New Forster press in

[Browningguy]

And boy am I a happy camper. I've been reading the boards looking for my next press for a while and decided on this one. I've only been reloading for a couple of years for some obsolete calibers in some old rook rifles and a couple of my hunting rifles, and using both a single stage Lee and a Lee turret press. Over the past year I have started loading for my heavy barrelled .243 Savage and just not getting consistant groups, it mostly shoots in the mid .3's to low .4's but I seem to always put 3 or 4 shots in one small hole and then 1 or 2 outside that by a bit. I started paying more attention to my OAL measurements and checked runout on a friends comparator and then I saw the problem, the Lee turret was just not up to the task, I guess because the inserts move around so much. This was giving me differences in OAL of .003-.005.

I wish I had bought this years ago. The setup was completed in about 5 minutes, counting the time to drill the mounting holes, and off I went. Even using my old Lee dies the OAL difference is unmeasurable, now off to the range in the morning to try the new loads out. I'm now trying to decide on either Forster or Redding dies, hope to make that decision this weekend.

 

[7stubby]

Which ever way you choose on dies, Redding or Forster, make sure you have the Forster lock rings for your dies. Makes a difference in my opinion. Just my 2 cents. Jake

 

[Browningguy]

Agreed Jake, they had the 12 pack of Forster lock rings on sale at Midway so I picked up a bag with the press.

 

[RonRouse]

You're ging to love that press. I've been using one for nearly 20 years and it's my go-to press as I have 4 other presses of various brands mounted.

A few years back, someone done a test on the more popular presses for flexation during full length resizing, and the Co-ax came out on top. The test might have been in Precision Shooting magazine but can't remember for sure. Good luck!

Ron

 

[infantrytrophy]

You may have figured these things out, but here are a a couple of tips with that might help. I'm a slow learner, so it took me a while ... ;D

Adjust the set screw that holds the lock rings in place so that the lock rings still have a little "play" in the slot. There should be a definite click or snap as you insert the die and lock ring into the slot, but the set screw should not "lock down" the lock ring. The idea is that the base of the brass case and the die should be able to "float" slightly in the horizontal plane.

You may need to clean off the heavy grease inside the universal shellholder assembly. They apparently apply that at the factory for storage and shipping. The spring-loaded jaws of the shellholder work more smoothly after the grease is removed and a lighter weight oil is applied.

When first learning to reload I was excessively fanatic about runout of the loaded rounds. Using the Co-ax press and good dies (Forster, Redding, Hornady) you can load rounds with minimal runout when the brass is good. Given a good press and dies, it turns out that the most important factor is the brass. For your critical ammo (bench rest, long range competitions or whatever), you have to choose the brass carefully and reject those pieces with variation in neck wall thickness. For other uses (highpower XTC shooting at the shorter distances), none of this matters much.