forester co-ax press for 338edge

[jeff 300]

what does every one think of the forester co-ax press. I'm in need of a new press for my 338edge i have redding comp setting die and my press now is to small to get a loaded round out of it. i looked at it today and it looks like a great press what are the +/- to it. how well does the shell holder work? is there any thing else you have buy for it?

 

[Forester]

I have one and like it a lot. The only thing I have had trouble with is it seems important to keep the shellholder area clean. It is less than ideal if you plan to do hundreds or thousands of one process at a time because in order to open the shellholder the handle must be all the way up...just not very fast.

On the upside, its very quick and easy to swap dies with no change in their settings and it makes great ammo.

You should get both sets of jaws for the shellholder, other than that its good to go.

 

[boomtube]

I love the Co-Ax. It's a great press with a single limitation - that wishbone design handle can't clear some of the longer/taller dies such as the Redding Competion type seaters for long cartridges!

If you need a larger, stronger press but can't use the Co-Ax, try the Lee Classic Cast (iron) press. It is massive, well engineered, well made, the primer catcher is a good variation of that on the Co-Ax and it can handle cases as large as the Browing .50 MG. It's a lot of press, at any price.

 

[kfrye]

Make sure you get the newer B3 version, or at least check the press out with your comp seater installed. I inadvertently bought the B2 at Cabelas and I just barely have clearance to seat because anymore and my rounds would be too large for the mag box. I still have plenty distance to the lands though. If I were to do it over again, I would probably go with a Redding T-7, or get out a die grinder and open mine up a tad.

 

[Derek M.]

I have one. Here's the pros/cons:

Pros: excellent press for alignment, probably the best designed press ever. Easy to use. Easy to change dies. If you have the latest version you shouldn't have to worry about the handle clearing Redding bench dies. I have the older version and it will cost $79 for them to change out handle. Press operates very smoothly.

Cons: As mentioned, the press has to be fully released with the handle all the way up to remove case as this is the point where the jaws open. Ergonomically speaking, I do not like the handle centered on top of the press when it is released at full stroke. I prefer the handles on the Rockchucker style presses. I almost feel like I should sit higher or even stand when using the Co-Ax.

I'm so used to seating bullets slowly and spinning the case often as I seat a little at a time, you cannot do this with the Co-Ax due to the jaws that hold the case in place. You should release the press at top stroke to loosen the jaws to spin the case but that is a pain. The design of the Co-Ax is so little to no runout occurs anyway but I have not found that to be the case.

I compared 50 rounds of 30.06 cases seating bullets with a single stroke in the Co-Ax press to 50 identical rounds seated in my Rockchucker where I am able to spin the case a little at a time (about 10-15 times seating the bullet a little as I go) and the Rockchucker produced the most concentric ammo. I then loaded another 25 rounds in the Co-Ax where I spun the cases 3 times each as I seated the bullets and these were just as good as those from the Rockchucker press but it took longer and I'm a bit to impatient.

 

[jeff 300]

sounds like a good press just need the long handle.

 

[Lightvarmint]

I put the big die adapter on the Rochucker and use it for the big dies only. I bought onr of the coax presses and really like it. Produces good ammo as well. As with any shellholder, keep it clean.

James

 

[Trickymissfit]

I never have to spin my brass in a seating die, and never see more than .0015" TIR in runout. I seat with Forster seaters 85% of the time, and hate Redding anything. But I've heard this argument manytimes over, and proved my point in a Shadowgraph. If you gotta spin the case you have something miss aligned elsewhere. Check your brass before you ever try seating a bullet. The results may scare you.

Someguys size their brass without a sizing ball installed. I always use mine, but that's each and everyone's choice. If you size the neck unsupported you have cause for error. The neck should be the very last thing ever done. Another thing with seating bullets is micrometer heads. Hornaday heads are junk. There's about half the backlash in a Forster seater than a Redding if you change seating depths a lot. Some folks think the Forster seater is the best. But I won't go that far. But I will tell you there's very little difference between a Forster seater and a Wilson in an arbor press

Lets see we're having trouble releasing the sized or finished round. There's a 1/42 set screw that has a point on it (reached from under the bolster plate). Adjust it so that it just retains the case , but is still a little loose. The sliding jaws will get a little dirty if you keep a lot of oil on them. I prefer powdered graphite. My jaws have not been apart in the last couple years, and then it was just to flip them for a couple hundred Herett cases. I do take a few minutes to lap a new set of jaws on a wet stone, but even then I have not lapped a set in ten years.
gary

 

[BigJakeJ1s]

If you want to spin the cartridge while seating on the co-ax, just spin the die instead. You can also get a conventional shell holder adapter for the co-ax from Forster. It looks like the current version (B3) of the co-ax omitted the jaw centering (front) screw from the guide block. Too bad; it was very useful for just the above-mentioned purpose.

Since a conventional press reverses the direction of play mid-stroke, pausing and letting the pressure and friction relax allows the cartridge/bullet/die to re-align, even if you don't rotate the cartridge. The Co-Ax does not have this issue, it's play is taken out to one side for the entire stroke, reversing only at top and bottom as ram travel reverses.

Andy

 

[jeff 300]

I started this post two years ago ( funny to see it come back up two years to the date i started) I ended up getting the press and i love it!!!!! It is a great press and has loaded a lot of great ammo for me. I do spin the brass three times on each load but its fast and ez. great press