LE Wilson has a crimp removal cutter that in my opinion works best if you have the trimmer. I always use the primer pocket gauge to make sure I don’t cut the pocket too wide at the opening.
Great video, i always save videos like yours and go back, watch them again and pickup more info. I have both wet and dry tumblers and i’ve gotten away from the dry because of dust plus the wet tumblers get the brass cleaner quicker but the down side is they clean a little too well. I’m going to try a little experiment by putting medium grain rice in my wet tumbler to clean after sizing with Imperial sizing wax and see if they become clean enough without getting the inside too clean to cause galling when seating bullets. Make any sense? I’ll give you the update after i try this. Thank you.
A tip that might be helpful. Use wood fillers to fill the old holes, so small parts don't drop into the holes. I did that to my bench to fill in the old direct mount holes for my press, when I moved to the Lee Bench Plate System.
I've been using an Old Ikea Dinner Table for a while with the Lee Quick Change Plate. It works well, and the Lee Plate gives it a bit more rigidity. But as I am loading more on a Lee Load Master Progressive now, it does creak quite a bit. And the press feel isn't great due to the flexibility of the wood. I am thinking about moving to a steel platform like the Lee or the FA. The Lee is nice, but kinda an awkward shape to place along other work surfaces though. So I am leaning towards the FA at the moment. The flex, I don't really mind it on a Single Stage, but on a Progressive there's 6 Points of "Bottoming Out", and I keep second guessing if I've reached the end of the stroke or not.
When I was first starting out back in the '80's, I only needed to reload ammo for my center fire rifle. I picked up the Lee Hand Press Kit. The 15" x 11.5" box contained a complete reloading set up, just add fired brass, primers, powder and bullets. Well not quite, I soon added the Lee case prep tools: a trimmer cutter with locking stud, the case length pilot for my cartridge with lock ring, a primer pocket cleaner tool and the case mouth chamfer tool. I then ditched the Ram Prime tool for the less cumbersome off press Lee Auto Prime tool with the required shell holder for my cartridge. I then finally broke down and got the Lee Safety Powder Scale to check my loads. Still fairly compact as long as you didn't mind hand cleaning brass.
Sorry, I must not be reading where you're getting your mins' from (within the Lyman 50th Ed book)? The Lyman's book states 2.028 but the Lee states 2.019?? The max OAL pic on pg 234 shows 2.039 but not sure why Lee and Lyman have SO much of a difference?? What is correct?
I've got the same Forster resizing die in 6.5 Creedmoor. How do I know if I'm positioning the expander ball too high or too low in the die? Is there a trick or rule of thumb to know if you've got that expander ball positioned correctly?
Start with the recommended protrusion of the decapping pin (3/16” IIRC but read the instructions). It is possible to have the ball/pin too high up in the die where it jams when you try to extract the case from the die. To clear the jam, just screw the decapper assembly further down into the die.
I got a Omnitable 4 in 1 Portable Workbench, off of eBay, for Handloading. It is very sturdy. The Disston 30140A OmniTable 4 in 1 Workbench is a portable, adjustable work table, scaffold, dolly, and floor creeper for professional contractors and home users. With its large work surface of 37.5" x 18.3" and 500-pound load capacity, the multipurpose OmniTable portable work table and garage workbench can accommodate large projects with ease. Its folding legs offer adjustable height convenience for tackling numerous job tasks. Built-in features include a 110V power strip, ruler/protractor, drill hole, steel hammer surface, in line accessory storage for screws, nails, and drill bits, and convenient carry handle. Lightweight at only 32 pounds, this folding work table is compact and easily stored. Folded dimensions: 18.2"D x 37.5"W x 4.2"H
In my apartment days, after nearly breaking off the corner of my dining table, I built a flimsy bench resembling a wide topped saw horse. One of these would have been far superior!
It’s pretty surprising how much a bench will move even when you think you’ve built something solid enough. Before moving to the apartment, the bench I upgraded to still flexed a lot so I had to brace it to the wall. All in all this is doable for my small reloading sessions (for now). 🙂 Sometimes the best solution is the one that works!
I like Wet Tumble for the Flexibility and Reduced Lead Exposure. I can tumble a ton of pistol brass without pins, and that will get them clean enough in my opinion. Or you can get brass shiny clean if you want that.
Reduced lead exposure is definitely a positive! That would be handy when it’s below freezing outside here and I need to tumble indoors. I’m pretty sure I’ve tried tumbling without pins before when I first bought my wet tumbler.
Kyle, maybe you or UR should give Southern Shine Tumbling "Bits" a try. Johnny has a video on it, and it seems to be a easier workflow to me. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_gaFu9YSJyg.html But, since I'm in Canada, I did not have a chance to try them yet.
I dry tumble in lizard cage media from the pet store long enough to remove case lube and that's it. It could be shinier but I don't want to deal with having to dry brass after wet tumbling.
I've used the RCBS pocket swager. I'd say it works ok, but the biggest gotcha is putting too much pressure on the tool, It will bend (s-curve) the backing rod that fits inside the case. You have to follow the instructions , and use hand feel to keep from bending the rod.
Good video. I got the discontinued Cabella's 400 Model Tumbler. It came with media and soap additive too with a media sifter. Works perfectly fine. Also, dryer sheets are your friend.
There isn't a problem with the "cheap Lee press", it's your cheap bench that's flexing. Also, try removing primers and any crimp first, then run the other operations.
I don't put the wax in until I clean the loaded rounds in the dry media. That way, they stay nice and shiny for a long time, provided you don't touch the rounds with your bare hands. I have 2 buckets for the media, one for media I use for basic cleaning before resizing, and one that has the wax infused media for shining the loaded rounds.
Lyman prep center works well and keep eye on pricing you can pick it up for $100-120 when on sale. Don’t have to use drill, motor build in to the kit, just give the case a twist when removing the crimp. I have the RCBS crimp remover for my RCBS Rock chucker that will swage (pressing to the side) the crimp. There are other prepping center and comes down to how much you would like to spend. RU-vid has most of the video’s for the various methods and devices. I did a couple hundred 223 rounds with he Lyman and worked fast and quick. Best to all!
Late to the game here, but for those that want to use a cutter for removing the crimp, the best cutter on the market today is the RCBS primer crimp cutter. I've used the Hornady, Lyman & Forster. The RCBS by far cuts the crimp better than any of the others I've listed. I thread the cutter into a 8/32 tool holder in a drill in a padded vice. Takes 2 seconds per case. Drop the finished case into a 5 Gal. bucket and continue. Fast method.
The Lee ram pocket swaging die is the way to go. It is quick, simple, and effective. More importantly you don't have to use your hand to apply pressure in a counter-force to a spinning drill chuck! Which is not my idea of anything I want to do 100+ times. It's also foolproof. You don't risk ruining a case by over reaming with some type of cutting tool, or a lack of concentricity in the pocket due to any uneven removal of material. Add to that a price of around $30 and it's a no-brainer for the serious handloader.
