450Bushmaster.net

All,

My (very) old Rockchucker is starting to show its age. After 10's of thousands of rounds loaded, I think I'm about ready to retire the old girl and upgrade to something new. My only criteria is that me new press be a single stage. I've got a Dillon 550 progressive, but I'm not a big fan of it. It's just about useless for rifle reloading due to the trimming requirement, and I don't shoot enough pistol to really make good use of it. So....

Opinions on a Single Stage? I was thinking about just replacing it with a new Rockchucker, but the Hornady Lock N Load caught my eye. I REALLY like the idea of not having to setup my dies over and over. That train of thought also brought me to a Turrent press, but I have no experience at all with them either. I'm really concerned with the repeatability of both the Hornady and the Turret Press....will they remain consistent??

Any advice/opinions would be appreciated.

RockChucker! But how old is your current one? Mine was made back in or around 1983 and shes still as solid as when I bought her used back in 1984. And I load EVERYTHING on her. 38/357 Mag, 30-30 Win, 30-06, 5.56 NATO, 7mm Rem Mag, 9mm, 45ACP, 32-20 Win,7.62X39, 6.5 Grendel,450 Bushmaster, She is the only press I own to date. I may get a progressive for strictly 9mm and 45ACP later, but i have no intentions of retiring my old rockchucker for my rifles. I have only considered buying her a twin Rock Chucker so I can have one as a spare for special tasks such as Legendre Crimping and to keep bored youngsters occupied decapping the thousands of 9mm and 5.56 NATO brass I have. We don't want the "art" to die out like HAM radio is dying out.

Not sure how old it is. Bought it back in 2000 from a Buddy who knew a guy selling his reloading gear. It doesn't look like any other RCBS that I've ever seen, Im just assuming it's a Rockchucker. When I get home I'll take a pic and post it up. Maybe someone can tell me what it is that I have

If it's an ambidextrous RCBS press single stage, it's newer than mine.
You can zoom in and see mine over on the right hand side of my bench.

Here's what I got. Ideas on what it is???

That looks like a RCBS Jr. The RCBS Rockchucker is way more press than that. You cannot wear out a Rockchucker. If you do, RCBS will fix it or replace it for free.

Texas Sheepdawg wrote:RockChucker! But how old is your current one? Mine was made back in or around 1983 and shes still as solid as when I bought her used back in 1984. And I load EVERYTHING on her. 38/357 Mag, 30-30 Win, 30-06, 5.56 NATO, 7mm Rem Mag, 9mm, 45ACP, 32-20 Win,7.62X39, 6.5 Grendel,450 Bushmaster, She is the only press I own to date. I may get a progressive for strictly 9mm and 45ACP later, but i have no intentions of retiring my old rockchucker for my rifles. I have only considered buying her a twin Rock Chucker so I can have one as a spare for special tasks such as Legendre Crimping and to keep bored youngsters occupied decapping the thousands of 9mm and 5.56 NATO brass I have. We don't want the "art" to die out like HAM radio is dying out.

Hey Dawg, if you load those pistol rounds and want to speed things up, get a Piggyback for your Rockchucker. It turns your single stage into a progressive. I had a Piggyback III and loved it. I decided to get a full RCBS progressive and sold the Piggyback.

Thanx Paul. I am considering a progressive press but every time I price them, I balk. There are so many accessories you have to buy that it just gets discouraging. But I've actually gotten pretty efficient loading my pistol stuff. I get all my brass decapped and prepped, then primed in bulk usually 100 - 200 at a time then do a production run. I've been buying, scavaging and hoarding brass for decades and I have picked up thousands of rounds of 9mm and 5.56 brass off of ranges. I also have close to 600, 30-30 Win cases, and 7mm Rem Mag brass and 30/06. I probably have more than I will ever use in my lifetime. ( Unless SHTF). I did an inventory check on my smokeless powder and primer reserves and I think I'm better off than most folks. I still have 1K lots from bulk purchases in the 1990s. I guess I am a hoarder.... There, I said it. It ain't pretty, but there it is, all the same.

taco,
have you talked to rcbs? they may be willing rework your press for free.
I have a dillon 550 that I love I use it for auto pistol and .223/5.56 it works great, with the bottle necks when they get too long I deprime trim then run back thru 550. I also have a lyman turret that I use for most other loadings. its great too, you can set up all dies in turret and leave them and buy more turrets for different loadings. and I have rcbs big max that I use for swaging military primer crimps, and usually the one that friends get to use if they decide I need to load stuff for them.
If I were to buy a new single stage today I would prob lean towards the hornady because of the bushing system I can't see there being a probem with it my dillon has a removable toolhead that has plenty of verticle play but col and crimp are very consistant, and I think hornady still has the free bullet deal with purchase.
hope this helps a bit?

I bought the Hornady Lock-n-Load kit and i have nothing but good things to say about it!. The bushing system works well and isnt sloppy at all.