Thinking about gettin a Lee (45-70) loader for some load development at the range.. Question does the 45-70 CRIMP?? I crimp ALL MY 45-70. thank you in advance.. Marc

I would suggest getting the hand press over a lee loader:


If you are doing load development you should try to keep things as uniform as possible, and this way you can use the same dies even if you want to.

Also, I had a lee loader when I was a youngster and while it is better than nothing it is slow and somewhat of a PITA to use.

Or you can get one of the other Lee presses and mount it to a piece of 2X6 and clamp that to a bench:

According to the paperwork in some of mine, it is possible to crimp the bullet in place.
While it is slow, I get a good deal of satisfaction from the truely hands on construction of the cartridges. I do recommend using a Lee Auto Prime in stead of the priming set up in the Lee Loader.

Oh, here's another suggestion if you just want to buy some cute little gizmo-

I've never used a Lyman 310 tool but they have always looked cool as heck to me, and they do come in 45-70 I just noticed:


http://www.lymanproducts.com/l...s/lyman-310-tool.php

Lee hand press. the only way to go. IIRC the Lee Loader only neck sizes.

The Lee Loaders do have a feature that allows crimping of the loaded round. Banged out more than a few 32 Specials on a Lee Loader as a kid. Still have the rifle and the loader and still use both on occasion, brings back a lot of good memories.

Great info guys...thank you..
Mark, is the hand pressure for the hand held on hard.. My concern is a bit of arthritis in my hands. Still pretty strung but some things cause flair up.. What do you think? Thanks Marc

May I put my dog into this fight?

Whenever I've done load development at an open range or public range I try to bring a quantity of sized, re-primed, neck-expanded (if relevant) cases with me.

So I just have to merely put in the powder charge and seat and crimp (if relevant...I see it is to you) the bullet.

And for that I only need one operation to mess about with.

However if case supply is an issue I'd definitely go with the Lee single station press option as it is:

Probably cheaper than a Lee Loader and as said allows the least variable from what you do at home as you'll be using YOUR STANDARD DIE SET is that cheap single station Lee press in the middle picture of the post from MARK.

I use the Lee hand press all the time, not just at
the range. Enfieldspares' suggestion is the best
way to go as far as loading at the range. I also
have a bit of arthuritis (as my grandmother used
to call it) in my hands and the hand press doesn't
bother at all. However, there was a post somewhere
in which someone said it made his hands sore (he
didn't mention "arthur"). Guess it just depends on
how you use it. When pulling a case out of the
die after resizing, my thumb automatically goes
around the die itself instead of using my
fingers to clamp around the frame, if that makes
any sense.

I really like the Lee hand tool, but Forster
dies get used, not Lee dies.