How to accurize the press?

[Homerange]

I've been reloading a long time and have loaded on a lot of different presses over the years. I load now on two Lee four hole turret presses and a Lyman Crusher. I've never had a press load more accurate ammo than any other. I do clamp the turrets down with machinest clamps when seating bullets.

How much would be the variability if you didn't ?

 

[DiffEQ]

If you have Hornady twist lock die holders, throw them out. The aluminum ears that cam it into place gauer and deform over time.
I H.A.T.E. O-rings in any form when it comes to dies and lock rings. Pure rubbish.
I've had sloppy presses where I could wobble the ram at full extension, tight presses where that sucker was solidly in place, and I've noted that you can be as rigid in the press as you want, but the slop in the shell holder allows the brass to float into the die. Using my method, they all produced excellent ammo for my rifles.
When I process a casing, I will rotate it 120° three times while either neck sizing or full sizing. Is it just voodoo? Who knows. What I do know, on a Lyman Turret, a Lee Classic Cast and a Forster Co-Ax, I produce ammo with less than three mils runout. I developed this habit while using a super ancient and sloppy RCBS Jr. It always worked great.
The thing that has surprised me -- I have had more than one batch of brand new brass where the case head is not perpendicular to the axis of the casing to the point it is clearly visible when you set the piece into the shell holder.

My friend the benchrest fanatic more than once fixtured presses onto his lathe and line bored them. He was a bit nuts, but was interested in converting presses for bullet making. At the end, he used a Lee Cast Classic. Said it was one of the straightest he'd tried.

For as maligned as Lee is for their plastic components in cheaper presses, the Classic Cast is one of the best presses I've ever had.

 

[MisterHelix]

I keep coming back to this thread, thinking about my Hornady L-N-L.

The bushings are very convenient, but I find that they can rotate a degree or two, and this makes me uneasy.

I have tried drilling and tapping a set screw, which is ok but tedious. I have tried a bit of Teflon Tape which was probably useless as best. I have tried ignoring it, which works ok I guess.

Do you think it matters? Is there a better solution?

I’m loading for .223 service Rifle, if that matters.




Start, and about fifty pieces later

 

[B y r o n]

If you are that worried about your press being perfect, then may you just want one of these. If you can find anything wrong with it just contact the manufacture.

 

[whatsupdoc]

This is a solution looking for a problem.

 

[gpoldblue]

Like any machined collection of parts, especially the mass produced ones, no press is perfect. I’ve been guilty of assuming my rock chucker is just fine, but it’s time to go through it, case holders, dies, even the primer seater stem. What have you guys checked and what was the most surprising? What did you do about it?

Is the end of the ram square and flat? Heck, is the ram even straight? How much slop in the ram is ok? Is the shell holder centered on the threads for the dies? Are those threads straight? Is the bearing surface true to the bore and flat? How true is the interior to the exterior to the bearing surface of the nut?

Which of the major makers has the best machining?

I've found the best way to accurize a press is to use Wilson reloading dies.
Stay safe.

 

[dcali]

You can’t align anything better than floating.

The dies float relative to the case to keep alignment as perfect as it can be. If you try to tighten that up, you will mess everything up. I know Area 419 started down a path of doing that with their zero press and it was a bad idea if you ask me. I’m not sure if they ever got to the dies required to even try that but I doubt it can be done at a sane price.

It’s also really hard to measure a press. It’s much easier to measure what’s coming out of it and decide if that is your biggest problem. Chances are very good that you’re fine with what you’ve got, warts and all.