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TripleH
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 11:53 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Dec 2016
Posts: 168
Location: Michigan

Hi all,

Hoping someone could help me out with a few questions.

Dabbling with the idea of getting into reloading. Ordered and read Lyman's cover to cover, have been reading all I can online, joined the reloading group, have a coworker who has showed me the ropes on his MEC grabber etc.

I'm thinking I'm going to start with a sizemaster, and try to standardize around a few basic loads using Cheddite hulls (plentiful due to Herters I use a lot of) until I get the hang of things.

I have some space set aside in my workroom that I'm looking at. My bench depth front to back is about 19"'s, and I have about 30" of clearance to work with without having to adjust the next shelf. Two questions I have been pondering...

1) Would I be able to fit the machine comfortably in that space?
2) The bench height is up past my waist, I'd likely be reaching up for the handle and pulling it down on each round vs getting on top of the handle and pushing down. Is this an issue I'd need to be concerned about (not sure if I've phrased this question well..)

Thanks in advance for any help. I've poked around the net to try and find the exact dimensions and space needed and have been coming up short.

Rob
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CitoriFeather16
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 2:44 pm  Reply with quote
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Rob, pulling down shouldn't be an issue and your bench depth is fine. But the press from the bench to the top of the shot bottle is 30 1/2", so you're going to be tight there. I mount my sizemasters to a base of 12" x 11" pressboard. Then I clamp it to the corner of my bench using 2 quick release clamps. I have a second bench which I can secure the sizemaster to permanently but I prefer being able to move it off the bench or switch the 16ga to a 20 ga.

Matt
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Savage16
PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 2:57 pm  Reply with quote
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Do you have the short or tall bottles? With the short bottles my sizemaster is at 25 inches. Adding the powder baffle on that bottle adds @2 inches. Will you have clearance to get at the bottles to fill and if necessary, tilt them backwards to remove them or get at the powder bushing? I like citori 16's idea of mounting it to a plate and then clamping it where you want it. My bench height is table like, so I can operate it either standing or sitting. Good luck

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putz463
PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 3:31 am  Reply with quote
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Good on you and sounds like you're starting out in a very good way. i.e. Lymans and a SM press. Can't add to the height dimensions already given, you'll have to figure that out. I skip the mount to a board step and clamp the press direct to the bench. Another thing to consider is buying an inexpensive (or re-purposing a) run of mill baking sheet and placing it under the press. When stating out in this reloading hobby (and once in while for an experienced reloader Rolling Eyes ) shot and or powder inevitably get spilled, the baking sheet can help with these moments.

Best of luck in your new hobby...

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CitoriFeather16
PostPosted: Sun Jan 29, 2017 9:11 am  Reply with quote
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Savage is right about the powder baffle. Mine was/always is, on and that's why it's taller. But I look at the baffle as essential.

Good luck!

Matt
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TripleH
PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 7:11 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Dec 2016
Posts: 168
Location: Michigan

Thanks gents for the info. (and the ideas on the mounting board, and the cookie sheet, I had absolutely envisioned some spillage and shop vac work in my future)

I will likely be starting small, so short bottles. SO assuming those measure 25" for you, plus the baffle at 2" I'm thinking I will still have clearance I need. I have a lip on the shelf above the bench that I had originally measured against to get that 30" reading. Looking more at how it would sit on the bench it will likely not come into play so I should have closer to 32 of total room.

Also will re-watch some of the videos and see what kind of clearance I'd need on the tilt and getting to the bushing etc. Mounting to a separate board would help mitigate some of that I imagine, although it will also eat up another inch or so of clearance.

I figure if I just absolutely cannot seem to make it work I can also start with the Jr., which seems to have a smaller footprint overall.
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Roper
PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 11:58 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 190
Location: Washington State

Maybe this will help. I also have my Sizemaster mounted on a platform and clamp it to my bench/desk. Since I also load cartridges I want the flexibility to also mount my Dillon.

The first photo shows the bottle mounted with the baffle and tilted back. The dimension from the front of the press base to the back of the bottle is 19 inches.

The second photo shows total height of 27 inches. Hope the visual helps...



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TripleH
PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 6:16 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Dec 2016
Posts: 168
Location: Michigan

Thanks much for posting those pics, that is very helpful.

That is a nice looking setup, (speaking of both the press and the fierce Ron Swanson mustache in the photo. )

If the measurement from the front of the press to back of the bottle when reclined is 19" I'll likely not be able to get it horizontal as I think I only have 18" of depth to work with.

Pretty sure I'll be able to work around that however if I mount the press to the board like you gents have suggested, would just need to release it and move it before I did any of that. Figure I could also add an opening in the pegboard that makes up the back wall and pick up some additional room if necessary.
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Roper
PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:10 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 190
Location: Washington State

HHH, if you mount the press on a board, you can have it overhang the bench enough to clear the bottles.

Just use clamps to fasten it to the bench.

Yeah, I get teased about the old porn star mustache a bit...it's gray now.

I used a forstner bit to recess a "T" nut to mount the press. I change gauges from time to time using the same base.



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TripleH
PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 9:04 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Dec 2016
Posts: 168
Location: Michigan

I was thinking the same thing, could hang the board a bit if needed, compensate with some longer clamps in front or even some sort of anchored lips in the back that i could slot it into, or both.

I must have had a heavy pour on that evening's nightcap before I took my first measurements. After looking at your pics, something didn't look right when I was eyeballing it again last night and when I threw a tape on it it I'm looking at 15" front to back on the bench, not 18".

So basically I need to come up with another 3" somewhere (story of my life...)

Not sure if I'd be able to accommodate having that much of the press hanging without being worried about balance/security. I do have a corner where my bench meets (L shape) that would have the depth that I need. Not the ideal spot for it but not like it's permanent.

I really just need to pull the trigger and buy one of the damn things and start wrestling with it. I'm watching so many auctions, estate sales, ebays, etc....my poor phone can barely keep up with the all the updates!
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skeettx
PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 9:17 am  Reply with quote
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Use short bottles for BOTH shot and powder and no baffle.
http://www.ballisticproducts.com/MEC-Small-Bottle-Cap-Assembly-301L/productinfo/130301L/
Mike


Last edited by skeettx on Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:12 am; edited 1 time in total

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Dogchaser37
PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 9:47 am  Reply with quote
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The perfect powder bottles (and yes I am bragging a bit) were made by Precision Reloading. They were midway between the short bottle and the large bottle. When you added a baffle and used a large bottle for shot both bottles will be at the same height.

You can fill the powder bottle and run it down to 1/4 and the drops will stay consistent.

Generally that is about 200 loads before you have to add powder.

I know that doesn't help a lot, but ........I couldn't help adding my 2 cents!!

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MaximumSmoke
PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 8:52 am  Reply with quote
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Location: Minnesota and Florida

1. I use the short bottles on all my MEC's, even the 9000's, because the long ones are too clumsy and space consuming when you need to flop 'em back to change bushings. The tall ones are also clumsier to fill without spill hazard. The tall ones are also stressful on the powder measure frame when tilting them back, though this is not much of an issue anymore since MEC changed to the newer design with welded spigots vs. the old ones with what were simply brazed on bottle caps. Of course if you're a high volume loader, you'll have to fill the short bottles more often, but the time lost/saved is a nit overall. Most "off time" is spent cleaning up spills and buggered-up hulls.

By the way, I never leave a reloader with powder in it. After reloading a batch of shells, remaining powder goes back into its original bottle or can -- every time. So how many small bottles of powder or shot do you use in a reloading session? Even with the small bottles, you don't refill that often. Now if you leave a loader all set up for one load and load a lot every day or so, you can at least leave the shot in the bottle, and maybe the powder if you consume it fast enough, and then the tall bottles are maybe more appropriate. I have loaded as many as 20,000 rounds over a few months to feed my registered skeet habit, and I still don't feel handicapped with the small bottles -- especially with the small gauges.

2. I do not use powder baffles; tried a couple different ones. They seem to make little or no difference in drop uniformity as powder level descends, with any powder, too, from Unique (large flake type) to Win296 (good flowing flattened ball-type). They don't help with 800-X either, which is the worst flowing powder ever. A skeet-shooting friend of mine uses a lot of 800-X in progressive reloaders, and he attached a motor from a barber clipper (he owned barber shops) to the reloader, as a vibrator to get uniform fills. His installation uses some limit switches to time and trigger a burst of vibration during each lever throw -- interesting idea, but not a technique I want to fiddle with. My philosophy is to throw as little hardware/software at a task as possible to get the job done. But I digress.

I find, with single stage reloaders, uniformity of handle motion and sharp, uniform charge bar motion has more positive effect on powder charge uniformity than a baffle. However, for me, powder level in the bottle does make a difference. I keep my powder level between about the top 1/8th of the bottle and no lower than the bottom 1/4th. Going lower can result in lighter charges with some powders. A baffle didn't seem to help this.

For low volume hunting loads (less than a few hundred at a time), I use single stage reloaders, and drop powder separately with an old bench-mounted Herter's crank-type powder measure. It really doesn't slow you down. You resize, deprime and re-prime all hulls, then charge several with powder. I usually only do 5 at a time so I don't have a lot sitting around with powder to be spilled, forgotten or polluted by inadvertent debris before loading is completed. If you use new hulls, or hulls that can easily accept a wad, you can charge, then finger-insert a wad, and do a whole batch of shells without worries of spilling, forgetting or polluting them.

For shot larger than #5, I also do not employ the charge bar of the press because at best it will drop light without major capacity modification, and shot bridging in the drop tube can be a problem. Since the mandate of non-toxic shot for waterfowl, this is not a problem, as I seldom load larger than #5 lead -- i.e. upland loads in 5, 6 and 7; target loads in smaller shot. For steel (#3 on up), I measure with a dipper or other such (e.g. by pellet count for very large shot using a plastic tray in which shotshell primers were packaged, e.g. Winchester 209's) and weigh charge by charge. I don't load much steel, nor much of any other non-toxic, as the amount of it I use seems limited by my available waterfowling days, and the limited number of upland hunting areas requiring non-toxics, so individual charge measurement is no problem.

3) Clamping a plate mounted loader to a bench has its benefits, but also is problematic. The clamps as shown in the photos would interfere with the comfortable route of my hands to the convenient placement of hulls, primers and wads. Also, as shown, they are not in the best place to resist the major forces/moments of press usage. They are most needed near the back of the plate, not the front. Further, the size of the loader-mounted sub plates make loaders more difficult to store when they are not on the bench -- more base area (I have MEC 600/700's in 7 gauges, and 9000's in 5 gauges -- a lot to store -- I never have more than one at a time on the bench.). Why not just put some holes in the bench and wing nut them from the bottom, using the mounting screws provided by MEC, or embed the nifty T-nuts in the underside of the bench top, as Roper shows. I admit my butcher block bench top has been slightly swiss-cheesed with the mounting patterns of a variety of tools, but it doesn't seem to be any less functional or beautiful to me - rather the contrary.

Happy Reloading!
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Roper
PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 9:30 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 190
Location: Washington State

MS brings some good points to the post. The main reason I use bases and clamps is that I mount them om my desktop. Holes in the Formica top would be ugly...plus it allows me to multi-task.
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