Ponsness Warren 375 zombie press

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WestKentucky

WestKentucky

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86285A50-8F02-4480-B755-DE2FB5FE865A.jpeg Zombie may be a bit of an exaggeration, but this press came to me courtesy of one of our Hawaiian brothers. Thanks again Loonwulf for being so gracious to send this press out. LW Took the press apart for shipping purposes, and today I reassembled the jigsaw puzzle. The press is simple, but there are a few really aggravating things when assembling essentially from scratch. There is a spring loaded ball detent that likes to sling the little ball across the room. The parallel bars like to pivot and bind things up, and last but not least is the fact that you can assemble this press incorrectly several times in different manners and have to use your rubber mallet to pop everything back apart again. About the 6th time was the charm tonight.

Checking the press out and doing a general physical on the old gal shows some rust on the tooling and rust on the parallel bars. Most of this will be taken care of with the cylindrical parts taking a quick trip through the drill press with steel wool and fine sandpaper. I will probably make a holder so I’m not chucking straight to it. The rest is cosmetic, and once the old gal is fit for duty, she will get a makeover.
 
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spring loaded ball detent that likes to sling the little ball across the room
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Do they serve some other function?
It sounds like it is defective if you were able to find all the parts afterwards.:)
Springs were designed for the sole purpose of making small parts go pa choing across the room so you can't find them. Maybe it needs a stronger spring?:)
I have heard otherwise but I know the above reason is the true reason springs were invented in the first place.
 
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WestKentucky said:
LW Took the press apart for shipping purposes, and today I reassembled the jigsaw puzzle. The press is simple, but there are a few really aggravating things when assembling essentially from scratch.
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Sorry, I should have done a take down video....course i didnt even think about it till right now lol.
I actually dont remember that ball detent and spring, which suggests it hit me when it launched so it never left the bench.

already looks a ton better! Im happy to see it starting to come back to life.
 
LoonWulf said:
Sorry, I should have done a take down video....course i didnt even think about it till right now lol.
I actually dont remember that ball detent and spring, which suggests it hit me when it launched so it never left the bench.

already looks a ton better! Im happy to see it starting to come back to life.
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A video would be cheating. Seems that the things I have to figure out get more love anyways. That’s why I like my basket case guns, ar15s, and rebuilt junkers more than nice new guns most of the time. I’m excited about this press, and I will have her churning out little yellow goodies soon.
 
WestKentucky said:
A video would be cheating. Seems that the things I have to figure out get more love anyways. That’s why I like my basket case guns, ar15s, and rebuilt junkers more than nice new guns most of the time. I’m excited about this press, and I will have her churning out little yellow goodies soon.
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Can’t wait to see more pics as you restore this press
 
CAA8AA75-8049-4DE9-ACB0-1E3ED9386DED.jpeg 93A670C2-BABB-49C2-99C4-9F3B21523D82.jpeg
Well this was quick. I am on a modified schedule at work today so I can support appreciation lunches for both A and B shifts at work (the joys of middle management :cuss:) so I got up like normal and after daddy duty of getting the kids to school I got to play in the garage. It’s functionally operational. Needs aesthetic work but it’s together.

So, the process...
The parallel bars on which the ram plate rides were pretty rusty. I soaked an old rag in used synthetic motor oil and wrapped it around the rusty spots, secured with zip ties. I then sprayed enough WD40 into the rag to get the rag dripping. It sat for a few days. Today I took the rubber mallet and popped everything apart. It was already notably less bound than before. I took the parallel bars and chucked them into my drill press and used increasingly finer sandpaper to polish the rods only in the areas where the ram plate will travel. This went surprisingly quickly as the rust just jumped off and the rods polished nicely enough with little effort. One rod has a pin stuck into it which wouldn’t budge. I’m not sure if it’s intended to be permanent or not but it is in this press and that’s ok, I sanded below it and it wasn’t problematic. I wiped everything down as I started reassembly and everything just went right into place. I used the mallet to seat items, but probably didn’t have to. The ram moves smoothly, the tooling looks functional, and this press is ready to do some testing. I need to empty a few hulls and give it a go, but... hi-ho hi-ho it’s off to work I go.

I’m not sure the tooling is set up right, I did it from memory and reckoning. I need to verify, but it logically seems right.
 
Patocazador said:
You're a fast worker. If it had been me, the press would be together about the 3rd week in August.
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I had it for two years.......

WestKentucky said:
View attachment 787496 View attachment 787495
Well this was quick. I am on a modified schedule at work today so I can support appreciation lunches for both A and B shifts at work (the joys of middle management :cuss:) so I got up like normal and after daddy duty of getting the kids to school I got to play in the garage. It’s functionally operational. Needs aesthetic work but it’s together.

So, the process...
The parallel bars on which the ram plate rides were pretty rusty. I soaked an old rag in used synthetic motor oil and wrapped it around the rusty spots, secured with zip ties. I then sprayed enough WD40 into the rag to get the rag dripping. It sat for a few days. Today I took the rubber mallet and popped everything apart. It was already notably less bound than before. I took the parallel bars and chucked them into my drill press and used increasingly finer sandpaper to polish the rods only in the areas where the ram plate will travel. This went surprisingly quickly as the rust just jumped off and the rods polished nicely enough with little effort. One rod has a pin stuck into it which wouldn’t budge. I’m not sure if it’s intended to be permanent or not but it is in this press and that’s ok, I sanded below it and it wasn’t problematic. I wiped everything down as I started reassembly and everything just went right into place. I used the mallet to seat items, but probably didn’t have to. The ram moves smoothly, the tooling looks functional, and this press is ready to do some testing. I need to empty a few hulls and give it a go, but... hi-ho hi-ho it’s off to work I go.

I’m not sure the tooling is set up right, I did it from memory and reckoning. I need to verify, but it logically seems right.
Click to expand...

Great work, she already looks SOOOOO much better!
 
After a solid thrashing with a long screwdriver, the powder/shot drop tube is free of whatever it was that had it plugged, looked like mud so I’m going with a dirt dauber nest. It drops shot and powder now. I’m going to load a few rounds with tear down components and trash them, just going to do it as a learning excercise as this press is totally different from what I’m used to. That hopper emptying feature ROCKS. It is so much simpler than the LEE messmaker system and the MEC tip over catastrophe system that some folks seem to learn to love. That feature by itself puts this press head and shoulders above its competition.
 
I get a mental image of Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein
"It's Alive!"
(was going to snip a copy but it might be copyrighted)
 
Tonight I pulled apart a few factory loaded shells. Slowly and carefully worked them open with smooth jawed needle nose pliers. The bushings I have are not correct for the components that came out of the hulls, but I saw enough promise that I will be weighing my options on hulls and wads. With a trickle of extra shot to fill the wads I was able to reassemble rounds from junk components. I didn’t dare cycle them through a gun, but I’m sure they would have fed well enough since they were pretty uniform and nicely crimped.
 
Thanks for filling us in and allowing us to follow along with your progress. I've written it all down in a big book in case it's needed for future reference....

KfL3uMChh0-paG7Gl5JIruzO4kni35NoFc6Y4Bo-Mnw50_zZazB1j9hCLfXddQG0AuYy5UyACcKX5lMFL_0=w300-h168-no.jpg

o_O
 
The swirling on the crimp is a sign of too much pressure (from memory)
You can adjust the settings to get rid of this, if you want

Also - the press you have has the "pre-C" tooling = meaning it doesn't add a taper crimp to the finished shell
Not a huge issue, unless your primary use will be through an auto or pump - if so, you can get the parts needed to upgrade to "C" spec. from P~W or other suppliers
OR - finish off the loaded shells with a drill-press mounted RTO tool
 
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