I am going to get started in reloading and have narrowed down the starter kits I am considering to 2: The RCBS "Rock chucker supreme" kit and the RCBS "Partner" kit. My question is: which is the better press? Also, is all of the extra stuff in the rock chucker kit worth the additional cost?
thanks in advance
Northerner

I'd go Rockchucker (I did as a matter of fact). you'll use all the stuff -- plus a few other things along the way.

If you're loading under 416 Rigby sizes it's a great kit.

Get the Rock Chucker kit, it's a very good starting point.

When I started to reload and made plans to buy a set-up I looked at the kits and what I would up-grade in the future and ended up skipping the kit and just bought everything separatly.

I priced everything and the kits really don't save ya that much so I went ahead and purchased everything that I thought I would upgrade to.

I went with a Turret press and if you are going to load more than one cartridge I would highly recommend one. I had the RCBS turret first and recently got the Redding T7 turret press. It is really nice when you can just leave the dies you use alot on the press ready to go.

I don't know what your funds are like but the one thing that I would not do without is the RCBS electronic 1500 combo powder dispenser and scale. I think they are currently around $240 or so and make reloading so safe, accurate, fast, and easy.
You just type in the charge that you want and it in dispensed into the tray as it weighs it.

A thing that is super nice especially if you are planning on loading alot but not something you have to have is a RCBS trim mate prep center. Eliminates the little tool that chamfers the inside and outside of the neck and also cleanes the primer pocket, just something to think about.

Main thing is to look at what you are going to upgrade in near future and if you can afford to skip the kit and get what you will want and buy what you will want for the long run. I personally hate buying twice.

1. Get the manual(s) of the bullets/ powders you plan on using
2. The trimmer you want
3. The press you want
4. Will someday want a tumbler, might as well get upfront.
5. Lube pad
6. A way to chamfer/debur the neck and clean primer pockets
7. A Primer seater
8. A powder dispenser and scale of some sort.
9. Dies
10. Powder, bullets, and primers.
about all that I can think of off top of head, at office right now so not able to look at bench right now to see what I am missing.

The above should get you a good start and as you go you will buy more and more little things to make things faster and easier.

Remember to be sure an come here and ask Questions whenever you have them. I do it all the time and there is alot of knowledge here.

I don't know if you plan on getting new or used equipment or the calibers you plan on loading. At a gun show this weekend I saw two nice RCBS presses. One was a Rockchucker the other a RCBS Junior. Both would carry the same as new RCBS warranty. The Junior was 30 dollars and probably enough press for the avarage reloader. I have one of each and got my first one the Rockchucker in 1973. Works just as good now as way back when. There is a lot of good used reloading equipment out there at half or less than the cost of new. Get it local shipping is a big deal when you talking shipping a press.

I got a cheap Lee Anniv. kit.So would you if the difference in price was $499 vs $135 . I upgraded to a Ohaus 5-0-5 scale,mine is RCBS green and a Lee Classic press. I think the press is much better than my buddy's RockChucker,so does he for that matter.

You'll need a caliper,the electronic ones are cheaper than the dial.Don't bother with a reloading company one,same chinese stuff at 3x$.

Skip the lube pad and use Imperial Sizing wax or Lee white stuff or Hornady One Shot.

The one thing I would have to strongly disagree with. I have tried about everything, keep going back to the lube pad. I have found if you use the RCBS Case Lube-2 on a RCBS lube pad it work cleaner and faster than anything.

You don't have to worry about spraying it all over everything and it applies such a perfect amount on the case. I just lay around 8-12 cases at a time on the pad, lay my hand over them and give them a quick forward then back and pick them off the pad and size them and have my tumbler sitting beside my bench and place them in as I size. I let them tumble for a few more minutes as I wash my hands and such and they are all clean and ready to go.

Not trying to knock your way of doing things I know everyone has their own way of doing things but the only case I have ever got stuck was with using hornady one shot(prob operator error) but still happened.

This may not be relevent but something to keep in mind. I started out with an inexpensive Lee turret press and many lee dies. I reloaded a lot of pistol ammo on that press with no problem. When I started resizing rifle cases and in particular the 300WSM I actually broke the mystery metal that forms the linkage. In the end you wind up spending your money twice. You can buy a decent press for $100 bucks or so or get something made from mystery metal. Now I own a Redding big boss II, I doubt King Kong could break that thing. Like they say you can pay me now or pay me twice latter. So spend a few bucks more.

Lee makes two O-ring presses,the Classic and the Challenger.The Classic is a cast iron,maybe steel,a super strong ,well thought out press.It's the last press designed ,so it builds off the the others. The Challenger is made of aluminum with zinc alloy(pot metal) linkages. I had broken a couple, hitting the end ,using the Factory Crimp Die.Lee replaced them for free,but I soon tired of that.The press was never down,just used the other side and flipped it. So rather than spend $189CDN for a Rock-Chucker I got the linkage off the Lee 1000 and used it until the Classic came out.

The rock chucker press is better than the partner. You can't really go wrong with the RCBS rockchucker kit, all you really need other than that is a set of calipers. I got my dial calipers from midway for $20. I do think that you can piece together the necessary stuff cheaper than the kit however. Here's what you REALLY need to start reloading.

Good solid press-rockchucker, redding boss, lyman crusher II or lee classic cast. I can't really see that one is better than the others.

Full length die set with shellholder-I like lee as well as any others and they include the shellholder.

Decent set of scales-lyman, rcbs, or hornady make nice ones for around $50, skip the $20 lee and electronic scales. If you really get the itch later on and want to blow a couple hundred bucks buy the electronic ones then.

Reloading manual- Just buy one so you can learn the basic techniques, all powder manufacturers put load data online for their powders so there's no need for more than one manual. I tend to use the online data more anyway.

loading block-wood from midway

tube of case lube-I don't use a lube pad, I just put some one my fingers and roll the case around.

primer pocket cleaner

powder funnel

case mouth chamfer tool

case length trimmer-I use the lee trimmers, cheap, quick and does a great job.

calipers-I got the $20 ones from midway and they work great.


stuff that's nice to have but not really needed:

powder trickler-sure makes it easier to weigh the powder charges. Almost a must have but I got by for years without one.

hand primer-priming on the press works fine but not as handy as the hand primers.

tumbler for cleaning brass

powder measure

I agree. This question comes up often on websites, and the usual answer is RCBS Supreme. None of the kits have everything one needs, and one or two expensive things one doesn't need to start off.

I keep meaning to create a list of my favorite incividual reloading equipment in a sort of biggest-bang-for-your-buck list.



Casey

NO BRAINER: Get the ROCK CHUCKER kit.

I saw in a magazine add that MidSouth Shooters supply had them for I think $229.

I've talked on a couple forums with new reloaders recently that I bought this after our recommendation and all have been very pleased with it. I bought about the same thing 32 years ago (then it came it 2 parts), and can still use the same stuff today after hundreds of thousands of rounds.

After you get a little experience you will most likely branch out and try other stuff too but I'm totally convinced the RCBS kit for under $250 is far the best first step for a reloader.........................DJ

I started off with the RCBS chargemaster combo so I guess I have always been spoiled. I have loaded at some friends houses that have had beam scales. I could never go to a beam from a digital scale.

For a starter kit I like the RCBS Rockchucker Supreme. The only thing I'd add right off is a dial caliper, later a case trimmer.
I've been loading along time on a second hand rockchucker press and just bought the Rockchucker supreme press a few years ago to load 338-378 and thee RUM cases.

I would go with the Rockchucker kit, I did too.

I did add a Redding measure and a Lee 4 station turret press plus their case gauges as funds permitted.

Don't overlook the Forester Co Ax press, its probably 75% more than the Rock chuker supreme but it is the cadalac of presses in my opinion. I love the slide in and slide out of the dies and seaters. And the leverage it provides is excellent. You won't develope tendonitis in you elbow trying to get the case past the expander ball. If you have the cash I would definately look at the Co-Ax press. Just my 2 cents. PP

I would like to reload rifle and handgun. Trying to understand the pros and cons of single stage vs. progressive stage vs. Turret presses. My friend used to be a big hand gun loader. He always ranted and raved about Dillon stuff...

What is a good press that does both rilfe and handgun and won't brake the bank?

miket_81,

I'm with downwindtracker2 on this one. I used to use the Lee "white stuff". The advantage comes into play if you're loading up a lot of cartridges, especially if you don't run them all through the die immediately after lubing. The Lee Lube is water soluble, and can be applied to numerous cases and set aside for later work with a die. I've since switched to Imperial. It's the best stuff I've used in 40 years of handloading. The lubricity is unbeatable, and one small tin will last forever.

So is the case lube-2 if you are just doing a few and don't want to tumble you can just wipe off with a wet towel.

So how do you apply the wax? Might be worth trying out.

I just swipe my finger across the top of the Imperial Sizing Die Wax in the tin and apply with the fingers. A extremely small amount is all it takes. I quit using lube pads years ago.

Hi guys just wanted to give an update that I ended up ordering the RCBS rock chucker kit. Thanks to all who responded, I really appreciated the feedback

regards,
Northerner

A single stage press like a Rock Chucker will load just about any rifle and pistol ammo short of 50 BMG. They are great for loading several different rounds in reasonable quantities.
Progressives are for when you want to load several hundred rounds of the same thing. You can change calibers on a progressive press but it takes quite a bit more time than on a single stage and can cost far more. A caliber change for my Dillon 650 usually ends up costing close to $200 for a new head, dies and all the goodies needed. On a single stage you just need the dies and shellholder for about $30.
Unless you only shoot one caliber and a lot of it I think you are far better served by having the much more versatile single stage press.
Your freind is quite correct though about Dillon Progressives being the way to go. They are the only Progressive presses I would buy....................................DJ

Thanks you. That is good info. How does a Turret press fit in the mix?

I started with the RCBS Turret press. What it saves you is the constant changing out of your dies. Each turret head will hold 6 dies. So for me, loading only rifles, I can have 3 calibers on each head. That being said as much as I like my RCBS if I did it again I would probably go with the Redding Turret. . .I think it is the "mother of all presses" others opinions may vary.

Long

Could I do 3-4 rilfe set ups and 2 hand gun set ups? That is all I would ever need...

I have both the RCBS turret and Redding T7 turret press and I would agree that the redding is indeed the "mother of all presses.

Might work for some but I load so much that I don't have the time to apply to each case with my fingers.
I can't imagine it being faster than to toss 8 or so cases on the pad at a time give em a quick roll and there ready to go.

I know it works for some but I personally could never go to a progressive press. I like to size then tumble and look over each case and trim and Chamfer and Deburr the inside and outside of the neck, clean the primer pocket and then prime. I don't see how a progressive would allow that.
I love how my set-up works with my turret press and chargemaster combo powder dispenser scale. I do alot of custom loading for guys and might be working on a couple different rounds at once.

I can be developing a load for say a 30-06 and 7mm-08. Charge 3 30-06's and 3 7mm-08 take over to the turret press turn to 30-06 seater seat them turn to 7mm-08 and seat them. Take up-stairs and shoot. No need to change or adjust stuff around like dies or powder dumps.

The only way I could really go to a progressive and the reason alot do is if I really got into mass pistol reloading. The only one I do now is 44mag and it is plenty fast for me.