Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Knowing what you know now.....

The setup of the OP selected is pretty good. I use a forster co-ax and dies also but most of mine are the benchrest seater. I have one set with the micrometer head but don't find it's needed so I saved the money on the rest. One thing I would add is a RCBS chargemaster, I load too much ammo to weigh each load manually and I dislike thrown charges. I have a powder measure but took it off my bench and stored it, I use the chargemaster for everything now. I find the hand primer to be a must, I dislike the primer seater on the co-ax. I know lots of folks praise it but I find trying to seat primers with the co-ax to be a PITA.

For precision hand loading for Rifles, you got the best press out there. I have one and I use a combination of Redding and Forster Dies and I am VERY impressed with the Co-Ax Press.

But, if you want to load anything in volume, it may not be the best choice. That's why I also have a Redding Big Boss II that I load magnum pistol on and a Dillon 550 that I load all my Semi-Auto cartridges as well as 300 BO and 5.56mm.

Use the right tool for the right job and you will do well.

The first press I ever loaded on was an RCBS. I have three of them now, a couple Herters rifle presses, a couple other presses, four Herters shotgun presses, a few scales, a few measures.

The presses all do what they do just as well as any other press, if not as fast as some. I still much prefer my original Redding 500 grain scale. Loading is for me a quiet time activity and I rarely load any big volume of ammo in one sitting. I do load enough to put 4-5 thousand rounds down range in a year, and I will load a few hundred light .223 loads for whacking small varmints at a sitting. I like my RCBS hand primers but only because I have several and do not have to change shell holders and primer sizes. My shotgun presses are fast enough to support target shooting in a league.

I suppose if I had to load a lot of one particular kind of ammo over an extended period I might automate some. The presses all load nice straight ammo.

I'd just do what I have done and stay with good quality stuff and spend the extra money on more guns.

I had a Co-Ax press for a short while and wasn't that impressed with it. For rifle reloading I like Ponsness Warren's press, it allows me to leave the dies for the two calibers I reload for set-up all I need to do is sit down and start loading. Same with PW's handgun press two caliber dies all set-up, just have to loosen two cap screws and rotate turret 180 degrees and I've changed calibers. Both PW's are exceptionally well made intelligently engineered pieces of equipment. The metallic presses are less well known that their shotgun presses but are great presses. They are a little pricey but you get what you pay for, I bought mine used and paid only 50% of retail.

I love my Forster however it does not like priming rimmed cartridges. I must sort the brass and set the priming portion accordingly per batch of brass for 30-30 and other rimmed cases.

I like my Forster dies however when I broke them or bent a decapping stem Forster charges me full price in comparison to RCBS, Redding, or Dillon. Besides, the Forster press doesn't clear some of my micrometer dies so I use them on the Redding or RCBS presses.

I would still buy the Forster press if it was (a lot) closer the the $225 I paid for it brand new.

I like all these products and would buy them again if I could afford them. Thanks for turning me on the the xxicsi (21st Century) line.

I like my Rockchucker press, I’m not a high volume loader. It’s great for my use!

The Colonel Cooper Combo, a good .30/06 plus a .458. Both Model 70's.
The rest are toys.
John

I have been reloading for 40 years myself. I use the RCBS press and 505 scale almost daily. I don’t have any issues with the scale. I reload methodically. Now I do have a Wilson case trimmer and bench rest die sets for several of my rifles. Today I loaded 50 rounds for my 220 Swift. I think I need a new powder dumper. I have one now but I still set the charge to drop 2-3 grains light and trickle in to get finished load.
I read everyone’s post to see what equipment they are using so when I’m trolling around I may spring for a new piece.

I back-ordered my press from Brownells a month or so ago when they were still listed at $299. I used a $50 off coupon and got into my press for $249.

You have made great choices. At least they agree with mine although I started cheaper and worked up to the good stuff. One thing you don’t have yet that I will never be without now is a RCBS trim mate or another brand of the same tool. The only thing about the trim mate I don’t like is the chips or shavings fall on top and eventually are in the way.

Fred

Loading is pretty simple. No sense in overcomplicating things. Keep it simple. Single stage rockchucker, RCBS fl dies, concentricity gauge and recently a frankfort arsenal case prep center. Knowing how to quickly and easily work up loads without wasting a lot of money and life is good. Been doing it this way forever....

I bought an RCBS Reloader Special 5 kit over 25 years ago and would do the same in a heartbeat. I added a Redding 2400 case trimmer a number of years back which is a nice unit. The only thing I would change would be to get a powder measure, most likely one of the Redding ones. Haven't done it yet but it's in the plans.

I have 2 Hornady presses, a Forster Coax press, a Lee press, and a RCBS. The Forster and the Hornady presses are my favorite. The Lee is a progressive press that I only use for 9mm and 45acp. I have most all the dies. For me, they all work well.

You have good stuff.

Some of the same list, except I have a Sinclair Concentricity gauge, Lee Classic Cast press and an old Ohaus 1010 scale, my second run of stuff. To do over I wish I'd grabbed a Redding T7 press and a bunch of plates. And I would not part with my RCBS Chargemaster and RCBS Universal Hand Priming Tool. Really like my Forster trimmer and no complaints on the Cabela's/Berry's tumbler.

Still, the most accurate loads I have made were with a wimpy second hand Lee aluminum press, Lee Ram Prime, Lee Collet and Hornady FL and Seating dies, with charges weighed on an old semi-wonky Lyman scale. I think I had stumbled into a few exceptionally accurate factory barrels at the time. LOL. I mainly got into upgrading to the current tools for ease of use and trying to get a handle on runout while troubleshooting while applying what I have learned here on the 'Fire. I really enjoy the micrometer competition seating dies and almost exclusively use Lee Collet neck dies and Redding body when needed. I have zero interest in neck trimming or using bushing dies. I only recently got the Redding powder measure.

The only thing I am currently contemplating is some sort of prep center super multi-tool spinning wonder machine just to be lazy. Someday, the T7 when I get a bigger area to work with, maybe. I used to have a few hundred primers and just a few pounds of powder, now I horde like a fiend!

Buy Royce's T7 and stash it.

If you ever want to part with that Ohaus, let me know.

There you go Boomer. Sell the Ohaus to StudDuck and buy the T7. Win-win-win.