I think they might be as there is a lot more stretch but that might be because of the O frame being taller .
Rock Chucker - What era to buy?
- Thread starter Dimner
- Start date
dcali
Bullet Maker
I use these wrenchs all the time when working on dies/presses. Reasonably priced and conveniently sized. Made in USA if that sort of thing matters to you.
dcali
Bullet Maker
That's a .... JR3.
Yep I get that now I haven't used it yet just wondering what the leverage is like.
Compared to the rockchucker.i have I just wanna know if it is worth mounting of floging .
Cheers
dcali
Bullet Maker
Even 3/4 is overkill. I modified my Classic Casts for swaging .30 cal bullets and used 5/8" bar stock to make a longer handle (and a few other things - I basically replaced the lingages wholesale). The forces are much higher than sizing cases, and it's plenty strong. A properly designed joint helps too. (Which the Lee has, even in stock form).
dcali
Bullet Maker
The leverage is fine - you can tell by the dimensions of the links (the ratio of the short link to the long link determines the mechanical leverage). You don't need much to size cases.
I’ve got a RC II and a RC IV the II is about a half inch shorter , looks like about 3.6 is longest you could seat a bullet in the II and probably about 4.125 in the IV
You can put the handle on the left side in the IV and not on the II also
You can put the handle on the left side in the IV and not on the II also
Don’t know if your set on the Rockchucker, but I have one of their Rebel press’ and it’s great. It’s larger and heavier that the Rockchucker and does not have on press priming. The primer hatching system seems to be a lot better than the Rockchucker. On the Rebel the spent primers fall through the Ram and out of the bottom. Not sure about the cost differences between the two. Just thought it might be something worth consideration.
Dimner
I do believe in Captain Crunch.
The one I just received is a IV also. Looks great. Cannot find a mfg origin mark anywhere. Numbers and what not abound. Under the die bushing is a P stamped in the steel. Either way though I'm really impressed with the unit. Much nicer than the breechlock. But the latter did serve me well upto some very decent accuracy. However, Ill keep my lee 4 hole turret setup with 4 dies that are quick to use. Decapper, cast bullet sizer, bullet puller, and crimp die for hunting loads.
Oh and thanks for the link to the wrench. I'll keep that in mind for the future. I was able to get the shell holder bushing off with a pair of channel locks. It was much less tight than I was worried about.
Oh and thanks for the link to the wrench. I'll keep that in mind for the future. I was able to get the shell holder bushing off with a pair of channel locks. It was much less tight than I was worried about.
Dimner
I do believe in Captain Crunch.
I appreciate the recommendation. Rockchuck was what I was set on. I'll do my depriming on the Lee 4 hole turret or the lee APP I have. And i use a hand primer to set the primers. I was never worried about the downside of the rockchicker priming/depriming issues. I didn't even bother to install that hardware.
sw282
Silver $$ Contributor
My Summit handle popped too. l only use it for bullet seating now. 0lder Rock Chucker for all else. Jarrett Rifles has several Rock Chuckers they use 40hrs a week. 90% of their business is loading 300 H&H Magnum size cases. Those Rock Chuckers are 30-40 yrs old
Thanks for mentioning that. I submitted a contact to RCBS, they are pretty good folks, in the past they sent me a new replacement for something I had bought, but can't remember right now. I'll let you know what they say, but that is a horrible design and most machinists will tell you that. I'll let you know what they say, if anything.
I really like it for seating bullets though, so have no qualms with the press. I did add an aftermarket stiffener to the front that goes through to each side, to stiffen it up, works pretty good. I think it was like $25.
You seem to use similar as me, older RC and Summit 2000 for seating.
Yes, they are located in NorCal, not too far from where I will retire. I hope this state doesn't go down the toilet before I can retire...and I hope the state becomes less woke. It wasn't always like it is now, Newsom needs to go, and not to the White House, but to a grave.
Lee advertised at one time where they were using old railroad rails as their source of metal for their Classic Cast presses. I have one from around 2005..... great press.
It's an RCBS JR3
I got a reply today from RCBS, it came from Bushnell. I didn't realize Bushnell bought RCBS, but I found a twisted history for them on their About page. I was impressed that someone replied on Sunday!
I'll let you know what the rep says. I pointed out to them what a poor design I thought the handle thread was. I was seating bullets with the Rock Chucker last night and it required so little pressure compared to resizing. Before I broke my handle a while back, I was trying to resize LC 308 Match brass into 8.6 blackout on the Summit 2000. I couldn't get the case to resize with 5 or 6 tries, and gave up on that one. I don't have an annealler. Since the shoulder on 308 is different than 6.5 Creedmoor, I figured that it was too much to resize without annealing. The Hornady 6.5 Creedmoor brass I was resizing is a LOT thinner brass. FWIW, the 8.6 blackout uses the same shoulder as the 6.5 Creedmoor.
Bought my Rockchucker in 1980, no idea how many rounds have been done on it since then. I have a MEC Marksman and a Co-Ax as well. I do like the Co-Ax better than the RC for many things, die install, universal shellholder, leverage. But, there are things that work better on the RC, Co-Ax is fussy about rim thicknesses, ie;218Bee, and I had a 450-400NE, that the jawas simply would not handle. I figured after 40 yrs, maybe a new press would be nice to try, picked up the MEC, no beefs with it, although some may want the bushing in the top for quik change inserts, or the ability to seat primers, I can live without those. The MEC is definitely nice to operate, super smooth, primer disposal and the floating shellholder are nice. I still do bullet pulling, and stuff like some heavy bullet sizing on the RC.
I think where all the pissin on Lee comes from is the aluminum versions, they can spring under heavy load use, think the Classic Cast is steel? Same thoughtline as a C press, maybe a turret, as far as I can see. Unless you are working those extremes with them, they'll make ammo as good as the next one. Pretty sure the Chinese RCBS casting story got disproved, someone from RCBS put out an answer or a memo on it years ago, they said it didn't happen, forget all the details now, but, rumours like that aren't difficult to start & propagate in the US, are they? Maybe the handle is questionable on a Summit, first reviews talked about the head cocking on the main slide, see a batch of bad castings on them out now, that can happen to anyone. Then you get the FA M press, just poorly finished, not a great design on the shellholder area and issues with the die blocks, but it functions for the most part, just avoid stuck cases with it. Co-Ax isn't really any different on that point, universal jaw setups have limits.
Nuthin's perfect, but, the RC is certainly close to it for the most part, it works the way it's supposed to.
I think where all the pissin on Lee comes from is the aluminum versions, they can spring under heavy load use, think the Classic Cast is steel? Same thoughtline as a C press, maybe a turret, as far as I can see. Unless you are working those extremes with them, they'll make ammo as good as the next one. Pretty sure the Chinese RCBS casting story got disproved, someone from RCBS put out an answer or a memo on it years ago, they said it didn't happen, forget all the details now, but, rumours like that aren't difficult to start & propagate in the US, are they? Maybe the handle is questionable on a Summit, first reviews talked about the head cocking on the main slide, see a batch of bad castings on them out now, that can happen to anyone. Then you get the FA M press, just poorly finished, not a great design on the shellholder area and issues with the die blocks, but it functions for the most part, just avoid stuck cases with it. Co-Ax isn't really any different on that point, universal jaw setups have limits.
Nuthin's perfect, but, the RC is certainly close to it for the most part, it works the way it's supposed to.
I got a response from RCBS, quick response I should add, that's my experience with RCBS in the past.
As I said, I mentioned what a poor design I thought it was and I think the response translates to:
"We know the design is bad, but we're sending you the same poorly designed handle that came with the press originally."
No, it wasn't disproven because they did source the castings from China for a while. John Haviland from Wolfe Publishing wrote an article in the August 2006 Handloader magazine about his tour of the RCBS plant. It talks about how the castings for the presses (picture shows RC IV) are sourced from China but CNC machined in Oroville, CA. I'm sure they would like to forget about about it and want the handloading community to also because there were quality/durability issues. They did rectify it by finding a USA foundry in California of all places to source their casting from. I remember reading about it and was amazed that a foundry could still exist and operate in CA. I have no idea if this is still the current situation.
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