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GRUMPA
09-12-2012, 06:28 PM
I just got one of these from a member in the S&S section, this is the bench mount version and was waiting till I had enough time and a focused mind to give it a try. The first thing I did was mount it to the table which was easy enough and slipped in a shell holder. Everything went OK till I tried to put in 1 of the primer rods (?), seems it went only half way down and got itself lodged in there good and tight.

I got my stuff and headed out to they shop where I have most of my inspection equipment to give it my undivided attention. Seems my LEE shell holders were off or it wasn't going back far enough. Took my marker and spread some ink on the little rod that the shell holder fits into and snapped a shell holder in place and spun it around to see if I could see anything out of the ordinary.

It did show some high spots so I got my Dremel and polished off the high spots of the rod/shell holder where it was evident that there were some high spots that needed to be taken care of. Well it helped to some degree but now the primer rod was just getting bound up and not moving up and down when assembled with the large primer rod cup.

Got the micrometers out and the rod diameter checked out at .2495 for the large primers and .246-.249 on the rod for the small primers. So I put them in the drill press and took some sand paper to them and pretty much polished them down to .245 which seemed to work, now they both kinda free-float up and down without much trouble.

The color of mine is a real pale blue and the box that it came in looked like it had been stored for several years, it's very brittle and old looking. I wonder if I got an older unit that just wasn't up to par or if it's because I'm using LEE shell holders. At any rate all this took a better part of an hour to get all the bugs worked out. Now when I have the time to use it I hope I'll be happy, running it thru some dry runs everything seems to work just fine.

Is it just me or has this type of thing happened to anybody else out there in C/B land?
Hardcast416taylor
09-13-2012, 08:49 AM
I have the same priming unit from RCBS, have had it for 20+ years. Can`t say I have ever had a problem with mine, about the only criticism I would say is don`t use the extra long primer tubes.Robert
Wayne Smith
09-13-2012, 09:04 AM
RCBS only warrants their primer seaters for use with RCBS shell holders for the reason you just discovered. They can't control what another company does, and the differences are enough to cause just that problem.
GRUMPA
09-13-2012, 11:05 AM
RCBS only warrants their primer seaters for use with RCBS shell holders for the reason you just discovered. They can't control what another company does, and the differences are enough to cause just that problem.

That was pretty much my thought on it and if I was still working in a machine shop I would put them on the honing machine and fix that issue in just a few minutes. Being somewhat of a tight-wad I go for cheap most of the time but do spend the coin when quality presents itself.

Oh well, live and learn I guess.
GLL
09-13-2012, 11:14 AM
RCBS has made several different bench type prime tools. How about a photo of yours.

Jerry
GRUMPA
09-13-2012, 11:37 AM
Here it is.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/162765051fcd42e1c8.jpg

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/162765051fcd488208.jpg
GLL
09-13-2012, 01:29 PM
Mine is the earlier "primitive" version ! :)

Jerry

http://www.fototime.com/B8BDDB4D3043D62/standard.jpg
texassako
09-13-2012, 02:14 PM
I just got mine up and running purchased on S&S here as well. It worked fine with 2 different Lee shellholders(#2 and #8) once I buffed off a bit of corrosion on the primer ram and put a dab of dry lube on it since it stuck occasionally. My only problem is RCBS updated the arm and sent a little spring for the primer holder arm that I don't see on yours, but that was not all that needed updating. Oh well, works fine moving it by hand.
lmcollins
09-14-2012, 12:06 AM
Mine is vintage 1970. On it the arm that pushes up the seating stem only goes far enough to push the rod up. Where yours has the hump. Also, the arm that holds the priming tubes is only "L" shapped.

FYI I have used RCBS, Hornady, and I think Redding shell holders with no problems. The shell holder are hardened. Therefore, you would have to anneal them to open the hole in them via a lathe, and the correct sized drill.

Have you tried to open them up with a small burr or stone, and something like a Dremel? So that the rod slides through? If they don't need much they could probably be polished out with aluminum oxide paper in a lathe.
odis
09-15-2012, 01:03 AM
Brand new those are not cheap, how do they stack up to other similar systems, in other words are they worth over 100 bucks?
Echo
09-15-2012, 03:39 PM
I've used my 'Automatic' RCBS rig for 35+ years, and love it. No problems, but then I have mostly RCBS shell holders.
Rick459
09-16-2012, 03:10 PM
grumpa,
if you pull the cup that sits above the spring down you will see that there is a hole through the primer punch. that is for tightining the punch to the stem. i have found that if you loosen the punch up some that it helps with the up and down movement of the priming punch. HTH
Rick