G'day all,
I have been thinking of buying a Lee Handpress to reload 25/06 and maybe 303 rounds. The bloke i was going to buy it off told me to find out if it was worth buying one, as he thought it maybe a bit hard to use because of the large round casings i want to reload. i would only be reloading about 50 at a time.
Does anyone know, or know of someone who knows if it would be too hard to use a hand press for these calibres. i don't mind a bit of hard work. i sent emails to a few gun shops and they couldn't tell me, they only refered me to buy another press, and leeprecision only said to try one out with a shell casing. the only problem is the shop is going to have to order one in for me, which means i'll have to buy it anyway.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Howdy!
I've never used one of those hand presses, but I figure that it would be too much work for this cowboy! I would recommend you go on ahead and get a full size 'O' style press, such as the Lee Classic, RCBS Rockchucker and so on. Believe me, you'll never regret it. The only thing I think that hand press may be handy for is reloading in the field...but only small cartriges. Now someone else who has used this little jewel may have a different answer. I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses here. Good luck!

My Dad and I both use the Lee hand press almost exclusivly. I reload the .45-70, .356/.358, .307 etc with. My Dad loads the .260 Rem, .35 Whelen and cartridges of that type with it.

The trick is you need good case lubricant to ease the strain on the tool and your arm. I use Imperial sizing die wax. My Dad uses anything. He has Imperial, and RCBS and Lee case lubes. If the 3 in 1 oil is closer he uses that.
When sizing high intensity cases I lube them well from the shoulder down and run them halfway into the size die. I back them out and move the lubricant up to the shoulder and finish sizing them. It goes quickly when you develop the habit. I work cases while reading or watching TV or listening to a book. We have both removed our presses form our benches and dont use them any more. Dad sets at a little table in his kitchen. I set in the living room floor.

Remeber the spent primers are stored in the ram. We both use a universal decap die and deprime our cases first. this keeps primer residue away from our size dies. I believe this is important. You must remove the shell holder and turn the press upside down to remove the spent primers and there is a risk of getting primer residue into your size die.

Leroydazz,
The "secret" to whether it will require much effort to resize cases with the Lee hand press hinges on the size of the SHOULDER (and the shoulder angle) of the cartridge cases. Seating bullets, crimping, etc. is NEVER a problem - and requires very little effort. Resizing requires more effort when the case shoulder angle is more severe...such as a large case, with a small bullet diameter. An example of this would be the .308 Win.....and the .243 Win. Both are the same parent case....but the .243 has a larger shoulder, with the same angle (due to the smaller neck)...so it will require a bit more effort than the .308. Use of a good case lube (as William already said) will go a long way to alleviate the effort required.

In your specific circumstances, as you mentioned .303 and .25/06 cartridges..... the .303 should in fact, be easy. The case has a very shallow shoulder angle (and small shoulder). The .25/06 will require somewhat more effort. However, the shoulder angle, at 17.5 degrees, is not very steep. I reload 8mm Mauser - the shoulder angle of which is about 20.8 degrees. The Mauser round has a small shoulder area, though. Your .25/06 has a bit larger shoulder area. It's hard to say for sure, but I believe, in all sincerity, that the effort required to size the .25/06 cases should be similar to that of the 8mm Mauser, all things considered. I can tell you, the 8mm Mauser is NO problem. Do be sure to use a good case lube - and lube the entire case outer...except the shoulder. Also lude the inside of the case neck. A THIN coat is all that's needed. Don't get carried away - more lube is NOT better (and too much will damage the cases).

In summary, it is my judgement that you will be fine using the hand press for your particular loading needs. The types of cartridges that would be tough with the hand press would be the new "super short magnums"....with small necks, steep shoulder angles (often 35 degrees) and large shoulder area. THOSE might be disagreeable, with the hand press.

I would recommend you go on ahead and get a full size 'O' style press, such as the Lee Classic, RCBS Rockchucker and so on. Believe me, you'll never regret it. I agree, the leverage that you can get out of a bench mounted press with a long handle far surpasses anything that you can generate from a hand press. A bench mounted press can not only resize the ornriest cases but can also be used to form cases and lots of them. Try doing that with a hand press! If cost is a consideration, shop around, check ebay, there is lots of used first class equipment waiting for a new owner.

I agree, the leverage that you can get out of a bench mounted press with a long handle far surpasses anything that you can generate from a hand press. A bench mounted press can not only resize the ornriest cases but can also be used to form cases and lots of them. Try doing that with a hand press! If cost is a consideration, shop around, check ebay, there is lots of used first class equipment waiting for a new owner.

Hand press is certainly more work, but I've loaded 30-06 and 45-70 on mine without a problem. Certainly easier with a bnech mounted press...is a bit like exeercise equipment with the hand press; but you do get to press it together with both hands, so it does distribure the effor to both arms.

The little Lee signle stage bench mounted version issn't that much larger, with a couple of "C" clamps can mount it to neary any table (with a couple of 1/4" ply wood backers to keep from marking the table up) and can still remove it for staorage.

The little Lee C press is a nice starter press too.
I do light case forming with the hand press. I form .25-35 cases from .375 Winchester and .30-30 cases. I form .30-30AI cases from .375 Winchester cases. I have formed a good number of .307 and .356 cases from .444 Marlin cases and necked up .30-06 to .35 Whelen.
The hand press will get it done if you are short on space, want to reload at the shooting bench or like me, you want to sit in the floor and watch a movie while preping brass.
Many of us here started out with the Lyman nutcracker and the Lee Loader. The Lee hand press is a lot faster and less work than they were. How many of us still have a whole shoe box full of Lyman hammer type full length sizers?

I've been using the lee hand press for 15+ years now and am satisfied with it. Reason I got it in the first place was portability, not wanting to be tied down to a bench. It works great for 270 win., 357mag and 44 mag. for me. It takes some getting used to and is not a high production set up, but will certainly do the job, from beginning to end. I now have bench mounted presses as well, and still prefer the hand press for tasks like bullet seating and crimping because it gives me a better "feel" for those operations. :)

The hand press will work nicely with straight wall cases and neck sizing Bottleneck cartridges, with "occasional" full length sizing, in my experience. If you have bolt action or falling block guns that you will only need to neck size for, the hand press will be darned near perfect. Unless you are Bench Rest shooting, in which case you would be asking how to spend as much money as possible ;)

I have my reservations about full length sizing with a "C" style press (no matter what the material it is made of, or who made it), and the hand press is very light weight. It may be able to withstand the stress, but I question it's ability to remain "square". I prefer an "O" frame for full length sizing of bottleneck cartridges.

IMHO the Lee aniversary set would be a better "bargain" in the long run.

As a second, portable or "auxilary" press (as I use mine for) the hand press is hard to beat!

I use one exclusively. Love it! I *do* intend on getting one or two the "C" type Lee presses as well. Eventually.

The hand press does everything I ask of it and does it all well. There are faster ways to reload, but the extra time makes for more time I can spend doing what I love.