nitro-express
03-26-2023, 02:56 PM
One of those Sunday projects. I have a few of these, the Tru-Line Jr presses, on the go and the goal is to make them more modern, 7/8 dies and such.
I have one T-L Jr set up with an aftermarket turret and have been putting it through its paces. It was all going smoothly until I converted it to 9mm Luger. I hadn't noticed before, but sizing the area just above the web of the case takes a bit more force than say for 45 Auto or 44 Mag. So much so that the press would spring and there would be a gap between the shellholder and the die. The main culprit is the round post. I already tightened the turret nut, and that stabilizes the press a lot.
So my thought was, why not extend a support from the turret down to the guide rod at the back. An inverted 310 die was pressed into service, and that stiffened the works considerably. I studied the linkages and it seemed that if slide could be stabilized as well, that would help. A few washers were selected for the correct thickness and placed on the guide rod, and that was a small improvement as well.
I'm impressed how this stiffens up the top of the press. I turn the FL die down to contact plus a small amount, none of that 1/4 to 1/2 turn stuff. The press may take that, but the linkage may not. In the end, to size a 9mm Luger, it works well.
Unfortunately, this is one of those projects with not much of a point, and not something I'd probably use, after all I have a few more modern presses on the bench.
But it is what it is.
Picture 1: I did not have a #12 "J" type shellholder, so I used a J to X adapter. Unfortunately, somewhere in the translation, the holes for the shellholder screw was not in alignment to my liking, so a new hole was drilled and taped in the forward position, to utilize the alternate hole in the adapter. The current version of the J to X only has the forward hole. so not entirely a useless mod. I looked at a few of my slides and checked the alignment of the set screw and the hole in the shellholder. On average about 1/3 of the hole ends up above the hole in the slide. The pointed set screw will pull the shellholder down and hold it solid. I used a drill press and a drill press vice to get the job done, not a job for a handheld drill IMO. I've modified two slides, the process is repeatable. The set screw is 1/4-20 NC, so you'll need a tap in that thread size and a #7 drill bit to drill the hole. The slide is cast, machines fairly easily. Positioning the hole is a bit tricky, after all, you get one kick at the cat so to speak.
312243
Picture 2: an overview of the press set up for some FL duties.
312244
Picture 3: Support, and washers, bottom of stroke.
312245
Picture 4: Supoort, and washers, top of stroke.
312246
Picture 5: The Tru-Line Jr turret with one hole reworked for 7/8-14, and inverted to have a flatter surface for the die lock nut.
312247
And there you have it, a Tru-Line Jr capable of FL sizing a 9mm Luger cartridge and probably a few other cartridges as well. Probably not precise enough for controlled shoulder setback, but suitable for the regular hunting calibers.
In case someone takes exception to me using an 310 die as a support, over the last 5 years or so I've collected several hundred of those dies, and this one was one of several duplicates I have.
Nitro.
I have one T-L Jr set up with an aftermarket turret and have been putting it through its paces. It was all going smoothly until I converted it to 9mm Luger. I hadn't noticed before, but sizing the area just above the web of the case takes a bit more force than say for 45 Auto or 44 Mag. So much so that the press would spring and there would be a gap between the shellholder and the die. The main culprit is the round post. I already tightened the turret nut, and that stabilizes the press a lot.
So my thought was, why not extend a support from the turret down to the guide rod at the back. An inverted 310 die was pressed into service, and that stiffened the works considerably. I studied the linkages and it seemed that if slide could be stabilized as well, that would help. A few washers were selected for the correct thickness and placed on the guide rod, and that was a small improvement as well.
I'm impressed how this stiffens up the top of the press. I turn the FL die down to contact plus a small amount, none of that 1/4 to 1/2 turn stuff. The press may take that, but the linkage may not. In the end, to size a 9mm Luger, it works well.
Unfortunately, this is one of those projects with not much of a point, and not something I'd probably use, after all I have a few more modern presses on the bench.
But it is what it is.
Picture 1: I did not have a #12 "J" type shellholder, so I used a J to X adapter. Unfortunately, somewhere in the translation, the holes for the shellholder screw was not in alignment to my liking, so a new hole was drilled and taped in the forward position, to utilize the alternate hole in the adapter. The current version of the J to X only has the forward hole. so not entirely a useless mod. I looked at a few of my slides and checked the alignment of the set screw and the hole in the shellholder. On average about 1/3 of the hole ends up above the hole in the slide. The pointed set screw will pull the shellholder down and hold it solid. I used a drill press and a drill press vice to get the job done, not a job for a handheld drill IMO. I've modified two slides, the process is repeatable. The set screw is 1/4-20 NC, so you'll need a tap in that thread size and a #7 drill bit to drill the hole. The slide is cast, machines fairly easily. Positioning the hole is a bit tricky, after all, you get one kick at the cat so to speak.
312243
Picture 2: an overview of the press set up for some FL duties.
312244
Picture 3: Support, and washers, bottom of stroke.
312245
Picture 4: Supoort, and washers, top of stroke.
312246
Picture 5: The Tru-Line Jr turret with one hole reworked for 7/8-14, and inverted to have a flatter surface for the die lock nut.
312247
And there you have it, a Tru-Line Jr capable of FL sizing a 9mm Luger cartridge and probably a few other cartridges as well. Probably not precise enough for controlled shoulder setback, but suitable for the regular hunting calibers.
In case someone takes exception to me using an 310 die as a support, over the last 5 years or so I've collected several hundred of those dies, and this one was one of several duplicates I have.
Nitro.