jwankel

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going all the way down on the down-stroke and trying to be as smooth and steady as possible, then slow and smooth on the upstroke. It's catching about 50% of time and when it catches, I need to move the ratchet lever out of the way to move the lever back up. I tried playing with the bolt that holds the ratchet lever but couldn't make it any better. I've going to change calibers in about a week, so I'll take it apart then and see if I can make it better. In the meantime, I've taken the spring off and things are working great.

I bought a pre-owned, but unused RL 1050. I've got it on the bench and I'm my trying to understand the process/steps involved. I keep running into the handle catching on the ratchet in back as I start the upstroke. I've done some searching and see that this ratchet sometimes has to be tuned. So...how do I tune it? While it appears others have just removed it, I'd like to just get it working without pulling things off. If it's useful, here's a pic of where it's catching. The press isn't currently bolted down because I'm trying to make sure I understand what's going on before lock it in place. Thanks, Jeff

I've got an opportunity to pick up a never used rl1050 for around $900 w/o dies. The owner bought it, set it up and never used it. He wants to sell it and buy a 650. I've never reloaded so this would be my first press. Initially, I'd be loading 9mm. Eventually, I could see expansion into .45, .38, .223 and who knows what other rifle calibers. My question is this...at that price, is it worth getting the 1050 and struggling through the learning process with 9mm. Then picking up a 550 or 650 later to load the less frequent calibers? Or am I better off just investing that money into a 650 setup from the start. At this point, I'm shooting less than 1k rounds of 9mm a month. All my buddies that shoot also shoot 9mm, so I might be nice and let them use it as well. Thanks, Jeff

I'm reinforcing what will become my reloading bench. I'm adding a sheet of 3/4" sanded MDF. Should I give it a coat of polyurethane or some other finish when I'm done or just leave it unfinished? I've seen lots of discussion on benches, but never how to finish the top. Thanks Jeff

I'm getting close to starting to reload (been going through BE's dillion info and these forums) and I've been discussing it with the wife. Her concerns has been the safety issues around having the gunpowder in the house. I've explained the safety measures with the gunpowder and especially the primers. Then she asked about the safety of reloading 10' away from the furnace and water heater. I couldn't find any mention of that in the forums, so I thought I'd ask. Is there any issues with reloading in the basement 10' from the furnace and water heater? FWIW, the pilot lights are on the opposite side of where I'd setup my reloading area. Thanks, Jeff