Lee hand press and lee sizer kit, feasable?

[TinCan Assassin]

The only press I own is a Lee Hand Press. I plan on getting into casting rifle bullets and would need to seat gas checks. Is it do-able to use a lee sizing die set up on a hand press, or is a bench mount required?

Thank you for your time and consideration. Budget is a major factor in this question(hence Lee's product line)

TCA

[bumpo628]

It does not take a lot of force to size and GC a boolit.
The thighmaster should work fine.

[TinCan Assassin]

Thanks! Thighmaster, lol

TCA

[kappy]

I use a Lee sizer with my .40S&W boolits.

I know that some folks here won't believe it, but my hand on my heart, I was casting some boolits a few months ago which were extremely hard... so hard that they would barely run through my sizer. The force I had to exert on the handle was so much that it actually broke the bolts I was using to secure my press to the bench.

Why? I have no idea.

I finally gave up on those and started buying bullets for that gun.

On the other hand, my rifle boolits and my .45ACP boolits work just fine in a Lee sizer.

[hk33ka1]

I have most of the current Lee presses including the hand press. And I size bullets using Lee push through dies. For 20 dollars more I would recommend the Lee Breech Lock Challenger press and mount it on a board clamped to a table or directly to a bench.

If you size a .360 bullet to .358 it will require less effort than say a .365 bullet to .358. This could be more of an issue than the lead hardness, or at least add to the difficulty.

[mdi]

Yep, you can use it for sizing. My last use was 250 or so, .430" 265 gr. boolits sized and gas checked. The "catch jar", the upper red plastic part, can get in the way sometimes, but really isn't a bother.

[garym1a2]

i started this way with sizing 45 acp upside down dropping them into a bucket is very fast. I only used thighs when sizing dcm 30-06.

It does not take a lot of force to size and GC a boolit.
The thighmaster should work fine.

[Sonnypie]

i started this way with sizing 45 acp upside down dropping them into a bucket is very fast. I only used thighs when sizing dcm 30-06.

What a concept!
I might have to turn mine over for a trial.
(Although my Thighmaster :lol: is mounted to a clamp on the bench...)
It might improve the function doing those long 170g 30cal boolits. The bore riding tip fits right up in the die anyway. Going downward might be just the ticket. ;)

But, yeah, the Lee hand press will punch out sized boolits fine. That's what I use for 45's and 30 cal.

[cajun shooter]

When using the Lee sizing tool if you lube your bullets before you try to run them through the sizer it is so much easier. Use a case lube product such as Hornady One Shot or any type of lube.
It sounds as if your bullets were much larger than your sizing die and very dry when you broke the bolts.
If something is that hard don't try to out man it; stop and add lube. It makes life so much easier.
You may even use the alox. Just thin some out with mineral spirits and drop your bullets into that before sizing. Later David