Frustrating day at the bench leading to a question

I hadn't used my LCT press in maybe a year. I just loaded a couple hundred rounds of 9mm about 2 weeks back. For the first time I had a problem. The turret was not consistently indexing. I swapped out the square plastic ratchet and all was good again. Just loaded a few rounds tonight to add to about 150 I turned out the other day. I'm still happy with the press.

Had a similar experience with the square ratchet. I noticed that the shells were moving the turret slightly as they entered the dies. I had about 10K rounds of 9mm and a few hundred .380 Auto since it had a new square ratchet. In addition to the wear there was a small crack in the upper right of the ratchet.


Dave

D Rock said:

Had a similar experience with the square ratchet. I noticed that the shells were moving the turret slightly as they entered the dies. I had about 10K rounds of 9mm and a few hundred .380 Auto since it had a new square ratchet. In addition to the wear there was a small crack in the upper right of the ratchet.
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Dave

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Looks familiar. The crack happens first and then the plastic ratchet can flex enough to spin on the square rod causing the distorted opening. It happens somewhat stealthly so you have to remember to check it first thing if you are getting cycling problems. Even so, the little plastic squares last a loooong time. I would say 10k rounds is a good run!