Armory Sponsor
Posted: 1/26/2014 8:59:05 PM EDT
|
I loaded about 500-600 rounds on my Square Deal this weekend. I have been noticing a spot in the stroke where it catches. It has been getting a little worse over time and I figured it was getting dirty.
Tonight it got much worse to the point it just locked up. I partially disassembled it looking for a primer in the mechanism or something. I didn't find anything so I cleaned it up and applied some light oil on the internal moving parts and on the nylon bushings thinking it might help. It was much smoother until I installed the primer feed assembly. That was what was locking it up at about mid-stroke, just before the point where an empty case would enter the sizing die. I took the assembly back off and couldn't see anything that looked bad. I had a few spare parts so I swapped outt he slider part and installed it. It operated smoothly. Is there something that just wears out on that part? I will be calling Dillon- their website is down, and I know they will take care of it. Is this something that might be a good reason to send it in for a tuneup? I have enough ammo loaded to last a while so it wouldn't be an inconvenience, or is this just wear that I can handle at home? I also noticed wear on the slider bushings at the 4 corners of the main piece holding the shell plate. I imagine the bushings on the handle linkage are also wearing. edited to add: This press has an unknown number of rounds through it, but it is in the several thousands, maybe over 10k loaded on it. |
|
Quoted:
Have you checked the die? Cleaned it? They can get sticky from lube. Pull the die and see if the problem still exists, if it does, it is in the machine. Process of elimination and you will locate the problem. The catch came before the brass reached the dies and happened even with no brass on the shellplate. When I removed the primer assembly the problem didn't occur. When I installed the primer assembly it locked up. When I changed the slide part on yhe primer assembly it operated normally. What is stumping me is the old slude doesn't look bad and the roller is free. I was just curious if anyone else had this happen and if it is time to send the whole thing to Dillon for a checkup. I have ran a lot of ammo through it. |
|
I called Dillon this morning. The tech seemed to think the primer cup may be sitting too high. That would explain the catching that felt like metal grinding then locking it up. When I swapped out the primer slide I may have seated the cup a little deeper solving the problem. I will measure the cup height this evening. |
|
While not your problem, another common issue to look for is brass buildup on your belling die. If your press seems to stick on the down stroke, take a look at your belling powder die to see if there are vertical brass stripes on the outside of the powder funnel where it goes into the case to bell the mouth. I've found that over time brass stripes form on mine that require that I take the powder measure off, remove the belling die, and then polish off the brass accumulation. I have a buffing wheel for my drill-press and I just add a bit of buffing compound to the wheel and buff off the brass buildup. Also, the smoother the belling die is the less frequently I have to remove brass buildup. |
|
Quoted:
While not your problem, another common issue to look for is brass buildup on your belling die. If your press seems to stick on the down stroke, take a look at your belling powder die to see if there are vertical brass stripes on the outside of the powder funnel where it goes into the case to bell the mouth. I've found that over time brass stripes form on mine that require that I take the powder measure off, remove the belling die, and then polish off the brass accumulation. I have a buffing wheel for my drill-press and I just add a bit of buffing compound to the wheel and buff off the brass buildup. Also, the smoother the belling die is the less frequently I have to remove brass buildup. I need to clean my dies, especially since I am loading LSWC bullets. I am sure I have a little lead and lube in the seating die. This problem really had me stumped since I would do it with no cases in the press. It felt like a metal crunch. I have had a primer get loose in the linkage before and this felt just like that- except I couldn't find anything inside. I did polish the bottom of the shell plate and any other surface I could find with #0000 steel wool. There was some crud on the plate and the other sliding surfaces. |
|
Quoted:
I called Dillon this morning. The tech seemed to think the primer cup may be sitting too high. That would explain the catching that felt like metal grinding then locking it up. When I swapped out the primer slide I may have seated the cup a little deeper solving the problem. I will measure the cup height this evening. Yeah, there is a little set screw on the side of that cup. It is spring loaded and not exactly easy to adjust or at least that is the memory in my brain. I always thought it was designed for the pick up of the primer. If it is too high it will hit the primer in wait and it needs to slide under it. |
|
Quoted:
Yeah, there is a little set screw on the side of that cup. It is spring loaded and not exactly easy to adjust or at least that is the memory in my brain. I always thought it was designed for the pick up of the primer. If it is too high it will hit the primer in wait and it needs to slide under it. Quoted:
Quoted:
I called Dillon this morning. The tech seemed to think the primer cup may be sitting too high. That would explain the catching that felt like metal grinding then locking it up. When I swapped out the primer slide I may have seated the cup a little deeper solving the problem. I will measure the cup height this evening. Yeah, there is a little set screw on the side of that cup. It is spring loaded and not exactly easy to adjust or at least that is the memory in my brain. I always thought it was designed for the pick up of the primer. If it is too high it will hit the primer in wait and it needs to slide under it. The tech I talked to said the clearance between the cup andbottom of the drop tube should be about the thickness of a dime. I will look up the spec on the height. I just set it so it would just clear the bottom of the tube. I may have accidentally got it right. He made it sound like if it is high enough it would drag on the bottom of the shellplate. That would explain what I felt. |
|
Quoted:
The tech I talked to said the clearance between the cup andbottom of the drop tube should be about the thickness of a dime. I will look up the spec on the height. I just set it so it would just clear the bottom of the tube. I may have accidentally got it right. He made it sound like if it is high enough it would drag on the bottom of the shellplate. That would explain what I felt. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
I called Dillon this morning. The tech seemed to think the primer cup may be sitting too high. That would explain the catching that felt like metal grinding then locking it up. When I swapped out the primer slide I may have seated the cup a little deeper solving the problem. I will measure the cup height this evening. Yeah, there is a little set screw on the side of that cup. It is spring loaded and not exactly easy to adjust or at least that is the memory in my brain. I always thought it was designed for the pick up of the primer. If it is too high it will hit the primer in wait and it needs to slide under it. The tech I talked to said the clearance between the cup andbottom of the drop tube should be about the thickness of a dime. I will look up the spec on the height. I just set it so it would just clear the bottom of the tube. I may have accidentally got it right. He made it sound like if it is high enough it would drag on the bottom of the shellplate. That would explain what I felt. I was looking at mine last night and the primer does not sit flush in the bottom of the tube. It sticks out a little...about a dimes worth. Not sure if that is how it is suppose to be. Frickin hard to see in there and what is going on. I will occasionally have a problem picking up a primer. My focus is ALWAYS on that primer cup coming out and making sure it has loaded. |
Armory Sponsor