First Look for Me: Lee Ram Swage - Another Winner from Lee!

Bottleneck brass prep can be a pain at times considering the number of steps necessary to get it reload ready (as compared to straight walled brass).

For .223 and especially with range pick up, there is always the issue or potential of a crimp. I usually batch my .223 and then do my cleaning, full length resizing (small base for the levers), trimming, chamfer and debur. Then of course there is the swaging aspect. I try to handle (tooling wise) my brass as little as possible and I use a go/no go primer gauge to make sure I don't try to swage brass that doesn't need it.

I started swaging in 2010 with the RCBS Pocket Swage Combo on my LCT. I rigged up a "tool head" that would allow me to use my LCT with this swager. I later had SocalSW make me the same "tool" out of one piece of aluminum. The main problem with the RCBS dies is the diameter of the mandrel. For just shot brass, the case mouth fits fine. But I swage as a last step and the resized brass is BEYOND a tight fit on the RCBS mandrel.

I then tried the CH4D swager and what a mess. Instead of "riding" the case into a die, the CH4D design is the mandrel attached to the shell holder and a die that lets you snap in a shell holder. Unfortunately, with the shell holder up top and pushing the swage mandrel via the ram, the brass is always "tilting" in the shell holder and I can never get a good swage.

Moved onto the RCBS bench swager and this is my absolute go to swager. It just works! Love that I can mount it to my t-slot and it's rock solid and does the job. Also adjustable. No issues.

But, being the Lee fan, I recently came across the Lee Ram Swager. Didn't even know this existed. Best way to describe it is like the RCBS Pocket Swager (a shell holder thingy for either larger or small primer) and the brass glides (like a knife through hot butter) into the die with the swaging mandrel. No issues with resized brass like the RCBS. This works equally well with resized or shot brass. Simple, yet elegant. Not a bunch of pieces like the other solutions. One die and one shell holder (large or small primer). Worked great and I have since retired my RCBS Pocket Swager die for the Lee when I want to swage on press.

Another winner from Lee!