1894 Stevens favorite, Calibers .22,.25,.32, others, either RF or CF

[Chev. William]

The California Regulation waiting time is up so I picked up my Auction purchased unnumbered "Bubba'd" either 1894 or 1915 Stevens Receiver.
Measured the slot width for the Breech Block at .505", indicating this is an old 1894 series action to begin with.
The top tang is brazed on and has one of two 'Tang Sight' mounting screws present, the other hole is missing.
The Tang 'cants to the 'left' so may have been set up fo ra 'Leftie" shooter at some point.
The Lower Tang is a 'welded on homemade replacement that is offset to the Left of center at its join to the Receiver proper and also has a Right 'cant' to it.  The Lower Tang is about .550" to .560" wide and roughly .240" thick, top to bottom.  It has a Hex nut welded to the inside surface near the rear end that accepts a through screw from the top Tang.
There is a "flat" spring in the bottom of the Receiver, held by a screw, that appears to have pressed up on the Breech Block pivot 'ears', possibly to help keep the action closed., this is the first one I've seen like this.

Much  Rework will be Needed to get this Receiver to the point it can be fitted to a Butt Stock or any other parts of the action or rifle.

It did come with a 1894 series Barrel Retention Screw in place in it's hole.
The left side holes for the BB and Lever pivot screws measure about .200" diameter, which seems large as I understand 1894 actions had .187" Pivot screws.  The Hammer and Trigger left side holes measure about .164" diameter (a hammer I have has a .161" diameter hole; a trigger I have has a .163" hole) so these sound close.
Hammer, Trigger and Lever slots seem to be of appropriate sizes but I did not try to measure them at this time.
I( will try to order replacement screws next month, out of "Discretionary Funds" this month, with about a week before SSA money comes for the month.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

This "Bubba'd" 1894 receiver is now holding a set of four pivot screws.
The Breech Block one is just the right overall length for the receiver width but is threaded too far up the shank as the threads would be in one side of the Breech Block so only one 'ear' would be on the 'grip' portion of the screw.  Bad for 'Long Service Life' under stresses of firing.
The Lever pivot screw is slightly too long but Has the correct 'grip' length so that only 1/2 thread shows inside the receiver, this one would have reasonable service life under stress.  The screw end protrudes about one full thread beyond the Receiver outer wall.
The Hammer and Trigger pivot screws again are threaded too far along the shank, showing four full threads inside the receiver yet they are too long as the ends protrude about one thread beyond the receiver outer face.
Now I need to go through my collection of internals to see what I have that will fit also.

I spent time today fitting pivot pins to a 44 Receiver, Breech Block, Lever, and a hammer screw.  I now have the 44 with a Breech Block with very close fit to its Pivot Pin that needs to be fitted to the receiver slot before I try to fit a Link.
The Lever fit the pivot pin but the pin did not fit the receiver hole, so that was gently opened up to take the pin as a tight slip fit.
The Hammer pivot screw head was slightly too large to fit the counter bore for it in the Receiver wall so I 'dressed down' the head diameter to the point it will go into the counter bore smoothly.  Both the Hammer and Trigger screws are slightly too long for the receiver width, sticking out about half a thread.
These are all new manufacture pins and screws from "Muzzleloader Builders Supply" and are made from 'Stressproof' alloy Steel (1144 alloy) and according to MBS can be hardened at 1600 Degrees then tempered at 600 degrees if harder parts are wanted.
A used Firing pin Retainer screw does fit the new Breech Block so it will be used instead of the one from MBS in my action.

W30wcf has been converting the load reports on the .32 Rimfire threads to an Excel Spreadsheet and it is looking very good.
He is also planning to do one for the .32 "Colt" diameter cases that are also discussed in the various Threads.  I have sent him a email with my compiled information, in word .doc Format) so he can combine the data with his.  Mine is still a work in progress as I have not finished going through the threads for tested load information.

I also have a Winchester 700 (Correction: Winchester Model 70, not Model 700) barrel chambered ".300 Win. Mag." in Stainless Steel that I am thinking of remachineing to fit as a .32 Long or possibly a .32 Extra Long chambered for; first choice would be the 44 action; and second choice would be for a 1915 Favorite action.  Since this barrel was not cut for sight bases it could be done in many ways, perhaps with a Tube shroud fitted so it would be fully free floating from Receiver face to muzzle.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Received my Direct deposit Social Security money today and already have spent $275.00 on part of the Month's food supplies and another roughly $600.00 on Utilities.  The best part of the day was paying fo rand filling out transfer paperwork for two Stevens Favorite Receivers:

One is a 1894 series with a serial number "80573o" that has the spring retaining screws and what looks like a milled 'notch' in the internal cast shelf near the rear fo the Barrel Socket on the left side.  it begins flush with the side wall inside and extends around 3/32 toward the Center Line of the receiver. depth is hard to tell but appears to be about 1/16" and is the height of the shelf thickness in that area.  So far I did not see any other markings on it. general Brown 'Patina" on it.

The other receiver is a 1915 series and carries the serial number "P-549", the "model 1915 stamping, and the typical "Trademark Favorite, etc. on top of the barrel Socket.  There is also a "Circle I" stamp on the Left Diagonal surface near the front.  So far I have found no other marks on it.  This one also came with the spring retainer screws and also the Trigger spring still in it.  the exterior has a grey metal type of color and some patches of what may be Color Casse remaining but has numerous scratches on the sides running roughly parallel to the main receiver axis on both sides.

Hole dimensions and thread condition of both receivers will have to wait until the manidtory California Waiting period times out, around May 6th.

The other good news is that the '44' receiver and trigger were saved by my Gunsmith after I had tried to get the Trigger pivot screw out with bad luck.

Also another long term project is slightly closer to being completed.  He had the .45 Win Mag Barrel Blank threaded into my NOS Winchester M1 Carbine Receiver (not torqued in yet) so things are looking up on that one after two years of waiting.  
Still to be done on the barrel blank: Mill cuts to side and bottom to fit the operating slide AFTER blank is first torqued in , witness marked, and then removed for the further machining steps, it also will need to be contoured fo ra future Gas block/cylinder but that may wait until it is 'proof tested' as a single shot action first.  The gunsmith has blueprints for the intended barrel design, a 26" long .45 Win. Mag. on a carbine action, for which I have an old Fajen long nose 'Manlincher' style stock set aside.  No, it won't be a floating barrel, it will be clamped like a Carbine was, just about 6 inches longer so it will be a rifle length firearm.

I also picked up a new 50 round box of .38 Long Colt BP Factory loads for my .38 D. A. Colt 'lightening' Sheriff/Storekeeper Revolver. Handed down from my Uncle Ludwig, and is about 85% Nickel finished, with the original Colt Grips (they have the serial number scribed on the inside faces).

All in all a very good Wednesday for me.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Added to my .25 Stevens/.250 ALRx Tools set this week; I received custom Lee Case Trim Gauges for .250ALR, .250ALS, and .250ALRM along with case holders to fit both .25ACP/.250ALRx Rims and to fit Parent Hornet Case Rims so I can trim Formed Hornet cases to length for .25 Stevens intermediate CF, .25 Stevens Long CF, and .25 Stevens Extra long CF if I desire.  The longest versions would need the Chamber lengthened somewhat to fit so may not be used anytime soon.  The so Called .25 Stevens Intermediate would be a CF case about 1.050" long that would fit the large Rim recess of Stevens Chambers and would be useful as a equivalent to the .22WMR rounds if suitably loaded although I would use the "standard for the moment" 50 grain Lead Bullets.  It will be a future project to order a mold fo r65 Grain .251"-.255" caliber RFN design bullets.
The 251" is for the Stevens use and the .255" is for use by others for .25ACP loads for Rifles so they can size them to fit the barrels better.

My RCBS JR-3 Press broke last week so I have been out of the Reloading or Forming Case 'business for the time being but that is being changed.
RCBS Emailed me that they received my request fo rthe replacement parts and have sent them no charge, That is Very good Warranties Support!
I also bought a spare Press on EBAY that will be coming next week to be a back up if the repaired one ever breaks again.
The failure was the pivot Pin that joins the Toggle block to the Link , which snapped in the middle and the "Left" End fell out while the "Right" end jammed in the Toggle Block hole.
I intend to replace both of the Link pivot pins at the same time "just in Case" the other one has also been stressed enough to fail soon.

I bought a lyman Manual Case Trimmer and a replacement "power Trimmer' shaft for it to increase the speed with which I can trim the Long Hornet cases down to the needed lengths for my experiments.  they came in the mails and now I need to disassemble them to combine the parts for a power trim station powered by a portable drill motor.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Just as a Whim, I trimmed down 11 each R-P .32 Long Colt CF cases to .398" long .32 Extra Short RF length.  This required trimming the pilot nose length from  .250" to .200" and reversing the setting collar on the shaft so it could be tightened in place for the extra short case length.  the results are 10 each at .398" +/- .001" and one at .395" case length.
All the cases now have 'thick' necks due to the internal wall taper so will need to be reamed to allow seating Bullets without bulging the case wall.

These cases are "cute little Buggers, even shorter than a .25ACP case.
With a 311090A 90 Grain Heeled bullet (heel length of about .220") the .395" case would have about .015" space between seated heel and the case Web.
With a 299153 87 grain Heeled bullet (heel length of about .100") the .395" case would have about .135" space between seated heel and the case Web.

QL Calculated loads of Titegroup powder seem to indicate a range of .81 grains at 11,274pssi and 648fps to .90 grains at 14455psi and 694fps.  The pressure limit used is The Piezo CIP listed at 14.504psi.
Muzzle Exit pressures calculate to 101psi or less so this would make fo ra Quiet Short Range Target, Varmint, or Plinking cartridge.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Sunday evening I was 'puttering' with some old Hornet cases that had neck split when I expanded them to .250 ID, and Trimmed them down to remove the split areas resulting in 6 cases of .750" length.  This is the same as a .22 Extra Long case length and part way between the .25 Stevens Short of .515" and the .25 Stevens Long of 1.124".  I surmise that this .750" length would make a more useful "Short" version than the Stevens version.  The roughly 1/4 inch extra powder volume should provide adequate performance out of this longer 'Short Stevens' cartridge.

But for the moment I will set them aside as they polished up nicely.

Best Regards,
Cehv. William

[Chev. William]

This Wednesday I bought a Used RCBS "RC" 'Rock Chucker' reloading press and after scrubbing the ram to remove 'crud' and surface rust, oiled it up and tried forming .22 Hornet, neck expanded to .250" ID, cases to .25 Stevens diameters.  This appears to be much easier as I can form them all the way to the Rim in one pass through the die/press, rather than the multiple press cycles and incrementally lowering the die needed in my "JR-3" press.  I still need to rise off the chair to get the ram the last increment so may consider lengthening the press handle about 6" for more leverage.  The "RC" press does have a larger ram diameter and a threaded bushing to hold the 7/8-14 die so is intended for much larger cartridges than the "JR-3" was.
I also noticed the Rod I have been using to knock the formed cases out of the die is getting shorter while 'mushrooming' the head end so may also go looking for a suitable size and length pin punch to use instead.
Best Regards,
Chev William

[Chev. William]

Today I completed sizing 70 Cases for use as .25 Stevens parent use.  When I removed the Lee Carbide .25ACP Sizing die I noticed that the Carbide sizing ring had migrated into the die body by about .025".  I called Lee and Told them what I had been using it fo rand asked them if the Ring should have moved.  I was asked to mail the Die to them for Inspection, Repair, or Replacement, so that is what I intend to do.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

I sent the .25ACP Carbide Sizing Die to Lee for Inspection, and they sent me an email yesterday that they are sending a replacement Die via USPS.  So I guess the Carbide ring is not supposed to move up into the body like this one did.

Tried another .25ACP Carbide Sizing Die of about the same vintage and found that the Ring moved up about .010" after sizing down 30 Hornet cases to .318" diameter in my "RC" press.  It seems this vintage Carbide .25ACP sizing die does not have an internal shoulder for the Ring to seat against when flush with the end of the die.  This second one I will not be sending back to Lee as I wish to 'experiment with it' first.  I expect the new replacement from Lee to arrive sometime next week.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

I received the Replacement .25ACP Carbide Sizing Die from Lee yesterday evening and it visually seems identical to the older ones I have.  I wonder if it is different internally?

I think I will keep this 'new' die in reserve, and continue using the second 'old' one for my reforming projects as it is already showing .010" set back fo the Carbide ring.  I intend to see how far the ring eventually sets back from the forming forces, then possibly 'machine' the end of the die body to bring the carbide back to flush with the end.

Obviously this would only work if there is a 'step' in the die body bore for the ring to seat against.  Something I cannot check by measurement with the tools I have at hand.

Only time and use will let me find out.
Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

In my 'looking' for .25 caliber 67 grain bullets, I ran across "Hunters Supply" as a source for .258" diameter 62.9 grain Cast Bullets.
They will need to be sized down to .252" so I ordered a Lee Size and Lube Custom Kit in .252" diameter today, promised for delivery in 60 days.
This is the closed bullet I have so far found to the 67 grain size I am looking for.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

After more .22 Hornet down sizing to .25 Stevens diameters, I found the Carbide sizing ring seems to have stopped moving into the Die body at about .026" to .028" so I turned the bottom of the die bod so the end of the Carbide ring is about .003" 'proud' of the steel body.  So far no further ring movement has occurred.

I also tried 'coining' five rims on new, never fired PPU cases that previously had been sized to body diameters in my older "JR-#" press.
They coined nicely so I will eventually coin the rest of the 100 PPU cases that are already to Diameter for .25 Stevens This will save a rim thinning lathe operation but I will still need to trim the rim diameter to fit my chambers.

Also noted, on a trip to my Local Reloading Store that the current posted price for 100 empty .22 Hornet cases is now $39.00 but there were none in stock.  I also asked about .327 Federal Brass but, alas, none either in stock nor on order.

Next week I may try Federal Customer Service to see if any Empty Brass is available for their .327 Federal Magnum.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[AntiqueSledMan]

Very Interesting Post.

I have tinkered with the Idea of reloading the .25 Stevens. My plan was to order some made to spec cases from Rocky Mountain Cartridge LLC in a center fire configuration, load them with Black Powder & a cast bullet. I was going to build a new breach block with a center fire pin. But my little favorite is in rough condition & I dropped all plans. I do keep an eye open for a good 44 Ideal with a reasonable price tag, but just can't seem to find one.

Thanks for doing such a detailed post, very good information here. There was a fella in New Zeeland who had a post somewhere about "25 Stevens Ammo Dimensions", he turned his own brass & made a new breech block for it.

I must ad that the favorite action is not very strong and caution should be used when attempting loading anything for these. Of course someone will try to make a 25 Hornet & try to load it to the max, I just hope I'm not at the range when this happens.

[Chev. William]

Very Interesting Post.

I have tinkered with the Idea of reloading the .25 Stevens. My plan was to order some made to spec cases from Rocky Mountain Cartridge LLC in a center fire configuration, load them with Black Powder & a cast bullet. I was going to build a new breach block with a center fire pin. But my little favorite is in rough condition & I dropped all plans. I do keep an eye open for a good 44 Ideal with a reasonable price tag, but just can't seem to find one.

Thanks for doing such a detailed post, very good information here. There was a fella in New Zeeland who had a post somewhere about "25 Stevens Ammo Dimensions", he turned his own brass & made a new breech block for it.

I must ad that the favorite action is not very strong and caution should be used when attempting loading anything for these. Of course someone will try to make a 25 Hornet & try to load it to the max, I just hope I'm not at the range when this happens.

I am Glad you find the posts interesting but I hope you will also find the information useful and get your "Favorite Speaking" again.

The information on converting CF Cases to RF Adapters have shown that most Stevens Favorite RF firing pins for either .22 or .25 Calibers will contact the rim of a .22 Blank centered in an Adapter case.  Cases can be formed by sizing down .22 hornet cases to .25 Stevens Diameters/.25ACP Diameters using available combinations of tools and dies.  After the forming and trimming are complete, the CF case is then Drilled to fit a .22 RF Blank, with a 'rebate' cut in the CF Case Rim to accommodate the .22 RF rim and a 'crush clearance notch' made in the CF remainder rim so the firing pin has full room to 'crush' the RF rim and fire the Primer within.

All of these activities may be done with a Hammer, Pin Punch, RCBS "Primer Pocket Swage Tool Kit", .25ACP Lee Carbide reloading die set, a Lee Universal Decapping Die, Portable Electric Drill, Fine Cut Mill File, case deburring and pocket cleaning tools, suitable Case Length Trimming tools, a Reloading press, and a piece of Scotch Brand 'Green' Abrasive pad
No 'heavy machine tools needed although drill press and Lathe access eases some of the work.

You would end up with Adapter cases that fit your chamber and original Breech block/firing pin arrangement and that you can reused over and over probably without repeated sizing operations.  A Single Shot Rifle does not need bullets crimped in place as they are not subjected to repeated recoil forces nor magazine spring compression.
Black Powder loading so there is no 'air space' between Powder surface and bottom of bullet in such a modern made adapter will not be as strong as the original BP loads in RF cases due to the lower internal Case Volume of the Adapter case. 
.22 Caliber Blanks have been used from the very short "Acorn" style through to Various Grades of PTL Primer and Propellant Levels with good success.
"Acorn" Blanks seem to be available form Dixie Gun Works in the United States and from Suppliers in Europe for use by those in Europe.  PTL blanks in the various Civilian use grades are usually found in Home Builders/Remodeling Suppliers such as "Lowes" or Home Depot" in the USA.  Also "Starter Pistol" and "Dog Training" Blanks have been used with success.

By all means, go and Enjoy shooting your 'Favorite'.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

A mid year Progress report:
my 1894 Actions are slowly progressing with my gunsmith as 'Back Burner' low budget projects for him.  the poorer finished one is nearly complete and almost ready for test firing prior to 'bead blasting and final finish applications.  The second one, withmore of the original finish and no scratches will be left in original finish.

The other actions I have acquired of er the time are waiting for these first two to be finished before submitting them for gunsmith attentions, at his request.

In the interim I am doing case forming work at home for both the .25 Caliber range and the .32 Long Colt range.
I now have over a hundred finished to size and rim diameters of the .25 Cal Series and about another Hundred of the .32 sizes done with more of both sizes to be worked upon.

I have ordered a Lee "Lube and Size Kit" in .252" sizing diameter so i can size some of the .257" or .258" bullets I have found offered and acquired so far.

.32 Bullets I have a very nice source of "311090A" custom Cast bullets with a .312" Driving band and .302" heel Diameter form "Matt's Bullets" cast from a custom Accurate 5 'hole' mold.

I also acquired a batch of .312" diameter 100 grain Round Nose bullets and find that I can run them through a .308" sizing die and they  come out .309" diameter; so are suitable for .30 M1 Carbine Cartridge use, although maybe no tat Full Carbine loadings.

.25ACP is also being 'reloaded' as a background project, using Black Powder and also some Smokeless powder charges, for use in both a Raven Pistol and my project Rifle(s), when they are done.  These are being loaded with between 4.5 and 5 grains of BP in various screen sizes behind "Carolina Cast Bullets" made '.25 Ranch dog' 51 grain Cast Lead bullets.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

I spent the last few days preparing parent cases For the .25 Stevens Family of cartridges.
These latest ones are made with my Current Set of tooling and I have modified some of them to be Rimfire adapters using my new Cutters/Tooling.

1. Started out with used R-P .22 Hornet Brass, Expanded the necks and shoulders to .250" inside diameter, then used my "RC" press, the .25ACP Carbide sizing die, and the 'RCBS Primer Pocket Swaging Tool Kit', with an added Fender Washer, to form the cases Full length, including 'coining' the rims down, to .25 Stevens Case diameters and rim thickness.

2. Trimmed a group of the parent cases to .25 Stevens Length (1.125" roughly), and using a Battery Drill Motor and a Fine Single Cut Mill File, finished the Rims to thickness and diameter (.346" to .348" diameter by .060" thick) to fit my Stevens Barrels chambered for the .25 Stevens Rf cartridge.

3. I then Set up my "#8 Cap screw combination Drill and Counterbore in my Drill Press over a Machinist Vise C-Clamped to the Press table positioned so a Case clamped in the Vise "V" would be centered under the Chuck and its Tool. The Drill/Counterbore needs slow feed as it is sharpened for Steel, not Brass, cutting. The Drill Press depth stop was used to limit counterbore depth to less than the rim thickness (depth of counterbore cut was set to about .040", leaving about .010" rim metal thicknes).

4. The same setup was used with a #2 Drill to open the case hole from about .179" to about .219".

5. The Same setup was used with a "Match Grade .22LR Freeland" Chamber reamer to open the through hole in the case head to fit 'Tightly' a .22 Blank.

6. Using a separate, smaller, Machinist Vise on my Loading Bench and the same Mill file, I cut a Firing pin Clearance slot in one side of the nearly finished adapter case rim.

7. I then deburred and smoothed the the 'finished' Adapter Case base and rim before primer/load was inserted.

8. Inserted a .22 Caliber Grade 1 Power Tool Load Blank and use dmy loading press to push it home in the Adapter, using a Dummy Chamber and the Stripper cup from the Swage Kit WITHOUT the Swage Punch.

9. Polished the finished loaded Adapter using the Battery Drill motor and a Green Scotchbrite pad.

These 'loaded' Blank adapter cases have the existing Grade 1 PTL powder loading of 1.31 Grains of flake, fast burning, powder and I intend to use them to verify I have enough Firing pin clearance to set them off in a Stevens Favorite Rifle fitted with a '22LR' Breech Block and a .25 Stevens Chambered Barrel.

Later, after reloading and reassembling the Stevens Favorite with a .25 Stevens RF Breech Block and the same .25 Stevens barrel, I will check the firing pin will fire the Blank, as my measurements appear to allow.

This series of tests will verify I can fire my Stevens Favorite with either a "CF" Breech Block, a ".22RF" Breech Block, or a ".25RF" Breech Block assembled in to my action.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Between the 'cool off' of Evening and the 'invasion of insects, Bugs, and Beatles' over the last few evenings I have taken some formed 'parent' .25 Stevens cases and trimmed them to .25 Stevens Long RF lengths, then set ten aside a s.25 Stevens CF cases and worked over 11 more to make Rf adapter cases for the .25 Stevens.

First action was to use a "#8 Cap Screw Drill and Counterbore" to pilot drill (about .176") and cut the RF Rim Rebate (about .290" diameter).

Second action was to use a #2 Drill to enlarge the pilot hole to about .219".

Third action was to Ream the Bore with a PT&G ".22LR Match Grade 'Freeland' Finish Chamber Reamer" to bring the hole diameter to about .224" diameter to be a 'Thumb Press Fit' for .22 Caliber Grade 1 Powder Tool load (PTL) Blanks, the same size as .22 Blanks fo various types, such as 'Acorn', 'Noise'. Flash', 'Starter', 'Dog Training', etc.

Then the cases were de-burred and polished to remove wax and 'dirt'.

The Fourth actin will be to file a 'notch' in the remaining standing rim edge to clear the overlap of the firing pin, which May not be needed fo ruse with a .22RF Breech Block but probably will be needed for a .25RF Breech Block and a .32RF Breech block.

So now I have 20 completed cases with one partial to be used to illustrate the process.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Spent Yesterday and this morning working to get my "PhotoBucket" account back and running again, in the process apparently lost the previously used links to the posted photos.

But I did get a new photo of my .25 Stevens RF/CF case forming project uploaded and titled so here is the link:

This photo is a cropped detail of a larger image and shows: a fired .22PTL Blank (fired in one of the Adapter Cases I made); side and bottom views of the completed .25 Stevens CF case; bottom view of pilot drilled and counterbored RF case; bottom view of #2 Wire Size Drilled RF Case; Bottom view of Match Grade .22LR 'Freeland' chamber reamed RF Adapter Case; Side and bottom view of Adapter case with PTL blank inserted; side views of, in order .22 Caliber, Grade 1 (Gray) PTL, Grade 2 (Brown) PTL, Grade 3 (Green) PTL, and Grade 4 (Yellow) PTL Unfired Blanks.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

Spent the last few evenings working to form some .327 Federal Magnum Brass down to the diameters of .32 Extra Long RF cases in my RCBS "RC" press and found that the original handle, with the straight plastic grip, is too short for ease of use.  In order to full length form the case down to diameter, using two different diameter dies, I still have to stand and put nearly my full weight on the end of the  handle to get case fully into the die.  I 'lost' two out of 50 due to buckling in the first die as I 'paused' forcing the case into die.

I now have ten cases that are to diameter and have turned the Brass Roll off from in front of the Rim.  The Forming process for some reason seems to distort the mouth of the cases so I have to reform them back to circular.  I have ordered a pair of Drill Blanks to use in circularizing the mouths eventually.

I also Queried RCBS for the price of an "Ammomaster 2 handle assembly as it seems to be the same diameter but about 4 inches longer, so should improve the 'lever arm' to which I am applying my body weight to do the forming.  

However, I may need to reinforce my Table Top to reduce 'flexing' under the added load.  I am contemplating adding a piece of Treated 2"x 6" about 24" long to the underside at the press position to add some more stiffness to the table top.

Best Regards,
Chev. William

[Chev. William]

last Saturday afternoon my new "Ammomaster 2" handle assembly arri8ved and after supper, I installed it into my "RC" press and then tried downsizing some .327 Federal Magnum cases to .32 Extra Long/.32 Long Colt Diameters with Excellent results, the needed force on the handle was reduced from 'Standing near full body weight' on the old handle to 'Sitting upper body weight' on the new handle.

I completed 25 case downsizings in this session with the New Handle, versus about ten per session with the Old Handle, and was feeling comfortable at the end of the session.

I am Very Pleased with this modification to my "RC" press and I Highly Recommend it to anyone suing an "RC" press to reform Brass.

Best Regards,
Chev. William