lee has a new single stage press coming out Lee APP

[Demi-human]

so bottom line is the press worth getting?

I hope so. I'm still waiting for mine. Actually, I'm waiting for shipping confirmation, then I'm waiting for it to get here.
A dedicated deprimer to replace the Handpress I use for the purpose.

 

[Bang!]

It's been almost 2 months since I found out about this press. Been waiting to hear feedback on it and I see some have had great success while others have had some troubles.

Given my machinist and manufacturing background, I'm not above tinkering and modifying things, so bottom line is the press worth getting? Mostly will be decapping and resizing.

Have been resizing 223 with mine. Quick and easy. I like it.

 

[GW Staar]

Given my machinist and manufacturing background, I'm not above tinkering and modifying things, so bottom line is the press worth getting? Mostly will be decapping and resizing.

One phrase sizes up the APP......bottle neck killer!

I have an RCBS Rock Chucker, and a RCBS Summit for sizing.....the Summit is mounted 6 inches away.......in fact I originally bought the Summit for the the case prep I now have the APP for.......the Summit doesn't have a case/bullet feeder, to speed it up.....or I would never have entertained getting or needing the APP.

However.....the APP is so damned fast (once you tweak it for your calibers) that I won't be using my Summit for anything BUT sizing! I use but two Lee products these days besides a few of their dies for pistol, the very modified case shaker collator, and the APP.....so I wouldn't be what you call a Lee man.....my bench is prejudiced green....two green progressives too....but I like this little Automatic (case) Processing Press!.....with the tweaks.

Truth be known.....I bought this $80 APP actually to see if I could make a feeder for my Summit.....I can.....but why? The APP works great.

Sizing?......I suppose it would be Okay for pistol sizing.....but not as okay as my progressives.....

 

[MuthaFunk]

I’m waiting for mine to come in. I’m hoping to speed up sizing my home cast Bullets and swage crimped brass.

Has anyone here tried applying gas checks while on the press? I’m wonder how the ergonomics will play out. I recognize this defeats the speed gains of the app but would like to know if it’s workable so I can determine which sizing die to buy for my rifle bullets which will need gas checks.

I’d rather buy the cheaper APP dies vs the traditional Lee sizing die and my Classic Cast.

 

[garandsrus]

The biggest reason I bought this press was to quickly swage new crimped 223 brass. For decapping, putting a decapper die on an empty toolhead on my Dillon is far faster, but it's just a pain to empty out the priming system to do it. I have the exact same feelings about the swaging system as you do. I'm definitely having buyer's remorse with this press...

Thanks for posting the videos and questions though!

There is a very easy way to stop a Dillon 650 from cycling primers. Just remove the one screw that holds the black "primer cam" on the press frame and take that part off. Now, as the press cycles, the "primer indexer arm" won't be activated and the primer plate won't rotate. It was so simple it took me several years to figure it out!

 

[garandsrus]

There isn't any reason you can't seat gas checks. I used my APP press for the first time last night and used my normal Lee sizing die and punch, just upside down from a normal press. No other difference as far as the basic operation.

I wouldn't think the feeder will be of any help though. The gas check could fall off during the feeding process.

 

[GravelRider]

There is a very easy way to stop a Dillon 650 from cycling primers. Just remove the one screw that holds the black "primer cam" on the press frame and take that part off. Now, as the press cycles, the "primer indexer arm" won't be activated and the primer plate won't rotate. It was so simple it took me several years to figure it out!

This is simple, and I've had my Dillon for 10-15 years. Lol. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Tilos]

There is a very easy way to stop a Dillon 650 from cycling primers. Just remove the one screw that holds the black "primer cam" on the press frame and take that part off. Now, as the press cycles, the "primer indexer arm" won't be activated and the primer plate won't rotate. It was so simple it took me several years to figure it out!

And there's this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dillon-Pri...Lv5PairwiseWeb&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

 

[Demi-human]

Well, I just got mine.

Ten minuets in the shop to find a nice cherry plank and laminate it with a stone Formica print. Then drill, countersink and attach the press.
Then I brought it inside.

I put the bits together and set it up loosely for 45Auto.
I put a few through it and it worked like a charm!


I tightened everything up and ran through five hundred Starline cases in the thirty minutes before dinner!
After dinner I did ALL of my 45Auto brass.
All of it!
In one standing there session, not one twenty four hour period!
Done!
Every piece!


I emptied the primer catch bottle once already. I figure it’s good for about 3,500 pieces.

I was disappointed that LEE collator I bought didn’t have any tubes, but I taped it to the one tube attached to the press and filled it and filled it and filled it!
It just wouldn’t stay full!

It works so well I almost wanted to cry!

I hope changing it for rifle brass is as easy. If not, I’m getting another one!

Oh the years, oh the wasted time! Why did I wait so long?!

The last of the Starline cases.

I had very, very few hiccups along the way. A couple of cases were mangled at the rim, I through them in the scrap bin after another try. A couple of times I tried to go as fast as it would. This lead to some cases shooting out. No big deal.
Slow and steady is warp speed in this rig!
It just plain works. A little OneShot has the shuttle gliding along smoothly.

Best $104ever spent on handloading! Ever!

A hearty and thunderous Thank You, @GW Staar !
Without your thread I would be searching blindly in the dark, this press has given a new light to my brass prep!
I extend further gratitude to you for the tricks, tips and personal experience you have related to me through this forum. The knowledge passed to me from you in this thread has been invaluable.

Thank you!

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Demi-human,
Were you just punching primers? I was using an old Pro1000 for that but it bit the dust so I'm watching this thread intently for a replacement.
Is that a universal de-priming die in the press?

 

[Demi-human]

Yes, it is my new dedicated case de-priming machine.

The dirtiest, most loathsome handloading job made completely pleasant!

I have an RCBS universal de-primer die in it now.

The LEE collator works well, but a case feeder attached to this would be awesome!

I would love to use this to try sizing pistol case and other things, but I’m a bit of a cleanliness Nazi.
The collator and tubes are already dirty with soot and lead compounds.
When I load it is with clean as new, wet tumbled cases. This press has been contaminated.

I may do a pin-less tumbling run before de-priming, as anything jostled loose whilst collating falls with the brass down onto the shuttle.

But it has been such an easy to use and set up press I am seriously considering another for other, less dirty, case prep.

And a case feeder.

The lever gun and bolt action may have to wait awhile. I’m about to go through a ton of pistol lead...

 

[Tilos]

Well, I just got mine.
I was disappointed that LEE collator I bought didn’t have any tubes, but I taped it to the one tube attached to the press and filled it and filled it and filled it!
It just wouldn’t stay full!
Thank you!

I love that single tube collator hack

 

[GW Staar]

A hearty and thunderous Thank You, @GW Staar !
Without your thread I would be searching blindly in the dark, this press has given a new light to my brass prep!
I extend further gratitude to you for the tricks, tips and personal experience you have related to me through this forum. The knowledge passed to me from you in this thread has been invaluable.

Thank you!

You're welcome, but this is Greyling's thread.....I just made myself a nuisance here and posted on it a lot. (probably way more than my share.....)

Now I have a splash of red near both ends of my bench.....Before the APP was added my bench was pretty much filled up....left to right, Forster Trimmer, Hornady (modified) pistol case feeder, Pro 2000, ProChucker 7, RockChucker 2, the RCBS APS bench primer, and finally the RCBS Summit press.

Now the APP sits where the bench primer is in the picture, but on a Lee quick mount. Now sharing with the APS bench primer now also mounted on a Lee quick mount.



Would prefer to have room for everything on my 8' bench, but I can live with the APP and APS primer sharing.....

 

[Demi-human]

I did these in about two hours. Not two days!

I have cut the tube to three inches and single feed from the bucket. I found the primers we’re catching the top of the case in motion and causing them to snap out. Some cartridges would rock and wobble when they dropped, causing them to fall out, but not enough for me to worry, or devise a solution.

That is an entire years worth of AR fodder for me!

This rifle brass was dirtier than my pistol brass, having set out for a few days of weeks till I could clean it up. I couldn’t stand the dirt and grit going through the shuttle. It’s only plastic and is starting to show wear.
So I washed the cases a little. What an effort in frustration!
Next time I’ll just put them through the Hornady Tumble Separator. There were too many to dry probably in the oven, and I was ready to go!

But there they are!
All the Fourty Five Auto is deprimed (3,500ish). So is the Blackout (250), Bushmaster (100), around a thousandish .223 for the AR.

I have two buckets worth of Nine Millimeter, but I don’t load that yet.

Overall I am very pleased with this press after more than five thousand cycles.
Smooth and reliable, more or less.

I can see a few custom printed shuttles for specific cartridges, however. If the shuttle matched the profile of the rifle case better there would be less wobbling to fall off and no space to for any torque to build force and snap the case free of the tube.

As it was, three cases a second is fast enough for me.

I think this is perfect for pistol cases. Some of the Mil-crimped primers were difficult at times. I punched one right through. The press can do it but the grip leaves a little to be desired. The lever in the middle is a bit to big for in between my fingers.

I was going to leave it as a dedicated depriming unit, but I am going to clean it all out and try doing all the pistols steps through it, just to try, since the collator worked so well.




I am very glad it’s so inexpensive.
I think I just talked myself into a LNL AP...

 

[MuthaFunk]

Here’s my low tech solution to feeding rifle brass quickly.

I grab two or three at a time and toss em in roughly the right way and they just slip right down.

 

[GW Staar]

And this is mine......after a couple of hours modifying Lee's collator first....
.223 below


and .308



How I did that is here: https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/rifle-case-collator-for-lees-progressives.857467/

 

[MuthaFunk]

^^^^
That works well!!

 

[Tilos]

Yes, it is my new dedicated case de-priming machine.

But it has been such an easy to use and set up press I am seriously considering another for other, less dirty, case prep.

And a case feeder.

"Get another one"
That's what I think of when people complain about the Pro 1000 only having 3 stations.
The Pro 1000 is so cheap why not buy 2, in different calibers you load, ideally 1 small primer/1 large primer, bolt them up side by side, for a 6 station shuttle progressive?
Two Pro 1000 are still way cheaper than most 5/7 or 10 station press on the market.
sorry for the drift,

edit: same deal with the Lee turrets...

 

[GW Staar]

That's not a bad idea.....I'm out of bench space, but so what.....the quick change mounts are easy and fast.....and if you got room for two all the better.

I just swaged another 100 rounds of LC this morning and primed them with my APS hand primer, while I was waiting for my wife to get ready to go to work.....took all of 30 minutes....including collating the four tubes full several times. I'm getting the hang of the swager.....backed the adjustment off another turn and it made it easier, and swaged just as well. That seems to be the secret......less is more.

 

[styles]

I really like the nose down sizer, but wish they would make a lubrasizer attachment. I just want to use red and blue lube no alox. I shoot indoors a lot. LEE are too focused on TL molds and sizing only. Is there a way to introduce a stick lube into the sizing die?

 

[GW Staar]

Guess nobody here has any experience....try posting your question on Cast Boolits...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?25-Reloading-Equipment

 

[TTv2]

I know to use the automation features it needs the Xpress shell holders, but can this APP press also use standard shell holders and be run as a regular single stage press?

 

[GW Staar]

yes,but they make heavier duty single stage presses..... The APP is the only single stage with a case feeder and dies, top, bottom, or both, and for some operations that makes all the difference.

When the patent runs out.....single stage presses may have a golden age. The feeder, the dies from both or either top or bottom, can you imagine the heavy duty RCBS Summit Press, or Forster's, with those features? Imagine if Lee would buy out RCBS....now and rescue it from that conglomerate who is ruining it.

 

[BBarn]

Yes it can. However the press is small, the handle lacking for hard use, and the leverage of the press is somewhat low, making some of the heavier tasks burdensome compared to a larger press.

The press is really designed to perform lighter duty case prep (and bullet sizing) tasks quickly.

 

[BBarn]

I see Lee now offers an accessory roller handle for the press, though it's not particularly low cost.