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Thread: 8-10 station presses

  1. #1
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Oct 2021
    Posts
    72

    8-10 station presses

    So I am a bit of a dumpster diver and scrap yard scrounger, I have obtained a few 2 inch thick saw cut pieces of cast iron roughly 8 inches in diameter.

    I am giving thought to actually designing and maching a "progressive " press similar to a star universal for rifles/50 bmg.

    My thoughts for the stations are as follows

    1. Full length sizer
    2. Primer pocket swage
    3. Primer seating/neck expanding
    4. Powder
    5. Powder check
    6. Seat bullet
    7. Crimp bullet
    8. Station for new case to be acceptable from case feeder.

    If anyone can think of any more needs for stations I am going to add to this projects blue prints.

  2. #2
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Oct 2018
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    48

  3. #3
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Oct 2021
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    72
    Well that is quite the press, pretty much what I had in mind. I was unaware anything was built similar

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master jmorris's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    5,269
    You are going to want a back up rod inside the case to hold it, while it’s being swaged, so you don’t put the force into your shell plate. This rod makes a great place to incorporate an expander.

  5. #5
    Boolit Buddy 414gates's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Posts
    357
    I would have more stations to sizing. Size 1, 2 and 3, each sizing a little more till the final size. This reduces the load on the press of forcing a size in one pass, and reduces the probability of jamming the works if the brass is stubborn.

    Instead of one press with 10 stations, rather just a five station, and the user can deploy two - one just for brass sizing and automatic case trim, and the other for loading prepped brass. Most rifle shooters prefer to prep their brass first, before loading, and rifle brass needs a lot more prep than pistol. Prepping on a progressive is bonus.

    It will cost much less to make 2 five station units than one 10 station.

    Consider a linear press more suited to rifle reloading because there is no tensile flex around a central shellplate fastener to cause premature failure. The old linear progressives were very expensive to produce. Today's CNC technology should dramatically lower the cost.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Idaho
    Posts
    1,091
    Being able to process rifle ammo in one pass would be a boone to productivity. The one step missing in the proposed spec is a trim/chamfer/deburr step. A station that could affix a Giraud Tri-Way trimmer, or similar, would be awesome. There would be the challenge of how to deal with case lube mucking up the trimmer, however. Probably ideal would be a setup like a Dillon size/trim die, but with a cutting head like a Giraud. Then lube wouldn't be an issue.

    My dream setup for rifle would be

    Station 1 De-cap die. Could be a sizer

    Station 2 sizing and trim die that F/L sizes, trims, de-burrs, and chamfers.

    Station 3 primer pocket swage station. Needs a backup rod like @jmorris suggests.

    4 prime

    5 Neck expander

    6 powder charge

    7 powder check

    8 bullet feed

    9 seat die

    10 crimp (optional)
    "There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something."
    ~Thorin Oakenshield

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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