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Thread: Lee Automatic Processing Press

  1. #1
    Boolit Mold
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    Lee Automatic Processing Press

    New poster. I came here to see what everyone thought of the new Lee press that they are releasing in December that looks like it would be perfect for sizing powdercoated bullets, but didn't see anything about it.

    https://leeprecision.com/app-automat...cessing-press/

    Click image for larger version. 

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    That paired with AmmoMike's bullet feeder in nose down configuration seems like it would make for really quick bullet sizing. It could also be just the ticket for depriming and they are going to have swaging dies for it to deal with military crimps. I think this is the first Lee product I have actually been excited about for a while. Just when I was about to start collecting materials for flipping my old Lee single stage and making a feeder assembly for it they come out with this and it appears that I won't need to build it at all if they have an off the shelf solution.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    I was about to flip my old Lee as well.

    I like what I see and it seems priced well.


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  3. #3
    Banned
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    Welcome to CB John3354

    At first glance, this looks like a viable option with a smaller footprint than most DIY "machines" I can be used for sizing boolits (boolit = lead bullet) and taking the "Glock bulge" out of brass.

    Lee's also come out with a press top primmer pocket swagger and several other new items this year.

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy Valornor's Avatar
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    I’ll be honest. I look at this set up and compare what I do at home. I am not sure I see any advantage to doing it this way compared to how I currently use my Lee sizer.

    I usually lower the ram just a little to place a bullet on the punch and push it through. Pause once in awhile to empty the catching container. It seems like it would take longer to fill the feeder tube then any really time saving you’d net from this.


    To be fair, I’m looking at the photo and haven’t tried it. That’s just my first impression.


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  5. #5
    Boolit Master

    rancher1913's Avatar
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    your google fu is weak, there was a thread started about this press a few days ago.
    if you are ever being chased by a taxidermist, don't play dead

  6. #6
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by Valornor View Post
    I’ll be honest. I look at this set up and compare what I do at home. I am not sure I see any advantage to doing it this way compared to how I currently use my Lee sizer.

    I usually lower the ram just a little to place a bullet on the punch and push it through. Pause once in awhile to empty the catching container. It seems like it would take longer to fill the feeder tube then any really time saving you’d net from this.
    Maybe, maybe not. I run a Lock 'N' Load AP with bullet feeder dies and homemade feeder tubes. It is a lot faster to load with them, even though I manually load the tubes. Loading the tubes is pretty quick compared to the cumulative time it takes for you to stop a press, set a bullet and cycle. Plus you do not have to be very precise. It just has to be in the tube and oriented the proper direction.

    But the real time savings would be from hooking it to something like AmmoMike's bullet collator. That would be the ticket for something like this. Just keep the collator fed and keep cranking the handle.

    Another find from Lee's site today is that it appears they are releasing a new type of bullet sizer similar to the NOE push through collet dies.

    https://leeprecision.com/home.php?cat=19556

  7. #7
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by rancher1913 View Post
    your google fu is weak, there was a thread started about this press a few days ago.
    Where? I can't find one.

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy Valornor's Avatar
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    I think it’s different when you have a progressive press. You have a lot of operations going on at once, and each stroke is doing all those operations at the same time. You save a lot of time.

    I guess maybe it would cut down on some time if you can just crank on the press, not worry about positioning the bullet. But if your placing a gas check on the bullet then any advantage you have goes out the window.


    Check out my website www.theballisticassistant.com

  9. #9
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    Rcmaveric's Avatar
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    Lol I was me. I started a thread earlier about. I found a picture of it in my Loadmaster manual.

    I am glad they finally released it.

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  10. #10
    Boolit Master
    NoZombies's Avatar
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    The other thread was started before they had announced the press or the name.
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  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    this is an interesting tool I look forward to seeing how well they work.
    this info is in the Lee sight now.
    https://leeprecision.com/app-automat...cessing-press/

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
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    I have a phelps star clone with a bullet feeder setup (and a nose down conversion for my collator) but at the price they have it at I may have to get one to try I really like the lee push through dies.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    They should go whole hog and make a lubricator attachment.

    A Lee lubrisizer...............hmmmmm.
    "What makes you think I care" ........High Plains Drifter

    Rick C.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master


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    my current set-up is an upside down press and I DYIed a ramp to send the bullets down to the sizing die. with a handful of bullets in my right hand and my left on the handle and I make short work of 500 bullets.

    that being said . . .
    I could come up with a ramp or just try the automation attachment they have

    in any event it would be a new toy
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  15. #15
    Boolit Master

    Rcmaveric's Avatar
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    I want this.... I don't really need this. But I want it.

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  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
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    I'm gonna get one right outta the gate. No just for bullet sizing, but for swaging almost ANY brass. Right now I can only do 223 and 308 on my LnL AP press.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master dikman's Avatar
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    Walter, I pretty much do what you do and it works fine. But I'm a bit like Rcmaveric......must fight the urge......

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    I will be watching to see if The Lee 4 tube case feeder and collator can be used with it I can't tell looking at the pictures
    If so I will have to try one.

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Welcome aboard John3354 ... here at CB's this sizing business of cast bullets in the Lee push through dies did some morphing sometime back around 2016.

    At first folks thought this setup here was the 'Bee's knees'...clean, cheap to get and use...but...it had it's drawbacks. It was relatively slow, you could pinch a finger guiding those lil casts up into the bottom of the die. We would see a post from time to time about someone getting totally into their sizing and overfilling the plastic container then pushing it apart so all the freshly sized cast would spill to the floor...this is when I posted what I thought was a big improvement...
    ...put a spring around the push post so you just drop the cast on the post...don't have to guide it up & pinch a finger...and then put a heavy rubber band around the red container and that was the end of pushing it apart and spilling the beans.



    Then in short order someone comes up with the idea of mounting a press upside down and how it would be so much easier to just drop the cast into the die. This was a solid idea so many of us started looking into this crazy idea of an 'Upside Down Press' ... people came out of the woodwork to detract from this idea but others came that jumped right in and together we few here at CB's tried to help each other come up with a solution to a mounting bracket for the press.
    Contraptions went from mild to wild trying to figure a good way to do it as we saw the upside down press as the ultimate sizing solution.
    I clamped my RCBS Jr. on the side of the loading table to give it a try and immediately I was convinced...'this is it boys!'



    My next thought went immediately to a clean solution for a bracket that didn't look cobbled together and take up too much space. I mulled on it every day, even had a dream or two about 'upside down presses'...finally I came up with cutting a square steel tube for a mount where I didn't need to weld anything...this was the start of it here in my 'RabbitHole'...



    While we all were going in different directions, posting pictures of press mount solutions, ole JBinMin chimes in with a curve ball and says..."I'm gonna mount my press on some kind of a swivel so I can flip the press over and size, then flip it back and load as usual.
    Well...I go to mullin on his idea and come up with this crude sketch of what I thought he needed and posted this picture below...JB shouts..."Walllaugh, that's it!" and off he goes to pursue the 'swivel mount'. We were having a real good time helping each other with our projects...



    In the mean time, I'm already thinking of a way to feed the upside down press without grabbing a handfull of casts and dropping them into the die hole...heck, for every other handfull of casts, I'd drop 2 or 4 to the floor or into the sized cast bin below the press...I needed a solution to feeding this monster that was fast and foolproof...another sketch to build an accessory 'feed table & drop tube'...



    This is how I was working the press while others were trying to design a 'drop tube'...simple thing now but at the moment I had no idea of how to rig that. Again more fellas are posting pictures of their feeding solutions...one of them was working the angle of using an air cylinder to power the ram...oh boy, the safety experts came out right away saying..."Impossible, makes no sense...your gonna chop your finger off!" Well we all collaborated and as it turned out it was possible...so off in another direction another member goes in his shop...



    It wasn't too long before I had collected all the misc. parts-N-pieces to build my feed table...this is the last morph to my project and it's currently the way I feed the monster...it's fast as fast can be and I'm satisfied and thankful for all the help I received from the other members here on CB's.



    Today, it's about 'time and speed of sizing' we all want to get this job done and move on with our handloading...

    MONOTONOUS DUTY _ WANNA RACE?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcvhKHVn7gU&t=1s

    Many here have our doubt's about LEE's new addition to their line, will it work or will it need the expertise of the customer to make it work well (if it does at all) as we all have been bit by LEE's shortcuts in engineering and cost cutting methods to sell at a cheaper rate.
    We'll see very soon...if you need a fast sizer and don't go with Lee then remember this...

    "There's more than one way to skin a cat!"
    Last edited by OS OK; 11-10-2019 at 12:48 PM.
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  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    I have an upside down mounted Lee C press for sizing, but I'm thinking, at the proposed price point, the partially automated features and sizing on the downstroke may beat hand feeding and sizing on the upstroke.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check