Thread: Lee Hand Press interlude

Some time ago in a moment of enthusiasm, I put together a "range reloading kit". Never got to really use it, the reality of insufficient shelter to protect powder and scales from wind bursts, and the ease of putting a bunch of loads together at home saw it sit in a corner.

Tonight it came into its own. I kept it back, just in case, when the rest of my reloading workshop went into temp storage as the process of relocating works its way thru.

Tonight was case prep and priming. Fifty6.5x55 PPU fired cases got decapped and FL sized, length gauged and primed. The press was the Lee Breech Lock Hand Press. Gauging was done with a Lee Case Gauge with the case held by the Lee Shell holder and lockstud in my Ryobi battery drill. All while seated at a temporary worktable. Primers were set using a Lee Ram Prime in the hand press.

As a process it worked just fine once the awkwardness of managing an unmounted press was figured out. The hollow ram captured the spent primers nicely. A few taps every 10 cases or so emptied them out into a repurposed icecream container. More than that and they tended to jam up. Two hands squeezing the handles together when full length sizing gave the upper body a modest workout. Coping with "the largest magnums" as Lee advertises might, in my instance, require a bit of working up to.

All up I was very impressed with the press (alliteration intended). No I wouldn't be keen on loading thousands of Pistol rounds. But for a modest investment it's very capable, and portable. When I get my hands on powder again I'll complete the exercise with bullet seating.

I am not so convinced about the value of the breech lock system. In practice I can never quite trust that what I set up the die for last time is going to be exactly the same this time. And if I'm going to check it, I may as well set it up from scratch every time. Also the Breech Lock bushings with the die position locking ring on top are too tall for their FL sizing die. It won't reach the shell holder with the version that has the locking ring. You have to use the bushing with the very thin knurled rim on top. Which begs the question, why bother with the breech lock system at all? If you're after one of these little beauties and its the earlier version without the Breech Lock system don't hesitate. I doubt you are missing much. As it stands with mine, I just leave the bushing in the press and wind each die in and out as required.

I can see I would be no slower with this little hand held press than with my bench mounted single stage. Just a bit more energy required.

UPDATE: Silly me, of course the Lee die is the perfect length if one removes the original die lock ring and uses the bushing's integral lock ring to set it in place. This never occurred to me as I've never used lock rings on a die in such a fashion. I load a number of calibres. I'm constantly switching bushings from die to die. Guess I could just get offa my wallet and buy more lockable bushings. But then maybe not either....

@Jhon, yeah the hand press is a cool piece of kit. Another benefit (for some) is that you can move your reloading operation indoors rather than sitting in a cold garage and join the rest of the family watching TV...

@philh yes indeed, I almost have a Lee Loader for each of my calibres. Including the 6.5x55. The only thing with using it indoors is the tap tap drives the family crazy. He hand press is silent. I started out with a Lee Loader when my only rifle was a 303 more years ago than I care to count. I've done a fair bit with them, and lost my fear of primer going bang somewhere along the way. I don't keep my face over the priming rod while tapping however lol.

Originally Posted by ebf

@Jhon, yeah the hand press is a cool piece of kit. Another benefit (for some) is that you can move your reloading operation indoors rather than sitting in a cold garage and join the rest of the family watching TV...

Have you bought a TV?