Will a Lee Case Feeder work w/ Dillon or Hornady LNL AP?

[uglymofo]

Just wonderin' if this could be a cheap way out. I read somewheres where a guy said he mounted the Lee Case Feeder either on a Dillon or Hornady progressive press, but I can't find the thread (wherever it was).

Does anyone have a Lee Pro 1000 or Loadmaster w/ the case feeder, and a Dillon or Hornady?

Do you think the Lee Case Feeder could be mounted on a Dillon or Hornady without too much hassle? Seems almost worth a try on the blind for the ~$25 it would cost to order the parts for inspection. Worst I could do I suppose is turn around and sell the Lee Case Feeder if it doesn't look like it'd mate.

 

[VOD]

I've got a Pro 1000 and a Dillon 550...and I don't think it'd be easy. Not impossible, but you may wind up wondering why you wanted to do it.

I prefer a loader with a case feeder because I feel I can get into a better rhythm with it. Admittedly, I haven't had the opportunity to use the Dillon much yet.

Specifically, there would be two major mods necessary. First, the case feed tubes are attached to the ram via a long screw. The hole for this is forged into the shellplate carrier. Looking at the Dillon, the area where you sit the shell as you're feeding it into the shellplate is a lot wider. You'd need to fabricate something to hold this upright solidly.

The weird part will be the attachment that does the autofeeding. There's a thick wire piece that goes from the top of the press to the sliding portion on the shellplate carrier. It's held on the press by a spring loaded piece on the press. The problem is that since the Dillon is taller, you'd need to make another copy of this piece, just a bit longer. Even with that, the plastic piece that actually slides the shell into the plate will do a lot more moving.

I wish I could snapp a couple of pics, but my presses are still in boxes from a recent move. If you're into tinkering (and you probably are since you've got a Lee), it might be a neat project to tinker with. Honestly, however, I'd prefer the shellplate to autoindex before I'd work on autoloading shells.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[uglymofo]

VOD,

Thanks for all the details. Actually, I don't have a Pro 1000, I've got a Dillon 450 and a Hornady LNL AP. Hornady wants almost $200 for one complete caliber rigging; I may just plunk down the $17 for the feeder first, and leave the collator out til I figure out if it's possible, but I really appreciate your advice. I've scoured the Lee Precision and Midway sites for pics, and I think I've got a pretty good idea what you're describing. Seems like that wire contraption will be the hardest to rig since the presses are different lengths.

 

[Nero Steptoe]

Might be simpler to go with the 650 and jury-rig the Lee casefeeder. That way, all you'd have to attach would be the Lee tubes and rotating base that the tubes fit in.