Reloading lever effort

[Kryogen]

I find that reloading 45 acp on the lee loadmaster takes alot of effort on the handle.
I am on the skinny side and I would like a press with more leverage.
How is the xl650 on reloading effort?

(or maybe I should slightly lube the brass?) I use carbide dies but still, with all dies doing their operation at the same time, un lubed brass requires alot of effort.

 

[09outlander]

Lubing your cases will help a lot, I've just started lubing my cases even when using carbide dies and it makes a big difference.

 

[Kryogen]

what I hate is the lube on the cases after loading.
Tumble loaded rounds for 5 minutes to remove lube?

 

[09outlander]

I use One Shot from Hornady, it's in a spray can and leaves very little residue on the case, I don't have to clean or tumble my case when I'm done.

 

[Kryogen]

one shot leaves too much residue for me.... cases are greasy and do not shine.

 

[supernova]

I use One Shot from Hornady, it's in a spray can and leaves very little residue on the case, I don't have to clean or tumble my case when I'm done.

one shot leaves too much residue for me.... cases are greasy and do not shine.

I use one shot as well but I wipe the cases after sizing (single stage) otherwise I find theyre way to greasy as well. The upside is it does not contaminate powder or primers so I don't have to bother cleaning whatever is left inside the case. Its still a pain however but it goes on fast and is nearly impossible to get too much on the case.

 

[SandRoad]

You don't need to lube all the cases, or even all the way around. I give one very short spray over the top of my bucket of brass. That's all it needs, and you don't even see or feel the lube on the brass with your fingers. But it make a HUGE difference in the effort needed. When you feel it getting harder to resize, after a hundred or more cases, time for another tiny squirt.

I've never cleaned the cases afterwards, because there is really nothing on them to clean off.

Note that with bottleneck carbide dies, (223, 308) the cases must be lubed. So a touch of lube on pistol cases isn't "wrong".

 

[Kryogen]

will try next time because at the end of my 500 rounds batch, I had to use both arms to lower the handle and use my body weight to push because my right palm was too sore to do it.

 

[Glenzo]

I decap, resize and clean all my pistol brass on a single stage before I run it through the Loadmaster. Makes that machine run alot cleaner and smoother.

 

[colinjw]

will try next time because at the end of my 500 rounds batch, I had to use both arms to lower the handle and use my body weight to push because my right palm was too sore to do it.

That does not sound right. If you have to use that much force, something is wrong.

 

[jethunter]

Somebody has to say it - either there's something wrong with your machine, or you're wimpy.

 

[bigedp51]

Have you tried making the press arm a little longer to get more leverage and really torquing down harder on the arm.

 

[Kryogen]

I decap, resize and clean all my pistol brass on a single stage before I run it through the Loadmaster. Makes that machine run alot cleaner and smoother.

yes, but it's too many steps and this is not progressive reloading.

Reloading, to me, must be efficient, or it's not worth my time.
I like it as a hobby, but not to waste my time.

 

[xtremacanuck]

yes, but it's too many steps and this is not progressive reloading.

Reloading, to me, must be efficient, or it's not worth my time.
I like it as a hobby, but not to waste my time.

Okay, so it adds one step, but I use a single stage press for this. It gives you a chance to check each casing after sizing, and then throw them in the cleaner to make them shine like new.

On a side note, I also have a Lee Loadmonster, and find it likes a lot of oil on the ram. It starts to not feel slick after about 50 rounds, so I oil a bit and the effort requires is cut down condiderably.