Iron or aluminum press

Rock Chucker all the way, been using the same one forever,from 222 to 338-408 and everything in between. Now if you want a press for the range maybe a lighter one! For home you cant go wrong with the Chucker

A Rockchucker has and is my main line press. I have others for various other jobs...

In 1978, I went to the NRA Convention with my brother. They had a row of presses set up that must have been a hundred foot long. All used .308 dies, and all brass was military. All the presses felt the same when full length sizing except one. Tat was a Bananza Co-Ax. I kept going back to that one, and must have sized fifty rounds thru it. I was pretty much set on the Co-Ax when Bob Milek walked over to me and simply said "that's the one you want!" About two minutes later Skeeter Skelton and another guy (can't remember his name) said almost the same thing. Still the crowning moment was when Elmer Keith came over in his huge twenty gallon hat! Next day I ordered one, and was told I was nuts for spending $80 on a press! I get the press in, and the dealer calls me at the house to ask me if he could use it in his shop for three or four days. I was in no hurry as I still needed dies (been using my brother's RCBS). He sets it up in his shop while four guys are looking over his shoulder. Sizes about a hundred 7.62 NATO rounds for his HK. Then orders in a half dozen presses (he was the guy who said I was nuts). The presses that he ordered were all sold before they arrived. Over the next seven months he sold about 25 of these presses. Jerry still has his Co-Ax setup in his shop to this day, and has probably done 20K rounds thru it.

I had Jerry order in four die sets for me, and he asked me to try the 30-06 set. He then started stocking their dies. I probably bought a dozen die sets from him over the years, and he never asked me what brand. He knows I'll pay for the better dies. I've been using my press since 1978, and it's as tight and square today as it was in 1978. The only changes I've made are using a home built riser to elevate the press six inches. I did grind the extractor plates down about .003". I rarely swap the plates around with my setup. I bought a Co-Ax "B2" press. Most are B3's or later yet. The B2 was the first press that used the extractor plates, but still used the older shell holder for priming. I still use that same priming setup because it works well.

I like to buy U.S. made equipment (not just assembled or reboxed). At least two of the big players are made in China, that may actually be three. Lee is still U.S. made as is Forster & Redding.
gary

I was having trouble with my RCBS 5-0-5 scale. I took it apart and cleaned everything, I turned it upside down and there it was.... Made in China!!!!

Redding turret press is the way to go for the lower volume stuff.

Greyfox said:

Like others, my RCBS Rockchucker with many thousands of rounds from 380ACP to 500-450 Express have been loaded since 1972, and it is still perfect. While I have tried other presses, this has always been my go to press for my bench rest and LRH loads. A drop of oil every year on each bushing is the only attention I have ever given it. I expect my grandchildren to be using it after I'm long gone.

Click to expand...

I prefer iron, I have Lyman orange crusher ,I use for rifle cases. I also have a RCBS partner iron press, I use for pistol cases.

What press on the market is going to be the most consistent, have the least variance while resizing, bullet seating and least runout? What is going to be the stiffest press out there?

Or does it matter more how it's set up and the dies your using?

My vote is for the Co-Ax again.
Dennis

Lonewolf74 said:

What press on the market is going to be the most consistent, have the least variance while resizing, bullet seating and least runout? What is going to be the stiffest press out there?

Or does it matter more how it's set up and the dies your using?

Click to expand...

IMO, the latter. The system is really free-floating. The case holder secures the cartridge very loosely. This is so the cartridge can self align as it is pushed up into the die. Inconsistent seating depth and shoulder setback when sizing the cartridge has more to do with inconsistent hardness of the brass, usually caused by work harding of the brass.

Lonewolf74 said:

What press on the market is going to be the most consistent, have the least variance while resizing, bullet seating and least runout? What is going to be the stiffest press out there?

Or does it matter more how it's set up and the dies your using?

Click to expand...

Obviously the co-ax

buy whatever kind of press you want. I could really care less, but would hope it was U.S. made.

The shell holder (as most call it) is not really a shell holder, but an extractor to pull the case out of the die. Assuming the bolster plate in the press is square with the center line of the die, then your going to see an accurate case. You never deal with machining error in a case holder; even though it's probably under .0005". Five tenths isn't much to worry about so we often say, but you take five tenths over a .470" dimension, and triangulate that to just two and a quarter inches in length. Now your looking at a sum of over .0023" of run out. If the press shows .0005" error, or just looseness; you can pretty much double that number or even go three times the number. Nature of the beast.

One nice thing about the Co-Ax is the ease of setup. You set a die up for a particular chamber, and it's set for life. Much more easier than simply screwing in a die, and dealing with slop in the threads. There's nothing there to contain the threads, so the threaded part of the die will mover under extreme pressure. Nature of the beast. The down side is that if one shoots two different rifles in the same caliber, he often wants to have another die set, or gets to setup everything again. Chambers do vary slightly in length and even diameter. Samething with the presses as well (assuming the lock nut is accurate enough for you.

The real issue is that there is nothing to contain the movement of the ram on a conventional system. Just the diameter of the bore in the frame. The one oddball uses two guide rods to keep the ram in alignment (would have preferred three by the way). If the ram stays square and of course is machined square; then there will be little wear. Still if the ram shifts just .001" under pressure the unsupported bore will wear in an oval shape, and just keep getting worse. The actual location of the handle you pull or push has a lot to do with what happens. I thought it would be nice to have it to one side till I thought about it. With the handle in the dead center you don't shift anything. The O frame is similar, but there is nothing solid to contain the ram. If you slightly push to one side you compound the situation.

gary

Lonewolf74 said:

What press on the market is going to be the most consistent, have the least variance while resizing, bullet seating and least runout? What is going to be the stiffest press out there?

Or does it matter more how it's set up and the dies your using?

Click to expand...

My best dies are Redding and RCBS match dies. I use these dies with the tightest shell holder. Some the shell holders on the market are sloppy. You can take the casing and rock it back and forth with a lot of freedom. I have sloppy ones from RCBS, Hornady , and Redding. The tightest one, I found are from Redding, but as I said some these are loose.

I had used the rock chucker exclusively since 1979 but switched to the Co-Ax a few years ago. I became increasingly concerned with the minor shaft (ram) deflection occurring during bullet seating. This slight deflection resulted in minor bullet misalignment, especially with shallower seating depths. This misalignment was seldom visible but clearly evident using a dial indicator and after some testing was found to be the causing flyers. The Co-Ax solved this problem and relieved a hefty amount of frustration. To be fair the rock chucker had loaded 1000s of rounds and shaft tolerances may be excessive. It is still on my bench and used to load pistol rounds and pull bullets. For long range shooting/accuracy I always use the Co-Ax. Would just recommend monitoring press tolerances over time regardless of the design to assure accurate alignment