Time to make the donuts....

[David Conder]

try a wrench they work great just bump in to place see if that works for you you have to adjust for the bump

 

[liseo]

I don't know if it's the ideal solution, but it solved the problem of it coming loose.

 

[tom]

Just a bump as David posted is all I do

 

[liseo]

With the greater difficulty in obtaining some jackets for 284" caliber, is it possible to draw down the 30" to 284" caliber and maintain the quality?
Has anyone used this recurse?

 

[JoeDuke]

A couple of weeks ago Al showed where he bushed the pin on his press handle and gave me inspiration to bush both pins on mine. Will see how it works tomorrow I suspect.

 

[jackieschmidt]

A couple of weeks ago Al showed where he bushed the pin on his press handle and gave me inspiration to bush both pins on mine. Will see how it works tomorrow I suspect. View attachment 1642381

What did you use for bushing material.?

 

[JoeDuke]

Jackie, The bushings are Hillman sleeve bearings off of amazon. They are 1/2” od and 3/8” id. The top ones are straight sleeves and there are 3 1” bearings jb welded in. The bottom ones are flanged and machined down to the proper length.

 

[AlNyhus]

Looking forward to your results, Joe. I left the ram pin unbushed for the time being. I think...but don't know...that it likes a bit of looseness for self centering. With the ram pin bushed, the pin fit in the ram should still allow this. -Al

 

[JoeDuke]

Looking forward to your results, Joe. I left the ram pin unbushed for the time being. I think...but don't know...that it likes a bit of looseness for self centering. With the ram pin bushed, the pin fit in the ram should still allow this. -Al

Yes, the shoulder bolt does still have a bit of clearance in the ram. Since the pin failed in mine, I just decided to do both.

 

[AlNyhus]

Fine tuning the ergonomics by raising the press 4". That and a stool with more adjustment is like a paid vacation.

 

[D Coots]

My motorcycle lift works great. Infinitely adjustable. And solid. Just re-purposed it.

 

[AlNyhus]

My motorcycle lift works great. Infinitely adjustable. And solid. Just re-purposed it.

Smart idea...wish I had the room.

 

[D Coots]

I've got plenty of room....just not many smart ideas Al....

 

[JoeDuke]

Looking forward to your results, Joe. I left the ram pin unbushed for the time being. I think...but don't know...that it likes a bit of looseness for self centering. With the ram pin bushed, the pin fit in the ram should still allow this. -Al

A relatively small sampling indicates I have improved the precision of the press.
As it was originally except iI had replaced the pins with precision shoulder bolts. I made 60 cores aiming at a core weight of 74.24 grains as weighed on my fx120. Of those, ten weighed in the teens and nine weighed 74.30 or more. An es of close to .2 tenths.
After bushing the pins, I again made 60 cores. Of those, six were in the teens with one as light as 74.14 grains. There were none as heavy as 74.30 and only three that weighed 74.28 grains. So an extreme spread of .14 grains with the bulk clustered between 74.20 and 74.26 grains.

I will take that. Before I was struggling to stay within .25 grains.

Note that the fx120 accuracy is .02 grains so you get no odd number weights. So my spreads could be another tenth or two. But it looks like an improvement.

 

[Fuj]

My small prototype is mocked up for the first time. This RCBS JR3
has quite a bit of iron in it, and it was a $15 find at a gun show years
ago......Just for a different look, I went and bored thru the frame for
the knock out assembly. The ram's pivot pin will break before the
frame does......Ram I made from a scrap barrel, and knock out rod is
some 4130 moly tubing i have on hand for repairing off road, and
mower steering linkages. Needs some tweaking but its close......If I
were to build a real serious model, I'd bypass the Lee and go with
the newer RCBS Rebel with the steel toggles......And instead of set
screws for the knock out, I had knob lying around. Seems like it
would be handy for the initial adjustment then lock it down with the
screw......Just thinking out loud......

 

[JoeDuke]

I was pointing up some bullets today and this one felt noticeably different so I set it aside. That was a good move.

 

[jackieschmidt]

I was pointing up some bullets today and this one felt noticeably different so I set it aside. That was a good move.

View attachment 1646116

What caused that.

 

[liljoe]

It just seems to happen with some lots of jackets. They just fold over.
Joe

 

[JoeDuke]

What caused that.

I dont really know. It was the only one that did that. It started pointing up normal pressure. Suddenly it just sort of gave way. Obviously just folded rather than pointing.

 

[Fuj]

A slightly longer then normal jacket get mixed in ??