Originally Posted by
Bent Ramrod
For me, it’s the Quinetics allegedly “universal” shell holder for reloading presses. The gap between what it’s imagined to be and what it actually is couldn’t possibly be greater.
It has three little bits inside that are supposed to surround and grip any case rim, and seat solidly when the case is pushed into the sizing die. They are supposed to stay in place when the case is pulled back out, and then break loose when the operator grabs and rocks the case from side to side.
In practice, the thing often lets loose of the case when it is up in the sizing die. This means removal of the universal holder, and sliding a regular shell holder into the ram while holding the lever so the top of the ram is just close enough to the case rim so it slides over the rim and into the shell holder slot at the same time. This is a three-hand operation, also requiring a lot of sulphurous incantations to work.
Equally often, the holder will not let loose its grip on the shell rim after removal, without a lot of extra wiggling, jiggling and more inappropriate language. I would say that the use of this gimmick increases the time needed to process a given box of cases by a factor of three or four.
So it sits on a shelf on my bench in its little box, with the instructions. Every now and then, when the lady in the leather dress, spiked dog collar, 6” heels, fishnet stockings and cat-o’-nine-tails is busy with another client, I take the thing out to see if the “issues” with it aren’t really just a failure of my technique, or my inadequate understanding of the instructions, or a deep and incorrigible flaw in my character.
The answer is always “Nope.”