Is there a press you can do this with?

[srcjahc]

For those anal reloaders such as myself who must have a had in every step of the reloading process I was wondering why there is not a press that could do each step of the reloading process 3 or 4 pistol caliber shells at a time. In other words I would like to decap/resize 3 or 4 .357 cases at a time, do 200-300 cases, then flare the case mouth 3/4 cases at a time,etc. Kind of like a progressive but with each pull of the lever I do one operation but several cases at a time. I could then charge and seat the bullets individually but I would reduce the number of times I had to pull the handle overall for 200-300 cases. I was just wondering.

[John Traveler]

Your inquiry of loading presses that do multiple serial operations simultaneously on several stations describes what ammo factories use to increase production output.

The simple answer to why such presses are not available to the home reloader is simple:  The extremely limited demand for such units makes their cost prohibitive.  The necessary safeguards to prevent making bad ammo (missing or multiple powder charges, crushed case mouths, missing primers, etc) help make such presses very expensive.  They are basically very specialized machines that only ammo factories can afford.  On high-speed production machinery, a simple malfunction or mis-sequence that a single-station operator can shrug off will stop everything.

Besides, when was the last time that you had a real NEED for a loading machine that can produce 20,000 rounds an hour?

[Car Knocker]

Well, sittin' here lookin' at my Hornady Projector, I see where I could do just that but then I'd have to get 5 die sets for each caliber.  Then for consistancy, I'd have to try and make sure they were all adjusted exactly the same, and I'm not sure I could get 5 seaters and 5 crimp dies to do that.

[srcjahc]

Carknocker-On that note, if you have to ensure that the 4 or five dies that are on your progressive are properly adjusted to begin with-what would be the difference between that and ensuring that 4 or 5 say decapping/resizing dies are properly adjusted? I have no experience with progressives so I am flying blind here. The thought of using say an old c&H or even a cheaper Lee progressive press with the same die in each staion and knocking out the case prep phase kind of intrigues me. I was just wondering about the practicality of such a set up.

[Paul H]

The downside of this plan is in addition to having the added exspense of multiple die sets, you'd also need to get each die adjusted exactly the same, so that each sized case was exactly the same.  The nice thing about a single sizing die is that you know that so long as it doesn't drift in adjustment, every case will be sized exactly the same, which is very important to accuracy.

If you are tired with the time required to load pistol ammo on a sigle stage press, then your best option is moving up to a quality progressive press.

[Loader 3009]

srcjahc,

I like your thinkin'.  If you are willing to invest a few bucks, buy three of the Lee "C" type presses and three sets of Lee dies.  Mount them and connect the operating handles with a single bar.  It would be a simple matter to adjust the dies using a home-made guage.  Cost: Less than a hundred bucks.  

You could even set it up as a progressive outfit.  

As I said, I like the way you think.  Good luck.

[Car Knocker]

srcjahc,

There's a world of difference between adjusting one each of the dies necessary to produce a round and adjusting 5 each in the attempt to produce as nearly as possible identical rounds, especially considering manufacturing tolerances will cause the dies themselves to vary.  I think that, to some degree, it would be like using mixed brass and expecting each round to exhibit identical performance. It is my thought that there would be less variation between rounds if all the rounds passed through the same dies.

The resulting product of this unorthodox method would be similar to commercial ammo loaded on several machines;adequate but not the best possible.  I just can't see this setup satisfying an 'anal' reloader, as the original poster identified himself.

[dakotashooter2]

I can't see where using this process in the sizing, decaping, flairing stages for straight wall cartridges would make that much difference. Seating, crimping and bottleneck cases would be a different story though.

[Leftoverdj]

Seems to me that Herter's usta sell a double ram press and somebody, maybe CH, made a three station press. This woulda been late '60s, early '70s. This was before affordable progressives and most folks used them to do serial operations. They should turn up pretty regualrly on EBay.

Oughta work OK on pistol cases.

[Graybeard]

You should be able to do what you want with any decent turret press. Just need multiple die sets so you can put the same type of die in multiple holes in the turret. Don't need a progressive just a turret press.  Personally I think it is a bad idea and ain't gonna pay back near what you think but hey this is America and ya can do it your way fer now at least. If ya just gotta do it get you a turret press and a bunch of die sets and go for it.

GB

[Leftoverdj]

Graybeard,

It'd have to be one of the turret presses with multiple shellholder stations and even those would have access problems.

I agree with you that the advantage would be slight, maybe 30-50% increase in production for a fellow who batch processes his reloads, but it worked in the late '60s and it'll still work.

Now he's got me looking for one of the old straightline multi station presses, not 'cause I'm gonna load his way but because they are kinda neat.

[Graybeard]

Yup it would need multiple shell holder stations and that might not be as common as I assumed it to me. Heck I've never used a turret press or even a progressive for metalic ammo. Every one of the many many tens of thousands I've loaded have been on a single stage and likely will remain so the rest of my life. I like the comfort of being in control of what's going on more than the speed of operation.

GB

[Leftoverdj]

GB,

I'll agree with you about progressives. I attribute my hair loss to trying to get consistent ammo out of a Lee Pro 1000.

But a turret press can be used as a single stage press with a quick die change option. That's how I used a Lee turret press when I had one. No loss of control at all. (And that's why that Pro 1000 is gonna get turned into a turret press as soon as I get around to ordering the parts.)

And if I run into one of the Herter's two ram deals or the straightline turret press I mentioned, I'll use it to size, decap, and flare pistol cases before priming and charging off the press. Again no loss of control at all.

But if I never run into a deal on one, I'll just keep plugging along with a couple of single stages.

[Loader 3009]

You and me, both, GB.  I have four or five presses, all single stage.  Yet I choose to encourage the "Edisons" and "Keiths" among us.  

I have invented a device for removing the crimps in military primer pockets that one can build for less that $5,00.  This device will out perform anything on the market.  Soon, I will draw up the plans and instructions so I can share it with the world.

Hey, all you buckaroos, keep on thinkin' outta da box!

[srcjahc]

When I said "anal reloader" I meant to say I like to have a hand in everything. I would however like to cut down on the time it takes to at least case prep and then individually charge and seat bullets. I contacted CH4D (as C&H is now known) and asked them if I could deprime and resize .357 cases on an old Model 333 H-press that was for sale on Auction Arms. They said I could use a universal deprimer in all three stations on just about anything and should be able to deprime/resize up to .357 cases. I went ahead and bought it for $50.00 since it came with the shell holder adapters on all 4 stations. The first thing I did when I got it was dissasemble it, clean it up, grit blast it and prep for paint. Unfortunately I found  that the H-presses made on up to the early 80's are cast aluminum, and apparently they are now cast iron. The one I got was of course aluminum with galling on the aluminum race that the pivot bar (the one the lever connects to) rotates in. For whatever reason they did not put in a bronze sleeve. Thankfully I work at a place that has a machinist who is going to true and ream out the aluminum base and mill a bronze/aluminum/nickel alloy sleave for it for a 12-pack of beer and I should be back in business after reassembly. One nice thing about the h-press is that you could catch all the ejected primers. What I would like to do is set it up in my garage next to the tumbler, toss the dirty brass in the tumbler, deprime and hopefully derpime/resize out there, and then do the rest in the house on the small bench I welded up out of 1-1/2 steel tubing wrapped in 1/4" stained birch plywood. Why am I doing this? 'Cuz tinkering with this stuff is half the fun!!! If this works I wonder if a "case kicker" can be made to speed up prep even more. I also wonder if those old C&H Auto Champ linear progessives or the old RCBS Green Machine Linear progressives could be modified to batch process. Unfortunately an Auto Champ just sold on E-bay for $150!!! That's too much for me to just experiment with. Anyways thanks to all for the informative replies.

[Leftoverdj]

And thank you for letting me know that I need to check on whether the press is cast iron before I bid.

[Savage]

I don't think there is any pratical way to do what you want with equipment available on the market at this time. I have been reloading for over 30yrs and pulled the handle on a single stage a few million times without any injury. I would suggest if you want to cut down on loading time and physical effort you invest in a progressive press. Problem solved! That wasn't so hard, was it?
Stay Safe,
Savage

[boneguru]

the first stumble I see to this project is sheer size, I have two presses mounted on either end of my 6' bench and they take too much space, Raymond