Poor ol Ponsness-Warren 800B

[richhodg66]

Thanks Hamish, I just love my Ponsness. I have four 600 Jr's running 10,12,16 and 20 ga shotshells. Had the opportunity a while back to get mine from an estate sale in Kansas when another member on the site mentioned it, was also able to get a Pacific DL-155 at the same time along with about 700 new still in box Federal paper pre-primed 16 ga shotshells. I love paper shotshells. Just ole fashioned like me I guess. The Ponsness came with two sets of dies on the head, a 12 and 16 ga setup, I will be ordering from Ponsness a new head with 10 and 20 ga dies, that way I can just swap heads and get those great crimps on all the current gauges I am loading at this time.










The Pacific DL-155 currently set up for 16ga.

Did those paper hulls work well? Glad the Ponses is good to go, I'm afraid I didn't know enough about it to be dangerous.

[skeet028]

I used to be a P-W distributor and worked on those old presses. In fact the P-W press I bought in the mid 60s got me into the gun/reloading business. I was the goober in a pigeon shooting business during the 60s and did most of our reloading. I bought one of the early 800 presses from a gun shop in Willow Street Pa(Clair Frank for you guys from up there). 2 digit serial number. Loaded 30,000 shells on it in under a month and a fellow came into my loading room and had to have it. Sold it to him and got another. and it blossomed from there. As a side note I got that reloader back on a trade in 1998. No paint and needed a couple of small parts. Fixed it up and it loaded just like new. There are some parts not available for the older 800Bs but plenty of parts are out there if you look around. I must have 10 of the 800s in almost every gauge they made. Good machines but I use Spolar machines now.

[MOA]

Rich, just saw your post. Yes, the paper hulls are working perfect. The PW press was pretty much good to go. I did order a new o-ring to go under the powder dispensing area of the press to keep the powder leakage down, the old one was a little flat on one side. The Pacific Hornady press needed some new bolts on the handle, and all the powder and shot bushings for the PW also fit the PH, so that worked out great. I'm planning on ordering the 10 ga dies that come with a new head for the Ponsness, so I most likely will also have the 20 gauge dies put into the head too and that way I can cover all my current gauges I load for. Hope its getting cooler for you, and your bird season is a good one.

[Three44s]

I bought a PW 800b in 12 ga. a while back but have not gotten around to cleaning it up yet. Did some oiling looked it over some.

My preferred ga. is 20 and I found a PW 375 (single stage) for those and have used it some.

I also found a PW 375 set up for 3.5” in 10 & 12 ga.

I wish my 800b was a 20ga or maybe I will stumble into one some day. Either way I am ok since I also have a Mec Jr in 20 as well.

I also have a Pacific 366 (red one) in 12 ga. and though it’s no Ponsess Warren progressive but compared to a MEC progressive it’s pretty slick.

Three44

[RSB]

Per PW I have one of the first 250 800B's made. I was told that the first 250 had hand fitted parts. i also know that they no longer support the 800B platform, so what if any parts that have, that's it. There are a few guys buying up the old presses and refinishing/reconditioning them.

As for mine, it still runs great with just a slight over index if you try to go fast. I'm 52 and one of us is older then the other by one year. I can't remember which is which?

[kd185]

I have a C model
great press, built like a tank
made to do a million and rounds +++++++++++++

[rando71]

Have 2 800s & 2 375s still reloading 12&20 ga.

[richhodg66]

Someone fairly close to me has had a Ponses Warren 800B along with a couple of other shotgun loaders for sale on facebook market place. They are asking for offers. The PW looks like it's going to need a resto kinda like the one the OP has posted, but if anybody is interested, it's still up for sale.

[Rick459]

so I decided to up grade my 800 b with the new primer system and also the new removable die plate. all bushings were replaced all new springs. it's really smooth now.