RCBS rockchuka

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I scored an older ‘chucka off eBay for $100. Needs a priming arm and primer catcher, but other than that looks good to go. My intended use is currently 30-06 and eventually .300 win mag or .300 RUM. I want to do precision hand loads here, so I thought the RCBS would be a be a better choice that my Dillon 550B for this kind of work. So the $$$ question; should I invest in the carbide dies or will I be ok using steel. I know the steel requires case lube, I do that on all cartridges I reload. Thoughts?


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Re: RCBS rockchuka

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I wouldn't bother with replacing the primer arm. I haven't used mine since 82. Get an off press hand primer.

As far as spent primers where on the ram is the keyway for the primers to fall, on the side of the ram or down the front facing you?

Re: RCBS rockchuka

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eelj wrote:I wouldn't bother with replacing the primer arm. I haven't used mine since 82. Get an off press hand primer.

As far as spent primers where on the ram is the keyway for the primers to fall, on the side of the ram or down the front facing you?
Not sure but from what I gathered online, the primers tend to scatter in all directions, so the RCBS primer catcher looks like two soap dishes merged together, one on each side of the ram.


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Re: RCBS rockchuka

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I use either Imperial sizing wax or a mixture of lanolin and alcohol for lubricating my rifle brass. Works great and doesn't take much time at all.

If I were using an "ammo factory" like the Dillon 1050 and making 1000s of rounds at a time I would consider the carbide Dillons.

Sounds like you have an older one like mine. Biggest problem is taking the catcher off when it needs dumping. It's a great press with very likely the worst spent primer system.

Re: RCBS rockchuka

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You'll still need to lube the cases:
For high volume users, such as commercial reloaders, law enforcement agencies, and high power or service rifle competitors, we also offer .223 and .308 die sets with a full-length carbide sizing die. Lubrication is still required, but the increased scratch resistance and die longevity of carbide are of great benefit to these groups of users.
Wouldn't bother with it unless you are doing the high volume stuff. Dillon spray lube works great, although it's a bit tacky. You'll lube/resize/trim then clean on the rifle side regardless of what lube you use (mostly. You may be able to get away with the hornady one shot spray lube, just make sure you shake the hell out of it or you'll stick a case)
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Re: RCBS rockchuka

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No need for carbide dies, but if you’re loading for precision in bottleneck cases, get nicer dies than Lee. Forster, Redding, Hornady, rcbs. I prefer the Forster neck bushing/shoulder bump sizing die and any of the sliding sleeve/micrometer topped seaters. I’ve had better results with the Wilson arbor press type seaters, but the traditional press dies with the sliding sleeve are pretty close.

I agree completely with eelj on the hand priming, especially for precision stuff.
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Re: RCBS rockchuka

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Thanks for all the feedback and advice. I wasn’t really aware of hand primers before (when I decided I wanted to reload, I jumped right in on the Dillon), but from what I can see they have a couple of drawbacks- 1) they are 2-3x as expensive as the primer arm for the RCBS, and 2) at least some seem to require proprietary shell plates, which is also an additional expense.

From my experience with the Dillon, and watching some ‘tubes about the RCBS, everyone seemed to say they had a good “feel” for seating primers through the machine, and I can see that working.

So what is the advantage to hand priming?


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Re: RCBS rockchuka

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I'll put on my firesuit on this one- I prefer on-press priming to hand priming- as long as the on press priming system works well and you can get a good feel for seating them with it. I've had and done both. At the same time, both Marlene and Eelj have been reloading for far longer than I have. Some of the complaints around the on press priming is that it is wonky, doesn't work as well or as fast as hand priming systems, etc. With some presses I'd certainly say that's the case- others, perhaps not.
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Re: RCBS rockchuka

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You can't compare the on press priming system on a press like the Dillon with the RCBS. With the one on the rock chucker you have to pick up each individual primer with your dirty and sometime greasy fingers and manually place it into the priming arm. A cheap Lee primer has a flip tray and you never have to touch them. I really like the priming system on my Dillon press.

Do you already own a Dillon 550?

Re: RCBS rockchuka

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Ah didn't realize the rockchucker was that primitive for priming. Definitely off press then. And yeah, the Lee priming tool works great.

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Re: RCBS rockchuka

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321FLSurfer wrote:Yes, I already have a 550.


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I'm glad you have an O frame press, you will find a lot of uses for it.

John Whidden who has won quite a few national championships loads all of his 1000 yd match ammo on a Dillon press. Granted it's not an out of the box Dillon but with floating tool heads it is in the same level as a co-ax. I'm sure Beaurrr will cry foul at that.

Re: RCBS rockchuka

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eelj wrote:
321FLSurfer wrote:Yes, I already have a 550.


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I'm glad you have an O frame press, you will find a lot of uses for it.

John Whidden who has won quite a few national championships loads all of his 1000 yd match ammo on a Dillon press. Granted it's not an out of the box Dillon but with floating tool heads it is in the same level as a co-ax. I'm sure Beaurrr will cry foul at that.
Yeah my experience so far with the Dillon has been overwhelmingly positive, I can crank out .223 and 9mm in my sleep, but those are both... I dunno, pedestrian? Hard to screw up? Even with that I still have what seem like a high number of bad rounds come out, specifically with 9mm where I consistently get light primer strikes (yes, same issue across different cases and different pistols) I think it’s cause the main bolt that holds the shell plate in place keeps loosening up, then the primers don’t seat all the way (or conversely I tighten it down and start seating them too deeply) anyhow, work in progress.

So I figured before I start messing with big boy cartridges, I ought go back to basics with a single stage and really get the process dialed in. Besides, from what I can see, the Dillon won’t handle any of the really big stuff in its current configuration.


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Re: RCBS rockchuka

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eelj wrote:
321FLSurfer wrote:Yes, I already have a 550.


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I'm glad you have an O frame press, you will find a lot of uses for it.

John Whidden who has won quite a few national championships loads all of his 1000 yd match ammo on a Dillon press. Granted it's not an out of the box Dillon but with floating tool heads it is in the same level as a co-ax. I'm sure Beaurrr will cry foul at that.
Wha?!

I think I've moved on from my obsession about Co-ax being best of the best of the best, Sir! (or whatever). I'm pretty sure that my shooting is nowhere near good enough to make a diff anyway.

I cannot advocate on-press priming with a single stage press. Like eelj said, there's WAY too much handling of the pieces-parts, and it's really effing slow. A a dedicated priming press was a worthwhile purchase.

RCBS would almost certainly insist on sending you a free replacement priming arm just by asking about one.

I do think Forster/Bonanza dies are a step up from the others, and they can be had most reasonably on eBay.
I may be selling some goodies to fund a Dillon if it means a more wrist-friendly experience. Does it?
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Re: RCBS rockchuka

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beaurrr wrote:
eelj wrote:
321FLSurfer wrote:Yes, I already have a 550.


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I'm glad you have an O frame press, you will find a lot of uses for it.

John Whidden who has won quite a few national championships loads all of his 1000 yd match ammo on a Dillon press. Granted it's not an out of the box Dillon but with floating tool heads it is in the same level as a co-ax. I'm sure Beaurrr will cry foul at that.
Wha?!

I think I've moved on from my obsession about Co-ax being best of the best of the best, Sir! (or whatever). I'm pretty sure that my shooting is nowhere near good enough to make a diff anyway.

I cannot advocate on-press priming with a single stage press. Like eelj said, there's WAY too much handling of the pieces-parts, and it's really effing slow. A a dedicated priming press was a worthwhile purchase.

RCBS would almost certainly insist on sending you a free replacement priming arm just by asking about one.

I do think Forster/Bonanza dies are a step up from the others, and they can be had most reasonably on eBay.
I may be selling some goodies to fund a Dillon if it means a more wrist-friendly experience. Does it?
I love the Dillon, and yeah, I think anytime you go from one operation per pull to 4, your wrist will thank you. Let me know what you’re trying to get rid of.


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Re: RCBS rockchuka

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I think I've moved on from my obsession about Co-ax being best of the best of the best, Sir! (or whatever). I'm pretty sure that my shooting is nowhere near good enough to make a diff anyway.
Geez I hope you didn't take my comment the wrong way. I have wondered when you would start thinking about a progressive since you have now become the proud owner of a couple of very ammo voracious guns.

Re: RCBS rockchuka

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eelj wrote:
I think I've moved on from my obsession about Co-ax being best of the best of the best, Sir! (or whatever). I'm pretty sure that my shooting is nowhere near good enough to make a diff anyway.
Geez I hope you didn't take my comment the wrong way. I have wondered when you would start thinking about a progressive since you have now become the proud owner of a couple of very ammo voracious guns.
I don't think I took it the wrong way; I think you're right on. I would add physical pain to the the ammo-gobbling nature of machineguns as a second reason for me to look past old assumptions about which hardware is best for me. If it hurts, I probably won't keep doing it.

Also, I know you go way back with Dillon, so you're experience means something.
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The Swiss are the lovers
The French are the mechanics
The Italians make everything run on time
And the Germans are the police

Re: RCBS rockchuka

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Also, I know you go way back with Dillon, so you're experience means something
My experience with dillon is with the Square Deal and I bought it is 86. Since I bought that press I have had a few issues with it and had to use the warranty and they honored it to the letter.

I could sell it today and double my money. My biggest complaint is the auto advance, I would prefer the manual advance of the 550B. I don't know about the 650 so maybe the auto advance on that press is better. But this thread is about RCBS equipment and they also have great customer support and a life time warranty that goes with the equipment and not with the initial purchase.

Re: RCBS rockchuka

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I have a on press primer and a hand held one the nice thing about hand held your not stuck at your bench. I've primed case at work on lunch and brakes, sitting watching TV with the wife, hell even while craving.

But if fund are low try and fix the the on press one you have. Keep an eye out for a hand held primer on sale .
I have the Hornady one it will take the RCBS shell holder too.

You will need to lube as everyone has said i have Hornady one shot wax and imperial wax I think the Hornady works better on big case like 30-06 and 300 win mag and the imperial work better on smaller.
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