Lee press - upside down mount

[sjacobs]

For those that may be interested, I thought I would share some pictures of the mount I came up with for my Lee press upside down style. After reading about the upside down presses on this site and watching some you tube videos this is what I came up with to size my powder coated bullets. There are NO permanent changes to the press if that matters to anyone. The factory pivot pins were replaced with 5/16" bolts and nylock nuts. A pair of thin bushings was made for the lower pivot and two much larger bushings were made for the upper pivot to keep everything centered. The mount itself was made from 4" wide plate I salvaged from the recycling scrap heap. I drilled and tapped three 1/4" holes for mounting the press. The stand is 15" tall and 4" wide with the plate the press is mounted to 5 1/4" from the top of the mount. After everything was welded together I finished it up with a flat black powder coat. Seems to work quite well for me. Maybe this will inspire someone else to make their own.

[JBinMN]

Welcome to CB.GL Forum!


Looks real nice!


I have mine set up so I can flip it back & forth. Set up like a receiver hitch, square tube inside square tube. Like on the back of a vehicle. I flip upside down for sizing boolits & then flip it right side up to use the hardness tester, decapping only, & sometimes for priming. It is pretty handy.

I was going to try using round pipe, but I got the square stock for free, so square is what I set up.


I bet yours will be great for you too! It sure looks like it!


Thanks for sharing!

[rancher1913]

thats nice, clean, and compact.

[sjacobs]

Tks for the kind words JBinMN. I have been lurking and learning here for quite a while now so thought I might share this for a press mounting idea. Actually the press was a giveaway special Lee had about twenty years ago. Sat on my bench unused for about 15 years till I started casting and powder coating and moved it to my shop for sizing bullets. It gets a lot of use now!
Merry Christmas everyone.

[Conditor22]

Nice and compact I see that you relocated the pivot point for the handle, I did the same, couldn't see lifting the handle to size.

Hope you wear a gloves when using it, that wall looks like it could be hard on your knuckles if your not careful

[sjacobs]

Nice and compact I see that you relocated the pivot point for the handle, I did the same, couldn't see lifting the handle to size.

Hope you wear a gloves when using it, that wall looks like it could be hard on your knuckles if your not careful

Hasn’t been a problem with the wall yet (40+ thousand) bullets. You’re right, seems way too awkward to me to lift the handle to size.

[Walter Laich]

You’re right, seems way too awkward to me to lift the handle to size.

I have to lift to size and you learn how to do it quite quickly. Becomes second nature in no time.

guess whatever floats your boat is good

[DestructionDan]

I seen some pics on fb groups with PVC pipe leading up to the sizer die. So you can drop them from outside the frame area.
That got my A.D.D brain thinking. A DIY bullet feeder fed to the pvc pipe on a slower speed. Never have to touch the lead.

I'm getting a 3D printer soon, and a bullet feeder is on the top of my to do list. Just for this reason.

JBinMN That's a great idea. I have a insert DIY bench top 3 layers of 3/4 ply and have always flipped my press upside down to size. Real pain and not good on the plywood.
Making a new insert and bolting square stock to it would be far easier than the crazy upside down through the bench top drop tube ugly monster I had in my head.
And will take up far less room in my limited space.

[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve been thinking for a while about picking up one of those little presses. That makes them even more interesting.

[JBinMN]

I seen some pics on fb groups with PVC pipe leading up to the sizer die. So you can drop them from outside the frame area.
That got my A.D.D brain thinking. A DIY bullet feeder fed to the pvc pipe on a slower speed. Never have to touch the lead.

I'm getting a 3D printer soon, and a bullet feeder is on the top of my to do list. Just for this reason.

JBinMN That's a great idea. I have a insert DIY bench top 3 layers of 3/4 ply and have always flipped my press upside down to size. Real pain and not good on the plywood.
Making a new insert and bolting square stock to it would be far easier than the crazy upside down through the bench top drop tube ugly monster I had in my head.
And will take up far less room in my limited space.

Some pics of one of mine for forming ideas, if you decide to make one like it:

[DestructionDan]

Some pics of one of mine for forming ideas, if you decide to make one like it:
Attachment 232897
Attachment 232894
Attachment 232895
Attachment 232896

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[JBinMN]

They were uploads from my computer. I think I got them fixed now...
???

[DestructionDan]

Yes Sir. Nice idea. I may steal that.
Still have a little time before I have to worry about it too much. So many other projects to do, so much back pain.

My bench top, I'm thinking make another insert and bolt down the square stock. So I can slide it out when not needed.

[tbobbo]

That looks great! I need to make one! That would work for sizing and bulge busting!

[Baltimoreed]

Attachment 232957Attachment 232956You beat me to it tbob, I also use the lee bulge buster .45acp die as I reload for .45 acp revolvers, autos and pcc’s which are especially hard on brass. I will have to try turning mine upside down.

Turned my vintage red Pacific press upside down last night but I also turned the linkage around. Pull it down to cycle it. But I’ll have to leave the handle off when not using it. Need to go to the hardware store tomorrow and get a piece of clear vinyl tubing for the .45s to drop through into a tray. Next time I load acp’s I’ll give it a workout. Clever idea sjacobs. Thanks. Makes alot more sense for the bullets, brass to fall through a push through die than pile up on top.

[Baltimoreed]

Attachment 233103Attachment 233104Attachment 233105You guys got me thinking about a better way to size my loaded .45s. I didn’t like the upside down Pacific press so I built this. The spring is tight and stretches out of the way to let the .45 come up until the case bottom clears the top of the die and the spring pops it into the box. The small Dillon box is hung on a flat piece of aluminum that’s screwed to the wall with some washers behind it for a spacer. I had to lengthen the ram so it would go to the top of the die. Seems to work but you’ve got to be snappy at the top of the ram movement. Doesn’t work well if you run it easy.

[Baltimoreed]

Well, it’s all about how well the mods work. I dicovered that the 2.5 inch extension on the ram changes the camming forces of the linkage/handle alot. It took much more force to run the .45s through the die with the extension than without it. So now I only use the extension to get the last .45 popped out of the die after it’s gone through the sizer part of the die. [It just slides over the original ram.] I also made a little ramp funnel that slides in the slot on the front of the bin to eliminate the open space between the die and bin.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I use the Lee Hand press. It is really easy to operate upside down, and doesn't require any special mods or brackets.

[LongRangeAir]

I turned a Lee Classic D or O frame upside down. the way the handle bracket is made, you simply index it around where you want it. Easy-Peasy. ;<)

KnifeMaker

[BigAlofPa.]

Them little C shaped lee presses are strong. I had a stuck case and in trying to get it out. I tore the press off the bench. No damage to the press. I know now to use enough case lube.