Lee Loader

daboone wrote:

Ohio3Wheels wrote:jojoba is said to be a good replacement for sperm oil and easier to find these days

Where did you find it? Is it expensive. I like to try some for patch lube on my flintlocks.

I got the last bottle I have at a health food type store. So long ago I don't remember what I paid for it. I bought it to use on the Sharps at the range.

Your other post about Vaseline and black powder doesn't surprise me. When I first got into BPCR everyone said no petroleum based lubes with BP. Being me I had to try it for myself should have listened. It took the better part of a week to get the bore back to clean.

Make smoke,

The Hand press is a great and versatile tool, that I don't want to miss, either. Mine is without breech lock feature, unfortunately.

Lubing... I use whatever I got here, usually ball bearing grease, transmission oil, and teflon spray. The teflon spray does work well but it is quickly wiped off, so I only use it on low load parts.

Every lube works best, if compared to no lube at all. Don't make a rocket science out of it. Mechanically reloading presses are low duty applications, so every lube should do it.

Well it got disassembled, sprayed down with brake clean and then a light touch of Vaseline on the bolts, the pin and the ram. I think the main reason that it was so tight was the bolt through on the main body seemed a bit tight. It sure moves real smooth now. The one nice thing about the breech lock is that the ram can pass right through the top without removing the snap ring for the shell holder. It sure operates fairly easy, was quite surprised about that.
As far as Vaseline goes, it is what I used on my first press, an old RS2. It was the only thing that worked and stayed put. Oils worked but when I pulled my press off the bench for storage, the oil would go all over and I didn't use that much to begin with. I tried grease but for whatever reason the primer residue stuck to the ram really bad and would cause it to bind after sizing and decapping 200 or more rounds. Vaseline is a bit sticky but a quick wipe every now and again would be more than sufficient to remove the residue and it never bound up after I switched so it is what I always use. Of course YMMV.

cj8281 wrote: .... I think the main reason that it was so tight was the bolt through on the main body seemed a bit tight. It sure moves real smooth now.....

..... Oils worked but when I pulled my press off the bench for storage, the oil would go all over and I didn't use that much to begin with.....I tried grease but for whatever reason the primer residue stuck to the ram really bad and would cause it to bind

I remember someone else reporting their Hand Press bolt was way to tight from the factory. I'm glad you got it adjusted properly.

Some oils can creep I wonder if that was what happened for it to "go all over"? I certainly agree that grease can collect primer residue. I think anything sticky, oil, grease, whatever, will be a magnet for anything near a press. Heck even my masonite benchtop collect primer residue, dust and who knows what. Regular house cleaning of everything attached to my benches has been the only recourse. I may have to try vaseline and see how it works.

I used to find that when depriming with the Hand Press it is necessary to do it over a trashcan as the primer collection area fills quickly and it is necessary to dump it frequently. That gets the residue all over pretty quick. Here is a tip I use to reduce that hassle. If you put a bag over the ram then turn press upside down to collects your spent primers it helps keeps that residue off press, dies and elsewhere. Also it doesn't get the press jammed filled with primers.

I find that having jammed the shell holder in the ram filled with decapped primers once or twice, then I get a better feel for when to dump it. So, haven't jammed it lately, but it has happened several times in the past...

Bayou

daboone wrote:I remember someone else reporting their Hand Press bolt was way to tight from the factory.

Good memory daboone.... it was me - it was a brand new C-frame. About 1/2 turn out of ram bolt and things are all smooth...

Just please tell my daughters about this. They are Sure that what ever memory I have left is defective.

Was finally able to get a chance to play with the new Hand Press. Some things were harder than expected, some things were actually easier.
Harder: Setting the dies up. This was more fiddly than I thought it would be, primarily because you have to hold the press while doing all the little adjustments. Crimping, I set up my roll crimping die separate and I thought it was a bit more difficult to do on the hand press as it seemed to flex a bit and the crimps seemed to be a bit off one to another.
Easier: I thought seating the bullets would be a bit harder to do as you have to make sure to keep the press in a reasonable vertical position otherwise you take a chance of dumping powder and bullet. Actually went together really easy. Putting the cases in the shell holder. I don't know why but I thought that might be a bit more difficult as it is now moving. Had no problem with getting the cases in the shell holder.

On another note, I REALLY LIKE the breech lock. Am now considering machining my RS 2 for the 1¼ bushing so I could get the Breech Lock adapter for it. Will have to really think about that.

cj8281 wrote: On another note, I REALLY LIKE the breech lock. Am now considering machining my RS 2 for the 1¼ bushing so I could get the Breech Lock adapter for it. Will have to really think about that.

Hornady also makes Lock-N-Load Die Bushings that might not require machining on your RS2.

One thing to be aware of if you do machine the RS2 for Lee Breech Lock bushings is die adjustment. You won't be able to switch a die/bushing from one press to another without readjusting the die for the other press. Same goes for the LNL bushings.

Same goes for the two Lee single stage presses I have. Not the same set-up.