Just a thought on the powder/shot drop tube being painted white. You could get the index marks without having to paint the entire thing if you used either a silver Sharpie or some Whiteout (the type that comes in a bottle with a tiny paintbrush built into the lid) to paint your index markings on that. Doing that would also make it easy to erase your markings if they wound up being not quite right or if you changed load recipes enough to warrant different depths, simply by using a cotton ball saturated with isopropyl alcohol to scrub off the old markings before making new ones.
The advice on filing off the end of the crimper was a BIG HELP for me with one of the problems that stopped me from using my Lee press and going to a MEC 600 JR Mk V!! Wish you had done this video years ago!!!! Keep up the great videos. I am an NRA Shotshell Reloading instructor and I look for tips like yours to tell my classes and help them with their problems! This is great stuff!! I would like to see more people like yourself do videos on TIPS on inproving simple this and keep them simple!!! HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Thanks for the feedback. I always like to help people. I also transitioned to a MEC 600 series progressive probably made in the 1960s. I wish I had kept the Lee press though, as the Mec doesn't have practical shell sizing. The newer models with inline collet sizing are the clear way to go. I wish more NRA instructors were like you. The one in my area basically teaches everyone how to do everything in the slowest stodgiest way, as though nothing has improved since 1970 and people's time is not important. We are in an era where we all have access to the solutions other people have found, and the best practices are readily available. For example:1) No one should be taught to use a lubersizer for anything other than nostalgic purposes now that powder coating has been worked out. 2) No one should associate the necessary alloy with velocity, instead of pressure. That's just bad info that Lyman continues to publish, even though their own data contradicts it. 3) I think it is malpractice to tell new metallic reloaders to buy a single stage to start, when there are excellent turret presses which can operate as a single stage simply by removing the indexing rod, and those presses cost a lot less than most of the old single stages. That's wasting your pupil's money and teaching him that reloading is needlessly time consuming.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that you found it helpful! I am really trying to put out content that will help people like yourself. Take care and if you have any ideas on a video that I could make that will be helpful please let me know! Take care.
I have nicer loaders now, but it certainly is a capable tool if you know how to use it. The fact that it comes with a full set of bushings is a big deal too. And that you can get another full set for like $5. So it's even cheap to modify bushings for a perfect dialed load.
Yes. Thanks. I think Lee should also cast a couple rings around the crimp starter positions to make centering the hull quicker. There isn't much use in making a poor quality video explaining how to use a LLA or the pros/cons when there is already an excellent video on the topic.
Here is an old reloaders trick for you.........................To help prevent powder bridging or static clean, wash the plastic thoroughly in soap and water. Rinse clean then put back into fresh soap and water. Let dry without rinsing! This leaves a fine film of soap on the plastic and it will no longer have a tendency to produce static cling. Do this every time you finish your reloading.
When your pressing down, your handle is hitting the table top and not seating all the way down, re drill and move the press closer to table edge and you will get a better crimp. I got my load all from a fri3nd who had the same problem, he replaced the jig and the same. I un mounted and rebounded closer and no problems.
That is only the case where the press was set up for the camera. When I was using it, it was mounted appropriately. The dies bottomed out about an eighth of an inch before the crimp was complete prior to the modification.
I reload 16 gauge shells on the Lee and found out the same as you, that I need to go up in bushing size for powder charges to match Lee's powder weight charts. I weigh every 5th powder drop on a scale to make sure everything is hunky-dory with my load recipe.
I tap on the powder hopper a few times then check the first few drops, or when I add a new can of powder. I know the volume isn't changing that much. Plus there's the fact that with the RCBS manual, for many of my loads, there is often a load a few pages later that has the identical components, but a few grains more powder, or a few grains less a page or two back. That means while fluctuations would be sub optimal, they would still be in safe published ranges.
reply #2 -- when I try a new powder and bushing combo, I insist on variances less than +/- 0.1 or maybe 0.2 grains for shotgun shells. If that bushing and powder don't give consistent drops, I will either fix what's wrong or use a different recipe. However, since I made this video, I've been using an old MEC machine with an adjustable charge bar, which I prefer.
Grejam53 Thanks for watching it. I put a lot of work into that, and mostly got crickets chirping and tumbleweeds. I hope you get good results in the ammo you make. Now I need to do a big run of shotgun ammo too. I used up just about everything I didn't give away on the 4th.
I've done that. I don't like it as much because 1) it's a bit fiddly. 2) 90% of what I have loaded needs more than what a nickel would do. I'd rather have my press set for how I actually use it, with repeatable stops, or at least witness marks for the unusual case. Thanks for the reply though.
Crimp problems? Lee instructions say that when mounting the Loadall 2, do not mount it farther than 1/2" from the edge of the bench. If you are too far back, the edge of the bench stops the handle before it completes its proper amount of travel. In udda woids, mount the loader so the front screw is 1/2" from the edge of the bench. Here is the quote: "BEFORE YOU START RELOADING 1 Mount your Lee Load All II to a sturdy bench or table with the three screws supplied - FL1157 (qty. 1) and FL2380 (qty. 2). See HELPFUL HINTS for portable mounting. Mount press no more than ½” from edge of bench for handle clearance."
That's not what is the issue in this demo. The video is addressing when the crimp die bottoms out on the press before the shell has a full crimp. That's not even close to possible if the handle is hitting your bench.
hi i know this is an old video but is there anyone out there can tell me how to gauge how far down to pull the load tube. possibly pull down to buckleing point then back off x amount, do this on each type of hull wad powder combination. i would mark off tube in 1/16 increments and number them so you can make a note off with combination goes to wich mark and purhaps we could work out how much pressure should be used to seat a wad properly the cartridge manufactures must have a set pressure to compress the wads to the powder before it crushes the powder could somone make a video on this subject ?
Yes that video is actually already done and it is one of my most popular old videos . If you search through my reloading videos there is about a 16 minute video on shotgun reloading diagnostics . That will tell you exactly the things you were asking.
Everything i read says that when using the modern shotcups no extra pressure is needed. Press the shotcup down to meet the powder solidly, but not to the point of compressing the cup. Old way was compress fiber wads to 40 pounds. No pressure needed with shotcups. I think the 40 lbs compression may have transitioned from the Blackpowder days and proper ignition required compressing the powder. Not necessary with smokeless. Progressive burning powders build the pressure in a confined enclosure when ignited. Blackpowder explodes when fired up and if there is an air pocket, boom goes the gun, barrel, and maybe the shooter. BP required compression for safety but also to eliminate air pockets, which ensured proper ignition, same as BP muzzleloaders today. But it is still necessary to NOT leave an air pocket between powder and shotcup. Just don't compress it heavily.
They are gauging several things, all related to how far you run the press down. First, they tell you how deeply you are setting the wad, and allowing you to hit the same mark every time. Then same for the pre-crimp. Then same for the final crimp. Going to the right level, and returning to the same spot makes turning out good ammo much easier, and more consistent.
Thanks for the tips. I'm having trouble with the hull buckling as you mentioned. Using 20 ga AAs. Are you saying that I'm seating the wad too forcefully (too deep)? My shells break targets fine, but look bad. How do you mark your gauge lines? I could use more info on the procedure. Thanks for your help. Kevin
It looked like the handle of your press was making contact with the edge of the table when you were crimping. If you mounted the device closer to the edge, so the handle didn't touch the table, might that have given you more travel to tighten your crimp?
Leonard Urban l don't think that was an issue. I had that setup temporarily for the benefit of the camera. My general setup definitely had full travel.
dustoff499 even bottoming the handle against the unmounted press, stroke was insufficient. The length of the die indicated in the vid was the limiting factor.
GunFun ZS Thanks. I do not own the Lee press. I'm considering one though. Downloaded manual to study (sharing what I read previous post) but have no experience in this. These videos are a treasure of helpful information.
Nice video and good information. I have a video on RUclips on the LEE load all 2. Maybe you would find something that is helpful too you. Channel is called PA Reloader.
It has been a few years since I made this video. Unfortunately, I sold the Loader just before making this video, and shipped it just before I uploaded the video and discovered that I had it partly out of frame. I may reshoot the video if I get one again. I'll try and answer your question based on what I recall. There were two modifications that substantially improve the capability to make quality ammo. 1) I painted the drop tube white and put colored markings at different levels so that I could seat the wads to a consistent depth. That is in shot, as can be seen even in the thumbnail for the video. This is probably what you are asking about. 2)The second modification increases the range of travel of the whole press, which gives the option of seating wads a little deeper too, and also solves the shallow crimps issue. You will notice that one of the dies on the right side hits the press base before the others. IIRC it was the final crimp die. The mod is easy. File about 1/8" off of the bottom of that die. Now the press can go deeper. My observation is that most Lee Loaders need about 1/8" more travel to get good crimps with most shells. Yours may be a little more or less, but there's no serious harm caused by going too far. If I were to make it even nicer, I would shave a lot more off, and add a bolt to make an adjustable travel stop. I do think these are good presses, but those simple changes make them a lot better.
Joking aside though, I knew it was rough, but this video took me a ton of time to make. Did it actually teach you anything useful, because that was the main thing I wanted to achieve. Basically help others with the things that I needed help with.
@@GunFunZS I have yet to use mine so have little clue of the potential issues one way or the other, but am just watching others succeed or fail so I will not be totally lost (my hope anyway) when I do start loading the slugs and buck shot shells. I ordered 500 shells and wads along with the lyman 5th edition shotshell handbook. The place I ordered from used that book to verify my wads would work with the shells I ordered, and I'm thinking of looking up and ordering the correct primer for that shell tonight. BYW, my experience as a mechanic says I think I'd use powdered graphite rather than sizing wax for a lube as it's dry and the same coating used on gunpowder to keep it from sticking, and is a perfect key hole lubricant.
I found that out while editing. At that point, the press was already in the mail. I had sold it before making this video, and the buyer was nice enough to let me film before shipping. I still think it is a great press. Hopefully you got useful information anyway.
Just a thought on the powder/shot drop tube being painted white.
You could get the index marks without having to paint the entire thing if you used either a silver Sharpie or some Whiteout (the type that comes in a bottle with a tiny paintbrush built into the lid) to paint your index markings on that.
Doing that would also make it easy to erase your markings if they wound up being not quite right or if you changed load recipes enough to warrant different depths, simply by using a cotton ball saturated with isopropyl alcohol to scrub off the old markings before making new ones.
I can't remember for sure, but that might be what I used.
The advice on filing off the end of the crimper was a BIG HELP for me with one of the problems that stopped me from using my Lee press and going to a MEC 600 JR Mk V!! Wish you had done this video years ago!!!! Keep up the great videos. I am an NRA Shotshell Reloading instructor and I look for tips like yours to tell my classes and help them with their problems! This is great stuff!! I would like to see more people like yourself do videos on TIPS on inproving simple this and keep them simple!!! HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Thanks for the feedback. I always like to help people. I also transitioned to a MEC 600 series progressive probably made in the 1960s. I wish I had kept the Lee press though, as the Mec doesn't have practical shell sizing. The newer models with inline collet sizing are the clear way to go.
I wish more NRA instructors were like you. The one in my area basically teaches everyone how to do everything in the slowest stodgiest way, as though nothing has improved since 1970 and people's time is not important. We are in an era where we all have access to the solutions other people have found, and the best practices are readily available. For example:1) No one should be taught to use a lubersizer for anything other than nostalgic purposes now that powder coating has been worked out. 2) No one should associate the necessary alloy with velocity, instead of pressure. That's just bad info that Lyman continues to publish, even though their own data contradicts it. 3) I think it is malpractice to tell new metallic reloaders to buy a single stage to start, when there are excellent turret presses which can operate as a single stage simply by removing the indexing rod, and those presses cost a lot less than most of the old single stages. That's wasting your pupil's money and teaching him that reloading is needlessly time consuming.
I've recently done a couple videos on reloading buckshot, that you might like, along with a write up on The Reloader's Network.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that you found it helpful! I am really trying to put out content that will help people like yourself. Take care and if you have any ideas on a video that I could make that will be helpful please let me know! Take care.
I’ve been using the LEE load all 2 for years. Once I get into a rhythm I can load a box of 25 in 15 minutes. I love this loader.
I have nicer loaders now, but it certainly is a capable tool if you know how to use it. The fact that it comes with a full set of bushings is a big deal too. And that you can get another full set for like $5. So it's even cheap to modify bushings for a perfect dialed load.
Good idea on the index marks on the drop tube, Lee should cast index marks on those from the factory. Thanks for the mention!
Yes. Thanks. I think Lee should also cast a couple rings around the crimp starter positions to make centering the hull quicker. There isn't much use in making a poor quality video explaining how to use a LLA or the pros/cons when there is already an excellent video on the topic.
Here is an old reloaders trick for you.........................To help prevent powder bridging or static clean, wash the plastic thoroughly in soap and water. Rinse clean then put back into fresh soap and water. Let dry without rinsing! This leaves a fine film of soap on the plastic and it will no longer have a tendency to produce static cling. Do this every time you finish your reloading.
Thanks for the comment. That sounds like a lot of work.
Expecting my Lee Load-All to be delivered in the next few days. I will try your method of dried soapy water.
When your pressing down, your handle is hitting the table top and not seating all the way down, re drill and move the press closer to table edge and you will get a better crimp. I got my load all from a fri3nd who had the same problem, he replaced the jig and the same. I un mounted and rebounded closer and no problems.
That is only the case where the press was set up for the camera. When I was using it, it was mounted appropriately. The dies bottomed out about an eighth of an inch before the crimp was complete prior to the modification.
Thank you, nice details.
I reload 16 gauge shells on the Lee and found out the same as you, that I need to go up in bushing size for powder charges to match Lee's powder weight charts. I weigh every 5th powder drop on a scale to make sure everything is hunky-dory with my load recipe.
I tap on the powder hopper a few times then check the first few drops, or when I add a new can of powder. I know the volume isn't changing that much. Plus there's the fact that with the RCBS manual, for many of my loads, there is often a load a few pages later that has the identical components, but a few grains more powder, or a few grains less a page or two back. That means while fluctuations would be sub optimal, they would still be in safe published ranges.
reply #2 -- when I try a new powder and bushing combo, I insist on variances less than +/- 0.1 or maybe 0.2 grains for shotgun shells. If that bushing and powder don't give consistent drops, I will either fix what's wrong or use a different recipe. However, since I made this video, I've been using an old MEC machine with an adjustable charge bar, which I prefer.
Thank you for the video. This video, and the next, are by far the most helpful videos.
Thank you for the kind words. RUclips hasn't been telling me when people comment on my videos lately. It's frustrating.
Good advice. Thanks for the video.
Grejam53 Thanks for watching it. I put a lot of work into that, and mostly got crickets chirping and tumbleweeds. I hope you get good results in the ammo you make. Now I need to do a big run of shotgun ammo too. I used up just about everything I didn't give away on the 4th.
Wish he would have lowered the camera a little bit but good info
I wish that too but I couldn't do a retake because I had already shipped the press to its new owner before I started editing.
This man is a legend
Thanks. I'm Flattered. New shotgun content coming out soon. I just got Svarog Paradox mold, and am a beta tester for a new loading tool.
intead of trimming the crimping tool put a washer on the bottom to get a deeper crimp
I've done that. I don't like it as much because 1) it's a bit fiddly. 2) 90% of what I have loaded needs more than what a nickel would do. I'd rather have my press set for how I actually use it, with repeatable stops, or at least witness marks for the unusual case. Thanks for the reply though.
Crimp problems? Lee instructions say that when mounting the Loadall 2, do not mount it farther than 1/2" from the edge of the bench. If you are too far back, the edge of the bench stops the handle before it completes its proper amount of travel. In udda woids, mount the loader so the front screw is 1/2" from the edge of the bench. Here is the quote:
"BEFORE YOU START RELOADING
1 Mount your Lee Load All II to a sturdy
bench or table with the three screws
supplied - FL1157 (qty. 1) and FL2380
(qty. 2). See HELPFUL HINTS for
portable mounting.
Mount press no more than ½” from edge of
bench for handle clearance."
That's not what is the issue in this demo. The video is addressing when the crimp die bottoms out on the press before the shell has a full crimp. That's not even close to possible if the handle is hitting your bench.
God tips. Much appreciated. Thank you
We're all learning. Pass on what you learn to someone else too.
hi i know this is an old video but is there anyone out there can tell me how to gauge how far down to pull the load tube.
possibly pull down to buckleing point then back off x amount, do this on each type of hull wad powder combination.
i would mark off tube in 1/16 increments and number them so you can make a note off with combination goes to wich mark and purhaps we could work out how much pressure should be used to seat a wad properly the cartridge manufactures must have a set pressure to compress the wads to the powder before it crushes the powder could somone make a video on this subject ?
Yes that video is actually already done and it is one of my most popular old videos . If you search through my reloading videos there is about a 16 minute video on shotgun reloading diagnostics . That will tell you exactly the things you were asking.
And for what it's worth you're asking exactly the right kind of questions.
ruclips.net/video/lu9mB-hH1Rc/видео.html
If you have any questions that the video in the link doesn't answer, I will be happy to answer them directly.
Everything i read says that when using the modern shotcups no extra pressure is needed. Press the shotcup down to meet the powder solidly, but not to the point of compressing the cup. Old way was compress fiber wads to 40 pounds. No pressure needed with shotcups. I think the 40 lbs compression may have transitioned from the Blackpowder days and proper ignition required compressing the powder. Not necessary with smokeless. Progressive burning powders build the pressure in a confined enclosure when ignited.
Blackpowder explodes when fired up and if there is an air pocket, boom goes the gun, barrel, and maybe the shooter. BP required compression for safety but also to eliminate air pockets, which ensured proper ignition, same as BP muzzleloaders today. But it is still necessary to NOT leave an air pocket between powder and shotcup. Just don't compress it heavily.
More information on the gradient marks. What are they guaging?
They are gauging several things, all related to how far you run the press down. First, they tell you how deeply you are setting the wad, and allowing you to hit the same mark every time. Then same for the pre-crimp. Then same for the final crimp. Going to the right level, and returning to the same spot makes turning out good ammo much easier, and more consistent.
Thanks for the tips. I'm having trouble with the hull buckling as you mentioned. Using 20 ga AAs. Are you saying that I'm seating the wad too forcefully (too deep)? My shells break targets fine, but look bad. How do you mark your gauge lines? I could use more info on the procedure. Thanks for your help. Kevin
buckling close to the brass, or up at the crimp?
It looked like the handle of your press was making contact with the edge of the table when you were crimping. If you mounted the device closer to the edge, so the handle didn't touch the table, might that have given you more travel to tighten your crimp?
Leonard Urban l don't think that was an issue. I had that setup temporarily for the benefit of the camera. My general setup definitely had full travel.
Leonard Urban Yes Sir... Lee Instructions state: "Mount press no more than ½” from edge of
bench for handle clearance."
dustoff499 even bottoming the handle against the unmounted press, stroke was insufficient. The length of the die indicated in the vid was the limiting factor.
GunFun ZS Thanks. I do not own the Lee press. I'm considering one though. Downloaded manual to study (sharing what I read previous post) but have no experience in this. These videos are a treasure of helpful information.
dustoff499 they are decent. I appreciate they they include sizing ring. Verify the charge weights. They tend to be light.
Nice video and good information. I have a video on RUclips on the LEE load all 2. Maybe you would find something that is helpful too you. Channel is called PA Reloader.
I'll take a look.
@@GunFunZS thank you! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
What were you pointing at?
When?
I’m a little confused on setting the wad. What mod did you make that helped you set the wad correctly? Most of the shot was out of frame.
It has been a few years since I made this video. Unfortunately, I sold the Loader just before making this video, and shipped it just before I uploaded the video and discovered that I had it partly out of frame. I may reshoot the video if I get one again. I'll try and answer your question based on what I recall. There were two modifications that substantially improve the capability to make quality ammo. 1) I painted the drop tube white and put colored markings at different levels so that I could seat the wads to a consistent depth. That is in shot, as can be seen even in the thumbnail for the video. This is probably what you are asking about. 2)The second modification increases the range of travel of the whole press, which gives the option of seating wads a little deeper too, and also solves the shallow crimps issue. You will notice that one of the dies on the right side hits the press base before the others. IIRC it was the final crimp die. The mod is easy. File about 1/8" off of the bottom of that die. Now the press can go deeper. My observation is that most Lee Loaders need about 1/8" more travel to get good crimps with most shells. Yours may be a little more or less, but there's no serious harm caused by going too far. If I were to make it even nicer, I would shave a lot more off, and add a bolt to make an adjustable travel stop. I do think these are good presses, but those simple changes make them a lot better.
GunFun ZS thank you for the info. I will start at an 1/8 inch and try it from there.
Standing in front of the camera doesn't help much.
Did you learn anything from the video?
This guys video technique is almost as bad as mine, not quite, but almost!
Don't worry. That was years ago, and it hasn't improved any so far as I can tell.
Joking aside though, I knew it was rough, but this video took me a ton of time to make. Did it actually teach you anything useful, because that was the main thing I wanted to achieve. Basically help others with the things that I needed help with.
@@GunFunZS I have yet to use mine so have little clue of the potential issues one way or the other, but am just watching others succeed or fail so I will not be totally lost (my hope anyway) when I do start loading the slugs and buck shot shells.
I ordered 500 shells and wads along with the lyman 5th edition shotshell handbook. The place I ordered from used that book to verify my wads would work with the shells I ordered, and I'm thinking of looking up and ordering the correct primer for that shell tonight.
BYW, my experience as a mechanic says I think I'd use powdered graphite rather than sizing wax for a lube as it's dry and the same coating used on gunpowder to keep it from sticking, and is a perfect key hole lubricant.
@@archangel20031 unlike metallic cartridge you basically do not need to lubricate shotgun shells . Unless you were using a roll crimper...
GunFun ZS I meant graphite lubricant for the powder/shot slide thingie that you said gets sticky, or hangs up.
Sir you have a horrible visual meaning you have the camera to close.
I found that out while editing. At that point, the press was already in the mail. I had sold it before making this video, and the buyer was nice enough to let me film before shipping. I still think it is a great press. Hopefully you got useful information anyway.