Lee APP

[McTrigger]

I like to deprime my 9mm brass then SS tumble before reloading. I have got a lee APP setup to run off my Dillon case feeder. Sure is a sweet setup for this. Not sure how many guys deprime before reloading but sure is nice having clean brass running through the reloading press

over dirty old sandy crap and spend primer dust. But if anyone one is thinking about this I highly recommend it. Slammed out just over 4000 rounds in a morning. 
https://i.imgur.com/3aPx6MB.mp4

[SJBriggs]

I used to do the same, but for some reason, the APP doesn't seem to like .40 brass. Even with all the tweaking and polishing of parts, etc, I was never able to get it to feed properly. The Rollsizer decapper took care of that problem!

[Farmer]

I do the same with all my brass. Like to have all my brass prepped and ready to go. Helps to weed out the bad ones and yes, does keep the loading press so much cleaner. 

[McTrigger]

A roll sizer de capper is a very nice option guaranteed. But at a cost. For what the lee does. And it’s price makes for a pretty decent option. 

[67isb]

3 hours ago, McTrigger said:

A roll sizer de capper is a very nice option guaranteed. But at a cost. For what the lee does. And it’s price makes for a pretty decent option. 

 

Anything to save time and reduce the wear and tear on your arm/elbow/shoulder/back is worth it to me.  Rollsizer decapper is just another tool to make reloading more enjoyable.   Much better than aches and pain and cost of surgery.  Depending on your budget and age, your mileage will vary.

Edited February 13, 2022 by 67isb

[Ben53]

19 hours ago, SJBriggs said:

I used to do the same, but for some reason, the APP doesn't seem to like .40 brass. Even with all the tweaking and polishing of parts, etc, I was never able to get it to feed properly. The Rollsizer decapper took care of that problem!

My APP is used for 9mm and .40; all I need to do is change the feed height and it runs great with either one.  Don't know what the problem is with yours, you might call Lee and ask.

[SJBriggs]

6 hours ago, Ben53 said:

My APP is used for 9mm and .40; all I need to do is change the feed height and it runs great with either one.  Don't know what the problem is with yours, you might call Lee and ask.

It's not uncommon for a casing to get hung up on the shell plate when it's on it's way in. If I ever find a use for the APP again, I may call Lee and see if there is something I can do to get the issue sorted out. It is a cool little press, but it's very cheaply made. I think that if they put a little more effort into the manufacturing process, they would have hit a home run -- even if it was double the price. 

[Farmer]

3 hours ago, SJBriggs said:

It's not uncommon for a casing to get hung up on the shell plate when it's on it's way in. If I ever find a use for the APP again, I may call Lee and see if there is something I can do to get the issue sorted out. It is a cool little press, but it's very cheaply made. I think that if they put a little more effort into the manufacturing process, they would have hit a home run -- even if it was double the price. 

Have you tried different height pushers on the case slide? I had to try a couple different ones to get 10mm to feed consistently. Also mine seemed to feed better with the shell holder turned so that small crescent cut out was the entrance side. 
I also very lightly dust the sliding pieces with motor mica to slick-em-up. 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Farmer

[thor447]

On 2/12/2022 at 6:51 PM, McTrigger said:

I like to deprime my 9mm brass then SS tumble before reloading. I have got a lee APP setup to run off my Dillon case feeder. Sure is a sweet setup for this. Not sure how many guys deprime before reloading but sure is nice having clean brass running through the reloading press

over dirty old sandy crap and spend primer dust. But if anyone one is thinking about this I highly recommend it. Slammed out just over 4000 rounds in a morning. 
https://i.imgur.com/3aPx6MB.mp4

I have a Lee APP on order right now, and will be using this to bulk decap pistol brass.  Can you please provide details on how you connected the Dillon case feeder to the Lee APP.  Specs on the blue tube shown (OD/ID if possible), and if any adapters were needed to connect it to the APP.  Any details would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!!!

 

edit:  Found a video with the explanation.  Don't know if this is yours or not, but it's enough to get me to where I need to be.  Thanks.   https://i.imgur.com/3aPx6MB.mp4

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by thor447

[McTrigger]

8 hours ago, thor447 said:

I have a Lee APP on order right now, and will be using this to bulk decap pistol brass.  Can you please provide details on how you connected the Dillon case feeder to the Lee APP.  Specs on the blue tube shown (OD/ID if possible), and if any adapters were needed to connect it to the APP.  Any details would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!!!

 

edit:  Found a video with the explanation.  Don't know if this is yours or not, but it's enough to get me to where I need to be.  Thanks.   https://i.imgur.com/3aPx6MB.mp4

 

That is me. I used just a length of 1/2” blue pex. Heated the end that goes to the case feeder a bit to add a flare. The OD of the pipe is right so it snaps into place on the case feeder clamp. Used some heat to add a slight S curve down to the APP and just cut a 2” section from the lee app case tube that fits inside both pex and adapter on press to hold it all together   

[ddc]

2 hours ago, McTrigger said:

That is me. I used just a length of 1/2” blue pex. Heated the end that goes to the case feeder a bit to add a flare. The OD of the pipe is right so it snaps into place on the case feeder clamp. Used some heat to add a slight S curve down to the APP and just cut a 2” section from the lee app case tube that fits inside both pex and adapter on press to hold it all together   

 

I've been thinking of trying to set something up so I could have my 1100 case feeder and bullet feeder feed my 650 which is mounted close by.

 

I'll have to see if that pex tubing will work.

[thor447]

On 4/15/2022 at 10:38 AM, McTrigger said:

That is me. I used just a length of 1/2” blue pex. Heated the end that goes to the case feeder a bit to add a flare. The OD of the pipe is right so it snaps into place on the case feeder clamp. Used some heat to add a slight S curve down to the APP and just cut a 2” section from the lee app case tube that fits inside both pex and adapter on press to hold it all together   

Thanks for the reply.  I purchased the Lee APP 3 days ago on Midway, but it hasn't shipped yet.  While I'm waiting, I went ahead and picked up a section of 1/2 ID Pex-A tubing today.  I wrapped tape at one end of it to the correct OD to snap securely into the case feeder tube clip, and then wrapped a thicker layer underneath it to act as a stop.  My plan is to put the APP on the left side of my Dillon, so I found my case feed tube locator arm that came with the Dillon originally, I drilled a new hole in the case feeder pole, and mounted that arm offset from center so it will act as a support arm to keep the pex tube square at the case feeder end.  I also chamfered the ID of the pex tube quite deeply to allow the brass to fall through without catching anything.  I ran about 400 cases through the tube into a bucket this evening and got it dialed in eventually where there was no hiccups.  Thanks again for the great info.

 

 

I have an FW Arms decapping die, but it's height is probably going to cause an issue on the APP.  I want to keep using that die.  I've never broken a pin on an FW Arms (have broken at least a dozen on just about every other brand), and I think the auto-centering sleeve will come in especially handy on the APP.  I'll have to modify the handle to make it fit, but I don't think that will be too difficult to accomplish.

 

Now if Midway would only ship out the darned thing, I could get going on my four 5 gallon buckets of 9mm brass.

Edited April 17, 2022 by thor447

[McTrigger]

^ beauty thor447. That APP is pretty dang good for what it is. Takes a bit of forking around to get it running but when she’s dialed the only thing that will slow down that system is not having calluses on your hand. 

[louu]

8 hours ago, thor447 said:

Thanks for the reply.  I purchased the Lee APP 3 days ago on Midway, but it hasn't shipped yet.  While I'm waiting, I went ahead and picked up a section of 1/2 ID Pex-A tubing today.  I wrapped tape at one end of it to the correct OD to snap securely into the case feeder tube clip, and then wrapped a thicker layer underneath it to act as a stop.  My plan is to put the APP on the left side of my Dillon, so I found my case feed tube locator arm that came with the Dillon originally, I drilled a new hole in the case feeder pole, and mounted that arm offset from center so it will act as a support arm to keep the pex tube square at the case feeder end.  I also chamfered the ID of the pex tube quite deeply to allow the brass to fall through without catching anything.  I ran about 400 cases through the tube into a bucket this evening and got it dialed in eventually where there was no hiccups.  Thanks again for the great info.

 

 

I have an FW Arms decapping die, but it's height is probably going to cause an issue on the APP.  I want to keep using that die.  I've never broken a pin on an FW Arms (have broken at least a dozen on just about every other brand), and I think the auto-centering sleeve will come in especially handy on the APP.  I'll have to modify the handle to make it fit, but I don't think that will be too difficult to accomplish.

 

Now if Midway would only ship out the darned thing, I could get going on my four 5 gallon buckets of 9mm brass.

Lee makes a roller handle that will clear a taller die. It's a hair shorter to and that makes for less movement on your part

[thor447]

7 hours ago, louu said:

Lee makes a roller handle that will clear a taller die. It's a hair shorter to and that makes for less movement on your part

If it is Lee # 91629, I added one to my order.  I found somewhere online that showed the distance from the top of the press to the underside of the roller handle.  The FW Arms *might* fit, but if it does, it may still be a an issue with hand clearance.  I plan on using that handle, but also will be prepared to modify if necessary for a little extra room.

 

The funny thing is that the #91629 roller handle looks like it uses the exact same brackets as the original handle.  They just swapped them between left and right, and rotated the angled one 180 degrees so instead of mating up with the straight bracket, it just increases the distance between them.  I wish I had caught that before I ordered mine.  I could've made my own roller handle on the lathe and saved me the $22!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2022 by thor447

[louu]

On 4/17/2022 at 2:51 PM, thor447 said:

If it is Lee # 91629, I added one to my order.  I found somewhere online that showed the distance from the top of the press to the underside of the roller handle.  The FW Arms *might* fit, but if it does, it may still be a an issue with hand clearance.  I plan on using that handle, but also will be prepared to modify if necessary for a little extra room.

 

The funny thing is that the #91629 roller handle looks like it uses the exact same brackets as the original handle.  They just swapped them between left and right, and rotated the angled one 180 degrees so instead of mating up with the straight bracket, it just increases the distance between them.  I wish I had caught that before I ordered mine.  I could've made my own roller handle on the lathe and saved me the $22!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's actually a lot different, you'll see when you get it

[thor447]

On 4/18/2022 at 6:39 PM, louu said:

It's actually a lot different, you'll see when you get it

Ok, that's encouraging then.  UPS is showing that it'll be delivered this afternoon sometime.  Hopefully it'll all fit without having to modify the handle.  Thanks again.

[thor447]

Got it set up.  Did a few things different, but it worked out well.  You were right, the roller handle cleared the FW Arms die.  Not by a lot, but enough to where it's not an issue.

 

Here's a couple of pics and a quick video I put on YouTube for you to see it in action.  FYI, I turned off the case feeder so the sounds wouldn't be so loud on the video.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2022 by thor447

[louu]

7 hours ago, thor447 said:

Got it set up.  Did a few things different, but it worked out well.  You were right, the roller handle cleared the FW Arms die.  Not by a lot, but enough to where it's not an issue.

 

Here's a couple of pics and a quick video I put on YouTube for you to see it in action.  FYI, I turned off the case feeder so the sounds wouldn't be so loud on the video.

 

 

 

 

Nice job on the pex tube, looks good 

[SJBriggs]

19 hours ago, thor447 said:

Got it set up.  Did a few things different, but it worked out well.  You were right, the roller handle cleared the FW Arms die.  Not by a lot, but enough to where it's not an issue.

 

Here's a couple of pics and a quick video I put on YouTube for you to see it in action.  FYI, I turned off the case feeder so the sounds wouldn't be so loud on the video.

 

 

 

 

If only it worked that well with .40! Nice set up.

 

 

[JohnnyD]

Nice, I've thought about doing this with my APP but I really don't wanna dumb nasty range brass in  my case feeder.  I've done it before and yah wasn't fun...especially with my low basement ceiling getting up there to clean it out is no fun...

 

I've had pretty good luck with the collator and tubes with 9mm...at some point need to switch it to 233 (honestly might just buy another one and not fiddle with it).