The indexer subject does seem to come up and circle around every year or so. I have a Phelps machine set up in 45 ACP that had been ridden really hard before I got it. The wear was similar to what Bruce showed in his "before" picture above. It came with what was left of a Brewster type indexer. I think that machine made me a little hypersensitive to the indexer subject. Of course it was obvious that the loader had never really been taken care of either.
I ended up buying a Moon unit type indexer for another machine and never got it installed yet. I guess one reason is that I am usually not in that big of a hurry. It was just another gadget to try out. Sometimes the tweaking, adjusting and the process are the entertainment, and yes it is fun! (and I still don't know if I really like indexers)