Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Do presses wear out?

Really, Jim?

Sounds like good advice.
Thanks
John

Nah, just kiddin'.

However, I can't recall when I last cleaned the linkage and stuff on my press. IIRC I took it apart a while ago and never was sure I got it back together right. There's a little bent washer that looks like it's supposed to provide the friction to keep the handle up but I'm not sure I put it in the right place.

Now the handle won't stay up, it flops down. I just thought it was a sign of old age, like me....

Okay, lemme run this by you....

Some of the stuff I read about aluminum alloy presses just does not compute, although I admit I don't have all the answers and have not owned every kind there is.....mostly just Lee. Yes, anything can be abused to an early death but.....

Ever hear of a little motor company called Briggs and Stratton? They have been making aluminum block engines for a VERY long time. Matter of fact, no one really makes an all cast iron model any more although they do line the bores with cast iron sleeves in some of them. When I was a kid my Dad had a Snapper with an all aluminum Briggs that I used to cut our grass from the time I was old enough to push it until I graduated high school. The engine finally wore out the deck.....which was also made of aluminum.....took about 15 years for the sand to finally eat it.

The point? Imagine a piston going up and down in an aluminum cylinder in a gas engine. Compare that to the cycles on a single stage reloading press.

The key is going to be maintenance. The crud that comes out of casings when you deprime them is very abrasive and you need to keep that [bleep] cleaned off the ram of your press. A little oil is also needed on the wear points and ram.

If you wear out a press, any press, you have done one hell of a lot of shooting and got your money's worth IMO. YMMV.

Maintenance is important. Reading the press/die instructions are also important.

Most premature press failure can be attributed to the user rather than manufacturer's defects IMO. I've seen steel and aluminum presses fail. I've watched guys put so much force on the press arm that cases got ruined and linkages were damaged.

Too much lube can be a bad thing, especially if the press is left uncovered in a basement workshop or garage. Dust, powder, primer grit and miscellaneous crud sticks to the lube and gets pulled over the ram and frame. It acts just like sandpaper. In some cases, if there is build up between the ram and the hole in the frame, it will come out of round.

And it goes without saying that you do not want this grit dragged across the inside of your dies.

Ken Waters wore one out, and I gave him a new one.

My brother uses my dad's old rock chucker, which he bought in the 70's, I believe, and replaced in the 90's with another, though we aren't sure why, because it has loaded at least 25,000 rnds for my bro, and it seems to be fine, and still chugging along. I have no idea what kind of shooting it takes to wear out a press. I thought I shot often and a lot for a non-competitive hobbyist, though a very serious one.

For presses like the RCBS RCII, that have a open slot cut in the ram for the spent primer to fall through, the design could not be any better for introducing spent primer dreck to the ram/press frame bearing surfaces.

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We have a local commercial loader who buys used Dillon presses and uses them for commercial loading. He has loaded as many as 20 million rounds in a year. He knows how to maintain his equipment and keeps the necessary spare parts around. He hasn't thrown away a press yet.

I recently tested for both accuracy and functionality some of his 223 rounds. They shot great in several different rifles.

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This of course begs the story of the elderly gentleman who was known for being a bit close with his finances who came into the clubhouse at the golf club and announced that he was buying drinks. Shocked at this display of largesse, the bartender inquired as to the reason. The gentleman announced that he was celebrating his marriage to a twenty-something. Six months later, he again announces his intention to buy everyone a drink. At the raised eyebrow, he explained that it was in honor of his just-born son. Again, the eyebrow went up, to which he stated, "Aye, not bad is it? Three under par and me with a whippy shaft."

I broke a C alloy press just last month, while sizing 22-250 cases.

I suspect it had some kind of stress fracture or something in the metal.

We had a guy that had to send his Rockchucker back 2 times because he wore the thing out in some manner. RCBS said it was the only time they had this happen. The ol' boy died of cancer.