New Lyman All-American press

Well...

For certain, there is nothing whatsoever wrong with spinning a die in or out of a press when you need or simply wish to. In fact, I don't even own a turret press myself. I seat all my bullets on my single stage press and I'll continue to do exactly that.

Not sure why anyone who owns a great single stage that they love... would be chasing a turret press down if their end game is to spin dies in and out of it.

But it's all good. I think that all of us in this discussion have successfully gotten ourselves this far and we'll keep doing even better as we go forward.
 
Lyman quality is legendary. I have a Lyman "Orange Crusher" on my bench, right beside my Redding Ultra Mag, and my two Dillons. (upgraded RL 450 and XL 650)

Presses, to me are like guns. You can never have enough!:)
 
Not sure why anyone who owns a great single stage that they love... would be chasing a turret press down if their end game is to spin dies in and out of it.
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Leaving something in place for a time - days, weeks, or even months - is sometimes worthwhile while chasing a load for a particular cartridge, while still being able to load other things on the same press.
That isn't my current situation, but was the case prior to the .480 Ruger showing up. (I'm almost done with that for now, anyway. Two more bullets to nail down, and I'll be done for a few years - at least with development.)

It's like having a double-wide driveway.
You can park one car for a day, a week, a month, or years, but still be able to use the other side of the driveway for other vehicles. There's no shuffling. No moving things around to get to the other car. You just grab the keys you want, blow the dust off, and go.
 
That Lyman looks like you could use it as a small anchor Stag :). I am sure it will last a lifetime, or two

I have been considering going back to either a turret or try a Forster Co Ax. I am leaning toward the Forster. The die changout does not get much easier than on a Forster
 
I like the look and design of the co-ax too-- though I prefer the idea of spinning down the die inside a collar a little better to lock it into place. I've replaced some lock-collar designs on dies like RCBS's that use a screw to cinch the die threads with the collar rubber bushing design that Lee favors. Hornady uses the best approach IMO with a cinch collar design
 
Press came in on Friday, while the Lee stand--which I'm very fond of--came in today.

So away I went.:)

The Lee stand comes with a link for mounting presses other than theirs--the manual gives a URL to download a template which basically has all the various screw holes laid out--though it doesn't say anything about which presses which holes work with. I went ahead and cut out the 3/4 ply as instructed (they apparently no longer include a mounting block--which I got with the first stand I bought from them). After following all the instructions for cutting and fitting--I discovered to my dismay the template is the wrong size and doesn't fit the z-holders; it's bit undersized. Gee, that was fun. To save the project, I ended up bolting the block of wood I had cut to the standard metal plate that is set up for Lee presses. It works fine.

The press comes mostly assembled--all you have to do is install the handle and you're good to go--though I haven't assembled and installed the straight primer feed yet. The only fault I found was that the turret lock nut is on so tight I can't get it to budge. No problem for now--but I do have a couple of extra turrets coming in (assuming Optics Planet actually finds them after listing them "in stock" on their site) and I'd like to figure out how to change them out. The owners manual is a bit sparse on instructions--in fact it's really just a catalog. The turret appears to be self-centering with the case/shell-holder. While not one-finger operational--it is still a very easy press to size cases with--and I like the fact dies cinch down directly in the turret as opposed to having a "quick change" collar, which I've found generally adds movement (and measurement inconistencies). I ran a batch of 224 valk brass--some of which had been stretched a bit in some hot loads--and everything the press sized was consistent and "chamber-ready" for my gun.

So far--I like a lot.:D

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Just installed the straight primer feed--my first thought was no way I have the patience to feed those little things one by one--but soon figured out all I had to do was press them in from the primer tray. Still a bit cumbersome--but tolerable. Primer seating is a breeze--however, because of the extra leverage force it's hard to "tell by feel" if the primer cup in the case might be stretched a bit.
 
I called Lyman--turns out they use a heavy duty loktite to seal the lock nut on the turret--gonna take some work to get that off. I also let them know that functionally everything works great--but the primer feed--being directly in front of the ram--is really a PITA to remove by having to deal with 3 bolts every time you want it out of the way--I told them they should make a quick release system for future improvements.
 
Borrow your wife's hair dryer and heat up that loctite until it's uncomfortable to touch. The bolt will then come out fairly easily.
 
Borrow your wife's hair dryer and heat up that loctite until it's uncomfortable to touch. The bolt will then come out fairly easily.
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She wasn't too keen on the possibility of the hair dryer being returned with smokeless powder in it.:D
 
It may just be the fact that I like any excuse to use fire, but I'd probably take a torch to it. If they used red loctite or one of the bearing seating compounds, the hair dryer isn't going to cut it.
 
It may just be the fact that I like any excuse to use fire, but I'd probably take a torch to it. If they used red loctite or one of the bearing seating compounds, the hair dryer isn't going to cut it.
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Yup--I'm already good yo go with the torch thing.:) Honestly--it's easier for me to keep track of things and keep my dies sorted properly by removing them and storing them in their boxes when I'm done--I'm not even sure I'm really going to need to swap the turrets out.:rolleyes:
 
I have to agree with Sevens. Lyman makes good products, but whoever makes product development decisions for them IMHO should retire.
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Maybe, unless they are trying to take business away from Redding. It look just like the Redding except its yellow instead of green
 
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I have to agree with Sevens. Lyman makes good products, but whoever makes product development decisions for them IMHO should retire.
Maybe, unless they are trying to take business away from Redding. It look just like the Redding except its yellow instead of green
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Well, I like it...and I like Creedmoor too!:p
 
I have the 6 position Herter, there was a time I could have sent the turret back to add 6 more positions, back then rather than add a turret I added a press. I also have the two ram press by Herter and I have the 'U' press. And then there were the shell holders; Herter shell holders fit the case, RCBS shell holders fit the case like a hand me down shirt; they only fit the cases where they touched.

And then there were the adapter kits, I thought the adapter kits were a bad habit; the RCBS shell holder did not fit the case.

F. Guffey
 
Well folks--the honeymoon is over; after maybe a couple of thousand reloads the press failed today. The bearing or mechanism which locks the turret stationary no longer works. Now I have to try and figure out how to get the turret off--so far all attempts have failed including using solvent and a torch. Lyman CS tells me that they use a locker to lock the turret at the factory.:(:rolleyes:
 
Now I have to try and figure out how to get the turret off--
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I do not know; but there are not many different ways to install, mount and or hole it on.

All of my turret presses have detents for alignment and handles for rotating. I can only guess you are required to loosen the large center nut and remove when removing the turret. And I assume the handle aids in rotating and it could be could be part of the detent system.

I have tools that scare a lot of people, I have slide hammers of all sizes, I also have large chains for those jobs that allow me to jump out of the way when the stubborn part goes flying by. And, I have knockers; I use knucklers when I want to drive the one part and leave the part I am removing setting still. That type of tool works when working on small engines that have fly-wheels pressed onto a tapered shaft.

When it comes to stubborn nuts I use a splitter, some are threaded and others are used in a hydraulic system. And then there is grinding as in carefully.

F. Guffey
 
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