[The Shrink]

Esteemed Board

I have an RCBS JR3 press that I have used as my only press for over 20 years. It has done a yeoman service, from general reloading to forming brass in 8mm-86 and 40-70BN. The only thing I've never asked it to do is swage bullets. Please realize I'm not complaining.

While reloading yesterday I noticed a change in operation. Always before the ram would stay down (handle up) between operations. Now just the weight of the handle pulls the rem up. I also noticed varying pressure resizing cases, but this may have been my cases.

My question is, is there something in the ram channel that has provided resistance that is now gone, and might this then provide more play in the ram than is ideal? Or am I imagining it all?

I did post a poll in the New Forums site suggesting a general reloading forum for this type of question, but until then I figure you are the guys I know, so I'll ask you.

 

[Graybeard]

Slightly off topic post, but you guys ought

Wayne you obviously haven't gone back and looked at the thread you posted. If you had you'd have seen my reply telling you the forum you are looking for has been on this site since about '98 or so. It is the third one in the Ammo Reloading section.

Now to your question. These old presses have some thin washers that are cupped in shape. The tension they provide is what keeps the handle in the up position. Well that and the fit of the shaft which has no doubt worn a bit in all those years. I believe you could get some replacement cupped washers to replace those and maybe stop it from falling on it's own. I just use a bungee cord to hold it up when I'm not using it.

GB

 

[Kenneth L. Walters]

Just Call

Those things are guaranteed for life. Why not just call RCBS and ask?

A couple of their items wore out on me after years of service. They asked me to send them back, which I did, and they just replaced them.

 

[River runner]

Slightly off topic post, but you guys ought

Ditto, Allmost all of my reloaders are of the mean green persuasion, and I've allways got excellent service from RCBS, and that was before the big Blue machine came about. They are very helpful. I've got one Rockchucker that's over 30 years old and a RS3 that's about 15 or so. I've even had excellent luck with my Piggyback II which is over 10 years, and all I've heard about them is negative on other sites, it really kicks out the .38s .40's, .45's etc. RR

 

[The Shrink]

Slightly off topic post, but you guys ought

Thanks, guys. I've got an e-mail in to them, expect to hear back next week. We'll see what they say.

 

[The Shrink]

Slightly off topic post, but you guys ought

RCBS replied. They say that the Jr press was made with a dimple on the handle to hold the handle up and that there is no fix for this condition. they also said that all of the Jr's they have suffer the same problem. Obviously, they haven't found a solution for the problem. That bungee cord sounds better all the time as I think about it.

 

[The Shrink]

Slightly off topic post, but you guys ought

Esteemed board

Little lesson, The Jr3 press is the simplest of the lot. No compound linkage here, only the handle pinned to the bottom of the ram. Makes for a great "feel" as you size a case or seat a bullet. I only gots one pin, and it's solid.

 

[fredj]

Slightly off topic post, but you guys ought

Wayne- If you're loking at getting a new press I'd like to suggest a turret press they're superb for BPC applications as all of the dies for a given caliber are all adjusted and set and you just rotate the head for the next
operation, and you just get additional turrets for all your different calibers
and a good one is quite rigid and quite precise as well, really makes reloading considerably more pleasureable and efficient, as your dies are all adjusted and set up. the Redding turret is superb as is most of their equipment, I've also heard good things about the new Lyman. My beloved old RCBS Rock Chucker is now relegated to the jobs that require a great amount of torque like case forming, swaging etc.
Regards fredj

 

[The Shrink]

Slightly off topic post, but you guys ought

Fredj

Yeah, I've thought of that. My only constraint is that parsominy and budget issues limit me to buying one now, and I may (?) want to swage bullets at some time.

The other option is to get a good turrent press and the Lee swager, I can justify that expense and it looks interesting, if it does a decent job. They have .410 dies, and I'm shooting the .40-70BN 2.1" Sharps Hartford model, circa 1995. I'll almost certainly load the Trapdoor as cast from the Lee 405 mold.

Thirty years experience with the Jr3 have convinced me that I don't need the Rockchucker power for anything I do now. That tells me that any of the current turrent presses will be more than adequate for my existing purposes.