Upside down single stage for bulk bullet sizing

[VOLKSRVA]

Since I have started casting more this winter, I have increasingly found that the little lee sizer red catch bins aren’t sufficient for the volume of bullets that I size in one setting. I like to knock out sizing operations the same day. I have seen where people have set up a no longer used single stage upside down for this task, but can’t seem to find a link. Could anyone here give me advice on the set up they use?

I believe a tube would need a 7/8 ID to tightly fit over the lee sizer die, maybe with a small worm clamp to secure it. I can’t seem to find any small lengths of clear tubing or similar in that size locally, and don’t want to have to buy 10 feet or more for a small piece. I haven’t tried ACE/ True Value yet, so that will be my next stop. I guess I would need a length of 2 or 3 ft in order to reach a container located directly under the work bench.

Another question I have is would the little bit of fall, or falling onto other bullets harm them once they are cool? I know that when they are warm you can dent them by knocking into one another, but think once cool should be fine. Any ideas, suggestions, or pictures of a similar set up?

Thanks,
-VOLKSRVA.

[Conditor22]

I got my tube at either HD or Lowes by the foot.

https://i.imgur.com/5lcKnRA.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cyWf3Mv.jpg

If you want to get a little fancier
https://i.imgur.com/kFed2xH.jpg

this is a prototype I built a few years ago, never went to phase 2 :(

My hose just pressure fit

[VOLKSRVA]

I got my tube at either HD or Lowes by the foot.

this is a prototype I built a few years ago, never went to phase 2 :(

My hose just pressure fit

That is awesome! Thank you for sharing! I really love the idea of the use of the multi tube case feeder and your homemade feed ramp is a thing of ingenuity! Might you remember what diameter tubing? I took the die to both places and couldn’t seem to find any. The closest thing was a black drainage hose.

Mine most likely won’t be that complex, I plan to use the same Lee C frame press mounted on a scrap 2x4, and C clamping it right to the bench upside down. But I really like the idea of the steel mounting plate under the press, might have to draw me one up! What gauge is that? And what are you using to hold the 4 tubes together on the feeder? Looks like the metal hangars you see holding up insulation. I use two worm clamps on my loadmaster.

[Lloyd Smale]

i made a bracket to hold one of the lee hand presses upside down on my bench. Nice thing about that is it was designed to work perfectly up side down because it operated closing the handle to the press vs pulling the handle down so upside down it works pulling the handle down. not the stoutest press but ive probably sized over a 100k of bullet using it. Its getting a bit loose but that doesnt effect how it works. Mine may not look all high tech but it works. Ive got a coffee can down below it on the shelf and a piece of clear rubber hose that fits over the head of the die that goes to it. Did 40 lbs of bullets using it yesterday. this is the one i use but its the old one not the fancy breach load bushing one. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1013017453?pid=665540

[jmorris]

I just flipped over a bucket and set my container on it. They don’t have a long fall and I don’t have to bend over to pick them up.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01zbImsdkbg

[VOLKSRVA]

i made a bracket to hold one of the lee hand presses upside down on my bench. Nice thing about that is it was designed to work perfectly up side down because it operated closing the handle to the press vs pulling the handle down so upside down it works pulling the handle down. not the stoutest press but ive probably sized over a 100k of bullet using it. Its getting a bit loose but that doesnt effect how it works. Mine may not look all high tech but it works. Ive got a coffee can down below it on the shelf and a piece of clear rubber hose that fits over the head of the die that goes to it. Did 40 lbs of bullets using it yesterday. this is the one i use but its the old one not the fancy breach load bushing one. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1013017453?pid=665540

Wow! 40 lbs in one sitting? That’s impressive! I know you had to have a few coffee cans full in that case! We have plenty of them laying around here too as I usually drink a whole pot a day to myself. Most of the time I use them for brass, but that is a good idea. Is that what you use for final storage as well?

[VOLKSRVA]

I just flipped over a bucket and set my container on it. They don’t have a long fall and I don’t have to bend over to pick them up.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01zbImsdkbg

Thanks for the video!! Looks like you can really crank them out with that set up! Could you show a few pictures of your feeder and handle set up and give me a more details? The handle you made makes the operation look very smooth and effortless!

You have a really great idea, and I would love to incorporate something like this in my set up. How long after casting do you usually size? I guess there is no issues with the bullets falling on one another?

[jmorris]

The feeder is just a plastic slide with a hole in it to shuttle the bullet from the fed tube into the die.

That tube is filled by a collator that feeds base down for my reloading machines and a flipper that flips them nose down for the sizer.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cc1hUj343w

[jmorris]

They are sized right after the 2nd coating.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8tWaN5PrTY

[Mk42gunner]

I bought a 10' roll of 3/4" ID plastic tubing from the local farm supply store, (took the die to the store to make sure it fit). The 10' roll was just a few cents more than the cost of a special cut two foot section, and gave options for future mounting locations.

What I did was mount my Lyman Acculine convertible press to a 2x4 that I clamp to a work bench, sizing boolits doesn't put a lot of stress on the mount.

Slip the tube over the top of the die and run it to the coffee can on the floor. Easy peasy.

Robert

[AlHunt]

Seems like it'd be less trouble to engineer some kind of drop tube with PVC pipes from the die and funnel them into a catch bucket. Maybe a 2 or 3" PVC pipe, cut in half lengthwise then mounted around the sizing die at a 45 degree angle. Then just feed it into a bucket.

[Lloyd Smale]

dont know how that is easier then a piece of rubber tubing the right size.

[AlHunt]

dont know how that is easier then a piece of rubber tubing the right size.

Yeah, if the bullets wouldn't bind up as they made the turn, a vinyl, rubber, something hose would be even simpler.

Nothing at all wrong with mounting the press upside down if someone wants to, either. OP's complaint was that the catch box isn't big enough.

For that matter, a big piece of PVC drain pipe could be adapted as a catch box, too.

[GhostHawk]

Mine is just an upside down lee C press with an ice cream pail hanging by the handle. It slips into the space between the die and the frame and stays there. I have been known to throw a hand towel in the bottom to cushion things a little. But it is not a long drop.

Nothing to plug up, cause problems. And I have a stack of at least 10 old ice cream pails in the attic. So zero cost.

Sizing boolits and crimping on gas checks on an upside down press = priceless.