FL sizing with a Tru-Line Jr: Do-able with a few mods, IMHO.

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.

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Picture 2: an overview of the press set up for some FL duties.

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Picture 3: Support, and washers, bottom of stroke.

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Picture 4: Supoort, and washers, top of stroke.

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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.

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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 am in process of acquiring a turret with 1 (one) hole enlarged to 7/8x14. After all, I’ve never heard anyone complain at all about the job the other dies do, even though small. I have a set of 32 S&W L dies for my TL Jr (late, with improved leverage) along with a stray carbide size and decap die in 7/8X14, so I’m going to set it up as I’ve been idly speculating for the last decade or two. Little press, mostly little dies, little cartridge. Makes sense to me. Of course I can raise the expanding and seating dies appropriately for H&R and Fed Mag rounds very easily as well.

bTW, although not real common, Lyman did make FL sizing dies for the TL Jr (only) at one time. Of course they are plain steel and require case lube, but they do work. Then again they’re hard to find and command a premium, so if one station is bored out…

Froggie

The sizing die being carbide is a game changer. That was one idea that is pretty main stream now.

I've come across a few FL 310 dies. Most are 38/357. and one 45 Auto and a 45 Colt. Invariably they size very small for some reason. I suppose, back in the day, that is what reloaders wanted.

If you use a J to X adapter, flipping the turret puts the distances closer to normal.

The only 32 die I have is a 32 Rem MR.

Nitro

I made the effort over the years to round up the various J type shell holders for the calibers I’m likely to load on my TL Jr and All American presses, getting most when they were fairly easy to find, and seeking out the odd, occasional bargain more recently. I just hate giving up the range of travel I lose with the adaptor as well as having to use special primer seaters if I want to do on-press priming.

The main point I really waned to pass on my feelings about trying to make the “baby” of turret practices try to take on more than it should. The updated linkage gives a bit of mechanical advantage of course, but the fact remains that the Lyman press with “Junior” in its name doesn’t have the “beef” found in its larger brethren. If one keeps that in mind, all is well. I won’t use mine for heavy case reforming, bullet swaging, FL sizing of large bottle necked rifle cases or similar tasks. Any straight sided handgun cartridges are fair game, and I like it for 32-20 (I even have the small diameter FL sizer die for that) and two purely rifle cartridges, the straight side 45-70 and the tapered 32-40, both of which I shoot from single shot rifles, so they get minimal sizing anyway.

The hand-me-down late style TL Jr press given to my dad and me about 1973 is still on the corner of my loading bench and set up for 32 S&W Long. It will likely be the one that gets the incoming modified turret plate and continue to turn out 32 S&W L and H&R and perhaps 327 FMs as well. It’s certainly the appropriate scale for the job!

Froggie

My story is not quite the same, and is from Canada. But about 3 or 4 years after your dad gave you your T-L Jr. i sold my LEE loader in 32 Win Spl and bought a RCBS Rockchucker and other real reloading tools. These served me well until i retired and my hobby of choice became reloading and mostly shooting cowboy. I did a fair bit of upgrading. Along the way I came across a T-L Jr. and it was cheap. Curiosity got the better of me and that started a side hobby of collecting all things 310.

I couldn't have said it better, the T-L Jr is a "Junior" press and taking it beyond it's capabilities isn't prudent. My motivation was to determine where the limiting areas were. i too think it is a dandy little press for cartridges like the 45 Auto and 38/357. And rifle calibers like 22 Hornet and 32-20 and those sort of cases. I like your 32 application, a good match for the T-L Jr.

I was trying to FL size 9mm Luger and the spring in the press was too much to get the job done. The 1" main shaft, turned down to 3/4" for the turret to pivot on and the 1/2" nut on the top is the first weak point. The support down to the guide rod gives the main shaft enough support, but the slide starts to cant before the 9mm brass is fully sized. Adding the washers stabilizes that and the press is pretty solid at that point. But the linkage is not up to the increased abuse. The mechanical advantage is OK, not much force is needed on the handle, but the petite linkage pins in the middle are strained to the max. I'm sure failure would be imminent, and unnecessary. The press was never meant to be punished like that.

So, I know the limit, don't have to go there again.

You are correct in your evaluation of the shellholder adapter, it raises the shellholder and closes the gap to the turret. The amount raised is about 0.17". I have one Special T Priming Punch set, but I also flip back and forth between J and X shellholders, so I just use a spacer (washers) under the T-L Jr punch and drilled out the shellholder for clearance. It works. I like to buy a four die set of LEE dies for each caliber on the T-L Jr, mostly to take advantage of the powder through expanding die. I use a Dandy or Accumeasure for dispensing powder. The die set comes with a shellholder and as it is dedicated to that set of dies, I just drilled the hole to 5/16". The die is hardened, I just use a tile and glass carbide bit, preferring the spade type, but either type works. Lube with water to get sufficient cooling. It gets noisy, and the hot chips fly, but it drills a fairly straight smooth hole. This is required for the large punch, the small one works as is with the appropriate spacer and a unmodified X shellholder.

And flipping the T-L Jr. turret restores the distance relationship. I compared the distance from the X shellholder to the top surface of the turret on the T-L Jr. to that on on my T-Mag II and the distances are very similar.

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Nitro

Nitro-express,

You sound like my “brother from another mother”. While I’ve been dreaming of the turret that is now on the way, I developed my pistol loading procedure. First I decap and size large batches of a given caliber of cartridges with a RCBS Jr press and carbide die. These become fodder for the TL Jr or even for the Dillon 550 sometimes.

I’m hopeful that the TL Jr will have sufficient strength to handle any straight wall handgun cartridges with the proper carbide die. Mostly I’m hoping to be able to do the 32s, 9mms, and 38s. I still load 44s and 45s on rare occasions. Of course I have a variety of presses I can use for these or other cartridges I load, but, but those would be the logical applications for the petite little TL Jr.

Froggie