Press cleaning

[Brad]

How often, if ever, do you tear down your loading press for cleaning and relube?
I tore down the Dillon 550 today. Cleaned the parts, relubed, and reassembled. I was using stack of 6 washers as a spacer to raise the press a bit. I decided that wasn't gonna cut it so I spent an hour on the lathe and made 4 .500" spacers to use instead of the washers. Much better
The press needed the cleaning, it was getting a bit draggy in motion. Found a couple spent primers in a place they didn't belong that was part of the issue.

All back together and relubed. Press is back to normal. Been 6-7 years since the last tear down.

 

[Ian]

Years. Usually on a progressive I lube it every time I use it for more than just a short run but don't bother tearing down and cleaning unless it starts to have problems.

 

[Rick]

No progressive but I take the Rock chucker completely apart 2-3 times a year and remove the ram after every few uses, clean it and the press & re-lube. The RCBS drops the spent primers through the ram and it gets a lot of gritty carbon residue in there, it's about like valve grinding paste so I keep it clean and lubed.

 

[Brad]

It is the primer residue that causes the issues.
I was amazed at how clean most of the pivot points were. The ram seems to be what gets grungy the most. I wipe it down and relube every few uses.

I was amazed to see that Dillon recommends ONLY a 30 wt motor oil on the ram.

 

[Ian]

I thought Dillon had grease zerks on the ram. Only on the 1050?

When Lee came out with the large-ram "Classic" presses that had the drop completely at the bottom, I started buying them. No more primer grit in the works. Dumping primers out of the side of the ram is an absolutely stupid idea that just about every press manufacturer has used since the beginning, but finally someone figured out a better way.

 

[Brad]

Mine is a mid to late 90s model with no zerks.
They did put oil bleed holes in a few places so that helps. They suggest a needle grease attachment for a grease gun to squirt grease in those.

 

[RicinYakima]

It depends upon what I am reloading. Usually brush out the shellholder slot in the ram every time I change sizes and brush and wipe the new shellholder. Started reloading match 30/06 on a Herrell's Precision but de-prime and re-prime by hand. Bulk .32 WC, 38 WC and .45 plinkers get loaded on a C&H 444, that requires more maintenance and lube as you are doing 4 operations every stroke of the handle. The new RCBS Summit is the cleanest operating press I use; has primer catcher and grease zerk plus powder coated finish that wipes off in less than 1/2 minute with a paper towel.

 

[oscarflytyer]

30 yo RC II - ONCE! Baer gifted to me cpl years ago, prob ~40-50 yrs old - no tear down, just quick swipe/lube and go...

Kinda like I clean my guns! lol! I will NEVER wear out a muzzle/bbl due to over cleaning!

 

[Rally Hess]

I'm a big believer in preventive maintenance. Maybe from my time in the military. It would just about kill me to work on a dirty or poorly lubricated machine of any kind. It's not the dirt part that bothers me, it's the chance to catch something before it actually breaks. Can't tell you how many times I've found that loose screw, broken spring, burnt bulb, or misaligned part, before it caused major damage. I am often where there isn't likely somebody going to be just driving by anytime soon, so I'm rather anal about my vehicles too. It's usually a lot cheaper and easier to fix something before it breaks.

 

[RBHarter]

I wash and lube rams if they get sticky or look gritty .
I wipe the ram off and add some oil based lube probably every couple of runs maybe 3-4 . If the lube goes immediately dark top or bottom I get out the wash/lube aka whatever was on sale in the WD 40 isle at Walmart last and hose and work it till it's clean then after wipe downs of the chunkies a dab of STP and a few drops of Hoppes , 3-1 , Singer etc oil ram up and drag it through .

 

[Intheshop]

Casual wipe off of buggers n black scum from painted surfaces once in awhile.Rams are total loss system on oiling so keep them wet with thin 3-1 type.Other than that,run'm like you stole it.Cpl Lyman turrets,cpl of Orange crushers,no progressives other than 366 for shotshells.These presses have always lived in climate controlled indoor rooms.

 

[KeithB]

I just wipe/brush off the crud with a rag or Harbor Freight bristle brush and lube the moving parts with way oil. The same stuff I use on the sliding parts of my mills and lathes. Works fine. Dies and other stuff that get dried lube and other schmutz on them get dunked into the parts washing tank followed by a little light oil.

 

[Brad]

Way oil. Now why didn't I ever think of that? I have a few gallons, it is designed to stick to metal surfaces, and is a good lubricant for sliding parts.

I think a small bottle will be filled and kept by the loading presses. Thanks Keith.

 

[Ian]

I've been using a high-zinc racing engine oil additive (think STP but like it used to be before catalytic converters) mixed with just a little Lucas tackifier on my mini-lathe ways. Probably should use it on my press rams, too.

 

[Paul Gauthier]

I have had my Dillon 650 for 20 years, thereabouts, I have never cleaned. Right now I am running about 12,000 nine mm's through it just to deprime, when I am done I will tear down the press and clean it thoroughly. I don't know about other Dillons but on the my 650 with the mechanism I have for collecting spent primers you do not get primer residue on the ram.

 

[JWFilips]

I have a rock chucker! I guess I know what I have been neglecting Now! Get right on it!