jgh4445
Member
I have an old ( pre 98) Square deal I bought used. No telling how many rounds have been produced on it. I've loaded approximately 10K on it myself. Lately it started flipping primers and having them turn sideways. On the upstroke of the handle there is a noticeable "snap or click" noise as the shell plate advances so the primer cup can come up thru the hole. The cup is catching on the lip a tad. I've also noticed the handle is getting hard to pull down and when I prime, instead of the shell plate kinda springing back up when I release the handle, the handle just stayed in place kinda like it was stuck in the forward position. Well, I got tired of tinkering with just the primer system and decided to try and partially rebuild and clean it. Both of my machines came with a bunch of spare parts the previous owners had. Along with some parts I've bought and gathered thru the years, I thought I had enough stuff to make it work.
I pulled it down by removing the pivot arms on the sides of the handle. Removed the bushings, the set screw and crank pin, the indexer assembly and the plastic wave bearings ( those 4 white Delryn corner posts), the spent primer cover ( white "z like shaped piece of plastic on the side of the body) and then I started to clean. I used a good spray degreaser and got all of the parts as clean as I could. I cleaned the primer assembly, inside the primer tubes and cleaned all of the gunk out of the primer slide and primer body. There were lots of primer parts powder and other gunk hanging around in the old grease. I got the spent primer track cleaned out and replaced the cover. The pawl was in rough shape so I replaced the whole index assembly. The pawl was worn off on the leading edge so it wasn't contacting the slot in the shell plate properly. This was causing it to fail to align the shell plate hole over the primer cup on time. I also replaced the 4 white "corner posts" the wave bushings. I degreased the crank pin and the holes it fits in. Now it was time to reassemble.
I put new grease on every part that requires it from the powder measure rails down to the crank pin. All of the bushings that turn got grease,even the 4 wave bearings got a thin coat.(The old ones were actually black on the inside and in rough shape and badly worn). The set screw that holds the crank pin in got a drop of blue Loctite. Upon reassembling the indexing assembly there is a screw that goes thru a spring on the front side and then there is supposed to be a very thin wave washer the screw protrudes thru on the back side with a #10 washer ( as the manual parts diagram calls it) between it and the ram body. I was missing this washer. Still am. Upon reflection, the manual I'm looking in is a new Square deal B manual and my machine is old as I said. Maybe this washer is not in the old models. At any rate, once reassembled I simply cannot believe the difference in the press. I doubt a new press could be any smoother. Every problem and hiccup I was experiencing is gone. I loaded 100 rounds of 45 ACP without a glitch this morning and gone was the dread that every other round was going to do something to lock up the press or cause some sort of stoppage. I'm so impressed with the difference, I'm going to clean my other, much newer Square Deal, just as a PM measure.
Thought I'd post this so anyone else using one of these machines and experiencing the kinds of problems I was having could have an idea of how to fix it. Now, how much mechanical skill do you need to do this? If I can do it anyone can. You do need some skills though. You need to be able to tell up from down. This helps in orienting the ram when its time to re insert it. You need to be able to use Allen wrenches or Hex keys pretty well too. Be skilled in washing old parts and drying them off. (No oven needed here, just a paper towel). You need to be able to operate Q tips and popsicle sticks to apply grease. Like I said, other than having to be able to use the above mentioned skills, most anyone can turn the old jerky press into a new machine in about an hour. Have fun!
I pulled it down by removing the pivot arms on the sides of the handle. Removed the bushings, the set screw and crank pin, the indexer assembly and the plastic wave bearings ( those 4 white Delryn corner posts), the spent primer cover ( white "z like shaped piece of plastic on the side of the body) and then I started to clean. I used a good spray degreaser and got all of the parts as clean as I could. I cleaned the primer assembly, inside the primer tubes and cleaned all of the gunk out of the primer slide and primer body. There were lots of primer parts powder and other gunk hanging around in the old grease. I got the spent primer track cleaned out and replaced the cover. The pawl was in rough shape so I replaced the whole index assembly. The pawl was worn off on the leading edge so it wasn't contacting the slot in the shell plate properly. This was causing it to fail to align the shell plate hole over the primer cup on time. I also replaced the 4 white "corner posts" the wave bushings. I degreased the crank pin and the holes it fits in. Now it was time to reassemble.
I put new grease on every part that requires it from the powder measure rails down to the crank pin. All of the bushings that turn got grease,even the 4 wave bearings got a thin coat.(The old ones were actually black on the inside and in rough shape and badly worn). The set screw that holds the crank pin in got a drop of blue Loctite. Upon reassembling the indexing assembly there is a screw that goes thru a spring on the front side and then there is supposed to be a very thin wave washer the screw protrudes thru on the back side with a #10 washer ( as the manual parts diagram calls it) between it and the ram body. I was missing this washer. Still am. Upon reflection, the manual I'm looking in is a new Square deal B manual and my machine is old as I said. Maybe this washer is not in the old models. At any rate, once reassembled I simply cannot believe the difference in the press. I doubt a new press could be any smoother. Every problem and hiccup I was experiencing is gone. I loaded 100 rounds of 45 ACP without a glitch this morning and gone was the dread that every other round was going to do something to lock up the press or cause some sort of stoppage. I'm so impressed with the difference, I'm going to clean my other, much newer Square Deal, just as a PM measure.
Thought I'd post this so anyone else using one of these machines and experiencing the kinds of problems I was having could have an idea of how to fix it. Now, how much mechanical skill do you need to do this? If I can do it anyone can. You do need some skills though. You need to be able to tell up from down. This helps in orienting the ram when its time to re insert it. You need to be able to use Allen wrenches or Hex keys pretty well too. Be skilled in washing old parts and drying them off. (No oven needed here, just a paper towel). You need to be able to operate Q tips and popsicle sticks to apply grease. Like I said, other than having to be able to use the above mentioned skills, most anyone can turn the old jerky press into a new machine in about an hour. Have fun!
