Horizontal Presses for Bullet Making

[ohnomrbillk]

again, not mine, but a visual to admire

[george ulrich]

Originally Posted by Utah Shooter

So one is a Blackmon and the other is made by you George?

yes, its one we made awhile back...... george

[stephen perry 1]

George
What will be your lead time on your dies and presses after you recoup from your surgery. This horizontal press idea is looking real promising to me.

Stephen

[Randy Robinett]

Originally Posted by ohnomrbillk

again, not mine, but a visual to admire

This is one of my Ulrich/Miester (SP? - George, please correct me if needed) presses, of which, I own three. These presses - I believe clones of the original B&A model, perhaps, featuring a few "improvements" - are the proverbial "CAT's MEOW" for core-seating of all calibers (which I make: 20; .224; .243; .257; .308), and, for pointing, all calibers, up to 6MM. For thirty caliber pointing, they lack mechanical advantage - leverage.

As I stated on the SGR forum < http://www.bench-talk.com/photos/r_g...t/default.aspx > many moons ago (about 7 years worth), for all but the pointing of thirty caliber bullets, these presses are difficult to beat. They are also extremely durable and precise.

A gander at my photo album (link above) will take you to RG's hintin', shootin', and bullet making stuff - you may want to skip over the huntin' pics and get to the bullet making pics - this may be accomplished by clicking the pages tab, at the lower left until you see something other than dead animals . . . there are also some brief descriptions of the equipment, along with my opinions of them . . .

These days, for pointing thirty caliber bullets, I employ modified RCBS presses and/or, modified, and most EXCELLENT LEE Classic Cast Presses, which following a little leverage increase, "get 'er done" . . . and quite pleasingly . . . well, if ya can tolerate RED! The LEE offering is the most simple to modify, and quite probably, the most precisely aligned (re-loading style) press available.

BTW, a bow-scale reveals that pointing thirty caliber bullets, using a RCBS press (AMMO Master), complete with an extended (19.5") lever, requires 72-74 pounds of force . . . RG

P.S. - almost forgot: gravity ALWAYS works - just ONE of the many GREAT attributes of the original B&A design!

[stephen perry 1]

Randy
You only use your Lee presses to point up.

[Mntngoat]

Originally Posted by stephen perry 1

Randy
You only use your Lee presses to point up.

stephen i use a lee cast press to squirt cores.

ML

[Randy Robinett]

Originally Posted by stephen perry 1

Randy
You only use your Lee presses to point up.

Since converting my original Lee Classic, a little over seven years ago, for core forming, I have used only the Lee Classics - no other press has matched the uniformity of cores produced on the Ugly Red Lees. For core "squirting", I believe the, before top-dead-center, & positive stop of the Lee Classic Press makes the most uniform cores possible. Lee cores never vary over a total range of 0.10 (1/10Th) Gr. - with any/all of my core-form dies, which when teamed-up with a RockChucker, or similar press, produce a range of 0.3 Gr.

After many tens of thousands of cores, I now believe that the "camming-over" (over-top-dead-center) geometry/attribute, employed on most other presses to be detrimental to core uniformity. At first, this was difficult to accept; results are hard to ignore.

The Ulrich presses are dedicated to core-seating (all calibers/configurations), and pointing (6mm and smaller), and the various Lee Classics are employed for all bullet swaging operations (I own 6 of those, with differing modifications, to meet "special" demands/needs) - most are dedicated to one task/caliber.

Having stated all of that, for several years now, I have purchased the majority of my cores from Charlie Hood (Hood Custom Products): Charlies cores are as good as, or, better than my own - you'd have to weigh a LOT of [Hood] cores to find a full 1/10Th grain of variation between the lightest and heaviest in a "batch". Again, none of my converted RCBS presses (all models/eras) will produce cores as precise as Charlie's or, the RED uglies, a.k.a Lee Classic Cast Press. RG

[stephen perry 1]

Thanks Robbie
Some of what you do is becoming clear, never heard of a LEE press before as a bullet press until gave good reasons for your's.

Stephen Perry

[aaronraad]

I second the Lee Classic. I have one of George's conversions on the 50BMG Classic Cast frame and it's hard to fault. A solid handle is the only change I'm considering. It's my go to press for swaging cores used in my .224 and .243 cal projectiles. Mind you the little B&A core squirt die is hard to beat.

If the Lee conversion was available when I first started, I would have chosen it first; and then the BSS and Mega-Mite presses.