Making my own single stage press ...

[jmorris]

A video would be cool.

Then you can case feed it and automate it using a pneumatic solenoid and switches.

[mattw]

Fantastic looking press and ohhh the old HP's. I still have mine from around 1982. Had 4 packs in it. I also had a 15C and 32E. I loved them all.

[wquiles]

Well, the press is done now, and it works. My son helped me getting the tank filled and bolted under the table:





I needed about .3 gallons of fluid for the cylinder, but I used about 2/3 to be on the safe side (tank is a 1 gallon):



For air pressure, I got line pressure on the right side of this photo (about 100psi or so), and a second regulated which of course gives slower speed of operation (left side of the photo):



I used to size bullets in my rock chucker, but never again. Almost too easy on my new press. But enough photos. Everyone wants to see if in motion, so here we go


This was when I had everything ready except for the tank, so running on only air. If I played with the air pressure, I can "almost" get it to move smoothly, but it was still a little jerky, worst if I tried to start/stop during the approx. 5" of travel:



I then got the oil tank running, and boy is the ram movement "smooooottthhhh". Quite amazing. Now, since air is compressible, when you let to the lever (spring loaded), the ram keeps moving up while the system equalizes. What I learned is that if I do a quick "tab" on the lever on the opposite direction, I can instantly stop the ram


I got my machinist dial (0.0005" graduations) as I was curious how consistent was the top of the travel for the cylinder. I am getting less than 1/2 of a 0.0005" graduation. Not bad at all



I have an adjustable one-way valve, and I have the up stroke moving a little slower than moving down. Here it is at 60 PSI:



And here it is at 100 PSI:




I am still playing with both the one-way flow fluid valve, and the air regulator to find a nice operating range. Since I have a couple more batches of boolits that need sizing, so I will do some more tomorrow

Will

[wquiles]

Here is another video of my second resizing session, so that you can see the press in operation:

[bedbugbilly]

Wow! That is the ULTIMATE press!

[wquiles]

After resizing, I decided to take the 308 reloading dies out of the Lee turret press, and set them up for my new press. As I was testing it, I didn't have one of the dies setup right, which easily and silently destroyed this one even at 60 PSI:



I also realized that I had the ram setup too high to allow for most dies to work. Since the cylinder location can be moved down an inch, I re-adjusted everything. Here is the new setting, while seating an 180gr Ranch Dog hunting boolit - showing the ram at the lowest position:




And then showing at the highest position. Including the shel holder I got a little over 4.5" of actual, useful travel:





Full 308 cal dies ready for service on the new press. I have been reloading for 308, 45-70, and 44mag, so I so got two more die sets to go!




Question, now that I am no longer keeping the dies in a turret: What do most of you use to store/keel dies for your single-presses?


Will

[jmorris]

Here is another video of my second resizing session, so that you can see the press in operation:

Looking good. When you get tired of hand feeding, this might give you some ideas.

[mattw]

Wow, amazing job! Is it tough enough to swage since there is not a compound lever?

[EDG]

Your vertical stop location will vary some from case to case unless you double cycle the ram. Not all cases are expanded the same so they will not resize exactly the same unless you double or even triple cycle the ram slowly.

[wquiles]

Looking good. When you get tired of hand feeding, this might give you some ideas.

Wow. Nice video of the auto bullet sizer. There is always room for improvement, right?

Wow, amazing job! Is it tough enough to swage since there is not a compound lever?

Don't know as I have not tried swaging yet.

Your vertical stop location will vary some from case to case unless you double cycle the ram. Not all cases are expanded the same so they will not resize exactly the same unless you double or even triple cycle the ram slowly.

For my 308 bolt action I have been only neck sizing, but I will put the dial indicator when doing full case resizing to see if I can measure the variation - thanks

[wquiles]

I have been loading some new rounds with my "MEGA press" (hey, I "had" to give it a cool name, right?) lately. These are 122gr hard cast NOE FP boolits, with 11, 13, and 15gr Trailboss to try out at the range. I hope these would be mild enough for my daughter to graduate from the 10/22 into a more proper centerfire rifle :





Will

[Taterhead]

What an epic project! Thank you for bringing us along. I really enjoyed lurking.

[wquiles]

What an epic project! Thank you for bringing us along. I really enjoyed lurking.

Thank you for your kind words. It was definitely a great learning experience

[wquiles]

I made the press with the ability to try some swagging in the future, so I got to try it this weekend.

My 300BLK feeds the large meplat Ranch Dog 180 hunting bullet perfectly, but the ring after the nose is of bullet diameter and it prevents the bolt from closing, so I decided to make a nose sizing die:




Before:



After:



Short video:

[Demeter’s_Workshop]

Very well made press! been wanting to make up a pneumatic single stage for sizing for a while. how are those bushings doing since you completed the build?

[wquiles]

You can see after 10 or so months of use the thin spray coat of Moli Resin has been worn out a little (less than 0.001" coating), otherwise pretty good, still "solid" and little/no play.

[Demeter’s_Workshop]

Thats what I was curious about, I looked into linear bearings but non chinese are more for a pair than just buying a single stage. I'll have to try out those bushings.

[tankgunner59]

Nice press, and from one welder to another really nice looking beads.

[wquiles]

I am an amateur welder, but thank you for your kind words

[wquiles]

I got a PM asking me if it would be possible to consolidate all of the steps/pictures into a single document, so here you go - hope this is helpful.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

Will