Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Forster Co-Ax press

I have looked these over numerous times. I now believe I will replace my time honored RockChucker with one. I am curious how others deal with the slop in the die groove when making the transition?

Proper size lock ring. Forster makes them

Had not checked into it that far. I had simply played with them on display in the gun store.

I was skeptical myself about 'floating dies'...until I employed the dial test indicator. Unfortunately, in my quest for very low runout...I discovered many of my dies were the problem. Nothing that a wad of money and several sets of Forster/Bonanza dies couldn't fix. One word of caution if you are going for minimum runout...the Forster Die Lockrings are worth every penny. The old radial setscrew lockrings will make a concentric set of dies produce bad runout.

I keep a pile of Forster lock rings on hand. I tend to buy Redding dies. Whenever I get a new die, the first thing I do is switch out the Redding lock ring for a Forster lock ring.

You will be very happy with the Co-Ax press.

I have used one for decades and would not switch. The only issue I have with it is the tall Vickerman seating dies I use and I do them on a Rockchucker.

Had 8 single stage and turret presses for many years (including a Foster) and a few years ago sold them all off and bought a Redding T-7...could not be happier.

Foster was a great press but didn't make ammo any more accurate than a 50 year old Lyman All-American...

That said, you can't go wrong with one. The major thing I didn't like about it was not being able to use the RCBS Precision Seating Dies because they take a special long shell holder.

Bob

I have had one for years. Wouldn’t go back. I too keep a stack of the lock rings on hand and when I order dies (almost always Forster or Redding) they get swapped out immediately.
GreggH

I actually use the Hornady LNL rings on most of my dies. I've never measured much other than concentricity of my loaded ammo and the Forster makes good stuff.

The late Dwight Furrow of Thorndike, ME, was a 5 time national benchrest champion for score, (and 4 consecutive years (1993,94,95,96) champion out to 300 yards, in 3 classes. He was my mentor for accurate reloading techniques. He used a Forster co-ax press for his match reloads. He told me the die freedom in the press (or "slop" as you call it) is a great benefit for accurate reloads. The freedom allows the case and die to center naturally with minimal stress (run out), allowing for concentric necks , resizing, and bullet seating-all for best accuracy. He used to use an RCBS press, but got better results with the Forster co-ax press.

He swore by his Forster co-ax press. It was the only press he owned.

Dwight's name was a constant fixture in the match results section of
Precision Shooting magazine. He loved the Rem 788 action, and Hart barrels.

Don’t throw away your rock checker, you’ll still need it if you end up pulling any bullets.

?

I pull bullets on mine.

I chose the RCBS Summit but the Co-Ax wasn't available at the time , love the Summit though .
Good comparison here iff'n you haven't already seen it .
Gavin was shooting buddies with our sorely missed Jim the Plumber , RIP , .

Forster makes good, durable products. I have found similar results re: concentricity by using Lee lock rings on my sizing/seat dies. They have a large o-ring that can be lightly tightened thus allowing the die to float.

I tried with my Coax but flipping the lever while trying to grab a bullet you are raising with the arm that crosses that same lever just didn’t work well.
It works from some bullets, but for many hard to grab rounds it was a nightmare

On my bench ... Dillon XL650, then the 21st Century Hydrolic Arbor press, Next to a Forster Co-aX, Next to my RCBS Rock crusher.

I have a rockchucker Supreme and Lee classic case that are both converted for Hornady lock and load bushings. I've tried other more expensive reddings but I just like the rock chucker Supreme. My Hornady progressive got me hooked on the bushings.

I almost bought a coax about 10 years ago but some local match shooters talked me out of it.

Bb

I have had my Co-ax since the mid 70’s. It has been my only press since then, and has loaded a lot of ammo over the years. A few years ago I upgraded it to an A-2 priming station but seldom use it for priming. It’s still working fine so I think it was worth it.
If you a high volume pistol shooter there are better presses for sure, and a turret press is nice for holding a lot of dies. The die change and universal shell holder on the Co-ax helps move things along pretty quickly. It can be quirky for some people, but when you use it for a while those quirks will disappear.
It’s a good solid press and will last a lifetime.

betta fish tumor on side

Or maybe a couple lifetimes. I'm using the one I inherited from dad. It's old enough to be brown and say "Bonanza" on it.

That's mine says.