Best first single stage press???

Chinbullco said:
Buy the best quality you can find. That would be a Forster Co-AX. Avoid turret presses, too much flex and totally useless for doing any cartridge conversions. The Forster Co-ax is a press that will never need improving. Here's how I see it, if the Forster Co-ax costs $200.00 more than than a Lee Turret POS, and you load for twenty years the cost differential on a per day basis is less than 3 cents/day. If you can afford 3 cents/day throw caution to the wind and buy the best.
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why is a forster so much better quality then the other presses? What makes it special?
 
So many superior features on the Co-Ax. Universal shellholder, Quick change die system, self aligning in use. Very straight line carriage.

Extremely strong and durable. Huge Mechanical advantage for the tough jobs Works equally well, left or right handed.

Great primer capture system........The list goes on.

Regards, Dave
 
silverfoxdj said:
One can waste a lot of money on other loading options scales, guages, dies etc but picking a really good press should not be on the compromise list.
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See now... I know where your coming from, not trying to start another epic derailment as these threads often become but I'd think a top notch scale would be paramount, even great quality presses are bound to have limits and quirks and quality control issues as a few people who bought the infamous "rock chucker" a year or two ago found out when a small run had had issues... But really now, unless you buy some fancy measuring tools you'd never know if your press had excessive misalignment between the die and the ram?

And I know quality counts but for the average person who's just building some tuned hunting loads or some range fodder for a small cal rifle and wants to get there feet wet why would people recommend a $300+ coax press when a lot of us do just fine loading great quality ammo on old Lee and RCBS presses that cost 1/3 of the coax? If you have the money to spare by all means to big or go home but I don't feel a person is better served buying a $100 hammer over a $10 hammer just to build a dog house.
 
RCBS, the Rock Crusher I have is almost older than me. They were built strong back then and still are. Yeah it's a single stage but all you do is give it a wipe off a shot of lube and it will never wear out. Also the warranty that RCBS has is bloody excellent, I lost pieces, emailed them stating I lost parts and they shipped them at no cost, not even shipping. IMHO RCBS holds its value and sooner or later even grandchildren later down the line will be able to use it.
 
RCBS Rockchucker, Forster, Hornady, Redding. Any of them will do what you need with no trouble. Find the best deal and go for it.

I don't like kits especially. I always end up with stuff that I don't use. A press, dies, beam scale, case prep tools, loading block, bullet puller, and caliper will get you started. If you're buying mailorder try to buy at one source, ship all together. Buy what you can local. The shipping adds up fast on multiple shipments. Natchez Shooting Supply is good. Buffalo Arms is excellent but make sure you tell them NO courier shipments. Cheap As Dirt are ripoff artists.
 
Buy quality and you buy once. For a single stage: The RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme, Redding Big Boss or Forster Co-Ax are my top picks, although my choice is the RCBS. The latter has the absolute best warranty in the business bar none.
 
Eagleye said:
So many superior features on the Co-Ax. Universal shellholder, Quick change die system, self aligning in use. Very straight line carriage.

Extremely strong and durable. Huge Mechanical advantage for the tough jobs Works equally well, left or right handed.

Great primer capture system........The list goes on.

Regards, Dave
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I'll take this advice as reason enough if your ever going to worry about precise loads..
 
A lot of cartridges get loaded on many brands of presses, not saying that the Co ax isn't good, but its not the only one that does the job.
 
zackstab said:
why is a forster so much better quality then the other presses? What makes it special?
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I don't have a Forester. If I was to buy a "for loading only" press it would be the Co-ax. For reloading press I use bullet swage presses. Big, heavy duty and precise, overkill for reloading. Hand presses for bullet swaging run $900-$2000. Can even use the big hydraulic units with reloading dies. Thread title was "best press" for reloading and I beleive the Co-ax is the best.
 
to the OP, you'll notice everyone who has a Co-Ax swears by it. You'll be hard-pressed to find a single negative review on the internet about it. That in itself should be evidence enough. Top reasons I like it,

Insane amount of leverage
Fail-proof priming system
No shellholders required
Neat (and tidy) primer catcher
Self aligning.

I'm a total noobie to reloading, but I've listened to other reloaders on here. I took their advice to buy the press they wished they had bought earlier. Again, I'm no expert and have no experience with other single-stage presses. Listening to people who have lots of experience with the various tools of the trade is invaluable.
 
zuke said:
Go with a LEE Classic Turret press kit.
I use mine like a single stage with the index bar removed. Set your dies once and switch turret's in second's. Primer's are caught in the ram.
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I suggested this to a friend a few months ago and he has been really happy with it. He is mostly using it as a turret pres but, as you say, it can be used as a single stage with preset dies. I think it is a good choice even as a first press.
 
mister308 said:
to the OP, you'll notice everyone who has a Co-Ax swears by it. You'll be hard-pressed to find a single negative review on the internet about it. That in itself should be evidence enough. Top reasons I like it,

Insane amount of leverage
Fail-proof priming system
No shellholders required
Neat (and tidy) primer catcher
Self aligning.

I'm a total noobie to reloading, but I've listened to other reloaders on here. I took their advice to buy the press they wished they had bought earlier. Again, I'm no expert and have no experience with other single-stage presses. Listening to people who have lots of experience with the various tools of the trade is invaluable.
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Well said but some people are so price sensitive that they lose all perspective.
 
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