how far are you willing to go?

[Bigslug]

1954? You got your Dad's money's worth. Time to move on to a new one.

Sure, it's worth seeing if RCBS will replace it (fair chance they will), but having two would not be a bad thing.

[dverna]

At the 350 Euros for a new one, I would try some of the suggestions others have offered to repair it. I am not able to weld but I wonder if bedding epoxy would work in this situation. JB Weld might work too.

Worst case, having it dedicated to one size is not a bad thing. Beats scrapping it IMO.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

@jonB i am not yet familiar with the term: to braze.
I was afraid that the solder wil not hold, thanks for your replay.
>>>SNIP

Igor,
Brazing is basically soldering, but instead of lead and/or Tin alloy solder, you use Brass or Bronze alloy rod...and a hotter torch. It's a much stronger joint, that solder.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazing

[Cap'n Morgan]

A good machinist or tool & die maker with a CNC mill could fix the thread and make a new nut in a couple of hours. But unless you know somebody like that, you're out of luck.

One way to fix it could be drilling and pinning the old nut in place and seal both nut and die with Lock-Tite. It would be a more or less permanent solution, and some lube will probably still find its way out somewhere, but that's part of the charm of old sizers.

[gwpercle]

Keep us updated as to what happens .

I love a good Rescue Story !

I've pulled several reloading presses from the junk pile and got them going again with just a little effort .
Being Cajun ... I hate to throw anything away ... my Daddy would fix anything and everything rather than trash it ... he was the most frugal man I ever knew !

Good Luck
Gary

[Rich/WIS]

Had the threads strip on my LAM I that I bought used. Not sure how old it was but pretty sure was a lot newer than yours. RCBS had me send it back and sent me a new LAM II free. Nostalgia is fine but at some point you just have to let go. I'm sure your Dad would prefer you had something that worked.

EDIT: As an alternative you might try drilling two holes 90 degrees apart in the frame and tapping for two set screw to hold the nut in place. IIRC the old LYMAN 45 used this system. Hold the nut and die down using the ram without the top punch to keep it tight and also compress the O-ring, then tighten the set screws. Added bonus, if you ever need to change to a different sizing die just loosen the set screws.

[Wooserco]

You don't have to be Cajun to have had a frugal Daddy! He would tip the drained oil cans (remember the cardboard oil cans with the metal tops/bottoms?) into a quart mason jar until he had a quart full. When he had a full quart mason jar: next oil change, he only had to buy 4!

After you've reached out to RCBS, let us know how things work out.

[Sasquatch-1]

My question is, does RCBS have a clearing company of some sort in the Netherlands? It may get rather expensive to return the press to the states.

Here in the States, we have it good. We call RCBS, they send us a shipping label, we send it back and they fix the problem. With RCBS we are spoiled.

[charlie b]

I'd be tempted to try fixing the size die (and nut) in place with JB Weld. There is not really that much force there to deal with. Adding a set screw in from each side might not be a bad idea either. Everything would need to be very clean for this to work.