this may be a silly question

wayupnorth

wayupnorth

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i have a single-stage press and have been working with it for a bit now.
i have been curious about picking up a progressive press - not sure if ill use it right away but would like to have one tucked away.

i was visiting a fella the other day - he had some primers for sale for a decent price if you can believe that!
but he was using a progressive press so I was watching him as he was rolling some 9mm and we had a good chat going on.

it wasn't until later when I was home that something struck me....
and here is my silly question.
when I reload rifle ammo, de-prime, clean, lube, resize, re-clean, re-prime, then load and press some rounds.
but on the progressive press it was de-priming and repriming and resizing then loading and pressing...... so it wasn't using lube in the resizing process????

is that correct?

like I said, I have never seen nor done any loading on a progressive press so I have no idea how this work.
I'm guessing maybe new brass and so it wouldn't need to be lubed?
or trim'd for that matter?

I'm confused.
 
wayupnorth said:
i have a single-stage press and have been working with it for a bit now.
i have been curious about picking up a progressive press - not sure if ill use it right away but would like to have one tucked away.

i was visiting a fella the other day - he had some primers for sale for a decent price if you can believe that!
but he was using a progressive press so I was watching him as he was rolling some 9mm and we had a good chat going on.

it wasn't until later when I was home that something struck me....
and here is my silly question.
when I reload rifle ammo, de-prime, clean, lube, resize, re-clean, re-prime, then load and press some rounds.
but on the progressive press it was de-priming and repriming and resizing then loading and pressing...... so it wasn't using lube in the resizing process????

is that correct?

like I said, I have never seen nor done any loading on a progressive press so I have no idea how this work.
I'm guessing maybe new brass and so it wouldn't need to be lubed?
or trim'd for that matter?

I'm confused.
Click to expand...

Handgun caliber dies have a carbide ring on the sizer so cases don't need to be lubed.

There is no way to size rifle cases without lube. Cases get sprayed w aerosol lube.

A progressive press is great but it takes a bit to understand how it works and feels. An option between a single stage and a full progressive is a turret press. Some even have automatic indexing of the turret to speed things up. Progressive systems can be expensive and sometimes finicky. If you aren't planning to really use a progressive I'd suggest it would not be a worthwhile purchase for you. A basic turret press might be a better idea. I've been using my Lee 3-hole turret press for over 35 years now and it still works great. In a rhythm I can do prob 125 rounds an hour on it.
 
Based on various previously fired brass that I have bought on CGN - is perhaps no longer popular to de-prime, then clean that primer pocket by various ways, then to re-prime - appears to be done in almost same motion or process for hand loading for pistol - same with "trim to length" - does not seem as important for some reloaders or perhaps for many hand gun rounds? My reloading process is like you describe - the pockets tend to get cleaned out before new primers are seated - and virtually all my rifle brass gets at least a measurement to ensure they are less than Maximum case length, after re-sizing them. I do not load for hand guns - so might be all different to what I do for centre fire rifle.
 
Potashminer said:
Based on various previously fired brass that I have bought on CGN - is perhaps no longer popular to de-prime, then clean that primer pocket by various ways, then to re-prime - appears to be done in almost same motion or process for hand loading for pistol - same with "trim to length" - does not seem as important for some reloaders or perhaps for many hand gun rounds? My reloading process is like you describe - the pockets tend to get cleaned out before new primers are seated - and virtually all my rifle brass gets at least a measurement to ensure they are less than Maximum case length, after re-sizing them. I do not load for hand guns - so might be all different to what I do for centre fire rifle.
Click to expand...

Pistol cases don't need their primer pockets cleaned, nor is case length all that important. Those things are a waste of time when one is reloading cases by the thousands.

Something you may want to consider if you do a lot of loading is the Lee APP press. It is a cross between a progressive and a single stage press. It is designed to do one action but do it very rapidly. Its a cool little system and really speeds up depriming of cases. Check out some YouTube vids of the APP working. It is more impressive than static pics.
 
Thanks for all the info guys.
makes sense about not needing to clean and lube straight-walled brass when using a carbide die.
so much to learn in this reloading game!
 
wayupnorth said:
is the Hornady AP press a self-indexing one?
i seem to recall them saying something about that in the video review I watched.
Click to expand...

I used a Hornady progressive for years, But I was just a pistol guy, did not do much with rifle.
It is self indexing , primers , and power are feed automatic, I would load brass and lead by hand.
Each stroke of the handle , you got a new round kicked into the tray.
I always used carbide, but if you don't , a shot of spray lube was good.
Never cleaned primer pockets, but I did clean brass in a tumbler each time.

You can buy loaders that will feed bullets as well, But never used one.
The one I had said 1000 rds/hr, but I was never in that big of a rush, usually do 500 or so, never really timed it.

Main thing was 45, and 38 sp, 357M, 9mm was a late thing for me.
 
I have a single stage and a turret press, turn by hand, it has 6 die spots, I use 4 die pistol sets, so I size/deprime on the single, then the rest on turret, that way I can have 2 calibers set up on each turret. I lube rifle and 9 mm, of all the pistol calibers, 9mm is hardest to size/deprime, little spray makes it soo much easier. 357 seams to be the easiest.
 
I spray lube my pistol brass before running it through the progressive press. All the operations happen in one run through the press.
I try to limit how much lube gets inside the case by laying them flat on a cookie sheet to spray them. And then I let the rolling around on the sheet process, and mixing up in the case feeder, spread the lube around to all case sides.
 
I always use a bit of lube; what I do is a short "squirt" (<1/2 second) in a big, heavy zip-lock freezer bag; then shake and roll the bag. While the lube is virtually invisible on the brass, they sure run easier.
 
adamg said:
I spray lube my pistol brass before running it through the progressive press. All the operations happen in one run through the press.
I try to limit how much lube gets inside the case by laying them flat on a cookie sheet to spray them. And then I let the rolling around on the sheet process, and mixing up in the case feeder, spread the lube around to all case sides.
Click to expand...

If you have a carbide sizer, there is no need to lube brass. You are simply adding an extra step, extra cost, extra mess and an extra point of failure.
 
I Dont Care About You said:
If you have a carbide sizer, there is no need to lube brass. You are simply adding an extra step, extra cost, extra mess and an extra point of failure.
Click to expand...

True, but I'm reducing the force exerted by my elbow, arm muscles, and the press by 50%, which makes a difference in my stamina, how many rounds I can do in a session, and how long the press will last. This is why I lube.
 
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