Thread: Lachmiller Shotgun Press - looking for info

[QUOTE=JI have this old Lachmiller 12g Shotgun press. Press is complete and obvious to work..dies not so much.

There is a die assembly stamped Lachmiller 12g reloading unit. It came to me assembled with two springs and a plunger running into a removable internal collar, no marks on the top shaft to indicate pressure on a wad. As the plunger does not plunge past the mouth of a case I'm kind of lost as to its purpose unless it performs a slight roll crimp on brass over an overshot card. That is my best guess. There is a second stem/plunger marked 12g which has the pressure gradations marked at the top. It does not fit the same internal collar the previous one uses so I guess that one is lost. De-priming appears to have been done off the press by the previous owner, the Lachmiller Die Unit may have originally had an insert for this but not there now. A couple of long depriming rods of the whackamole type came in the box. Easily done so no issues there. Surprise surprise, the original priming arm assembly is present and intact.

There is also a somewhat random tube with a star crimp assembly in it that does not appear to fit the press. Also a couple of similar tubes with knurled caps that I have no idea about.

Finally, there is a die with a heating element. It has a center pin like a decapping pin. The only thing I can think this is is a die for annealing brass cases. I'm not game to plug it in lol. If you know more do please tell.

Photos below.

My interest in the press is multi-strand. First I just love good old gear. The press is cast iron at the top, O Frame, the linkage arms and bottom piece, while all painted the same olive-green, are solid brass!

Second I wanted a press dedicated to reloading 12g brass hulls. I have an RCBS Cowboy Shotshell Die set for brass. Unfortunately the thread on the Lachmiller is different.

Probably the sensible option is to bore and sleeve the press to accept the RCBS dies. And, perhaps, get or have made a thread-in sleeve a- la RCBS and Lee Classic Cast presses to accept standard dies. If the gape on the O-Frame would accept a 50 BMG shell this approach could be appealing. It does not. And even if it did, maybe the brass bottom linkages would not be up for that.

So, if anyone knows anything about these old dies I'd be keen to hear from you. I have other options for loading shotshells but this has kind of caught my fancy. They must be 80 plus years old.

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It seems to me that such a press is a rarity, I think it can be restored. I would be very interested to hear where you found it.

Hi Johannes, I have since had the press successfully rethreaded to accept the current RCBS Cowboy dies for brass 12g Shotgun cases. Using a roll crimper off the press I suspect it would also be feasible to do ordinary plastic and paper hulls.

The only way to "restore" it now to use original dies would be to rebore it to a larger diameter and thread that hole to accept a sleeve itself threaded internally to accept whatever die desired. Much like some contemporary RCBS and Lee offering are done with a removable sleeve to allow use of 1 1/4 in dies such as 50 BMG and the Cowboy 12g dies.

I purchased the press in ChCh from a TM auction. Tge big issue with restoring it would be finding original dies to complete a full set. Cheers, J.