HDS Compac Tool Press

[BigJakeJ1s]

Has anyone used one of these handheld presses (toward the bottom of the page)? It kind of reminds me of a handheld version of the Forster Coax press.

I have a lee Hand press, and while it is a decent performer, I'm looking for something a little better. I'd like a little more leverage, and the dual handles look like they might provide that (I like to resize 45 colt brass while sitting in my easy chair). Also, the Lee's ram-die alignment is not quite straight either. It is close enough that the slop in the shell holder can compensate, though. The other feature that intrigues me about the compac is that it can be mounted to a small piece of wood, to make it free-standing on a bench/table for some operations.

I've ordered one of these Compac tools, so I guess I'll find out... Maybe I should've posted here before I ordered it? I'll post back what I find.

Andy

[BigJakeJ1s]

My Compac tool handheld press arrived today! Wow, it is an impressive peice of workmanship & design. So far I've only used it to resize, but it is much better (easier/smoother) at that than my Lee handheld press (it ought to be @ 4x the $).

The "ram" (or the shellholder holder) is perfectly aligned with the die, unlike my Lee, though there is enough float in the shellholder on the Lee to work OK. There is nowhere near as much "spring" in the Compac as in the Lee.

The documentation says the press works really well with window-type seating dies, and I think I see what they mean. The spacing between the twin guide rods along side the cartridge makes manipulating a bullet a little tight in there, but it is certainly doable. A window type seater would avoid setting a bullet on top of the case between the guide rods. I don't think I've seen one in .45 cal though.

I think I'll attach a ~4" circle of plywood to the bottom (it has extra hardware to do that with) so that it can stand up on a table/bench by itself, but still be easy to use in my lap while seated in my easy chair (my favorite place for everything up to charging and seating, which I do at the kitchen table).

So far, a big thumbs up!

Andy

[Gewehr98]

I had been using it to prime some brass using a Lyman priming die attachment, and the press was being rather vague and "springy" during the final push to seat primers. I'd noticed the springiness earlier when I was resizing surplus 7.62mm NATO brass, too.

I was reading through an older (May-June 1994) copy of Handloader, when I saw the ad for the Huntington Die Specialties Compac hand press. Wow! That looked like a solidly-engineered piece of reloading gear! And only $64.00 in 1994 prices. Hmmm, I wonder if they're still made in 2005? So I click on Huntington's website, and there it is, at $83.98! Cool. I'll order one later next week.

So I'm at a local gun store just today, and I go upstairs to see if they have any Imperial Sizing Die Wax. Nope, but there's this neglected white cardboard box with a faded Huntington Die Specialties label, all covered in dust. No price tag, but let's open it up and see what's inside.

Woo-hoo! A Compac Press, albeit with an ancient manual using Fred Huntington's own signature.

So I mosey over to the gun counter, and ask what the price is on the press. He doesn't know, but he opens up a distributors catalogue to reference it. No luck. I told him I'd buy it to replace my Lee hand press, which is somewhat comparable. So he looks up the Lee hand press price, writes $27.00 on a price sticker and affixes it to the Huntington Die Specialties box.

I ring it up, and wait until I get inside my truck before I let out a war whoop. These things are neat!

[BigJakeJ1s]

Gewehr98 said:
...I told him I'd buy it to replace my Lee hand press, which is somewhat comparable...

You said that with a straight face?

As tickled as I am having paid full price, you must be downright giddy!

I set my seater die down within about 0.01" of the shellholder while empty, and it gets right back down there when resizing a case. To get that close to the shellholder when resizing with the Lee Hand Press, I had to set it to hit the shellholder pretty hard when empty.

I found a window seater die available for 45 colt at gmwvickerman.com. I may have to get me one of those. Anybody have any experience with them?

On the other hand, I'm getting pretty good at handling the bullet between the guide rods, and I like to seat and crimp at the same time (saves a step on a single stage press). Also that window seater needs an extended shellholder, that, although supplied with the vickerman die, would have to be swapped out with a regular shellholder for the other operations. One other shortcoming of the Compac press is that it does not have a spring clip to hold the shellholder in place. Instead it uses an allen head set screw that you just screw in far enough to keep the shell holder from sliding back out (it should not contact the shellholder normally.) This is not a problem if all your operations use the same shellholder, but if you have to switch to an extended shellholder to seat with, and then switch back to crimp, that'll get a little old, I'd imagine.

Later,

Andy

[Gewehr98]

Especially with cast bullets. I don't recommend it, lead shavings and all...

I'm slow enough in my methodology to take the time and do the steps separately. I also buy Lee Factory Crimp dies for all my autoloaders, so it's a moot point.

I like that allen screw lock on the shellholder, it's very positive, and I noticed there's no chance of the shellholder and priming/decapping hole in the center being misaligned once tightened down, compared to the spring circlip on my other presses.

I also like the overcenter camming as the shellholder kisses the resizing die. I just resized and deprimed 20 pieces of Sellier & Bellot 8mm Mauser, like greased lightning, almost as smooth as my Hornady 007 O-Frame or Dillon 550B!

I'm debating what kind of grease/lube to keep on the guide rods, since it's an aluminum to steel interface.

Anybody want to buy a slightly-used Lee hand press?

[BigJakeJ1s]

The grease on mine from the factory looked like the white lithium type to me. The guide rods are nicely polished on mine (with some sort of blue/black finish), no doubt contributing to the silky smooth operation.

So far I only reload 45 colt, with Hornady New Dimension Dies with the sliding bullet sleeve. I have not had any problems with bad crimps or shaved bullets, but roll crimping into a generous canelure (sp?) makes that a breeze compared to taper crimping at/over the ogive (or so I've heard; no experience there). I have the Lee FCD for for 45 colt, and started out using it. But then I decided to try to set up the Hornady seater die to crimp, and never looked back.

I generally use a universal deprimer die on empties before dumping them into the tumbler. I like the hollow ram on the Lee (holds about 30 WLP before needing to be emptied). It keeps things a little neater around my easy chair. I've thought about trying to find an appropriate sized male NPT - hose barb fitting that I could screw into the bottom of the compac's ram, and hook up a short piece of clear tubing to a bucket/can/etc to catch the spent primers. If I got the right size ID on the fitting, the primer seating punch would still pass through the the fitting (with the hose removed).

Andy

[Tedbytes]

I purchased this fine press many years ago as a replacement for the then discontinued Decker Press for which it is copied. The fine and smooth Aircraft Grade aluminum and precision hardened Cap head screws and aluminum linkages are of the finest materials available. Yes, there is springiness in the setup and No, it will never replace your "at home" reloading O press or Turret Press. The Compac Press is a first rate tool with mechanical advantage necessary for all pistol cases and rifle cases up to the big belted Magnums. The clam-shell parallel arms "snap" sharply against the machined aluminum posts with authority. Remember to keep fingers and tender skin on your palms away from inherent pinch points. Keep the hardened parallel rails well lubed with a good light grease and keep all screws tight. Try not to make any adjustments as the guide rods attached to the die platform are absolutely parallel to the shell holder housing and do not wobble.

There are included lg and sm priming cups,spring,and rod for both sizes of primers. I highly recommend mounting the press using the included steel mount plate to a fine piece of oak or similar hard wood kick plate of about 6" by 10" as suggested by Huntington. Mine is 20 years old and still looks good as new albeit a little more costly. This is a first rate travel tool in any portable reloading kit. Ted Bates