heavy duty precision reloading press?
- Thread starter AusFclass
- Start date
BigDMT
Forster Co-ax. Light years ahead of RCBS, excellent leverage, tough as they come, and will give you nearly zero runout on cases.
Shynloco
You can lead a horse to water, but ........
Might want to take a look at the newer RCBS Rockchucker Supreme Press. It's more versatile and stronger than the standard Rockchucker model. It's very close to the Redding Big Boss II and is designed especially for the magnum and 50 cal casings. Personally, I have and use both the Rockchucker and the Redding Big Boss presses.. I don't load for magnums or the 50 Cals, however the 30-06, 308's and 6.5's aren't any problem for either of my presses.
Make that another vote for the Co Ax! Most constant ammo I've ever loaded. Plus effortless F/L sizing of large cases, I F/L size 308 and 300 win mag with one hand.
i currently have the smaller redding press and i like the quality and simplicity but you have to work at it to full length size. i dont load .50BMG or any long magnum cases to i dont need anything too mamoth just solid to prevent any flex.
the forster co ax looks well enginered for leverage but i dont see how having the die and case wobble around can be conducive to straight ammo??
im leaning toward the redding big boss because of the heavy design, bottom eject primer tube and it looks to have more access to the loading area than the RCBS.
the forster co ax looks well enginered for leverage but i dont see how having the die and case wobble around can be conducive to straight ammo??
im leaning toward the redding big boss because of the heavy design, bottom eject primer tube and it looks to have more access to the loading area than the RCBS.
AusFclass said:
Great Press...great choice.....easier to mount than Rockchucker, you can get press to cam-over by simply removing a roll pin stop ( the case gets two passes through the die in one full stroke of the handle). IMHO it is the dies that influence the quality of reloaded ammo.
BigDMT
AusFclass said:
Ha! That's exactly why the cases are so straight! any slight misalignment in machining from the top to the base is corrected by allowing the dies to "float"
Traditional presses can ruin brass if out of alignment, or if dies have machining that is not straight because there is no give to any part so it forces the brass to whatever formation it creates when sizing.
I've actually seen brass that had a slight resemblance to the "leaning tower of Piza" because of a cheap traditional press and dies.
Not saying what is the best. But for me I'm giving several other brands a rest in the shed
Forster co Axel has spoiled me Good Shooting Larry
Forster co Axel has spoiled me Good Shooting Larry
the Forster is the most sought after press on the market for a reason. It's the best you can buy period. You can full length size a .308 case with two fingers all day long. The dies are adjusted once, and never touched again. The press uses two guide rods instead of letting the ram float all over the place making straiter ammo everytime. You don't buy shell holders or use them! That way you take all the machining error out of that end of the case. The jaws donot hold the case in place as many think, but are used to extract the case from the die on the upstroke. There is no torquing of the ram to one side as the guide rods prevent this from happening. I've been using mine since 1978, and it's as tight as the day I opened the box up it came in.
gary
gary
BigDMT said:
i see what your saying but in my experience "start straight . . . finish straight" rings in my ears. on a forster during neck sizing the neck will start sizing before the case has aligned with the die as there is nothing to guide the body untill it is fully inside the die??? if the base of the case is in a shell holder aligned with the die to start with i would think that would be a good start for the neck process.
i havent seen any good detail of how the bottom floating case holder works on the forster.
what sort of run out are you getting in loaded ammo and on F/L sized cases?
BigDMT
AusFclass said:
The pressure of the case neck will align the die as well.
With pick of the litter brass and fresh annealing, the runout on cases is about + /- .0005"
wow!
I use mostly Forster dies as they kinda spoiled me from the start. Their sizer ball is located much higher on the stem than the others, and actually starts working with the case encapsulated in the die body. Is this better or not, I won't say but it works for me. I also use a few Redding dies, and honestly they never come out quite as good as the Forster full length die, but still plenty good enough. I have found that the old Lyman die works best for cast bullets in revolver cases (like a 44 mag or .445 supermag). With the floating jaws that do not actually guide the case the neck will find it's own centerline in the die body, and the sizer ball just adds to it. I wish somebody would sell stems made like the Forster to fit Redding and RCBS dies
gary
I use mostly Forster dies as they kinda spoiled me from the start. Their sizer ball is located much higher on the stem than the others, and actually starts working with the case encapsulated in the die body. Is this better or not, I won't say but it works for me. I also use a few Redding dies, and honestly they never come out quite as good as the Forster full length die, but still plenty good enough. I have found that the old Lyman die works best for cast bullets in revolver cases (like a 44 mag or .445 supermag). With the floating jaws that do not actually guide the case the neck will find it's own centerline in the die body, and the sizer ball just adds to it. I wish somebody would sell stems made like the Forster to fit Redding and RCBS dies
gary
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