Lyman Spartan press?

[guzzi2000]

I 've thinking about starting to reload and was given an old Lyman Spartan press. The press appears to be in good shape. Should I use it or spring for a new one?

[buffermop]

That old press will outlast you and I both. I presently use the Lyman Spartan turret press. Bought it used on E-bay and is good for another 100 years. Tough old presses.

[Siskiyou]

The Spartan press is very strong.  I have had a Lyman Spar-T press for about 40-years and load a lot of pistol and rifle ammo with it.  I now it setup for pistol ammo, and a Lyman Mag-T II setup for rilfe ammo.  I could have stayed exclusively with the Spar-T, but sometimes a guy got-to-do, what he as to, and that is buy an additional press.

[wncchester]

The Spartan is a good press but it is of the simple toggle link design.  It requires MUCH more lever pressure than a more modern compound linkage press needs.  That means you need a really rigid bench to mount it on or the bench top will flex and absorb a lot of your strength before the ram fully rises when sizing large cases.  And it has a rather small "footprint" that really concentrates the pressure on a small area.  I was never satisfied with mine until I happened on a 12 inch length of 4 inch channel steel to use as a mount and then bolted that to the bench - THAT fixed it!  And it served me well for many years.

I got that press in  '65.  Last year I self modified it into a compound lever linkage and like it a lot better but that was a bit of hobby work itself.  Not really difficult but also not recommended unless you enjoy such work.

[Siskiyou]

I have to agree the leverage required the Spartan series presses require little more energy then the new compound presses.  This was more noticeable when re-manufacture a parent case into a different caliber.  But my Spar-T is still up and running on handgun cases.

The newer Mag-T press requires less effort.  In the last couple of weeks I was sorting out some pickup brass and I came across a .308 case that had been neck down to 6MM.  I decided to re-size it back to .308.  Being a brain surgeon I did not run a .264 or .277 expander plug in first.  I went for it with a full length .308 case.  The results ended up in my junk brass box.  I have never crushed a case to the extent I did this one, with the compound leverage doing the job.  The results looked about the length of a .38 Special case.  Clearly operator error and a little finesse are required.

The older design is a good value if the price is right.

[charles p]

I have an old Pacific press that has little leverage and requires a lot of my energy to re-size cases.  I got a second press of eBay and use the Pacific just for seating bullets.  It works great.  Every bottleneck cartridge reloading kit should come with two presses and two shell holders.  Really simplifies the process.

[300S+W]

          I've got a Lyman Universal Primer Arm Assembly that fits the Lyman Spartan,Spar-T,O-Mag,Pacific Super,Pacific Standard,and RCBS Jr. presses if anyones interested. It's still in its original unopened packaging from when I bought my O-Mag press in the early 80s. FREE to a good home!

til later

[wncchester]

300S+W, I could use that thing if you still have it.  How do we make contact for phone number or address?