I've got one. It's been my main loader since 1980.

SLW:

I would be interested in getting a late-model Tru-Line Jr. press (the one with the L-shaped side links giving - in combination with the straight ones - a compound motion like RCBS, etc.) near-new (in box?), complete with 2-die rifle set (combination decapper-neck sizer-mouth expander die, and "double adjustable" seat-crimp die, with matching shell holder and priming punch; preferably 30-'06, if available. PM me or e-mail me at floodgate@pacific.net. Any other info or lists would also be of interest. (Did you get my PM from Saturday? I may have flubbed it.) Thanks.

floodgate

SLW

Would you know if the compound L type linkage bars can be purchased anywhere separatly? I have a nice tight Tru-Line_Jr. that could sure benefit from a retrofit.

Tom Myers

Tom:

"Would you know if the compound L type linkage bars can be purchased anywhere separately?"

I'll answer this, as I was the one to raise the question. I'm not sure if the linkages are interchangeable; that's why I am looking for the late one, to compare with an early model with straight links I picked up as-NIB at a recent show. Lyman Customer Service MIGHT be able to help here.

If interested (PM me with e-address), I can send you a preliminary writeup on the development of the T-L Jr. I did for another tool collector.

Doug Elliott/"floodgate"

Floodgate,Iv'e tried a couple of E-mails to you with the info. Did they ever get through? SLW

In this line of thought, I have a Lyman that is orange with a black turret. Are extra turrets available and if so how much do they usually cost?

SLW:

No, nothing has come through. Have you been getting my PM's? Yours came through OK.

floodgate

woody (and anyone else interested):

The following is a summary of the history of the Lyman Tru-Line Jr. presses I wrote up for a couple of other tool collectors. I hope some of you, at least, will find it helpful:

"I had been dimly aware that there was something "funny' about T-L Jr. dies, and a few months ago saw mention that the tool linkage came in two forms. Last night I did some more checking on the tool, and found that it and its dies are, indeed, more complicated than I had realized. The Tru-Line Jr. tool, with its four-station rotating turret tapped 5/8" x 30 tpi, was introduced in or around 1949 (per the "Lyman Centennial Journal"; my set of Lyman Annual Product Catalogs is as-yet incomplete for this period), and at that time had a simple, direct linkage, with two long blued bars (one on either side) connecting the handle toggle to the moving case-holder assembly. The dies were the same as for the contemporary 310 tool: decapping chamber ("D.C."), muzzle resizer ("M.R."), expander die ("E.C.") with expander plug ("E.P.") for the appropriate bullet, and the classic "double-adjustable" chamber ("D.A.") for seating (and crimping, if required), with a seating stem (S.S.) matched to the chosen bullet nose profile. The only difference was that, instead of the external priming chamber ("P.C."; the hallmark of the 310's with their screw-in case-head bushing, as opposed to the earlier, steel-handled tools cut for a specific case head diameter), the T-L Jr. used a more conventional shell-holder ("S.H.") which descended over a priming punch ("P.P.") in the tool base on the down stroke. These designation are from Ideal Handbook No. 38, (January 1951), pp. 30-31. Full-length sizing, if required, was still done with the separate die and knockout rod system. My tool and die set are of this early design, and I got the matching F. L. die set with the recently-acquired late No. 10 tool in the same caliber.

Two years later (HB #39, May, 1953), the tool body and linkage were the same; but for bottle-necked cases only, a "Combination Die" replaced "D.C.", "M.R.", "E.C." and "E.P.", with the muzzle-resizing function built into the earlier decapping die body, and an expanding button screwed onto the decapping stem, to expand the case mouth as it was withdrawn from the die, in conventional (Pacific, RCBS, etc.) fashion. This allowed the T-L Jr. to be set up with two sets of two dies each, for rifles at least. (HB #39 glosses over loading of straight-walled cases; they evidently used the older four-die set, as before.)

By HB #41 (July 1957; HB #40 doesn't show much of anything on the T-L Jr.), however, there had been a major revision to both tool and dies. The single link on either side of the tool had been relaced by a shorter one, pinned to the "elbow" of a second L-shaped link attached to the toggle and frame, giving the same "compound" effect as that of the RCBS A-2 tool (which evidently inspired the change). This linkage changes the leverages of the system so that the rising element carrying the shell holder has rapid movement and low mechanical advantage at the start of the upstroke (and for priming, at the end of the down-stroke), but slows down and greatly increases the leverage as the shell carrier approaches the top of its stroke. This made it possible to provide full-length sizing for straight-walled pistol cases (and for certain other short cases) in lieu of just resizing the case mouths. The die sets were correspondingly revamped and re-designated. For bottle-necked rifle cases, decapping, muzzle resizing and case mouth expanding were performed in the combination die (now labelled "die S") as in the previous setup; for pistol cases, the decapping rod was used in a new body (die "R") which also provided full-length sizing. Oddly, muzzle-resizing was still retained for pistol cases, using the same die as before (now, die "B"), and case mouth expansion was also as before (die "F"). Seating and crimping utilized the D.A. chamber (now die "E") and seating screw for both types of cases. The shell holder and priming post were relabelled ("J" and "T", respectively) but otherwise unchanged. So, "rifle" die sets consisted of two dies: "S" and "E"; while pistol sets took dies "R", "B", "F" and "E", four in all, but now allowed full-length sizing. Around the same time, the earlier number coding for 310 and T-L Jr. dies by specific cartridge ("123" for .30-'06) was changed to a more complex form which I still have not completely sorted out.

This must have posed a real nightmare for the Lyman stock-keepers, especially as they were also going through a lengthy evolution in their other tools, towards the "standard" C- and H-press and 7/8" x 14 tpi die systems used by other makers."

Sorry for taking up so much space.

floodgate

Thanks Paul.



I have a Dillon and a rockchucker but they are in a different building, this is the only one I have in my garage where I can sneak into for a few moments, or at midnight. I have 5 of the 6 positions filled up with my 20 tactical dies- form die, full length size die, neck size die, seating die, and crimp die. So that leaves me with only 1 unused hole. If I ever decide to set up in here for another caliber I'll need to get another turret, hence my asking! Of course I have always secretly lusted after a co-ax press, so maybe I'll go your suggested route when the time comes too!



Mark