I was all ready to take a hammer to the blocks...

[Grump]

...then I took them out of the handles and found the locator pins were loose in the holes.

Not the pins themselves, the holes in the other half of the blocks.

Based on the mic, the blocks were sitting twisted from each other for a total offset of about .005.

So I thought about hammering the locator pins deeper into the blocks a bit (hole is open to the backside) to see if they would center again, but they won't budge with the blows I'm willing to commit to.

Then I noticed that the steel I was going to put under the mould blocks and the steel I was going to put on top to meet the hammer head was NOT that flat. Good thing. The thing's going off to RCBS in the next mail run. They have the hydraulic press (I assume) that put the pins in in the first place anyway.

If not for this, I'd be knocking out 500+ tonight. Bleh. Moulds have NOT been used that much either.

[ShooterAZ]

RCBS will repair or replace it for you no problem. Their customer service is #1.

[kywoodwrkr]

Grump,
Are these new RCBS blocks?
Saw an entry on a stuck screw earlier and am wondering if these are all old stock or newer manufactured items.
Thanks.

[leadhead]

Those pins can be a real bear to move. You have to really hit it hard with a heavy hammer.
It doesn't take to much movement to make a big difference. Make sure your blocks are on a very solid
surface, like the top of a big vice.
Denny

[leadman]

I found they are a little easier to move when the mold is hot. I use a #4 hammer.

[Grump]

I'm going totally chicken and setting aside the self-reliance thing and sending them off.

This was all after I cleaned off the little lead specs that seem to accumulate next to the vent lines. The prior batch was oh so slightly "beagled". During the cleanup, I noticed the locator pin holes were what you might call volcano cratered up just a tiny bit--.0005 ish, so I stoned them down a tiny bit. But since I had taken only one block off of the handles, I didn't notice the wobble.

The next batch of bullets was better, about half the displacement. More careful postmortem showed most of what i thought was beagleing was the twisty thing.

[JRR]

I was having a similar problem with their 22 mold that included finning and out of round plus oversize. Mine was cured when I discovered that one side of the handle was too tight in the slot and would not pivot freely. A couple passes over the belt sander and a bit of lube solved the issue. Now the boolits are nice and round and come out of the mold .2265".
Jeff

[Grump]

RCBS sent the mould back in primo shape.

next casting session...

[runfiverun]

the last couple of rcbs molds I have bought has had to have the pins bumped.
I use a punch and warm the mold up.
you have to carefully do this as the pins will move the mold halves back and forth.
and getting them too long can lock the mold closed.

[Bent Ramrod]

One of those "Quality Import" bench blocks from Enco is a handy thing to have for the resetting of locating pins. There's always a combination of holes that will accomodate the pin protrusions and the rest of the block is dead flat and smooth. I find a lighter blow with a heavier hammer accomplishes more than a hard whack with a lighter one. Get a brass or copper punch for those times you've gone too far and have to tap the pin back in a little.