This is the cats meow IMO.

[BigAlofPa.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDd4wNVpNHw

Just ordered one for decapping mostly.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1022385797?pid=973423

Anyone else have one?

[colonelhogan44]

That looks really slick. Too bad I recently bought another single stage strictly for decapping and flaring...

[pworley1]

No loading each shell, no primers all over the floor, Where is the fun in that?

[BigAlofPa.]

LOL i wont miss loading on case at a time. The primers i catch now with my classic breech lock. I used to do them on a C-shaped press. That was more messy. Im looking forward to the new one. I been busy collocting brass durning the ''plandemic''. I have alot to process still.

[Wisest.fool]

now i find this after decapping 8000 rounds of 223......

[Winger Ed.]

Not for me.
With one of those, I'd get done too fast and have to go back in the house.:bigsmyl2:

[onelight]

The App is unique , I bought mine primarily for de-capping.
The controlled feed works well enough that I use the 45 colt shell holder for just about everything from 32s to 45s

[johnp]

Mine came this week, I've not had the chance to do anything with it yet.

[RedlegEd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDd4wNVpNHw

Just ordered one for decapping mostly.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1022385797?pid=973423

Anyone else have one?

Hi Big Al,
There are a couple of other threads that cover this pretty well. Some good reading there that will give you some ideas on what else you can do with your new press. BTW, I have on and I love it.
Ed

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?390198-It-s-official-Lee-will-be-releasing-an-quot-upside-down-quot-bullet-sizing-press
(http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?390198-It-s-official-Lee-will-be-releasing-an-quot-upside-down-quot-bullet-sizing-press)
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?400495-app-upgrades

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Yes. Very versatile and useful. Easy to set up and adjust for different tasks. Must be a mechanical genius at Lee.

[kevin c]

What I find impressive is the number of tweaks that folks have come up with, and this on an already very versatile press that has only been available for a few months.

[Three44s]

When I grow up and get “rich and famous” I might just have to get one of those!

Three44s

[BigAlofPa.]

Thanks for the links Ed. My press will be delivered Saturday. Im looking forward to it.

[georgerkahn]

I also thank you for the link! I have a dedicated decapping station on a cart with my wet tumbling gear in garage -- and I anticipate that when this new "cat's meow" replacement arrives from MidwayUSA -- it will really increase my speed of decapping, as well as enabling my moving the single stage press now there to my den for other purposes. Thanks again!
geo

[1hole]

My de- and re- capper station has long been two little Lee "Reloader" presses mounted side by side (about 2" apart). One press has a Lee Universal decap die and the other has an old Lee Auto-Prime II; I love that primer handling system!

[BlackRat]

I use mine to size my cast boolits after coating with Hi-Tek. The app makes short work of it!

[mattw]

Been on the fence, it is Lee after all. But, I ordered one today!

[gpidaho]

Mine was delivered last week. It's a useful press for sizing bullets and decapping brass. I think the way they come as the deluxe model that they are somewhat fiddley. With just the single tube I don't see the time savings over just feeding it manually one at a time. I just got the four tube upgrade with the case collator delivered yesterday and that's a big plus when loading the tubes when decapping brass but the instructions say "This feeder will not work for bullet feeding" Bummer. If I knew then what I know now, I'd just buy the basic press because as mentioned above it takes as much time to fill the tube as it would to just feed the press and you would avoid all the little feed hic-ups. I do like the bottom drop feature and you can set the press up using the regular Lee push through size dies and dropping the bullets in to the die nose first is a little faster than balancing them on the post. Did I NEED it, No. I already had good tooling to do what this press does but, it is kind of fun. Gp

[Teddy (punchie)]

Interesting Thanks.

[GWS]

"This feeder will not work for bullet feeding" Bummer.

No, the four-way won't work for bullets with the 9/16" OD tubing it comes with......but nothing says you can't drop smaller OD tubing inside......then it works. Much of the Lee Thinwall tubing available (another Lee company) can telescope inside the next larger size. Use to be it all did, but their quality control has gone down hill.

That said, I have no problem sliding 1/2" OD tubing inside the 9/16" and the 7/16" inside the 1/2"....drilling a tiny hole through the outer tube allows you to drop super glue to glue them together if you so desire........of course that means you would buy extra 9/16 tubing and use the extra to cut shorter ones to go into the 4-way....then telescope to handle bullets.

For example: I cut one 9/16 into 4 short ones 3" long. The push one of them over a 3' long 1/2" tube to flush at the bottom....glue together....repeat 3 more times and you have a four-way that can feed .45 bullets just fine.

Or cut four 3" long 9/16" ones and four 3" long 1/2" ones and then slide a 7/16" one inside the other two to handle 30 caliber. etc.

[2wheelDuke]

I've had one about a month now. It's great for decapping, bullet sizing, and push thru sizing.

An automated feeder would really be amazing.

I also tried reloading some 10mm with it as a glorified single stage just to see how it'd work.

[gpidaho]

No, the four-way won't work for bullets with the 9/16" OD tubing it comes with......but nothing says you can't drop smaller OD tubing inside......then it works. Much of the Lee Thinwall tubing available (another Lee company) can telescope inside the next larger size. Use to be it all did, but their quality control has gone down hill.

That said, I have no problem sliding 1/2" OD tubing inside the 9/16" and the 7/16" inside the 1/2"....drilling a tiny hole through the outer tube allows you to drop super glue to glue them together if you so desire........of course that means you would buy extra 9/16 tubing and use the extra to cut shorter ones to go into the 4-way....then telescope to handle bullets.

For example: I cut one 9/16 into 4 short ones 3" long. The push one of them over a 3' long 1/2" tube to flush at the bottom....glue together....repeat 3 more times and you have a four-way that can feed .45 bullets just fine.

Or cut four 3" long 9/16" ones and four 3" long 1/2" ones and then slide a 7/16" one inside the other two to handle 30 caliber. etc.
Have you tried this tube inside a tube bullet feeding? After receiving my four way feeder and giving the whole process a little more thought, I have doubts that the plastic mounting system would stand up to the weight of four tubes full of bullets. How other than placing the bullets in the tubes one at a time would you make them enter the tubes in one orientation, nose up or down? How would you prevent nose damage to any style of bullet other than a wad cutter? Now, I'm not sorry I bought this little press and it has it's good points. It's just when they show you how fast this press runs, what they don't show is all the fiddling around it takes to get to yanking on that handle like a mad chimpanzee. It's best feature as to speed is the decapping process and that only if you buy the four tube feeder and collator. Now to the part I really like. This press is a great bottom drop bullet sizer and can be fed rather quickly by just dropping the bullets in the die one at a time. I'm not disappointed by the APP just not all that giddy over it. Gp

[GWS]

Giddy? Not descriptive of my use of this tool. Now I would be giddy if RCBS had John Lee's idea first and made this product from their Big Heavy Summit press! In fact, truth be known, I actually bought the deluxe to see if I could mod all these feature to work with my Summit. That said, I have to say that the APP has saved me serious time prepping cases, both rifle and pistol already! I even modded my Rock Chucker to both handle spent primers and "Kick" cases out and this beats that for deprimed 10 fold....it's the case feeder that's the gold.

Example: Two nights ago, I deprimed 240 9mm cases for a Grandson.....it took me 20 minutes including tool setup time......purpose? So I could wet tumble them in pins, yesterday. Now that was using the stock single feeder tube.....I don't normally load 9mm so my four-way wasn't tube in tube yet for 9mm. I bought the tubes just haven't had time to do the job.

As to the question, Have I done tube-in-tube before......not on the APP quite yet, but yes using Hornady's and RCBS's Pistol bullet feeder dies.

As for handling the weight, the heavier the bullet the shorter the tubes......Lee's tubes aren't 36" long for that reason.....too unwieldy full of heavy .45 bullets......I think Lee 4-way tubes are 9/16"OD x 18".

The following two pictures show what I did to use RCBS's Universal tube pistol bullet feeder.....since I didn't buy their expensive now defunct electric collator
https://i.postimg.cc/c4X1dQFB/IMG-1306.jpg
Just used Super Glue to glue on the short anchor rings that keep them spaced right.
https://i.postimg.cc/D0cvJsnF/IMG-1307.jpg"

Been working on a bullet orientating idea for tube feeders....outside MBF patents.....working already for .223 and .308. and almost there for point down lead pistol.....I'll share when I get finished.....unless RCBS buys it from me......that was a joke.

[Gtrubicon]

My Dillon case feed is hooked up to my app, it’s incredible how many rounds you can de prime

[tomme boy]

I had the 4 hole bullet feeder hooked up to mine before i got my dedicated electric bullet collator. It works fine, you just have to use the 9mm tubes in the 45 tubes.

[BigAlofPa.]

My press came. I have it mounted. Just need to set up the feeding tube assy yet.

[abunaitoo]

"Cats meow"
Now that is showing some age.

[jmorris]

Feed it with a collator, auto drive it and have it sort 45 ACP by primer pocket diameter and it would be the bees knees.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJgU3-OXuUU

[BigAlofPa.]

I been using it a lot the last few days. Really saves time. 4 tube set up is next. I have a 9mm tube in the 45 tube now.

[megasupermagnum]

Not for me.
With one of those, I'd get done too fast and have to go back in the house.:bigsmyl2:

The APP press got me so far ahead of the game, I haven't had to take it out in a couple of moths. I had been looking at the 2000+ cases of 45 acp for a while, dreading the work. A few hours with the APP, and I forgot all about it.

But now I have all those cases, and didn't have enough bullets to fill them. Off to the casting pot.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

So far I am o.k. with putting cases in the tube manually. I have been decapping and neck sizing my .308 brass with Lee's mandrel type die. Then I'll run them through again to expand the case mouths. Same with pistol brass. And bullet sizing is a breeze once you learn how to adjust the feeding mechanism properly. So far I have processed .308, .44 Sp., .357 and 9mm ( both brass and boolits ). I finish the loading process with a hand primer, powder measure and my single stage.

[GWS]

Feed it with a collator, auto drive it and have it sort 45 ACP by primer pocket diameter and it would be the bees knees.




Your bar is set way too high for a simple guy like me :).....I'm so backward, I've never seen a .45 case with small primer pockets.....the .45 ACP brass I have (all large pockets) will outlive me.

Autodrive? Not for me. Electric collator....I used to think so, but I don't even need that anymore.....just don't need that kind of volume.

For me it would be the bees knees if it was as heavy and strong and smooth as a Summit Press or a Forster.

But I do want a "bullet" shaker to fill the tubes faster than one at a time.....

Not as flashy as electric collators, but it works it's faster than by hand and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than DAA's.....perfect for my low volume loading.

.223 Preliminary trial before telescoping the outlet tube:

https://vimeo.com/423899205

.308 Preliminary trial shows the mechanics a little better. (yes I had to build one for each.)

https://vimeo.com/424248286

For Pistol bullets I modded a Hornady pistol bullet feeder/collator.....the only electric collator I own.

For cases I use shakers....both pistol and rifle....using Lee's tools but with improvements. Like the following for both .223 & .308.....and I already got to use both on the APP using a four-way feeder.
https://vimeo.com/365180828

Perfect for filling tubes full for my use. After my health problems in November, I'm under no pretense to think I will ever need anything higher in volume than this. That's just the way it is in the slow lane.

[gpidaho]

After just a bit of use the spring that operates the slide on my APP has started buckling in half instead of moving the side back and forth or just jumps off the hook on the slide. Yes, I have thoroughly cleaned the slide area and brushed on a lite coat of graphite. I still think this is a great press for push through sizing when fed by hand but, the tube feed, be it one tube or four is just too unreliable in my opinion. Gp

[BigAlofPa.]

Im having a tough time doing 223/556. Sometimes it drops a few at a time. Usually the last ones in the tube.

[onelight]

After just a bit of use the spring that operates the slide on my APP has started buckling in half instead of moving the side back and forth or just jumps off the hook on the slide. Yes, I have thoroughly cleaned the slide area and brushed on a lite coat of graphite. I still think this is a great press for push through sizing when fed by hand but, the tube feed, be it one tube or four is just too unreliable in my opinion. Gp
If the piece that slides rubs against anything like the nut that holds the case feeder it will malfunction and mine works better with the end of the spring that mounts on the upper die holder with the open side of the spring down mount that end first then mount the end on the slider without twisting the spring. I saw that same issue and mounting my spring like this completely stoped it.
You may have it like this already but if not then mounting it like this might cure your problem.
I have run 8 to 10K cases through mine at about 99%% trouble free other than when I was learning how to set it up.
I hope you find the problem.

[tomme boy]

It is all about set up to get this to run. I can run mine as fast as I can pull the handle. Try to insert one of those plastic straws that come on a wd40 can inside the spring. I have not tried it yet but I thought I seen someone insert a piece of wire to do the same thing. I just took a rubber band and tied it the the press side loop so the spring could not twist off the left side of the loop. I just stuck it through the hole and tied a knot. The pushed it over to the left to hold the spring to the far left.

I might try the straw if it works. Probably tomorrow. I have about 500 9mm to swage

[gpidaho]

Tried today to get the four tube feeder to work. As near as I can tell, the problem was the slide rail that's mounted to the press had become scuffed by grit. This would explain why it had been working before and then stopped working. I rubbed the rail with some paraffin and installed the plastic tube in the spring as Tomme suggested and with limited testing seems to be working again. As a caution you might do a quick clean of your range brass before using the feeder as I believe this was my problem. Our local range has very fine sand that is composed in part of lava cinders and this is where the problem arose. Thanks Tomme for the hint, I had tried a paper clip wire before but believe the extra diameter of the tube is what kept the spring from buckling. Gp

[BigAlofPa.]

I do a preclean tumble before decapping.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Been thinking about a progressive press lately. But a Lee turret press might just be the way to go since I have been using the AAP press. I can prime, charge and expand, seat and crimp on the turret. For the volume of shooting I do it would be a nice fit. The APP press has been working great for case and boolit sizing. Being able to prime, charge, seat and crimp with only inserting a case once would be a big improvement.

[gpidaho]

Charlie: I have several presses and the Lee four hole Classic turret is the most used. Well worth the cost. Gp

[BigAlofPa.]

I have a Lee turret. And you can crank out the ammo after your in the grove. I was debating to up grade to a progressive too. But i already have turrets for everything i load. And with the progressive you have to get shell plates for each caliber. I am leaning towards getting a Lyman turret for doing rifle.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Charlie: I have several presses and the Lee four hole Classic turret is the most used. Well worth the cost. Gp

What powder measure do you like for your Lee turret? Never used an auto disk style but wonder if the disk would work better with fluffy powders like Unique?

[BigAlofPa.]

I use the Lee perfect powder on my turret. But they are not precise for powders like unique and the dot powders. They are ok if loading low to middle of the road data. I just got a new lyman measure. It does much better with the bulky powders. I just loaded some 45 colt with Green dot. I only varied by a 10th of a grain. I do not have it mounted to the powder through die. It's to heavy for auto indexing i think.

[gpidaho]

Charlie: I used to have the turrets set up with the Lee auto drums but could never get the accuracy I wanted or stop them from leaking powder. I have mutable turrets set up and several powder measures. Lately I've just taking the case off the press and charging with Little Dandy or other measure. Gp

[BigAlofPa.]

Trick i learned to stop the lee's from leaking. Was to polish the inside. I used mothers mag cleaner paste. Ran it back and forth until all surfaces looked even. You can see the high low areas disappear as you check the progress.

[onelight]

What powder measure do you like for your Lee turret? Never used an auto disk style but wonder if the disk would work better with fluffy powders like Unique?
The pro auto disk works great with unique and red dot if you use it in auto indexing mode the turret cycling around settles those powders consistently and it drops very good charges with them. Better than I get with my Lyman 55 or Rcbs uniflow.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

The pro auto disk works great with unique and red dot if you use it in auto indexing mode the turret cycling around settles those powders consistently and it drops very good charges with them. Better than I get with my Lyman 55 or Rcbs uniflow.

Thanks much onelight. I use Unique mostly in 10 gr. rifle loads and .44 special. All the other powders I use meter well.

[onelight]

Thanks much onelight. I use Unique mostly in 10 gr. rifle loads and .44 special. All the other powders I use meter well.
Your welcome

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I'm am going to get one of those Lee turret presses as a reward for organizing my basement shop mess. Perfect companion to the APP press imho.

[BigAlofPa.]

Awesome Charlie. I'll tell you a ratchet saver. When you need to manually need to rotate the turret. And when changing dies or putting another turret on. Do it when the ram is up. Them ratchets are plastic. Easy to strip. The press will come with a spare. It's a small square one. Don't throw it away. I did when i fist got my press.

[gpidaho]

Charlie: You will enjoy the Lee Classic Turret. It's a very good choice in the price range. I don't use mine for large rifle cases and so I can't say how it works on those but it's my favorite pistol caliber press. Gp

[BigAlofPa.]

A little update. I just got in a second Lee APP press. This one is dedicated to doing 223/556. I just did a big batch. I set it right from the start. No sling shot casings. :D

[onelight]

What powder measure do you like for your Lee turret? Never used an auto disk style but wonder if the disk would work better with fluffy powders like Unique?
If you use the turret press in auto index , the auto disk works very good with unique or even red dot the rotation of the turret does a great job of settling the powder if you operate the press in a consistent way.
If you don't use the auto index feature finer powers like BE-86 or 231 work better .

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I love my Lee Auto Disk. I tried the Auto Drum but it leaks. I'm sure there are fixes but the disk leaves little to error. Once you set it you'll get the same charge every time.

BUT!!!!!

You must disassemble it and grease the shaft. If you don't after a few thousand rounds you'll get galling and it will look like it's throwing powder but won't.

[jetinteriorguy]

I love my Lee Auto Disk. I tried the Auto Drum but it leaks. I'm sure there are fixes but the disk leaves little to error. Once you set it you'll get the same charge every time.

BUT!!!!!

You must disassemble it and grease the shaft. If you don't after a few thousand rounds you'll get galling and it will look like it's throwing powder but won't.
I’m a little curious what shaft your referring to. If you mean the shoulder screw that the activation arm pivots on, yes a little oil or grease is good, and also a dab of grease where the pivot arm goes through the slot on the body is a good idea as well. If you’re referring to the drop tube as a shaft, definitely no lube there, it’s not needed and will most likely just attract and possibly contaminate your powder. As far as it not dropping powder, other than not opening up the powder reservoir the only way I can see this happening is if it gets locked up in the part of the cycle where the powder is dropping and not resetting itself for the next cycle, if this is happening something is really wrong and you need to reassess your maintenance habits. I’ve very easily loaded over 100,000 rounds with very minimal maintenance and never had a single issue with either of the two Pro Disc measures I have. When used on the Turret press they are simply one of the best ways to load pistol ammo and even pretty decent plinking ammo in some smaller rifles such as .223 and 7.62x39.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I’m a little curious what shaft your referring to. If you mean the shoulder screw that the activation arm pivots on, yes a little oil or grease is good, and also a dab of grease where the pivot arm goes through the slot on the body is a good idea as well. If you’re referring to the drop tube as a shaft, definitely no lube there, it’s not needed and will most likely just attract and possibly contaminate your powder. As far as it not dropping powder, other than not opening up the powder reservoir the only way I can see this happening is if it gets locked up in the part of the cycle where the powder is dropping and not resetting itself for the next cycle, if this is happening something is really wrong and you need to reassess your maintenance habits. I’ve very easily loaded over 100,000 rounds with very minimal maintenance and never had a single issue with either of the two Pro Disc measures I have. When used on the Turret press they are simply one of the best ways to load pistol ammo and even pretty decent plinking ammo in some smaller rifles such as .223 and 7.62x39.

Yes, the drop tube must be lubed. I know it's jut a rolled piece of steel but the galling issue is real and I will upload a video to prove it. I've had this thing apart many times and examined every possible fail point. The problem is the two different metals rubbing without lube. I could clearly see the build up and had to sand it down and lube it up. For my unit I had no grease get through the seam. I wouldn't use oil, but grease works.

This is a very dangerous situation and easy to miss since it looks like it's working. Without a visual check I would have many squibs in my batch.

https://youtu.be/G_XkScRRAmI

Listen carefully when it binds the first time. You'll hear that creaking sound. That's the steel tube binding with the aluminum body.

[jetinteriorguy]

[QUOTE=Super Sneaky Steve;5256421]Yes, the drop tube must be lubed. I know it's jut a rolled piece of steel but the galling issue is real and I will upload a video to prove it. I've had this thing apart many times and examined every possible fail point. The problem is the two different metals rubbing without lube. I could clearly see the build up and had to sand it down and lube it up. For my unit I had no grease get through the seam. I wouldn't use oil, but grease works.

This is a very dangerous situation and easy to miss since it looks like it's working. Without a visual check I would have many squibs in my batch.

https://youtu.be/G_XkScRRAmI

Listen carefully when it binds the first time. You'll hear that creaking sound. That's the steel tube binding with the aluminum body.[/QUOTE
Interesting, I probably never encountered this due to spraying the drop tube along with the powder reservoir with graphite lube when I first got mine. And you don’t have any issues with grease contacting powder? I’d be concerned about contamination.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

[QUOTE=Super Sneaky Steve;5256421]Yes, the drop tube must be lubed. I know it's jut a rolled piece of steel but the galling issue is real and I will upload a video to prove it. I've had this thing apart many times and examined every possible fail point. The problem is the two different metals rubbing without lube. I could clearly see the build up and had to sand it down and lube it up. For my unit I had no grease get through the seam. I wouldn't use oil, but grease works.

This is a very dangerous situation and easy to miss since it looks like it's working. Without a visual check I would have many squibs in my batch.

https://youtu.be/G_XkScRRAmI

Listen carefully when it binds the first time. You'll hear that creaking sound. That's the steel tube binding with the aluminum body.[/QUOTE
Interesting, I probably never encountered this due to spraying the drop tube along with the powder reservoir with graphite lube when I first got mine. And you don’t have any issues with grease contacting powder? I’d be concerned about contamination.

That was my concern as well. I tried to avoid the seam and didn't glob it all over. Just enough to keep the shaft lubed. No issues at all.

After a few thousand rounds disassemble, inspect, clean and lube and it will provided you many years of good service.

[lesharris]

I like my LEE APP press. Makes decapping easy and clean. Good for bullet sizing.

[GWS]

I like mine too.....and really like it since I got my 3Dprinter and 3Dprinted electric bullet and case collators for it.

In my early posts in this thread I played with case and bullet feeders collated with just tubes and funnels Lee style....MBF's are way too expensive for this application. I bought a printer and printed 3 collators and many bullet/case plates for way less than buying one MBF with conversion kits, let alone 3!

I've always said that the APP's real revolution is making a single station press with a bullet/case feeder......multiply that in spades when you add collators to that. I've tossed away the stuff of my earlier threads.

Jmorris has been trying to convert me for years to electric collators.....when he built his first 3Dprinted collator and I bought my APP......that combo did it. Bought a 3dprinter and have been using it to improve reloading efficiency ever since. Thanks John.

All that said, I'm not real sure I need a second APP now that TylerR ,over at the bullet feeder thread, has perfected his 3dprinted caliber quick change for the APP. HOWEVER, I'm thinking Lee's new ACP version of the APP, might be the next thing for me. The first really auto stand alone case-fed priming machine! Another however......it uses their new and often maligned primer trays??? Anybody bought and used the ACP yet? Any reviews yet, anywhere? Are the folding primer trays really that bad? Can it seat below flush every time like Lee advertises.

I know progressive presses can prime.....but nothing is worse than when one errant primer stops cold a whole progressive session, because one primer pocket has an edge that catches not being swaged enough. I'd rather be on a hand primer when that happens, (not often but still). Seems to me an APP APC, would be a simpler place to deal with such. Thoughts?