Anyone ever snap the handle off their press?

[howlnmad]

I broke the aluminum link on my Lee Challenger. They replaced it with a new steel link.

 

[Springfield0612]

Glad I didn't drink the kool aid on that one!

WAIT WAIT WAIT. Are there people acctually admitting to the fact that other equipment besides Lee breaks! I thought all the other press companies built indestructable machines with zero flaws and only Lee presses and equipment broke due to there low monetary purchase price. I've been lied to all these years! Glad I never drank the blue, green, or Hornady red kool aids!
My sister in-laws husband has the Hornady LNL press and he's been having issues with it. For the $500 he spent he's not happy.
I broke the linkage on my Lee Classic Cast single stage press swaging .308 brass down in a .40 S&W die to make .45 shot shells. :banghead: Went to FSreloading.com and had new linkage in 3 days for $5. Still haven't installed the new linkage because the press still works with the cracked linkage.

 

[stargeezer]

It's a machine, it can break. It's just that some break more than others and some arrive acting like they were broke. I just figure you get what you pay for. I drove Mercedes for decades, because I hate tools that break more often than others....and yes, I own Dillon, RCBS and Lyman equipment. Never broke a press though - wow!

 

[Slamfire]

Yup, believe it or not even the great Dillon breaks once in a while.
No story, it just cracked. They had a new re-designed crank to me in 3 days.

Happened to me on my Dillion 550B. I must have cranked out 100,000 rounds and the compound leverage block cracked like yours.

Maybe it is to be expected as it is aluminum and has a finite fatique life.

I sent the whole thing to dillion and they fixed it all for free. Dillion has a great "NO" BS warranty.

I did bend the handle on an Lyman Spar T, trying to small base size a 308 case. With an L shaped handle, I gave up and went back to the presses with compound leverage.

 

[TyGuy]

Jeeze man, you must workout.

 

[Slamfire]

You put one hand on the lever and one hand on the bench, lean in and push. I am certain anyone could bend a lever if they tried.

 

[jaguarxk120]

When you buy quality tooling, it won't break, if it does the mfgr stands behind it.

 

[LeonCarr]

Hondo 60/Slamfire1,

I have had that same part break on my Dillon 550B twice in the past 19 years, along with the support beams on either size of the ram. Sent it to Dillon, fixed it both times no questions asked.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[bmrtoyo]

new vehicles ,,thats a whole another discussion for sure!

 

[hatwerinrednek]

I did. Hornady LNL AP on the priming stroke while loading 9mm. Everything was going smoothly and I pressed it forward to seat the primer and the handle snapped right off. What's funny is that it didn't really "pop". It just sort of broke loose and made more noise when it struck my bench. I sent an email to Hornady on Sunday about warranty but no response yet. The manual says "unconditional lifetime warranty" or something to that effect. I'll post up how it goes.

Edit: This press is several years old and has loaded ~12K-13K rounds. It has never been dropped or damaged in any way.

wow/havent witnessed that before. hornady makes a good product, thats what i use. make sure your kids or grand kids arent using the handle as a step to climb up on your bench when your not looking/lol

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Bad castings...it happens.

 

[horsemen61]

Not yet