Hello from Airville, PA

Tell us a bit about yourself!
User avatar
Old Scribe
Supporter
Supporter
Posts: 369
Joined: 02 May 2015 09:13
My Press Choice: Turret
Location: State of Jefferson
Has thanked: 461 times
Been thanked: 120 times

Re: Hello from Airville, PA

Post by Old Scribe »

Welcome aboard from the State of Jefferson.
"Well here's another nice mess you've gotten me into." Oliver Hardy
9x80Drilling
Posts: 52
Joined: 25 Dec 2015 09:37
My Press Choice: Lee Loader
Location: Dolores, Colorado
Has thanked: 217 times
Been thanked: 12 times

Re: Hello from Airville, PA

Post by 9x80Drilling »

Welcome to the forum from southwest Colorado. I grew up two counties northeast of York, Berks County. Started reloading in the early 1960s and haven't gotten tired of it yet!
I still like to go slowly and check everything more than once. You'll learn lots here, get all your questions respectfully considered, and be contributing to the wealth of knowledge here before you know it.
FFGomer
Posts: 5
Joined: 01 Mar 2019 22:15
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Airville, PA
Has thanked: 1 time

Re: Hello from Airville, PA

Post by FFGomer »

I mainly shoot 9mm so that is what I am starting with. My wife likes her 1911G so I’m going to need to feed that as well. But for now I’m just doing 1 cartridge until I get proficient, then I’ll worry about changing over.
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6456
Joined: 22 Jun 2013 17:16
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1616 times
Been thanked: 2850 times

Re: Hello from Airville, PA

Post by Ranch Dog »

FFGomer wrote:I mainly shoot 9mm so that is what I am starting with.
Ahh, straight into the small primer cup!

The main thing I can offer at this point is to follow the Lee instructions to the letter. Start by reading and rereading the instructions. As you go through the press setup, lube any point with bare metal to metal contacts like the ram and the shell plate to the carrier. Don't overdo it. I use petroleum jelly as I found the cleanup much easier. Sooner than later you will end up spilling a load of powder and it will make its way to the ram. Automotive grease will hold on to that powder like glue, and it will take a solvent to remove both from the ram. PJ will wipe off with a paper towel and take the powder with it. I bought a small grease gun at Wal-Mart and filled it with the PJ.

Your press came with the four 9mm Luger die set. I would consider buying a Universal Decapping die and running it at station #1 and the Carbide Sizing Die, with the decapping, die removed, at Station #2. This is not about filling the fifth die hole, it is about providing three solid points of contact at Station #1, #2, and #4. Stations #3 and #5 points of actuation.

No sense in beating around the bush given the volume of reloading you plan, if you want to succeed right from the get-go, condition every one of your primer pockets. Use a crimp remover to bevel the case mouth and a uniform to true the pocket. This is a one time step and something I do religiously. Here are the tools I recommend: I would also recommend a torque wrench and another turret head which you can move the Universal Decapping Die back and forth to (or buy another). In that this is your only press, that means you will be decapping on it. I DO NOT recommend decapping brass on the production run as, without a clean, conditioned pocket, you will experience a primer jam sooner than later. I do use my Load-Master to decapp brass, I feed it with the case feeder which makes it fast, and when I'm finished, I remove the shell plate, place a kitchen garbage can under the ram, open the spent primer gate and dump them. It will take a slotted screwdriver through the gate to get them going and I use compressed air to blow out anything remaining in the ram. I flush the inside of the ram with solvent, blow it out and leave a light coat of WD-40 in the ram.

Beyond that, I would recommend having a #2 pencil handy and about six popsicle sticks. Seriously ;)
Michael
Image
FFGomer
Posts: 5
Joined: 01 Mar 2019 22:15
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Airville, PA
Has thanked: 1 time

Re: Hello from Airville, PA

Post by FFGomer »

#2 pencil and 6 popsicle sticks? I have to ask, what is that all about? And thanks for the info RD, it is very helpful! I have started out using the press just to decap right now. I figured this would serve 2 purposes. 1) I wanted to decap prior to cleaning, not on the production run. And 2) I wanted to run the press excessively in a non-production role to get a good feel for how it operates and some common issues. I have had a few cases come out of the case feeder sideways which causes it to bind up against the case currently under #1 and also drop another case out of the feeder. Any ideas what could be causing this? The directions from Lee for setting up the case feeder said to put a coin between the feeder and the slide but I found that this did not give adequate clearance so I raised the feeder up slightly.
User avatar
Fyodor
Founding Member & Supporter
Founding Member & Supporter
Posts: 1512
Joined: 04 Jan 2014 05:45
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Gernsbach, Germany
Has thanked: 794 times
Been thanked: 504 times

Re: Hello from Airville, PA

Post by Fyodor »

Herzlich Willkommen from Germany!
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
- Evelyn Beatrice Hall, often misattributed to Voltaire

I think I'm thinking, therefore I may possibly be.
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 6456
Joined: 22 Jun 2013 17:16
My Press Choice: Progressive
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1616 times
Been thanked: 2850 times

Re: Hello from Airville, PA

Post by Ranch Dog »

Securing Case Feeder
FFGomer wrote:#2 pencil and 6 popsicle sticks? I have to ask, what is that all about?
The pencil is to properly space the case slider assembly. See page 3 of the manual, middle column. The sticks, one is used to space the feeder tube height off the case mouth and five are used to space/position the multi-tube feeder off the turret head frame.
FFGomer wrote:And thanks for the info RD, it is very helpful! I have started out using the press just to decap right now. I figured this would serve 2 purposes. 1) I wanted to decap prior to cleaning, not on the production run. And 2) I wanted to run the press excessively in a non-production role to get a good feel for how it operates and some common issues.
It is really smart to start with the press the way you have! That is applying the most important tool you have available to the press, your mind.
FFGomer wrote:I have had a few cases come out of the case feeder sideways which causes it to bind up against the case currently under #1 and also drop another case out of the feeder. Any ideas what could be causing this? The directions from Lee for setting up the case feeder said to put a coin between the feeder and the slide but I found that this did not give adequate clearance so I raised the feeder up slightly.
I believe that the "pencil and sticks will correct the issues you are seeing.

I'm mirrored the posts with details into a new topic, New Load-Master Startup, so that others search similar topics can find this information as well.
Michael
Image
User avatar
GFKIRKLAND
Posts: 27
Joined: 13 Jan 2019 12:43
My Press Choice: Single Stage
Location: Ayr
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 6 times

Re: Hello from Airville, PA

Post by GFKIRKLAND »

Hello from bonnie Scotland.

Welcome aboard.

Cheersthenoo!
;)
Post Reply

Return to “Member Introductions”