The old RCBS is gone

[jds holler]

I wonder how many of us are reading these posts on devices that are primarily created in China?? sorry, I couldn't help myself. jd

 

[Steve Blair]

Heck, I got most of my reloading stuff back before China was invented. jd

It wasn't invented. It was funded and developed by US and European investment, and IP extortion and theft. National interests were sacrificed for short term profit. All of it was aided and abetted by our national governments. Now, we are paying the price.

 

[jds holler]

We fed and nurtured the beast which may destroy us? jd

 

[South Paw Sammy]

I called rcbs a few months ago to see if I could get a replacement plug for my charge master. I explained that I had dropped the plug in when unplugging from the wall and that it fell and broke / cracked. I asked about the cost to replace it and they took my information. In less than a week I had what I needed and no charge. Many years ago had a problem with a set of 30-06 dies. (There was a bur in the sizing die) Same result was told a new set would be sent to me and was told to just keep the old set.

Did not know there dies were made out of the country now days.

 

[servant403]

Just checked Huntingtons website. They lay it all out in plain English about RCBS. Don’t know quite how theyre related to RCBS but theyre still doing what RCBS doesn’t. Glad to see all hope is not lost.

Not really sure what you mean. I only see that website say the bean counters at RCBS decided not to make custom dies anymore. It does not mention overseas manufacturing. In fact Huntingtons website goes on how great RCBS dies are. Did I miss something? Im not trying to be a smart alec either. Im curious.

 

[Tesoro]

Can someone name some of the Chinese Co's that sell reloading equipment so I can avoid them. Brand names. Do they sell with a well known American Co. label on them.

More like what American companies pay the chinese to make their products over there.

 

[ShtrRdy]

The 'old' RCBS has been gone for a long time

 

[servant403]

Um, Redding...

USA, family owned, American steel, American tools, and a ton of customs if you call and check on what they have. Nice people too. 607-753-3001

I have a lot of Redding stuff. But I personally am not crazy about their customer service. I dont think its up to the level of RCBS from my experience having used both. I sent a almost brand new press back to Redding that wasnt very smooth and didnt seem right. I only sized about 75 cases with it. They replaced the ram and sent it back. Inside the box was a note stating that upon arrival of the press they immediately noticed a chip out of the press near the primer attachment area. Bull crap. That chip could have only been made by dropping the press. There was no chips when I sent it. They told me maybe it was damaged in transit to them ( only about a 90 mile shipment). I asked if the box was damaged. Redding CS stated they didnt know. So I stated anything I send them in the future I will have to photograph prior. I really was not pleased even though the press is very smooth now. Im convinced they damaged this and wouldnt own up to it because it was only cosmetic and didnt affect the presses function.
I still think they make good stuff. But CS experiences like this make me sort of sour to them.

 

[Steve Blair]

We fed and nurtured the beast which may destroy us? jd

Exactly.

 

[Liven The Dream]

Um, Redding...

USA, family owned, American steel, American tools, and a ton of customs if you call and check on what they have. Nice people too. 607-753-3001

Redding ?
I have gone thru three #1 Shell Holders .
Upper lip pulls away ?
Good Service they replace them . The Machine work looks poor !
Gave up went RCBS still working.

 

[Emmett Dibble]

Not to piss in the OP or anyone else’s ear but….

It’s a business. It’s THEIR business….

You can chose to use them or not. You can chose to use a competitors business or not. You can chose to start your own business and compete against them… or not.

So far… this is still America and there isn’t a centralized government control telling a small/midsized business what they will and will not produce.

Not being ugly but it sure is hard for a business to want to help anyone with anything if their reward is to be publicly bashed online for not being everything to everyone.

 

[Bill K]

I wonder how many realize how much property/land and companies China owns and controls right here in the USA ?
They do business and make a lot of money, right in the USA and no one seems to see or know that.

 

[JRanum]

I certainly wasn’t bashing RCBS. I passed on exactly what I was told by customer service in regards to what they sell and what they no longer do as a heads up. I was unpleasantly surprised to learn that after 60 or 70 years they no longer make dies to order.

If you need 30/06 dies or 243 dies, they still have them, whether made in China or USA, theyre probably fine. And if you need a part for a currently manufactured item, they will send the part to you probably free of charge.

HOWEVER, what was news to me is if you want RCBS dies in 32/40 Remington Hepburn, part no. 56340…or any other similarly obsolete set, the RCBS of old no longer exists and the current isn’t interested in making them at any price.

 

[LHSmith]

If Amazon sells it -it's from C-H-I-N-A made by children in slavery owned by chi-com businessmen who pay bigtime graft to the CCP.

 

[JRanum]

Just called Huntington die specialties, and they don’t make dies in obsolete calibers either. Perhaps Redding will. Just another heads up.

 

[Tesoro]

If you know more than the average person about the chinese then you will know that cost cutting is built into their dna. They will do whatever it takes to cheat even a 1/100th of a cent in the cost of manufacturing a unit. Ie a manufacturer might only put in 95% of the vanadium required in the pot when smoltering tool steel. Noone will notice but at the end of the year the accountant will. Or when they spray paint a rcbs press they will apply a few microns less thickness than what is on the spec sheet.

 

[M-61]

No clue if ‘They’re gone’.
If so maybe the longest great run of customer service to exist.
Actually it’s upsetting if true but not a surprise.
Nearly everything is either gone or disappearing at an alarming rate in what was the USA.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I never thought of them as premium. They used to have good CS and had dies that will get you by for less money, but nobody i know ever thought they were above par in any way, more of the budget friendly alternative once you learned about how bad the lee stuff was.

 

[jds holler]

I'm not an "old bastard" yet, but I'm getting close, and I've got the bastard part down.

For a lot of us starting out fifty or so years ago, and living in the "less settled" part of the country, RCBS was often the only alternative that we might find on the shelf in any store that happened to stock reloading equipment.

I suppose that most of us were fairly clueless about a lot of the critical quality that the higher end companies MAY have offered, and frankly back then RCBS didn't have a second rate reputation. They were considered very reputable, and they were. They were also "out west" which meant something to those of us who also were.

Also, back then, mail order wasn't often the preferred method of shopping, and when it was, it was with Herters. Nobody knew what a website was. Maybe two out of a hundred knew the name Whidden, or even Redding.

It is sad if RCBS has gone to the dogs, or even to China, but that's the world we live in now. One thing that probably hasn't changed is the importance of knowing where or who to buy a particular tool from. I'm sure that RCBS will continue to have plenty of acceptable equipment for 90% of what we need in the reloading world.

(says the guy who specializes in average and adequate reloads ) jd

 

[servant403]

This RCBS video on their youtube channel states their dies are machined, hardened and polished in the USA from their proprietary steel. But they seem to say they are manufactured here. Listen to it. Only about 1:50 seconds long. If impatient listen from about 1minute in. Are they lying? If they are made in China this is pretty blatant.