Press question

[saum2]

Should the shaft on the loading press have any movement when at the top position?
ie (when the lever is pulled down)
If so, how much is too much?
Geoff

[johnk]

Depends.

In an ideal world, a ram that runs exactly coaxially with the perfectly cut die hole which contains a gem of manufacture die could be expected to give the ultimate outcome. On the other hand, dies locked down with O rings Lee-style can accommodate a fair degree of mutual slop with a ram & threaded top.

Be guided by the output. If the round is straight & shoots true, what the hell?

John

[saum2]

If excessive run out is a problem then is it the ram with movement or the dies not being seated into the top of the press truely. surely you cannot have both ram with movement & dies with rubber "o" rings to compensate.
excessive run out for me = .003' - .0010" shell holder is clean.
Geoff

[johnk]

I've found that virtually all the runout I got with a press could be tracked back to my case prep procedure. The cases came out of the PSECO chamber fine & were being buggered up by the lack of accommodation of my equipment. These days I usually use Lee collet dies, but even my Redding comp dies stopped misbehaving when I pitched the Redding lock ring & fitted a Lee.