So you’ve came to the conclusion that you don’t have the room for a reloading workbench. Or you bounce around from hobby to hobby and your wife won’t let you spend a few hundred dollars on a full size reloading press. Maybe your tiny apartment can’t accommodate a single stage, turret or progressive press on the market. If you fall into any of these categories and still want to start reloading there’s an option for you. You’re only real option to get into the reloading hobby is to buy a portable reloading press kit.
Which is The Best Portable Reloading Press?
Lee Precision Cast Iron Reloading Hand Press
I didn’t realize how big the market was for the reloading hand press kits until I saw them on sale for black Friday. At a modest discount you would have sworn they were giving them away. I might be a sucker for new reloading equipment so I had to see for myself how these worked. I didn’t realize how convenient it is to have a portable press until I bought one. Anyone that reloads in an unheated garage can tell you that it’s hard to do a decent amount of reloading in the winter. This is where this portable reloading press comes in. With a portable hand press you can reload right at your kitchen table. Even during the summer I find myself sitting on the porch and slowly reloading with this press.
What is a Portable Reloading Hand Press Kit?
A portable hand press is exactly what the name implies. It is essentially a single stage press that fits into the palm of your hand. So why would anyone want a hand press?
- A hand press is great for people that live in a small house or apartment. Maybe you live in the city and don’t have the room to setup a dedicated reloading workbench.
- You are able to take it with you wherever you go. One of my favorite times to use a hand press is while traveling for work. Anyone who’s traveled for work knows how stressful going to meetings and dealing with jet lag is. Reloading is a way for me to relax and it reminds me of home.
- A Portable hand press is great for reloading right at the range. The only long distance range I have near my house is over an hour away so the hand press allows me to work up loads right at the range, without having to drive home. Keep in mind that it can be a little difficult to reload some of the larger rifle rounds with one of these presses.
Portable Hand Press Limits
Like I implied above a portable hand press has some major limitations. A Hand Press is designed to be used with pistol and small rifle rounds. Larger rounds will not only be to large to fit in the press you might have difficulty squeezing the handle. You won’t be loading very fast with a portable hand press. If you think about it a hand press is basically a smaller version of a single stage press. So If you are only able to load 100 rounds an hour with a single stage press you can cut that time in half with a hand press. I might be wrong but the only hand press that I’ve seen is made by Lee Precision.
Lee Precision Breech Lock Hand Press Kit
The Lee Precision Breech Lock Hand Press is currently the only portable hand press on the market. That will probably quickly change as companies begin to see how many of these are actually being sold. Once out of the box the Breech Lock Hand Press is actually pretty impressive. This is a full size reloading press that measures at around 11″ and only weight 1.5 lbs. At the low price this press would be perfect with a universal decapping die. A universal decapping die will remove the primer from most case sizes.
If the convenience of this press isn’t enough this press also includes Lee’s Breech Lock System. The Breech Lock System allows you to quickly change your dies without having to readjust them. This kit includes almost everything that a beginner reloader needs to get started. The only other items you really need are a digital scale, reloading manual and various dies. I would also probably suggest a hand priming tool but their is an included primer ram. My only real complaint about this press is the size of the primer compartment.
This press is would be perfect for the following people.
- The Lee Breech Lock hand press is perfect for the beginner reloader. This press is not only small and convenient to use it significantly drops the price point to enter the hobby. The only other press at a comparable price is the Lee single stage Reloading Press.
- Someone who travels a lot or needs to do basic reloading at the range. It’s hard to beat the convenience of this press since everything you will need to reload will fit into a small bookbag.
- A reloader who wants to have a dedicated press to deprime or use as a bullet puller. There’s nothing better than depriming while watching tv. This takes what I consider to be the most boring aspect of reloading and makes it bearable.
Who Needs a Portable Hand Press?
You might not take this portable reloading hand press seriously but it is an impressive product. It’s biggest strengths lie in the convenience of it’s portability. Due to its size this press has some weaknesses but they are hard to find. There are a few extra preparations that are needed while using a hand press. When I bought my press I had dreams of reloading by the pool and other crazy ideas. I didn’t realize that you actually need to have a pretty decent sized table to work on. This makes sense since we dedicate a full workbench to reloading but it didn’t sink in how much space I needed to work until I tried to use it.
Realistically I think most reloaders will be able to find a use for this hand press. At the price you might actually want to purchase two of these presses. If you want the option of working up loads at the range or depriming your cases on the couch you should check out the Lee Precision Breech Lock Hand Press Kit. Follow this link to amazon for more information about this reloading press.