Wow, I hit “save” instead of “publish” and didn’t realize my mistake for nearly a week. I am a really lousy blogger.
The new reloading press arrived on time and undamaged. I got everything unboxed and inspected, though I haven’t actually set up the reloading bench yet. I’m probably going to mount the various components onto small plywood platforms and then C-clamp the platforms to the bench so I can rearrange at will.
A brief rundown on all the bits:
Crusher II press An appropriately massive, cast-iron O-frame press. Looks plenty big enough for comfortable reloading of long cartridges. Three mounting holes, so it should bolt down nice and stable. The spent-primer collector is a little plastic diaper-like thing that snaps around the body of the press. It looks like it might be fidgety, but I’ll have to try it to be sure. Worst case, I can always discard it and park a little trash can under the press.
Universal Trimmer Like the press, a massive, cast-iron piece of equipment that should last just short of forever. Lyman includes 9 pilots for all the most common bore sizes, and of course, given my exotic taste in calibers, I can use exactly none of them. I’ll need to buy pilots in .366″, .410″, and .416″.
Pro 500 Scale I was under the impression the scale would be another heavy chunk of iron, but the base is actually a plastic injection molding. Still, I put it together and dropped a 180-grain X bullet in the pan, and got a reading of 180.2 grains. I think it’ll work just fine.
No. 55 Powder Measure Arrived a bit greasy and grimy, so a thorough cleaning is in order before I actually start using it. The three-slide adjustment mechanism took a bit of figuring out and might be a little fussy. Not sure yet if I want to mount it in the press or bolt it to the bench.
priming arm/auto primer feed Design looks reasonable, and I’m holding out hope that I may some day find primers to use with it!
Lyman reloading manual Comprehensive, decently well-written, should be useful.
Overall I’m quite happy with the kit. I looked at pretty much everything on the market and I don’t think you can do better for $240.
I’m surprised that the powder measure came like that. A bit of carb or brake cleaner should clean it up pretty good. A good source for data is actually Hodgdons website – they’re socalled “data center”, which unfortunately doesn’t list data for your 450/400.
I hope your new press give you many years of dependable service. I think that mine ‘paid for itself’ in a couple of months.
Read the manuals twice and consider a Chrony for load testing.
Good luck!
P.S. – I was about to add you to the blog roll, but you’re already there! Yea! Less work for me!
one really important part about mounting the press is that you ensure that there is no flex in your table when you operate the press arm as there will be a good bit of force involved in resizing cartridges.
Also if you use any sort of solvent in cleaning your powder measure make sure it does not touch the plastic.
Good luck with the reloading, it sure makes shooting more affordable and more accurate.
K
I’ve analyzing and comparing the various reloading kits on the market and really like the crusher II kit. Where did you pick this up for $240?
Got it here
Where did you find this kit for $240.00, I would like to purchase one?
I got mine from Midsouth Shooters Supply, but the price there is now up to $304. Shop around and you might find a deal!