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Old January 26, 2012, 03:43 PM   #1
FrankenMauser
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Lee Loader (Shotshell) Rammer Stuck in Crimp Body

While hedging my bets on several lots of poorly described shotshell reloading gear on eBay, I ended up with a Lee Loader in 12 ga, and a Lee Load-All in 12 ga (not the newer Load-All II).

But... The "rammer" is stuck in the crimp body of the Lee Loader.
It is one of the older kits, with a metal rammer.

I tried tapping it out with a hardwood dowel, but couldn't get it to budge. I also tried turning the spring clip to relieve a little tension on the detent ball. That didn't work, either.

The box has some obvious water damage, that appears to have happened since the last use of the kit. But, nothing shows any rust, besides the decapping tool (which looks like corrosion from black powder shells, to me, not rust from neglect).
My initial thought was to hit the stuck rammer with some penetrating oil, but I figured I'd see what the TFL mind pool suggests.

Any ideas?

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Old January 26, 2012, 05:42 PM   #2
sob (sweet ole bill)
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12 gage Lee

Have been using Lee loaders for forty years. Never saw one stuck. I would try the "P" oil. If that won't loosen it up call Lee. They have never failed to help me when I was jammed on something

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Old January 26, 2012, 06:29 PM   #3
maggys drawers
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Maybe the old freezer trick ? It sometimes works for stuck shells in dies.
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Old January 27, 2012, 03:13 AM   #4
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I ended up filling the body up with penetrating oil, and letting it sit for a few hours. I tapped it, vibrated it, and beat on it a little bit, every half our, or so.

In the end, I was able to ever-so-slowly work the rammer loose, by using a vise, dead-blow mallet, strap wrench, and some drifts/dowels (steel and oak).

It required a bit of work to get it cleaned up, re-polished, and moving freely.




I'm expecting a partial refund from the seller. It was claimed to be "complete" and in "working order". ...Neither of which is actually correct. It was missing the instructions, has the wrong powder measure, and was rusted solid.
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Old January 27, 2012, 10:15 AM   #5
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Maybe I'm speaking from a position of ignorance... (whew, done THAT before!) but why would you chase down this used equipment when the new shotshell gear from Lee is so darn inexpensive?

I used a Mec-650 back when I was in the shotshell game and though I never used the Lee shotshell gear, I was flabbergasted at it's low price.
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Old January 27, 2012, 02:45 PM   #6
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I'm cheap, when it comes to certain reloading tools.

I don't shoot a lot of shotshells. But, I do break enough clays, most years, that loading shotshells myself is justifiable (on cheap equipment).

I figured a Lee Loader would be more than enough for me.
...but I ended up with the Loader and a Load-All (still waiting on the shipment ).

New Lee equipment is cheap.
Used Lee equipment is even cheaper.
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Old January 28, 2012, 08:32 AM   #7
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A brass brush and some Hoppe's will clean that up nice, I use G-96 spray (cleaner and lubricant), soak it for a day or two and then scrub.
It looks as thought those two pieces were almost fused together man.
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Old January 28, 2012, 02:48 PM   #8
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I used a surplus brush (may have come with my M24/47) to get the debris out, and a .35 cal bronze brush to scrub everything else. That was, of course, after a healthy dose of Hoppe's #9. Then, I hit it with a cotton cloth and some polishing compound, before some oil for protection.

They were tight. It took a lot of work, measuring progress in thousandths of an inch, and re-lubricating often.
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Old January 29, 2012, 09:40 AM   #9
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Now it probably won't hurt to put it through the tumbler for an hour or two.
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