night and already ran into an issue. This thing doesn't eject the shells like it does on the videos. I set it up for 9mm, and instead of throwing them into the catch tray, it flips them back up, sometimes on the shell holder or elsewhere. I haven't set and installed the dies yet, I just put a couple pieces of brass in the shell holder to watch it work. I thought maybe they were too light not being loaded, so I took some other bullets out of box of bullets and tried them. Still the same result. This seems simple enough; is something wrong with this brand new shell holder I bought, or am I doing something wrong?
Blue68f100
Member
Measure the gap between the shell plate and the base. It should be between 0.003"=0.005", Spec is 0.003-0.010" . Make sure you have the shell plate tight. When one rides high it does not contact the ejector nub correctly. Also take a close look at the ejector nub on the base. This should have a square edge where the base and brass contacts. If this nub is rounded it can cause a lot of issues.
9mm and 380 cases are the hardest to deal with due to there small size. The retainer spring can cause these small cases to tilt. This is the reason you want a minimal shell plate to base clearance.
If the retainer spring is not dropping out of the way this can happen too. The fix is to slightly bevel the edge on the base where the cut out is, looses support. This will allow the spring to drop down earlier.
9mm and 380 cases are the hardest to deal with due to there small size. The retainer spring can cause these small cases to tilt. This is the reason you want a minimal shell plate to base clearance.
If the retainer spring is not dropping out of the way this can happen too. The fix is to slightly bevel the edge on the base where the cut out is, looses support. This will allow the spring to drop down earlier.
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preacherJohn
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OK, I got that problem solved; either one of two things, or both was the cause. I took the shell holder back off, and wiped all the grease back off, lined it back up, tightened it down and placed the spring back on. At that time I noticed that the spring drops down, at that station, then rises back up. This I wasn't clear on, so it's possible that I might not have pushed it down where it belongs. I placed some bullets in the shell holder and it ejected them like normal. I took the shell plate back off, greased the indent balls lightly, and the base of the ram, reassemble it, and it's working fine.
My next question is how far should you screw the lower powder assemble into the bushing? The manual isn't very clear on this. I'm going to use the PTX expander with the powder measure and it should be arriving this wkd or early next week.
And, I also didn't notice in the manual the procedure for setting the other dies. Which of course screws into those bushings again. Do you set your dies pretty much the same way I do on my Lee Classic Turret? I'll be using the same Lee dies and the factory crimp die.
My next question is how far should you screw the lower powder assemble into the bushing? The manual isn't very clear on this. I'm going to use the PTX expander with the powder measure and it should be arriving this wkd or early next week.
And, I also didn't notice in the manual the procedure for setting the other dies. Which of course screws into those bushings again. Do you set your dies pretty much the same way I do on my Lee Classic Turret? I'll be using the same Lee dies and the factory crimp die.
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