We have spent the last while examining almost every reloading press on the market and they all seem to have some issue or another, especially when it comes to reloading larger sized cartridges.
As a result we decided to make our own.
The criteria was as follows.
1)Have enough room between the shell holder and die to insert a 50 BMG casing with a 750 gr Amax bullet set in the mouth without having to snake the bullet up into the seating die.
2)Be able to reload smaller calibers that use conventional 7/8x14 TPI dies and employ standard RCBS or Redding shell holders.
3)Have enough mechanical advantage to easily size 50 BMG casings.
4)Be very smooth in operation.
5)Have enough room to get fingers in and around the ram.
6)Have less than .001 deviation from bottom of stroke to top of stroke. Most presses have a significant amount of ram wobble when at the top of the stroke, which can not be good for truly concentric bullet seating.
7) Be user friendly for the left handed part of the gun culture.
8) Deliver spent primers into a small area and away from the operator, rather than all over the place, or in the operators breathing space.
This is what we came up with.
A press where EVERY moving part runs on bearings or bushings. A press that can be used to reload everything from 25ACP to 50 BMG, it can use both 50BMG dies and any 7/8x14 TPI dies, either RCBS, Redding or Hornady shell holders.
The primers drop through the ram and discharge out the back into any container that fits under the press. It is available in either a right or left hand version.
It has far more mechanical advantage than any of the presses we have to compare it to, based on a non scientific sizing a casing test.
The photos are of the prototype, the finished product will be hard anodized blue on the base, ram guide and top plate, roller handle, the ram and guide bars will be salt bath nitrided. We have not decided whether to nitride the stainless steel handle bar or not yet.
This is what the same 50BMG casing and bullet look like in a set up 50 BMG Ammomaster for comparison sake.
If you are contemplating the purchase of a larger caliber rifle and want the versatility of 1 press to load all calibers, with more precision that virtually any press on the market, you may want to consider this.