Frankford ArsenalPlatinum Series Primer Pocket Swager with Adjustable Handle and Auto-Eject Case Pin Holder for Reloading

I've only had this product for a few days but have used it a lot in those few days. Read all the reviews of the spring breaking and once I had the unit in my hands I found that the unit can still be used without that spring. The spring that has been reported to break is to pull the case up so the swager can actually swage the primer pocket. You can do that by hand and in fact I have found that you need to do that anyway if you want the swage pin to go fully into the primer pocket. Once broken in it might work as advertised but new, and with the case holder pin adjusted so the swager pin goes all the way into the primer pocket, the case holder pin gets hit by the swager pin before it goes fully into position. So I use my left hand to push the case into position.Even if that main spring breaks you can still push the case holder pin into position and adding a few rubber bands it will push the case holder pin out once the swaging is done.All in all I think this is a great unit for the money. Half the cost of a Dillon (at least from Amazon) and has some automatic features that the Dillon does not.The housing is thick and strong. I clamp it to either my loading bench or to a table I have in the room I load in. Haven't had to worry about the rear 2 mounting holes as clamped properly on the side wings holds the unit securely.I'm swaging mainly pistol brass, 9mm, and have wrapped black electrical tape around the large case holder pin so it lines up better with the primer hole to swager pin. If I need that case holder pin for some other case I can either remove the tape or add to it.All in all it was worth the cost. Now waiting for the spring to break.EDIT:Tonight, 12/04/2023, the spring broke. Only ran about 300-500 9mm cases through it over the last 2 weeks Now contacting FA for a replacement spring. (Or new unit)Still a good product.EDIT 2:Contacted FA (Outdoor Brands) on the 4th of December (day the spring broke) and got an email back that day with a case number. Replied to that email with pictures of the unit and broken spring. I call them on the 8 to check on the status of the case and was told I have a new unit shipped out. Still waiting.EDIT 3:It is now January 16th 2024. Still no new unit or replacement spring. Called Outdoor Brands, Frankford Arsenal, twice last week and asked for a call back. NO Call Back.Just about ready to send this unit back to Amazon for a refund. I have unit the 31st of Jan 2024 to do this.

Once setup this little gem actually does what you need it to do without any fuss (after you fuss with it for setup). The spring-loaded case mount rod does not really load the case into position without help from your finger to get it into place but that is a minor complaint. However, if you do NOT get it into position you might be trying to swage the rim of the case and break something. You'll get the hang of it once you start. Adjusting for more clearance would allow for auto-mounting but it would NOT be in the correct position for the length of the STROKE of the ram.Once you accept that reality, the entire unit seems strong enough for many years of use, the primer pocket ram works fine (you could smooth it up by polishing it up with wet-or-dry fine sandpaper or fine grit polishing compound if you want a professional type looking job)Easy to use, load and quite fast. I mounted it to a 12x12 board and clamp the whole shebang to my bench when needed. I like it.

It works well however it doesn’t feed like advertised it does take some help to get the brass where it needs to be. Besides that it’s a very well built and good product.

Precise adjustments are a little finicky but once tuned in it works great.

First of all, this swager get job done, primers seats smoothly after using it.A few issues making me return this unit. However, I liked it to a point that I put order for another unit to give it a second chance.The first main issue is that the tension of the spring which operates the case holder ping seems to be way too loose. It doesn't have enough force to push down the plunger. And send the case underneath the swager pin. The plunger really doesn't take much force to be pushed back. And because of the loose spring, when the case hold pin gets close to the right place, the swager pin has dropped too much to block the case already.The second main issue is that the case holding pin is not fully centered under the swager pin. FWIW, I am not talking about the centering can be adjusted by the centering adjust knob, I am talking about left-right centering.Both issues above combined, I had to use my finger, every single time, to help the case move to the right place for the swager pin. This tool should have worked without my intervention.I had a smaller issue with the user manual. It took me some time to figure out that the swager pin can be dropped without removing the case extractor plate. It was quite snug inside the housing, after removing the quick release pin, it needs some persuasion to come down. A few words here would be really helpful.I hope this unit I got is just a runaway unit from FA QC team. Quality is important, folks!Update: the second item has the right tension from the spring, the case has chance to move down under the swager pin. Not 100% time because there is still some left-right alignment issue. Also sometimes the case hold pin won't move fully down under the swager pin.Second update: the second swager was working mostly well. The pin moves case to the right spot more than 90% of time. However, I also encountered the same issue as other reviewers mentioned, the spring broken after a few hundreds of uses (don't have exact count, but it was less than 800 uses over a same 400+ cases). For quality reasons, lower my review to 1 star.