Got a Lee cast iron press

[Buckshot]

............Got it last week and just got it bolted to it's bench insert. Looks to be a fine press, and I like how you can adjust the handle location. I don't know how the serrated handle drum-linkage would hold up if one were to do a bit of swaging with it? If it didn't I sure wouldn't hold it against Lee as they didn't design it for that use.

Their ram head shellholder setup is interesting. I oiled it up with light spindle oil and spend a bit of time working the ram up and down. While working it up and down I'd wipe off the oil as it turned gray and then re-apply it. Before too long the oil remained clear, so most the loose graphite and fines form the cast iron machining was gone.

My old Rockchucker's ram was just getting too loose. At full extension it was pretty wobbley. The press was used when I bought it a good 20 years ago, and since I've had it, it has certainly done more then it's share. I felt kind of bad buying the Lee after the good service delivered by the RCBS, but I liked the way the Lee handles the spent primers.

I think that if RCBS could alter the Rockchucker to do the same, the press would last forever. All the crap and crud from spent primers ending up between the ram and the press casting doesn't do anything good so far as wear is concerned.

................Buckshot

[USARO4]

I've had one of the cast iron classic turrets for a year and a half now, could'nt be more pleased. I have 3 presses including a green one, and the Lee is my favorite.

[cohutt]

Most of my loading duty is handled by 2 blue 550s.

I bought a classic cast press to use as a utility press and have been completely satisfied with it. It is pretty sturdy, for the $ no better deal out there.

[Swagerman]

Buckshot said:

I don't know how the serrated handle drum-linkage would hold up if one were to do a bit of swaging with it? If it didn't I sure wouldn't hold it against Lee as they didn't design it for that use.

================================================== =====

Rick, I have been swaging with my Lee Classic for over a year now and absolutely no problems...period.

Just got this machine back from my machinest friend's shop, he converted the shellolder to take the Herter's type shellholder nose punches. The concintricity is right on, much better than using the crummy cartridge shellholders.

This required another bottom plate and attachment be made bigger, (pictures to follow soon as I can do them)

I'm in the bullet re-shaping work, no 1/2 jacketed stuff. So, pressure is not a problem with reforming bullets of any desired shape. The Lee Classic cast iron press does it with ease.

Jim


This shows the automatic bullet ejector mounted attop the Lee Classic press, it also shows the new bottom bar that allows the Herter's shellholder adapter to slip in through the top of the bar.

Whereas, the old bottom bar (top of press) only allowed the normal industry shellholder shaft to slip through its tiny hole.





Here is the cut-off Lee shellholder I was going to throw away, but now have it mounted with a hex screw. The SH has a ring band underneath that is tack welded on its base.

Now the press can do double duty as a swaging or reloading press.

[454PB]

I've been using a Lee Classic Turret press for about a year and I'm very pleased with it. One thing I learned right away, the priming arm has to be in place to divert the spent primers into the tube. If I remove it, about every fourth primer escapes and lands on the floor.

[EMC45]

Great press! I have an RCBS and a Classic Cast I got for 30 bucks new! I load rifle on my RCBS and pistol on my Classic.(More room on the Classic side of the bench) It seems more sturdy then the Rockchucker, but that could be my imagination or the fact the Rockchucker is cast in !CHINA! and the Classic Cast is cast in the good 'ole US of A!!!! Ladies ansd Gentlemen, we have been completely whored to the Chinese!!

[mtgrs737]

Just a few years ago the US was comtemplating on not giving the Chinese "Most Favored Trading Status". Now I think we should be worried the Chinese will not give US "Most Favored Trading Status"!! My how things change in just a few years! Remember Japan before WWII?

[Unter]

One thing I learned right away, the priming arm has to be in place to divert the spent primers into the tube.

That is true, I stuff debris in the slot to prevent escape.

[lathesmith]

I absolutely love my Lee Classic Cast Turrent press, after buying this and using it I sold my other presses as surplus. I think BS and 454 really hit the nail on the head--my favorite feature of this thing is the way it handles spent primers. Why didn't someone think of that years ago? I always hated that spent-primer dust mess, that was also a lead-exposure hazard. Now I can reload in the house and not have to worry about it! The priming mechanism took a little work to get the hang of, but now that I get it I really like it. This thing will probably outlast me, and it's made right here in the US of A!

I sure hope the Chinese don't kick us off their trading partner list though, I won't be able to afford to maintain my machine tools if they do that!
Lathesmith

[Swagerman]

A little more information on the Lee Classic press.

When I first made the automatic bullet ejector it had the shellholder cut and shortend as depicted in picture.

The Lee Shellholder was cut and chopped for the Herter's shellholder as well, but the top is not needed as the bottom portion is reamed out to accept the Herter's insertion.

However, I decided not to waste the original Lee cartridge shellholder, I'm having a ring tacked onto its cut-off bottom base and it will eventually be used in bottom bar hole with a hex screw or cotter pin will hold it place when one wants to use it.

When I get it back will take picture of it setting in place on the bar.

Jim

[Char-Gar]

Iron no matter how well made is still iron. With enough use even the best of them will "go wobbley" on you.

To my knowledge the last of the "cast steel" presses was the RCBS A2. There is no way such a press could be made today and be sold for a price anybody would pay.

My RCBS A2 is over 50 years old and has yet to "go wobbley" on me and I won't live long enough to see it happen. It just keep getting smoother and slicker.

[1hole]

I can appreciate the nice thoughts about the Lee Classic presses. Long ago I got a little Lee "Reloader" press and dedicated it to a universal decaper, love it. Recapping is with a Lee Prime tool, love that too.

I think concerns about slop in the extended ram of any press are misplaced. In fact, it may help us get better cartridges! The alignment of a case entering a die can be forced off center if it is rigid but with a bit of free play in the ram a case will self align with the die perfectly.

The quality of our reloads depends much more on the dies and our technique than the press.

[LarryM]

Charger has a point, I wonder though if a iron press with steel insert for the ram to slide in would be possible and affordable? And in possible could a good machinist refit an older press? buy a new ram and go from there? Probably more trouble than it would be worth.

[Swagerman]

Another point of thought is, would you rather have an aluminum frame, or some even softer metal.

The Lee cast iron press looks pretty durable to me, I read where they were made from railroad tracks.

Now if you're a super duper machinest (and I'm not) you could do like they have done to an auto engine block...put a steel sleave in it so the piston (Ram) can run up and down in it without wear.

Jim

[38-55]

Chargar,
I believe the Lee classic cast is cast steel not cast iron.
Calvin

[EMC45]

Saw a press a guy machined himself on homegunsmith.com. It was awesome!! It looked bullet proof! The ram rode in a sleeve bearing. WOW! That's gotta be smooooooth! It was a little "C" frame job he was gonna use for pistol ammo.

[rugerdude]

Now if you're a super duper machinest (and I'm not) you could do like they have done to an auto engine block...put a steel sleave in it so the piston (Ram) can run up and down in it without wear.

Now don't take this the wrong way, but the sleeves that engine makers put in aluminum blocks are made from cast iron. If an engine doesn't have an aluminum block, then the block is all cast iron. Cast iron is sometimes referred to as "self-lubricating" because it has tiny pores that hold oil. Now think about how many times a piston rides up and down in the bore of an engine over the course of, oh, 100,000 miles. Now think how many times you will have to cycle your press to equal that. I know that the grit, powder residue, etc., that comes out of the cases being reloaded factors in to reduce the life of the press, but if you keep the ram clean and lubricated, it should last a very long time. And yes, I have a Classic press and I love it!! Best money I have spent in a long time.

Cheers Swagerman!

[Swagerman]

You mean to tell me those auto engine block sleaves are not tempered metal, only cast iron??? What are the piston rings made out of.

I always thought steel was merely heat treated tempered iron, but I did say I'm not a machinest. (my disclaimer)

Cheers ruger dude

[floodgate]

Rugerdude:

Actually, there is another - and more basic - aspect to the "lubricity" of cast iron. Cast iron has a higher proportion of carbon (well over 2%) than will "alloy" with iron to make "steel", so the excess carbon precipitates out in little nodules of graphite scattered through the iron / carbon matrix; these provide a strong lubricating effect even in the absence of oil (and straight cast iron is also remarkably resistant to rust). The principal problem with the straight cast iron is that it is weak in tension (again, due to the carbon inclusions) and bending, though quite strong in compression. As Buckshot will tell you, straight cast iron machines and drills very well without any lubrication, though coolants are helpful for heavy cuts, and the "chips" are actually little "crumbles" which will leave your hands and wiping rags nice and black.

Of course, the "cast iron" alloys used in automotive and other heavy load / high speed applications are quite a bit more complex. But a pressed-in cast iron liner in an aluminum press body should wear very well. "Cast steel" is a code name that has meant various things at various times, and is not necessarily cast at all; see "Fighting Iron: A Metals Handbook for Arms Collectors" by Art Gogan, from Mowbray Publishers for fascinating discussions of these and other alloys we are likely to encounter in our work / play.

floodgate

EDIT: Correct Cast Iron carbon % from "over 1%" to "over 2%"

[rugerdude]

Swagerman,

From what I remember, piston rings are spring steel. Whats funny, though, is the bearings inside the engine that the cam, crankshaft, and rods run on. They are a thin piece of metal with a thin layer of what basically amounts to medium tempered lead! See? Lead really does make the world go 'round!