Load-All II & 3" Shells
Posted: 19 Jun 2019 05:46
I've been busy since Monday dawned, but late Sunday while closing up the reloading room, I stopped and pondered the 3" shotshell reloading with the LAII. 2¾" shell through the press is smooth, sure you must solve the component stack for 100% fill, no compression, with the specific components in the load recipe or some other method of calculation, but the actual manipulation of the press is against positive stops at all the stations. Things are different when you go out to 3". Here are the instructions for setting up the press.
I don't know if the newer presses have the second hole drilled higher in the Square Tube Upright, but mine wasn't. Like a lot of my Lee tools, I'm not sure when I bought it, but it is the II and not the metal base Load-All. I carefully marked and drilled a new hole for the wad-guide screw as outlined in the instructions.
My trouble is with the second instruction. The problem with feeling it or not is that you are applying compression in a fold, so action against the hull is immediately set in motion, right or wrong. Shotshell loading is different than metallic in that if you don't like the finished product, you cannot knock it apart and start over, you've got a "frog" that must be shot, split open with a razor, or tossed in the pond. Even if you get it apart, which is time-consuming, the fold that started is the fold that you must live with as this press does not size or reshape the plastic or paper of the hull. With 3" hulls, I've been using a spacer of the appropriate length in the primer well to stop the actuation of the press. That's worked okay, but there is a bit of torque within the press as the hull is on one end and the primer well the other.
While dumping powder, I started looking at how it reaches a positive stop with 2¾ shells. It's simple; positive contact is made between the top of the wad guide against the Dies and Carrier Assembly. So, looking at the press with a completed, perfect 3" star crimp shell (2.655" per the SAAMI spec) at station #5, there was ⅛" of space between the carrier assembly and wad guide. I drilled a third hole in the square tube upright a ⅛" higher than the hole the instructions had me drill and put the press back together, and now the actuation reaches a complete stop without me guessing at the feel.
When I stop being giddy with excitement, I will run some hulls through the press and see what kind of shotshells are spit out.
I don't know if the newer presses have the second hole drilled higher in the Square Tube Upright, but mine wasn't. Like a lot of my Lee tools, I'm not sure when I bought it, but it is the II and not the metal base Load-All. I carefully marked and drilled a new hole for the wad-guide screw as outlined in the instructions.
My trouble is with the second instruction. The problem with feeling it or not is that you are applying compression in a fold, so action against the hull is immediately set in motion, right or wrong. Shotshell loading is different than metallic in that if you don't like the finished product, you cannot knock it apart and start over, you've got a "frog" that must be shot, split open with a razor, or tossed in the pond. Even if you get it apart, which is time-consuming, the fold that started is the fold that you must live with as this press does not size or reshape the plastic or paper of the hull. With 3" hulls, I've been using a spacer of the appropriate length in the primer well to stop the actuation of the press. That's worked okay, but there is a bit of torque within the press as the hull is on one end and the primer well the other.
While dumping powder, I started looking at how it reaches a positive stop with 2¾ shells. It's simple; positive contact is made between the top of the wad guide against the Dies and Carrier Assembly. So, looking at the press with a completed, perfect 3" star crimp shell (2.655" per the SAAMI spec) at station #5, there was ⅛" of space between the carrier assembly and wad guide. I drilled a third hole in the square tube upright a ⅛" higher than the hole the instructions had me drill and put the press back together, and now the actuation reaches a complete stop without me guessing at the feel.
When I stop being giddy with excitement, I will run some hulls through the press and see what kind of shotshells are spit out.