Well, I finally used my Lee APP.

[Mark_Mark]

just did 400~ish .44 mag cases size-de. Used the tubes and spinner thing!

GOOD MACHINE

 

[jmorris]

If anyone has interest, I bought (last Febuary...) this ram for $20.

Amazon.com

And mounted it today to 1/2" 6061T6, it does the job, no problem, at 90 psi.

 

[GW Staar]

You made that look easy......but I don't understand how you adjust the length of the stroke on either ram to match the APP's stoke length. That's why you get the big bucks.....

 

[Rule3]

I have had my APP for too long and only played with it a little, just to see how they made it but never put it to use. I had other stuff to do but kept walking by parts that looked like they could be something together so I spent a couple hours building one that could run itself.

I didn’t want to modify the press, not that it would loose a lot of value I just didn’t want to jeopardize integrity of the machine just playing around. So, I just took these parts off, for safe keeping.

View attachment 1135759

I looked through my unused die’s and found a .224 Lee collet die I machined a spacer to locate the case but not swage the neck to the mandrel/decapping pin. I also drilled/tapped a shallow blind hole in the cap, for a pneumatic cylinder I had sitting in a box.

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Then drilled and tapped a piece of steel with the 3 bolt pattern and used 3 aluminum bars (also threaded, on both ends) and a piece of box tubing with the side milled out I have been saving for 20 years before I finally found another use for it.

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The next part is even less pretty, just functional. I used two boost control solenoids that were deemed “questionable” but work fine for this application and a cheap China cycle timer.

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Looks like this in action.

When are you gonna talk with Calvin at LEE precision and so some BETA testing??

 

[jmorris]

Lots of stuff I make isn't idiot proof for the general public. Would take another $1000 to make that thing OSHA compliant.

 

[LiveLife]

When are you gonna talk with Calvin at LEE precision and so some BETA testing??

Lots of stuff I make isn't idiot proof for the general public. Would take another $1000 to make that thing OSHA compliant.

Wow!... < ... pondering at the contraption >

 

[westernrover]

I've been using that 3D printed case feeder I mentioned in the other thread on my Deluxe APP. It greatly improved the case feeding over the Lee version. After I installed the 3D printed feed pawls and the case deflector, I get nearly 100% case feeding. The only faults I have now when decapping is when a primer fails to drop out. I don't know if they are sticking on the decapping pin or just sticking to the case with the primer sealant. It happens once every few hundred. Other than that, I had a two cases where the decapping rod punched through the primer, and two where the cases had rocks in them. That was out of 3000 so far.

I haven't been doing priming on the Deluxe APP for a while, but when I did it last, I got a few faults with primer feeding or flipping, but it was pretty good. I'll see how it goes when I'm ready to work through a few bricks.

 

[jmorris]

The only faults I have now when decapping is when a primer fails to drop out.

They are probably sticking and being pulled back in, before being dislodged. If you put a little angle on the tip (instead of the rounded tip) they seem to exit the pocket not lined up for reentry and get knocked off.

"Ringers" are much more common on brass that has been sitting wet awhile. Ironically, wet tumbling can make brass sitting in the dirt for 5 years look new but not make the primers any easier to remove...