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Thread: RCBS Sidewinder highs and lows in a week

  1. #1
    Boolit Bub
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    RCBS Sidewinder highs and lows in a week

    I have had a Rcbs sidewinder for years it was made in 1987. It was was showing its age, so I went ahead and decided to give it a restore. I dismantled it cleaned off any rust, polished and lubed the rods, made sure the knurls were good, painted it, put on new rubber feet and replaced the electrical cord. The machine ran like new.
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    I was clean several batches of brass and it worked like a champ. I load it up set the timer and left the garage. Came back a few hours later and found the drum and jumped off the machine and fell only about 6" and cracked like Humpty Dumpty. All the king's horses and all the king's men. Couldn't put Humpty together again.
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    I contacted Rcbs and they told me in the nicest way no more drums.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    Maybe some type of epoxy? Or design your own with PVC pipe?
    Most of the tanks are gone and the windows don't rattle anymore. I won't be able to sleep now.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    Is it too big to 3D print?

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  4. #4
    Boolit Master Sasquatch-1's Avatar
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    Not all that familiar with the tumbler...but could you take the piece that looks like a pully (it looks like it is the drive wheel) and mount it to something else? Maybe a piece of 4" PVC sewer pipe?
    A vote for anyone other then the conservative candidates is a vote for the liberal candidates.

  5. #5
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    Duct tape! I was also thinking the pvc pipe replacement.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    A quick look at an inflation calculator shows that today's SideWinder is, in real terms, virtually the same cost as it was in the mid 90s.

    No one asked for my opinion about wet tumbling but that seems quite costly (and time consuming) to accomplish something that's balisticaly meaningless.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master Sasquatch-1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1hole View Post
    No one asked for my opinion about wet tumbling but that seems quite costly (and time consuming) to accomplish something that's balisticaly meaningless.

    Like a lot of other things in this hobby...It's just fun for some and anal compulsive for others.
    A vote for anyone other then the conservative candidates is a vote for the liberal candidates.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sasquatch-1 View Post
    Like a lot of other things in this hobby...It's just fun for some and anal compulsive for others.
    Yes, I realise and accept that, and respect the thought; sometimes I like to play with meaningless loading bench trivia too. BUT, a lot of the people who strive for surgically clean (and/or brilliantly shiny) cases are convinced they're actually doing something constructive for their ammo and that's not true.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy
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    I will say this: clean, polished brass goes through reloading dies vastly nicer than dirty brass.

    Steve

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
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    So RCBS has no more drums? -- or are they unwilling to warranty one to you? Will they sell you one?

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1hole View Post
    Yes, I realise and accept that, and respect the thought; sometimes I like to play with meaningless loading bench trivia too. BUT, a lot of the people who strive for surgically clean (and/or brilliantly shiny) cases are convinced they're actually doing something constructive for their ammo and that's not true.
    I'm in this camp as well, I rarely tumble brass. When it gets dirty, sloshing it in dishwater with a little white vinegar does it, rinse, dry, load.

    Surely RCBS can provide you a replacement part for that.

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by MrWolf View Post
    Duct tape! I was also thinking the pvc pipe replacement.
    Yeah ... Duct Tape and Gorilla Glue ... That fix anything !
    Gary
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  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by 1hole View Post
    Yes, I realise and accept that, and respect the thought; sometimes I like to play with meaningless loading bench trivia too. BUT, a lot of the people who strive for surgically clean (and/or brilliantly shiny) cases are convinced they're actually doing something constructive for their ammo and that's not true.
    So let me ask ... do you wash your car ? Or would that not be doing something constructive for the car ???
    Certified Cajun
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  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by maillemaker View Post
    I will say this: clean, polished brass goes through reloading dies vastly nicer than dirty brass.

    Steve
    Until it is so clean you have to dry tumble it so that the neck expander doesn’t stick.
    ”We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, yet they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn

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  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by gwpercle View Post
    So let me ask ... do you wash your car ? Or would that not be doing something constructive for the car ???
    Well yes, that's a surprise question but I do "wash" my autos. However, I don't even try to get them surgically clean, especially under the hood, frame, fuel tank, springs, trunk, etc. Do you?

    This thread is about reloading, not dirty cars. A much better question is, have you or do you know anyone who has documented any better accuracy and/or standard velocity deviation that can honestly be attributed to super clean and shiney cases? If so, "feelings" aside, please tell us what was improved and by how much?

  16. #16
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Dar View Post
    So RCBS has no more drums? -- or are they unwilling to warranty one to you? Will they sell you one?
    No Longer have any stock, part is no longer made.

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy rototerrier's Avatar
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    Clean brass saves my dies, my press, my brass feeder and most importantly my hands. Last thing I want is grimy fingers while loading mags all day at the range. Dirty brass results in a nasty mess on many fronts. It's definitely not a waste of my time and I do it in large quantities.

    I agree with the car washing comments.

    The guys that don't wash their cars usually have fast food and other crap piled up inside as well. Some folks are just slobs, plain and simple. And this behavior typically manifests itself in other aspects of their lives. But, in the end we are all just worm food so none of it really matters.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master oldhenry's Avatar
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    Bobbers,
    Sorry to hear about your faithful tumbler's problem.
    I measured the drum of my Lortone #12 (www.lortone.com) & it is 7.5" dia. X 8.25 Length. If that size would work the Lortone will last a lifetime (not plastic: but rubber). They have other sizes & if you find one that will work, you can drop it all you want & it'll survive.

    Good luck
    Henry

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    Everyone cleans cases, not even the dumbest of us thinks mud is a case lube. Cases that are too dirty to handle can hardly be reloaded and it's silly to suggest anyone might do otherwise.

    We shooters have cleaned and reloaded brass cases since the 1800s. None of us owned a tumbler before about the mid 1970s; then noobs suddenly found and fell in love with case glitter; many of today's noobs still major on such trivials. Do what you want to your cases but everyone should know that shine still doesn't improve accuracy.

    Contrary to the ideas of many, mild external brass tarnish isn't "dirt" and such tarnish won't contaminate anyone's fingers or harm dies. The very thin internal firing residue is also not "dirt" and the ammo doesn't even know it's there.

    I'm on the side of being rational about everything, including cleaning brass cases and cars. Libs don't seem to grasp it but there really is a reasonable middle ground in almost everything, like a car can be clean enough inside and out without running a pressure washer through the interior and a case can be clean without being polished inside and out.

    If anyone honestly disagrees with the idea of a rational middle ground about what actually constitutes clean cases I'm waiting to hear how they justify saying shiney cases perform better than simply "cleaning" it by hand. (I've asked that question a lot of times, so far all I hear is crickets.)

    That's all for now, I gotta go shovel the Burger King wrappers outta my truck ...

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I have a couple drums I made from 1 gal plastic jars. I glued a couple pieces of wood molding to the ID for agitators. I'm not familiar with the RCBS tumbler, but it shouldn't be too much trouble attaching the drive pulley...

    Quote Originally Posted by maillemaker View Post
    I will say this: clean, polished brass goes through reloading dies vastly nicer than dirty brass.

    Steve
    Perhaps, but I reloaded 12 years before I got a tumbler (actually a Lyman wobbler). None of the handgun brass I sized was "difficult" and of course I lubed bottle necked cases. No scratched brass, no damaged dies or chambers. IIRC, I got a good tax return and wanted to buy something "reloading". I just wiped the cases with a solvent dampened rag as I inspected it and I didn't care what the guy next to me at the range thought about my "brown" handloads...

    In about 1970 I was at the local police range and noticed a couple of men shooting a lot. Both were shooting 1911s and they policed their brass after a few magazines shot. I got close and saw their retrieved targets and all had one hole about 2"-2 1/2" (50') for a few magazines shot. One shooter struck up a conversation and as we were talking I noticed a 50 cal ammo can about half full of brown 45 ACP ammo. The shooter explained they reloaded their ammo. This was "pre polished handloads" and high gloss ammo was not required. Their ammo was made for shooting, not for looks...
    Last edited by mdi; 07-23-2021 at 12:44 PM.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check