Recondition a Rockchucker press?

[tenring]

RCBS will not recondition them. Mine is 40+ years old and has some wobble in the ram. The rubber bushings look like they are worn.

Any one have experience with reconditioning this press??

 

[Geronimo Jim]

I had one about the same age. Called them and they said send it in. After two weeks and brand new Rockchucker showed up on my porch!

 

[Old Navy]

RCBS will not recondition them. Mine is 40+ years old and has some wobble in the ram. The rubber bushings look like they are worn.

Any one have experience with reconditioning this press??

Where are the rubber bushings? Later! Frank

 

[LHSmith]

Replace the S/H retaining clip with an o-ring and don't worry about a loose fitting ram....what matters is good dies that are properly adjusted. Some reknown BR competitors machine the ram smaller.

 

[johara1]

Maybe i should send my A2 back but it's still tight…. but i don't use it any more …..jim

 

[snert]

Simple..buy a Big Boss 2!

 

[dkhunt14]

Maybe i should send my A2 back but it's still tight…. but i don't use it any more …..jim

I don't think they will send you an A2 or A4; they are a thing of the past.

 

[BoydAllen]

The idea that I tight ram is better than a loose one (for loading ammunition) is simply not true. One of the better benchrest shooters in Texas actually takes some metal off of press rams so that cases can align with dies more easily. Of course the exception to this would be bullet making, where a sloppy ram fit would lead to wear of expensive dies. If you read much on shooting forums, you have undoubtedly heard Forster press owners extoll the virtues of their presses. Their claim is that by letting the die and case have some room to float and align to each other as they come together, that straighter ammunition is produced. The one exception to this is when using an expander mandrel.

 

[Patch700]

...Shares in Lapping compound just went up... lol

 

[686]

Yes on the Big Boss 2 . I have had 2 rc and like the Big Boss 2 much better. midsouth has the best price i think.

 

[fdshuster]

Yes, I'd also like to know where the "rubber bushings" are located?

 

[CatShooter]

Yes, I'd also like to know where the "rubber bushings" are located?

Me too!!

I can't find no steeenkin' rubber bushings

 

[johara1]

Maybe if they built them like the A2 they wouldn't wear out,and if the ram is centered they wouldn't have make them loose to line up. That old A2 has sure set a lot of records,and a ton of hunting ammo……… jim

 

[CatShooter]

Maybe if they built them like the A2 they wouldn't wear out, and if the ram is centered they wouldn't have make them loose to line up. That old A2 has sure set a lot of records, and a ton of hunting ammo……… jim

My 'Chucker is 30+ years old (as is my CH-Champion) and both are as tight as ticks, and neither has alignment problems.

Shell holders have play in then so the case centers itself - since the ram hole and the die hole are bored straight through in one pass (in "O" frame presses), it is not possible to be out of alignment unless something went wrong in manufacturing - if your ram doesn't line up correctly, then you have a total press problem... send it back.

 

[BoydAllen]

Recently a friend had occasion to chuck up a name brand die in his lathe to take a little off the bottom. He said that the inside of the die was obviously not in line with the outside. This in contrast with a Harrell die that he chucked up to open the hole at the top of the shoulder a bit, for a chamber with a larger than usual neck diameter. My point is that alignment is not all about the press itself. There are other issues involved.

 

[CatShooter]

If you have bad dies, you need to replace the badd dies (for free) instead of ruining a good press.

Purposely wrecking good equipment to match defective equipment is very badd engineering practice.

The goal is to move UP the food chain to better and better, not down the food chain to worse and worse

 

[BoydAllen]

Unless one has a lathe, and can check his dies, he has no way to know if the problem exists. There are lots of fellows who speak highly of presses that have some room for dies and cases to float. Mechanical virtue is found in its functionality and durability. Have you checked all of your dies? My point is that sometimes function and our preconceptions of what constitutes mechanical virtue do not line up very well. Another example would be neck clearances of loaded rounds for tight necked chambers. In the past, clearances were set somewhat tighter than is currently the practice among the top shooters, this is based on test results, and goes against the thought that a closer fit would be better because of superior alignment. Sometimes what we think is better, may not be.

 

[johara1]

Boyd, I don't think you need a lathe to see if a die is good.I check the case run out right out of the rifle chamber and after it sized and after its loaded. i never had to indicate them on the lathe but that is a lot of work to check the die. I hope i don't get into a situation where i need to….. jim

 

[bigedp51]

The Speer number 9 manual has a good section in it for setting up your dies and getting the best alignment between the shell holder and die. This chapter is called "Modern Benchrest Reloading Techniques" by Neal Knox starting on page 91.

What bothers me more than anything is damaged brass, rims chewed up from autoloaders, brass flow into the ejector, etc. Meaning anything the case can do to cause misalignment after being fired. To me the brass can cause far more misalignment problems than my well used 40 year old Rockchucker press.

The Remington .223 cases I got from the local police were some of the worst brass I have ever seen for lack of neck uniformity. An old Rockchucker press, good brass and a runout gauge goes a long way.

 

[fguffey]

RCBS will not recondition them. Mine is 40+ years old and has some wobble in the ram. The rubber bushings look like they are worn.

Any one have experience with reconditioning this press??

Yes, there is nothing about rebuilding a press that is strange to me. There are at least three common shop practices that can be used to restore the Rock Chucker to something it never was. For example a misinformed reloader took a video camera to a Caberla's store and recorded the operation of a Rock Chucker. He declared the Rock Chucker was second class and made in China. He reinforced his opinion by running the ram to the top of it's travel then recorded the ram kicking forward.

I was not surprised when all the forms piled on, I thought that would a good time to design an alignment testing tool, another common shop practice.

Back to what it never was. I have no infatuation with cam over and bump, the Rock Chucker was never designed to cam over and or bump. Problem with the video, when the ram was raised under a no load condition the linkage got tangled up instead of cramming over. the jamming of the linkage kicked the ram forward at the top.

Another press, the RCBS A2 for example, it is a cam over press and it is a press that is designed to 'BUMP', I have at least 8 presses that cam over, all of them are bump presses. then there are instructions.

F. Guffey