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Posted: 2/19/2012 6:17:54 PM EDT
I'm woefully behind in my preparations for the season. Only enough lead cast for half the year, less than fifty .45 ACP in the can and not much more .38 Special. With the first match of the year only 2 weeks away, I figured I better drag myself down the basement and get to work. Let's see... The SDB is still set up for the .38 Long Colt experiment I was all hot on last fall. First match is USPSA and the 625 needs some .45 ACP. Well, I'll just swap out the tool head... Huh! The back bolt isn't coming loose. What's up with that? Twenty minutes of screwing around later and I have the answer. The threaded insert came out of the press body. Damn! 
Well, could be worse. I still have 3 good screws. I'll put a quick thousand or so in the can to get me through the March matches and then call for an RMA. 263 rounds later... Yep. It could be worse alright. 
So... What's Dillon's turn around on press rebuilds these days? 
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Quoted:
Last SDB I sent back to Dillon took about 10 days IIRC. (3 years ago) What is up with the rear mounting plate cut off? Far right side in your first pic. Only 2 bolts hold press to bench? That was a couple years back... Broke off the night before a match (yeah, you may be seeing a pattern). I dug through my junk bin and found a distributor clamp from a 1967 Chevy 230 straight 6. Cobbled it up and loaded 700 pieces then called for an RMA. Never sent it in though because the fix was working fine. More than 20,000 off the press since then. I guess I'll get it fixed this time.
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Quoted: Ok, I remember you posting that pic before. Been a while.Quoted: Last SDB I sent back to Dillon took about 10 days IIRC. (3 years ago) What is up with the rear mounting plate cut off? Far right side in your first pic. Only 2 bolts hold press to bench? That was a couple years back... Broke off the night before a match (yeah, you may be seeing a pattern). I dug through my junk bin and found a distributor clamp from a 1967 Chevy 230 straight 6. Cobbled it up and loaded 700 pieces then called for an RMA. Never sent it in though because the fix was working fine. More than 20,000 off the press since then. I guess I'll get it fixed this time. http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/SDB-clamp.jpg  |
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Quoted:
That sucks. Makes me glad I have multiple presses I have a 550 with no .45 ACP conversion and a Rockchucker. If I'm really hard up, I can make them the old fashioned way. 
Anyway, I called Dillon and turn around on a rebuild was 4 weeks. I told them to just send me a handle. I'll put the press back on the bench with the distributor clamp and load until I get a cushion, then send it back for the frame work. Might even stop by the hardware store for a replacement insert and keep on keepin' on until something else breaks... |
The handle came while I was at work today and I'm back in business.
Turns out that the threaded inserts made for metal all require drill size that exceeds the available casting, so I got a thin wall brass insert intended for woodworking, filed it to a transition fit and then pressed it in coated with a good epoxy. It held for the first tightening. Who knows how durable it will be. I need to get a few thousand in the can and then I have options.
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