Lee Loader

Dang it - bummed out that my shoulder recovery is taking so long this time, but I can't complain since the doctor keeps telling me all is good. That I have to be patient. Well sorry, but even though they were both accidental injuries it just plain sucks to have two of them in the space of 6 months!

Back to why I'm here....well, since I am RH dominant and that's the healing arm, using anything with any force is a challenge - cutting bread, making salad - basic stuff even! So my recent stubborn attempts to bang out a few .38's and .357's with my Lee Loader turned out to be pretty rotten later that day. As someone once said, "A man's got to know his limitations." Think he had some sort of a .44 Magnum, but that's another story....

Long-term, I know a bench press will not be in my future however - along comes the reality of the Lee Hand Loader! Yes, it does require hand force like the Lee Loader - but I can use my LH non-dominant hand for it to work.

Here's my current wish list item:

Have you considered,im sure you have , flipping the handle on the regular press for enhanced left hand use ? Maybe adjusted to shorten the stroke for pistol loads or to use the maximum leverage straight down ?

X1 had a shoulder fixed but it was along time ago . They had her on a lot of overhead rotation PT but none for lift/push .

Just a heads up If youve never used one before it sometimes takes a bit of force to size or flare cases, and while nothing major, it may be painful or difficult considering your injury even of youre using the recovering arm to hold the press while your other pulls against it

I would think that if you mounted a press on your left side facing the bench, you could retrain a bit to pull the handle with your left, and use your right for inserting cases and so on...??? There must be a way to use assistive tech to get er done... a friend of mine did the right shoulder a couple years back. Had him reloading with a old lyman turret press mounted on his left. Then switched him to a 22-250 shooting a 22-250 and a 62 grain cast bullet loaded with Blue Dot. This greatly reduced recoil and was able to get him shooting again after about 6 weeks. Was really instrumental in getting him back in service with something he enjoyed.

AG

In 2011 when I started my personal journey in reloading the Lee Classic Loaders were planned to be used exclusively for one year while I learned the basics and details for each process. I did that with both 9mm and 38/357 loads and felt like it was time to move to the next incremental step. Next came the Lee Hand Press (quick lock style) and intended for only one year while learning the ropes using standard dies. After a couple of months I was easily able to keep up my supply of range fodder and was able to do anything (for the calibers I was loading for) that my more experienced buddies could do with most any bench mounted single stage press. I decided to use nothing but the hand press for another year in 2013 and acquired a couple more die sets which allowed me to load for every centerfire firearm I currently owned except for the .32 acp. Fast forward to 2019 ..... I'm still infatuated with the simplicity, reliability and produced cartridge quality of the hand press. I load for a small number or cartridges - 9mm, .38 spl, .357 mag, .44 mag, .45 acp , and 30-30 win, and use cast, plated, coated, and jacketed bullets. The hand press has been 100% foolproof so far in meeting my limited demands. The space savings alone (no dedicated heavy work bench for the press) has been worth it.

I'm a firm believer in the use of the hand press - for the cartridges it's capable of handling.


jd

ETA: with a bummed shoulder, the .38 spl and .357 mag should be very little problem .... most likely would be a bit therapeutic. It could be a bit tougher sizing the larger brass, as well as the tapered cases of the 9mm luger.

Ever see one of these??? Could be therapeutic...

[BBvideo 560,340][/BBvideo]

AlaskanGuy wrote:Could be therapeutic...

If a second degree pectoral strain is therapeutic maybe so.

GasGuzzler wrote:

AlaskanGuy wrote:Could be therapeutic...

If a second degree pectoral strain is therapeutic maybe so.

Gas, thanks for saying what I didn't!
Although I do like this press, AlaskanGuy, it would still be some time before I could squeeze both lever arms together with that kind of force. I am dang good with my left arm now, as it's been 7+ months since that arm repair.
From the videos and tutorials related to the Hand Press, I think I will be good to go with it.

But man is this second shoulder taking long to rebuild. Longer than the left one, mostly due to it's my dominant side. Still out on disability. Still haven't done much of the building/repair/metal work/restoration and crafting work at all. Just can't do much before I'm totally in pain by dinner if I don't stop myself.

Who'd have thought just doing laundry, making dinner, and walking the dogs would wear you out? I admit to being chastened a bit of the need to slow myself WAY down. Sucks! I drive my truck with the camper, and can't even lift the pop-top without help.

Enough crying...time to go dig into my "easier" projects, like tinkering with small gun parts.

Adam

GasGuzzler wrote:

AlaskanGuy wrote:Could be therapeutic...

If a second degree pectoral strain is therapeutic maybe so.

LMAO

GasGuzzler wrote:

AlaskanGuy wrote:Could be therapeutic...

If a second degree pectoral strain is therapeutic maybe so.

Yeah bud. I had a Bankart Repair done to my right shoulder back in '92, and it would definitely be humming after a few rounds on that press