Finally got the safe delivered on Wednesday. Bought it at The Sportsmen’s Center over in New Jersey, which is the closest Liberty Safe Dealer to my house. It’s a Franklin 35, with brass hardware. Picked it up for $1799, and they delivered it for $225.
I also got the progressive press a reader sent me all set up and running, which I have nicknamed “The Contraption” because of its mechanical complexity. It took a good bit of work, and a few botched reloads to get everything set up correctly. It’s a Lee Pro 1000. It took a bit of tinkering and finagling to get it to work. Mainly the primer system didn’t want to feed reliably. That problem was solved by applying car wax to the feed ramp to slippery it up a bit. That seems to have done the trick. You still have to watch the tray like a hawk though, because if it’s not full, it won’t feed. Did a small run of about 50 .44 Special cases through, went to the range and shot them all, and will reload again. It seems to work fine once you get it set up, clean the feed ramp, and know what to watch out for.
Try using a dry teflon spray on the primer feed areas and just about anywhere else you have moving parts coming into contact.
Example, on the rams, pivot points and threaded parts.
Good selections are available at most decent hardware and automotive supply stores.
Many different brands, most are good to very good and not to expensive either.
One more thing, a little bit goes a long way.
Ahh yes, the Lee Pro 1000. I also run one of these. Reminds me of a Rube Goldberg machine I once built in high school. But once properly cleaned and adjusted, it runs fine. Though I have had no luck getting the bullet feeder to work properly.
Good suggestion on the primer feeder, I’ll have to give that a try. Nothing pisses me off more than dumping powder into a case with no primer…..