Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles My quest for a reloading press

I have been reloading seriously for the last 5 years and I thought it was time to get a new reloading press.
I had been using my father's old RCBS RII that he bought back in 1968, and it still works (and looks) great, however I got a little money in my pocket and wanted to purchase a shiny new press with a little more clearance for some of the larger cartridges I reload. I was very impressed with some of the equipment Hornady had been coming out with (their concentricity gauge is sweet!) so I bought a Hornady Lock-and-Load Classic Deluxe press complete with the bushings for quick die changes. Then I got to thinking, I load mostly for long range rifles, and i have to fine tune my dies to the brass I am using almost everytime I load! The quick change bushing were cool, but i don't think they would save me much time, plus they kept disengaging from the press while I was adjusting the dies. I know that it was a good press, but the thing just didn't feel as sturdy as the Rockchucker! There seemed to be a lot of play in the leverage-assembly. The fact that the Hornady rep at the Dallas Safari Club show was a little rude may have had something to do with it (call me petty). I finally took it back to Cabelas .
Since the old Rockchucker had served me well, i thought i should try another RCBS press. I was about to purchase the Rockchucker Supreme when a RCBS Turret press caught my eye. It looked very cool and the next thing I knew, i was walking out with it. To my great disappointment, as soon as I had it out of the box and mounted, I tried to put a shellholder in it and the little retaining clamp popped out! Sure enough, when I checked the reviews on Cabela's website (after buying it...real bright) there was a comment from a guy who had the same thing happen to him! Argh! I fiddled with it for a while until I finally got it to work, but it still felt like the shell holder was not being held very firm. Also, the automatic priming system that came with it was a nightmare! Awfully herky-jerky! The shellholders would shift quite a bit as the press came down onto the priming arm, not instilling much confidence along the way.This ain't my father's Rockchucker! I also found it mildly annoying that the turret kept rotating when I was trying to tighten down the dies, although maybe I was being heavy-handed.. I had talked myself into the turret press because it looked so cool, but I really only load 6.5 to 458 caliber rifles and only 20 or so rounds at a time, so I am not exactly sure why. Regardless, the shellholder issue was unforgivable, so the Turret Press is going back tonight. Sorry for being so long-winded about this, but my question is as follows: Should I purchase the Rockchucker Supreme press or should I try something else? I think I am pretty certain I want a single-stage press. My brother love's LEE stuff, but they look kinda cheap to me, although i heard they load just fine. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Get yourself a Forster Co-Ax press. It will be the last single stage press you ever buy.

You might find your dream press in the Redding T7...

+ one on the co-ax press

Ed

The Co-Ax press is fantastic. About the only thing I don't use it for is for cases with very large bases like 7.62x54R and 338 Lapua. For those I use a Redding Ultramag which is a particularly fine conventional single stage press that's stout as heck.

Either would likely make you happier than with what you have now. I suspect that if you load a lot of Long cases you might prefer the Ultramag but maybe not....................DJ

I do shoot 338 Lapua quite a bit.. can it be loaded with the CO-Ax?
I can load it on the old RCBS RII but it is a bit tricky ;-)

Go with the Ultramag then. You CAN reload the 338 Lapua on the Co-Ax but the Univeral jaws don't open up far enough to make it easy to get the shells in and out. You can by a shellholder adaptor but that kinda defeats the idea of the Co-Ax. Funny between this post and my last I was out working on some 338 Lapua brass - that I sized with my Ultra-Mag :-).

Otherwise the Co-Ax is my favorite press. I just don't like it for the really wide cases since they just don't open large enough to be convenient, and yes I do have the extra set of wider jaws.............................dj

http://www.sinclairintl.com/.aspx/s..._7c3470_a_7c749008331_d_749008331_d_5698

FWIW I also have a T-7 and while it is indeed an excellent turret press I think you would prefer the superior leverage of the Ultra-Mag for the larger rounds. And though the front isn't as open as the T-7 (which is one of the T-7's nice features) it is more accessable than the O-frame presses.

Also FWIW I used Forster dies on the Ultra-Mag and runout was minimal. Most loaded rounds were within .002 without straightening - I checked them all.

Have an RCBS Ammomaster too. It has ton's of room but it doesn't seem quite as stiff as the Ultra-Mag and not as smooth...............dj

I have a Lee Classic Cast. Rock solid and less expensive than most others.

Lee classic cast or classic turret. Solid, handy, cost effective.

Ditto, Ditto, Ditto, Ditto. My experience exactly.

I recently ran into the same quandry. I've been using a Lee for 4 years now. Decided it was time to upgrade. I was about to pull the trigger on a Redding T7 and did some last minute research on the Co-Ax. Long story short, there is a Cabelas box in my garage that contains a new Forster press I will be setting up tonight. If the majority of your work is on the large magnums, I would give the Redding UltraMag a look as well.