A bench clamp for the Rockchucker

Snip pretty good list. I can add a few things...

However...for entry level reloading..the Lee Aniversery kit is hard to beat

$119

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NOt a rock crusher..but works well enough

GUnner

Reply to
Gunner
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On the other hand,.,,,it doesnt move unless you want it to.

Gunner

Reply to
Gunner

At a conservative estimate..Ive reloaded at least a quarter million rounds. Ive had two primer pops. Both when I was doing stupid shit..priming unswaged ring crimped military cases and pushing things.

Gunner

Reply to
Gunner

Design can sometimes serve as well as or better than mass and weight. Sometimes. Ya don't bet on a fine blade for a firefight or a Porsche for a tractor-pull, but sometimes design can work out well.

My "new" bench, made of best-available 3/4" plywood laminated to 3/4" MDF and supported and braced by several welded steel cantilever supports lag-bolted to the 2x6 wall studs, is more rigid than the old honker in the garage made of 2-by lumber with 4x4 legs when "2-by" was closer to 2 than it is now. And there are no legs in the way, I LOVE that!

I calculated that this "light duty" lookin' bench would support all the engine blocks that would fit on it, at least in a single layer. My intent was for light duty as in electronic stuff, but we all know how that goes. A bench will be used for the job at hand so it better be able to handle it. I was quite sure I wouldn't be rebuilding any engines, but there's always something. I certainly did not anticipate or foresee reloading ammo.

When I reef on the handles of my ammo presses clamped to said bench when in use, nothin' moves. Feels like they're bolted with tee-nuts to the table on the Bridgeport.

Reply to
Don Foreman

And those two pops seem to have left you unscathed. Good data, thanks! Perhaps I'll depucker a bit.

Reply to
Don Foreman

Right on, and Google as well. I just meant to offer a general rule of thumb. It depends a lot on caliber too, and prices fluctuate a lot.

Reply to
Don Foreman

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 08:22:52 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:

Yeah, you and your bud, Henry Bowman, are real reloaders, aren't ya? ;)

(I'm halfway through the book again.)

-- This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it. - John Adams

Reply to
Larry Jaques

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 08:20:21 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner quickly quoth:

Sounds like Pete needs an engine hoist and/or forklift...

-- This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it. - John Adams

Reply to
Larry Jaques

I've got an engine hoist now, but I've carried that bench by hand everywhere I've moved for 30 years. It's pretty small, but mighty solid. I considered tying it into the wall, but it's never been necessary. I started with a rockchucker and moved to a Dillon RL-550. I still have both.

Pete Keillor

Reply to
Pete Keillor

Mine would just fit in one of the early Harbor Freight style

5 inch swivel head vises fully opened up. I was smoking along really good once I figured that out and got away from the hammer...

The Lee setup is quite reasonable and you can leave a complete die setup installed in the turret top. They are only around $10 and well worth it. Just plop in the turret with all your die adjustments set and ready to go. See this link for some pictures (thanks Gunner for the website to Lee I was too lazy to dig it up):

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Mine is just the 3 hole press with I few die sets. I thought the carbide set for 44 mag was really nice. It sure beats using lube.

Mine was for 44 mag and it had the plastic measure.

I still have the plastic case and all the pieces. I'm pretty sure that the de-primer punch is broken, came to me that way. I can't get too excited about digging mine out either and I'm pretty sure I know exactly where it is holed up :)

I had kinda forgotten about it (till you mentioned it in that other post), but I touched off several primers while loading with this setup too. It surprises/scares the begeezers out of you and I remember my ears ringing for awhile. Now who would think you should be using hearing protection/muffs while reloading :)

I think Don Foreman needs to use one of the Lee Loaders for awhile. He just doesn't know how much fun he is missing out on (really big grin).

Reply to
Leon Fisk

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:49:50 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, Pete Keillor quickly quoth:

I meant Pete Flip, aka Pyotr Filipivich, but it works either way. ;)

-- This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it. - John Adams

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Have you ever used a "Lee Loader"? That one almost guarantees an occasional primer pop. I don't know how many I had, but typically at least one per set of 50 .38 Special cases. :-)

I've never had one pop with either the primer insertion tool in the press, or the hand loader (even when I've had to crush primers which turned sideways on me).

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

After a Computer crash and the demise of civilization, it was learned Larry Jaques wrote on Sat, 28 Jul 2007

06:01:27 -0700 in rec.crafts.metalworking :

Yeah, I do. But first, I need a place to keep the forklift. Or the engine block, or ... I don't like having a small apartment, except when it is time to clean.

pyotr

-- pyotr filipivich "Quemadmoeum gladuis neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. " Lucius Annaeus Seneca, circa 45 AD (A sword is never a killer, it is a tool in the killer's hands.)

Reply to
pyotr filipivich
[ ... ]

Of *course* you can. :-)

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That does look like a nice starting point. It is a far cry from the old "Lee Loader" sets -- which are apparently still offered.

I like the (almost?) full set of shell holders. I could use one of those myself. At present, I keep the shell holders in the box with the associated dies -- except that one shell holder needs to move from .357 Magnum to .38 Special to .22 Jet -- so spares of that would be nice. (Then again, I've noticed full sets of shell holders being offered on eBay -- both Lee and RCBS.)

As for the case length gauge -- almost anyone on this newsgroup has the necessary tools to measure the case length -- and the min and max lengths are specified in the reloading manuals, along with lots of other details.

One point which hasn't yet been covered (unless it is somewhere in the as yet unread part of this thread) is why to choose between a neck sizing die and a full-length sizing die.

Basically -- if you are only reloading cases fired in your own rifle -- and you have only one rifle of that caliber -- then neck sizing will result in longer life for the cases.

However -- if you are going to use the cartridges in multiple rifles, or you are getting once-fired cartridges from someone else, you will need to do a full-length resize -- unless the source rifle happens to have a minimum size chamber. So -- it may be helpful to have the full-length die on hand, even if you don't need it yet. I notice that Lee offers rifle sets with both sizing dies in one set for a bit more.

(I also see that they don't currently list the .22 Remington Jet pistol cartridge. It is a good thing that I have the RCBS dies already. :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

According to Leon Fisk :

[ ... ]

Harbor Freight wasn't around (AFIK) when I was using mine -- about 1964 IIRC.

[ ... ]

[ ... ]

I've been looking at that -- from Gunner's link as well.

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They now offer an upgrade kit to the four station turrets if you want.

I've now got the carbide for the .38 Special/.357 Magnum and for the .41 Magnum. Now if I could just find carbide for my .22 Jet I would be totally happy. :-)

[ ... ]

Hmm ... well -- I don't think that the .44 Magnum was around when I got mine -- back around 1962/1964 IIRC. The plastic power measures seem to be a later innovation -- and they are now selling full sets of them. But I prefer a drum dispenser, thank you.

Hmm ... I'm pretty sure that my deprimer punch is still usable. The only thing that was broken in mine was the whole design. :-) But it did get me started, and the C-H press was the next step. I still have the 8mm dies which I got at the same time. All of my other dies turn out to be RCBS.

:-)

[ ... ]

Yep -- he needs to "pay his dues". :-)

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 22:52:44 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, pyotr filipivich quickly quoth:

When I grow up, I want to own a SkyLift.

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-- This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it. - John Adams

Reply to
Larry Jaques

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Stick a nickle between the top of the shelll holder and the bottom of the full length reloading die. That is generally enough to neck size only, so you dont need to buy a "neck size die"

If your chamber is so fat that even doing that will size case body..time for a new barrel.

Btw...making dies for neck sizing only, seating and so forth is easy for anyone with a lathe. Metalworking content

also...the old Lee Loader ..beat em in with a hammer stuff...works very well with a simple arbor press. I actually have about 20 sets of them in the common (and not so common) calibers. 6.5 Jap dies are expensive. Ive loaded a bunch of them using lee loader dies. Etc etc.

Gunner, who has dies for 53 different cartridges

Reply to
Gunner

Just be sure to keep your delicate bits away from the case mouth when priming cases, and dont be looking into the case.

Gunner

Reply to
Gunner

Actually..Ive nearly always used a press of some sort to push , when using a Lee Loader. I started off with an ancient bottle capper and went from there. Frankly..I dont remember if I ever popped one with a Lee Loader. Not that I can recall.

Gunner

Reply to
Gunner

According to Gunner :

[ ... ]

But then again -- you've never used the Lee Loader as it was

*designed* to be used. When I was using mine, I didn't have *any* kind of press to use -- not even a vise big enough to accept the die plus the cartridge, so I used the hammer, and had to live with the occasional primer pop. :-)

BTW Did you prime as the cartridge was coming out of the sizing die (as the instructions had you do), or did you have an alternative way to hold the case centered in the priming base? That, also, could make a difference.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

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