First off, I have a .45 plain base check maker made by Pat that I purchased from another forum member. It appears well made and I plan to use it a lot as soon as my lee classic cast press arrives. I have found Pat's posts to be very helpful and he certainly seems like a nice guy.
I would be interested in ordering more plain base checkmaker dies, but I know there are delays in some calibers and a THOROUGH review of Pat's website doesn't give ANY information about which are available and which aren't. Like most of us, my shooting and casting money is limited and I don't want to wait around for an indefinite time waiting for something to be delivered. He is certainly hurting himself by over-promising and under-delivering.
Now I know that a bunch of folks reading this are bristling right now. This has NOTHING to do with the quality or design of Pat's checkmaker. It has everything to do with the delivery times being far in excess of what one would expect for a product, with no indication of those delays on his website. The moderators expectation that every prospective purchaser should search through all of the threads in the gas check section to find out delivery times for a particular caliber and style of checkmaker is just silly. I realize Pat is a Vendor Sponsor, and the moderators have a duty to keep discussions civil. However, in the referenced thread, there were no disparaging remarks toward Pat and the thread was locked with a directive to "see #4". Posts directly related to concern over delivery times are very common, and Pat has chosen to largely ignore those concerns when the appropriate thing would be to inform prospective buyers of those delays. Not in a thread on this site as a response to complaints, but on his website where ALL prospective customers can see it.
So I know this will likely get locked as well, and so be it. I really am impressed with the quality of the people on this site, and I would hate for the reputation of this board to take a hit for no good reason.