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Posted: 6/18/2008 11:28:30 AM EDT
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Im totaly new to reloading and was thinking about starting with the Lee Hand Press Reloading Kit i dont have any room for a full sized press. Has anyone used this kit and what do you think of it. Also what additional components do i need to reload .223 45-70 and 25-06 Lee Hand Press Reloading Kit http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/content/Item/21/59/25/i215925sq01.jpg |
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I had that set (came w/ free dies), years ago.....I thought that I could get in a few re-loads while on lunch or breaks at work. I quickly found that it wasn't right for me. I prefer more production. Re-sizing straight walled pistol cases was easy. Though, talk about a workout when doing bottle necked rifle cases. So, in the end, I sold off the press and the primer seating parts (made enough to have free dies for my troubles). YMWV IMHO......IF space is a problem, I can see that the hand press sounds like a good alternative to the traditional press. However, I'd try and find the space needed to mount a small O press (like the RCBS Jr.) or small C press (Lee #90700), before I'd give up and buy a hand press. IMHO....it'll be faster and easier to use, in the end. Aloha, Mark PS......LEE sells the Re-loader C Press w/manual (#90700) for a couple of dollars less then the Hand Press Kit (#90179). www.leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1213818257.668=/html/catalog/rlpress1.html You could just mount the press to a slab of wood and clamp that to a table w/ C clamps. |
well, I haven't used this hand press, but you would prolly be better served with a good single stage press like the rcbs rockchucker or lee classic cast press. it may require considerable force to resize 45-70 with the hand press. unless you live in your car, everyone has room for a single stage press. when i started reloading, i lived in an apartment and bolted my rockchucker to a piece of plywood and "c" clamped it to the kitchen table for use, and stored it in the closet when not in use. you will need-- dies loading manual powder scale caliper (to measure OAL of your cartridges) case lube primers/powder/bullets read the tacked posts at the top of this forum if you havn't already, lots of great info there. eta pic  |
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n8pgp, Nice set up. Hey, throw in your method to deal with trimming. Re-take the picture and you'll have a great pic to show everyone that asks: "What do I need to get started?" Course, others may what more (tumbler, swage or reamer, pocket uniformers, etc...). Aloha, Mark |
| Skip the Lee hand press and get their Classic Cast single stage press and then add the Hornady LnL bushing conversion. I have both the Lee Classic cast Turret and Classic cast Single stage and actually like the single stage better-no flex in the press and die changes are extremely quick with the LnL bushing conversion. Every reloader needs a good single stage in their kit and the Lee Classic cast is easily the best for the Money. |
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I got the Lee Hand Press a few weeks ago, since I'm temporarily living in an apartment for the summer while I'm off working. So far I like it for loading .223. As long as the cases are lubed well it doesn't take much force to resize them. But it'll definitely build up your pecs . I think I've got close to 1K cases in various stages of being prepped. I just sit down on the couch after work with a container of about 200 cases and resize and deprime them. It's pretty nice to not be stuck sitting at the kitchen table or something while I'm doing that. It goes pretty fast, maybe an couple hours or so to do those 200 cases. I picked up a cheap, cheap cordless drill from wal mart, I think it was about $14.00 and use that when I ream the primer pockets and trim the cases. For reaming I use the Hornady Small Primer Pocket Reamer tool. It's made so you can't cut the primer pocket and deeper or larger than it needs to be. I just chuck it up in the drill and hold the trigger down and hold the cases on there for a couple of seconds each, it works really well. I do the same to trim with the Lee trimmer setup and the cordless drill. I got the Lee balance beam scale and used that, the dipper from the die set, and a powder trickler to work up my first couple different loads. But it took forever to do each charge like that so I got a Lee Perfect Powder Measure for like 20 bucks and screwed it to a little piece of wood that I clamp to the table. That sped up the process tremendously and throws charges just as accurate as I could get with the trickler. Heres a picture of everything I had to load .223 
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The best hand press is made by Meacham. They call it the "Anywhere Press". It is made to benchrest tolerances. Costs $100. It has plenty of leverage for FL sizing bottlenecked cases like the 308. Anywhere Press 
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