Ponsness Warren in Trouble?

[Quigley97]

I just called Ponsness Warren today. I talked to a very nice lady, Jean. I told her I shipped my press to them last November and at that time I was told 3 to 5 months for it to be returned. Today she told me there are 8 ahead of me. She also said that there is only one man who rebuilds/repairs the presses. He get pulled off at times to work on other items. She also said that in the past year they have hired seven people to hopefully find at least one to work with this one man and none have stayed. Apparently they just did not want to "work" for a living. She also said that they are in no way in trouble and are staying in business. Hopefully my press will be done and returned by the beginning of April.

[Quigley97]

I got a call this past Friday from Ponsness Warren. The young lady informed me that the estimate on my press was $787.79. She told me that the "cross head" was cracked. She also said that they did not have one and it could possibly be 3 to 5 months to get one. I called back today and told them to keep the press. I went and ordered a Mec 9000gn from Precision Reloading and with the state tax and shipping it came to $803.55. I had bought the PW used ten years ago and put probably 9,000 to 10,000 rounds through it. It had a lot of issues when I bought it account of the previous owner had no idea what he was doing and did more damage than good.

[Dean Romig]

Tom, did she give you the price of a new PW?





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[Quigley97]

Yes she did Dean. To replace the LS1000 I had it would be $1099.99. Their Patriot is now $1200. The base press now is an 800plus which is $899.99.

[Big D]

After sitting for about 4 months, I got a call about 3 weeks ago, telling me that their first guess was $375, but would be adjusted as they got into it. Told them I was away from my house for a month - please hold it until I returned. They were most accommodating. Cost of shooting is going up, whether fresh shells or reloading. Down in FL for a month. Am pleased to find a friend who will sell me a flat of shells for $85, all up

[B. Dudley]

I have two extra PW machines in 12g that I need to sell. They have been sitting in my basement. I was thinking of mentioning them before Ernies this year.

[Bill Murphy]

I have two broken 800B .410s. I guess the best thing to do is sell them at no money and go from there. My 12, 20, and 28 800Bs are running fine after 40 years or so.

[Steve Hodges]

Originally Posted by John Dallas

After sitting for about 4 months, I got a call about 3 weeks ago, telling me that their first guess was $375, but would be adjusted as they got into it. Told them I was away from my house for a month - please hold it until I returned. They were most accommodating. Cost of shooting is going up, whether fresh shells or reloading. Down in FL for a month. Am pleased to find a friend who will sell me a flat of shells for $85, all up

You were lucky to find shells for $85 a flat. I was at LL Beans in Freeport this past Sunday and have not see as much ammunition in one place in two years. Tons of cases and individual boxes of about anything you can imagine, including some 2.5" RST's in lead. But the prices were out of sight. The RST's were $65 a box, and the flats went from $165 to $248 per case. Run of the mill individual boxes were around $25 to $35 per box.

[Big D]

Steve - The $85 is an insider price. My friend started a gun club and Clays range, and buys shells at the lowest price possible. He's passing them on to his friends at his cost

[Jim McKee]

Very sorry to hear about this problem with your PW reloader.
During the past 40+ years I have sent my PW 375 back to them 3 times for add ons -10, 16 & 20 ga. They adjusted them for me including making 10b 2 &7/8" , 12 b 2.5" & 16 b 2.5" inch dies that I also use to cut shotgun shells to correct length.
Finding good help continues to be a problem many places, sadly
Jim