Automator

[Ranch Dog]

I'm finally getting the Automator setup on my Breech Lock Challenger, hard to believe that I'm working on two years since I bought the NIB kit from Lee! I wasn't sure what I was going to load with it, but I've narrowed it down to the 30 Carbine or 38 Spl. Either will require that my fourth step, the Factory Crimp, be performed on the Single Stage, so the Automator will need to be rotated off the press for that to happen. Not an issue using the Breech Lock Bushings. Pictures to follow.

Not much money saved for a fellow back in the day. In today's dollars, I will have a $140 in the project with the Automator frame and purchasing the various components from the Pro 1000. This does not include the cost of the single stage which a reloader would have already had on the bench. You can buy a complete 1000 for $180 any day of the week.

[akuser47]

It sounds like a devinci device lol. I remember when you posted about it when you first got it. I'm curious how and if it will perform.

[Ranch Dog]

Decided to go with the 38 Spl. Everything I need is on the way from Titan. I will use the bullet seating die to apply the crimp at the final cartridge OAL so the three stations are appropriate. This loading will be for my Rossi 351 revolver that I carry for self defense.

I decided to go with a stand alone set of dies because I'm using my other set of 38 Spl dies in a weird set up for my Rossi 92 with my TLC359-190-RF bullet. So the additional die set put this project at the same price point as buying a NIB Pro 1000.

What do you 1000 guys use to catch your completed cartridges?

[Ranch Dog]

Frankinstine Lives!!!

Automator_05.jpg

Automator_06.jpg

Crazy, but it works well! I thought that it would have a long stroke of the ram (same as the Breech Lock), but it doesn't. It is the same as the Pro 1000. Everything is up and running for my Rossi 351 38 Spl. I do need to fine tune the Bullet Seating die to provide a crimp just as the bullet reaches the COAL. I'm also going to trim the case feeder tubes so that the Collator is just above the Auto Disk.

It comes off in in less than 15 seconds as I have it on a Breech Lock Bushing. There is a threaded collar down at the shell holder, about three complete turns, and the bushing. That's it!

[akuser47]

Looks crazy, and I'm shocked it works so well.

[GasGuzzler]

Yep. Crazy.

I wore my boots today. Look like yours.

[Ranch Dog]

Yep. Crazy.

I wore my boots today. Look like yours.

LaCrosse, circa 1999. But did you wear them while you were operating your Automator

[Fyodor]

I never opened the box of mine... I think I'll keep it as an interesting technical side note.

[GasGuzzler]

Yep. Crazy.

I wore my boots today. Look like yours.

LaCrosse, circa 1999. But did you wear them while you were operating your Automator

Yours is the only one I've seen!

[Ranch Dog]

I never opened the box of mine... I think I'll keep it as an interesting technical side note.

In that you already are using the Pro 1000 to cover your needs, I can see that. I also know how they thought it was a good idea. Take a guy that wants to reload for his deer rifle, so he buys a single stage press. He enjoys it and thinks, I sure would like to reload for my handgun, but I don't want another press on my work bench. The Automator happens. Of course, the cost of material changes everything, and now with Lee's Bench Plate, it is just as inexpensive to buy a complete Pro 1000

Yours is the only one I've seen!

I don't remember the Automator and I've been a Lee guy a long time, catalog every year type of guy.