Thanks for the replies!!
Beaver1: The P-200 was my fathers. He quit using it when he started shooting cowboy. He was using a Dillon that was set up at his friends house. After Mom passed he pretty much gave it all up and I commandeered what I could. I have tried loading the 223 on the p-200. It started out good, and then I loaded some up for a morning hunt. After our first stand, I could not extract a round from my AR. This continued and I could see nothing wrong. I went home, cleaned the rifle, oiled it, and the problem appeared to go away. I put the round in and out several times with no problem. The next weekend I had the same problem. I was starting to think it was related to the cold air, or maybe I needed to use more or less oil. I burned off all of those rounds with no problems. I went to load more, and I noticed that the press would "cam over" before the bullet was in the die all the way. My die was still tight in the turret. I screwed the die down farther, tested another casing. This time it didn't want to go, but I had a "talk" with it and the casing went in all the way. It came out dented from built up lube in the shoulder area of the die. This had been going on for some time apparently. Inspecting the brass I had sized before moving the die, I could feel, but not see, a small raised ring at the base of the neck just in front of the shoulder. The Press has developed some play in it, and when I attempt to size the 223 cases it flexes instead of sizing properly. A Rookie mistake I am sure.
My Father has loaded on this press since I was 3 or 4. I would bet he loaded 20,000 223 rounds on it, as well as thousands of 45 acp. He helped me set it up with the same dies he was using the last time he used it.
I haven't inspected it yet, and I may be able to continue to use it, but my wife said that I should get a new one. I swear I argued with her about it, but she wins again.
The other problem I have is that the table I am reloading on is not really stable. It shakes and wobbles as if it has a coyote in the scope. I want to build a new one, but living in a 2 bedroom duplex leaves little room for construction. Maybe when the snow melts. Living in the duplex also means that only one press will be active at a time, and the p-200 will probably find the rafters in the shed.
When I asked our local retailer about parts for the p-200 he was not interested. Told me the good news was that they were still in business and I could phone them up and order whatever I wanted. I hate that store!! Anyways the rcbs and redding are readily available.
Sorry for the length...... from what I hear, I have a tendency to ramble.
I appreciate everyones post, and look forward to more.
Weaz
