Lee hand press for resizing

[corey012778]

I am starting to get into casting, I was going thought my catalogs and read that the lee sizer fits standard single stage press'. I use a lee hand press to reload with because of space.

Would it work with resizing bullets?

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=116429

[Ben]

Will work just fine !

You'll like that system.

The little Lee Hand press is really misleading, it can handle a lot of jobs that most people wouldn't normally think possible.

Best,
Ben

[jhrosier]

..... I use a lee hand press to reload with because of space.

Would it work with resizing bullets?...

Y'know, I never thought of that! Thanks.

Jack

[NSP64]

I am starting to get into casting, I was going thought my catalogs and read that the lee sizer fits standard single stage press'. I use a lee hand press to reload with because of space.

Would it work with resizing bullets?

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=116429

As long as you don't try to size down too much at once, it should be fine. I.E. size a .431 down to .430-.429 O.K. .435>.429 might be tough

[corey012778]

when I first got it told that I would not be able to FL size 30-06 brass without help from superman. I can do it just fine. I strain a little but I can do it. I really like that little loader,

[DeanoBeanCounter]

That's what I use too. The only place I've seen a bench mount is at the gun stores. Handles my 300 Win Mag just fine. The paperwork that came with mine said it can apply more pressure than some bench mounted. Lots more advantage's too. Portable, amni.....amni.....amni.....you can use either hand to feed equally ect. ect.
Deano

[Dross]

Thanks for asking this!

I was wondering too!

[RBak]

Will work just fine !

You'll like that system.

The little Lee Hand press is really misleading, it can handle a lot of jobs that most people wouldn't normally think possible.

Best,
Ben

I'm with Ben on this.
All of my 45-70, and .35 Whelen are loaded with this little fella, as well as a good majority of other calibers.

Although I have not tried sizing down bullets for Paper Patch in the 45-70, after reading this I will have to give it a try just to see just how far down I can go with AC Wheel Weight.
I somehow feel it can be done with pure lead, but I have never tried it, so I don't know.

I suspect I may not be able to go from .459 to to .452 all in one step, But I do have .458 / .457/ and .452 push through sizers. The thought of all the "extra" steps is what has most likely kept me from already trying this.

Anyway, I do find the Lee Hand Press a handy, and efficient, little tool. Even on those rare times when you have to put it between your knees to close it, I still recommend it.

Russ...

[Swagerman]

How do we make, or do something better...you just read it in the above.

Nice going fellows.

Jim

[corey012778]

thanks for the replays, I guess sometimes someone just looking to save a little money come up with some ideas.

[Ben]

I know people who live in apartments. Space is at a premium. They put a Lee Hand press , a loading block, powder, primers and bullets, etc. in a large tool box. The tool box acts as a nice storage container & slides under the bed when not in use. Beats buying factory ammo on any day.

Ben

[Le Loup Solitaire]

The Lee hand Press is a great tool. As stated by others in this thread, it is handy and powerful enough for standard reloading/handloading ops and sizing as well. I use 2 of them for a variety of tasks. It goes anywhere and loads quality ammo just as well as any other tool on anyone's bench. Just keep it clean and oiled and it will do its job for a very long time. The only PITA is having to pull the shell holder every 8-10 times in the size-decap step to get the fired primers dumped out. You also develop a handshake that is respected.

[chris112]

When I got mine I assumed that it would be fine for neck sizing and pistol cartridge reloading but not much beyond that.
I was wrong.
Lately in addition to that I have made some 222 Remington out of 5.56 Nato. Just have to make sure the case is properly lubed. Otherwise not hard at all.

[Ghugly]

No problem with full length sizing 8mm Mauser. Wasn't too hard to rip the necks off a few of the poorly lubed ones either

[klausg]

corey-
The only issue you'll have is with the plastic boolit catcher thingy; it sort of flops around and throws the balance of the whole rig off, (particularily when full of boolits). It isn't insurmountable though, it just takes some getting used to. Also if you have an especially hard boolit, your power hand will smack into it when you finally apply enough "oompf" to get it to work, this can be ugly if it's full and you knock the top off. I generally empty it about every 25 or so boolits with .357's, sooner with the .45's.
-Klaus

[corey012778]

I have not gotten the sizers yet, planning getting them down the road. thanks for the warning about the catcher

[bcp477]

I use the hand press exclusively. It has never been a problem for any reloading tasks, for me. I have even reformed .30/06 cases to 8 x 57 with it. I just made sure that the cases have been recently annealed, before reforming.....that makes it pretty easy, with the hand press.

[LazyJW]

I've wanted a Lee hand press for a while now; with all the good comments here I ordered one and it arrived from Modway yesterday. Can't wait to try it out.
Joe

[DLCTEX]

My son Dave has the first one I bought. I just bought another on Ebay. DALE

[SAWebbx1]

When I was casting Lee tumble lube bullets I used a home-brew swage-lube [lanolin and alcohol] which I applied the same as tumble-lube i.e. little squirt and swirl in a plastic tub. This is done prior to sizing. BTW, this stuff is super economical to use. 4oz. of lanolin and a qt of alcohol [shellac thinner is good] and you have a lifetime suppy. Reduces required effort dramatically. I gave them a rinse in mineral spirits [paint thinner] before tumble lubing but I never tried skipping that step and it might be unneeded. I didn't like to size with the tumble lube itself as I figured that had to remove lube from the bearing surfaces and besides was a funky handling nightmare. Had several 6-cavity molds and ran them 2 at a time with a Lee Pro-4 bottom pour pot and I cast and processed beaucoups good boolits in short order. Had a second 20# pot to remelt the sprues and additional ingots and used it to top the casting pot.