Posted: 11/28/2008 6:02:55 PM EDT
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My neighbor was cleaning out his mother's house after she passed. He gave me all the gun related things he found.
I need some info on this reloader and some "how to's" for cleaning this thing up. WD-40 will destroy primers IIRC. So how do I clean it up? Where can I download a manual? 
It has a .38 die set on it. Will I be able to load .223 with this machine? |
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Quoted:
that is a lyman press if it is an old lyman 7/16 or 7/? threaded dies, No .223 die is available for it.. if it is a modern die set, 7/8-14 .it will load anything you want. with the proper dies.. Just a guestimate, but those appear to be to be 7/8" threads. |
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I have an older lyman press of the same configuration...it is gray in color and has the Lyman "Ideal" powder measure on it...just like the one you have....very, very accurate!
You can load anything on it , that accepts 7/8-14 dies...just about anything short of .50 cal BMG. I have loaded 30-06,.223, 38 spl. 9mm, 7.62x39, 22-250, .30 carbine, .17 remington, .45 acp etc etc I've had mine since the mid seventies.....a very nice press I would not trade for anything That is the only press you will ever need |
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WD40 can kill primers but only if you get a lot on them, relatively speaking.
You could dunk that press in a tank of WD40 for a week, take it out, scrub it down, dry it off until it's well dried, LIGHTLY oil it, and not have to worry about it rendering primers non-functional. Technically speaking, NO, primers can't be killed. Contaminate them with oil and they could still be made functional again, by washing them with acetone, very carefully, to remove the oil. After drying them thoroughly they should still work. You can inhibit primers with moisture and oils, but if that moisture or oil is removed, the primer composition is still going to detonate if hit or heated sufficiently. Do you know how primers get the priming compound into them at the factory? BY HAND. The assembler works with a steel plate full of primer cups and then rubs WET priming compound into the cups and then scrapes off the excess from the plate, and then sends the plate with its primer cups to the next process, which is where the paper separator disc and the anvil are pressed in, while the priming compound is still wet so it won't detonate. The key to the safety of the operation is that the compound remains wet until all manufacturing processes on the primer are complete. Then they are dried very thoroughly and are then ready for use. Incidentally, Billy Lane's custom motorcycles (Choppers, Inc) all have a trademarked feature on them: The "six gun". Looks like the open cylinder of a revolver, complete with the shell cases visible. Each shell case is actually a custom made, 44-mag sized case head, made by Midway and having no flash hole. They are loaded with "deactivated" primers, and I suspect that the day will come when some of those "deactivated" primers will pop off, one fine hot sunny day after enough oil has eventually migrated out of them. CJ CJ |
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Soak the steel parts in oil for several days, then scrub hell out of them with scotchbrite pads. Steel wool will be much, much slower.
We have a member in the reloading forum with more time than money that cleaned up an old abused press with more rust than yours to better than new condition. He disassembled the press to the last detail and got to work and had the whole thing done in about a week with a generous application of elbow grease. My eyeball tells me those are 7/8-14 dies, so you should be good to go. Maybe you can borrow a die to try. Even if you use it for .38 Special only, that's a pretty good deal, too. Ask around the Reloading forum for help with a manual. One of those old gray headed guys over there probably owns this press. |
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Quoted:
that is a lyman press if it is an old lyman 7/16 or 7/? threaded dies, No .223 die is available for it.. if it is a modern die set, 7/8-14 .it will load anything you want. with the proper dies.. Even if it is the old Odd Ball thread, they make an adapter for the 7/8-14 TPI Dies I got an old RCBS Press for free, had some rust on it and I cleaned it up with Steel Wool. The Dies I cleaned with the Wire wheel on my grinder, hit them lightly and the Dies and threads will look new |