What are you guys using for reloading presses and dies?

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Obtunded

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I'm getting a bit flustered... I'm using a Redding micrometer seating die on an RCBS single stage, but I am getting variations if up to 5 thou COAL. I have tried changing the shell holder and cleaned everything to within an inch of its life

I have come to the conclusion that it must be the tolerances within the old press and it is time to start shopping. I am swaying towards an arbor press but would like to hear what precision reloading stuff you're using.
 
what RCBS are you using- the Rockchucker? I use the RCBS competition dies and a Rockchucker and don't get any more than 1 thou- the odd one at 2 thou. There isn't that much pressure from seating - certainly a lot less than resizing, so I have a hard time seeing press flexing being an issue. Also, since you're pushing down, shellholder vertical slop shouldn't be a factor-. have you tried shimming the shellholder to get a tight fit.?

hope this helps
 
Measure the length of your bullets and you will see they are not the same size. The bullet seater seats on the ogive, not the tip.
 
I am looking at getting into reloading.

I have thought about a Redding press and competition dies. People say the RCBS Rock Chucker is a great value for the money.

Am interested in hearing more from this thread, because my reloading will be for precision shooting.

Hopefully not hi jacking, Obtunded..........:redface:
 
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Yep, a rock chucker. I seat using minimal neck tension on my 6BR loads, but I am getting similar varaition using several other rounds/bullets with tighter neck tension.

The shell holder is really tight... not sure what I could shim frankly.

Your points are all really valid and I thought of them I'm using Lapua 105 Scenars and out of the 30 or so I've checked so far, there is one with a thou difference.... it has me stumped, but it's also creates justification to buy another toy too...
 
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As Maynard pointed out, the seater contacts the bullet on the ogive. Ogives are not necessarily identical from bullet to bullet. Are you measuring length using a tool which indexes on the ogive, or simply OAL head to tip?
I use RCBS Rockchucker and RS presses, as well as a Lyman turret and a Lee turret. All sorts of die sets, RCBS, Lyman, Lee, Redding, depending on what I've picked up over the years.
 
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maynard said:
Measure the length of your bullets and you will see they are not the same size. The bullet seater seats on the ogive, not the tip.
Click to expand...

BINGO!! That's probably the biggest reason for C.O.L. variations that I've experienced.
My equipment is an RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme press & mainly RCBS dies with a sprinkling of Lyman, C-H and a set of Bonanza bench rest.
 
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Max Owner,
When I finally decided to replace my old Lee press after about 15,000 rounds,
both the Rock Chucker and the Redding Big Boss where side by side on the shelf. The Redding was about $30 more but was on sale and ended up about$5 cheaper then the Rock Chucker. I am very happy with the Redding but would have been just as happy with a Rock Chucker.
 
I use an old Pacific 007 (Hornady) for the heavy stuff like forming and a Hood for reloading, both set up for flat surface mounting with c clamps. The Hood takes both the screw-in type dies and has an arbour press on the side for seating or sizing with straight line type Wilson dies. Wilson case length trimmer, all mounted on a old bar table with the top removed. This setup is for reloading at the range, in the RV, in the garage, in the basement, were ever you want to put, occupies about 2 sq ft of floor space.

IM004056.jpg
 
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I liked the "old" style Rockchucker. The new 1 makes a secondary priming tool required rather than an option.
The Redding I find is a smoother press to run, and seems to be made to tigher tolerances.

Obtunded, dumb question, are you locking your dies down? Is it possible that the play in the threads are allowing your dies to move slightly?
Rockchucker have a replaceable threaded bushing on the top of the press and over the years of dies being changed the threads can wear a bit, I have changed this bushing 3 times in the 25 years I have had my original Rockchucker.
Not sure if this IS the problem , but worth a thought.
KK
 
I moved my dies over to my seldom-used Dillon 550 just to see what happened and I'm getting an almost tolerable 1-2 thou variation. ( I almost would have expected worse because of the interchangable tool head). I don't like the Dillon, but it helps narrow down the culprit.

Thanks for the tips

Anyone using an arbor press?
 
Yup, with Wilson dies or custom seater dies for all my good rifles. I use these for seating. For my 308, I use a Wilson sizer too and a Harrell FL Vari-base bump die. For my 6-250 I use a custon Newlon button die for sizing as I do with my 30x47 and custom seaters. My 22MR is use a modified Wilson for sizing and a 22BR die for seating with a base to hide some of the 22MR case. It is .300" longer than a 22BR.
 
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I use the RCBS Big Max, Rockchuker and a Bonanza CO-AX, Forster BR dies and Redding BR dies RCBS sizers, Oh heck I use them all. The OAL as others have mentioned should be measured from the bullet ogive otherwise you will never get consistent measurements when measuring to the bullet tip, Stoney Point makes a tool for this as does Sinclair, don't leave home without them! Another thing that affects OAL is the powder charge, on a very compressed load you can experience variences in OAL, especially if you have a loose fitting bullet.
bigbull
 
maynard said:
Measure the length of your bullets and you will see they are not the same size. The bullet seater seats on the ogive, not the tip.
Click to expand...


This is very true:eek: . Believe it or not you will find differences in both ogive and tip length! Damn!!
 
Joe has a point

### International said:
This is very true:eek: . Believe it or not you will find differences in both ogive and tip length! Damn!!
Click to expand...

You can take bullets and measure them with a comparator and find that there is variation as well in lenghts from base to ogive. Granted not as great as base to tip but there can be some.

This appears to be a bigger issue in the long range game versus the short range. Many, many long range shooters sort there bullets B4 loading for consistency when reloading as well as trim the meplats to try and get the bullets performance as close to one another as possible.
 
I use an RCBS Rock Chucker for my precision rifle work and Hornady dies. They work for me.

For my Service Rifle .223 and Service Pistol 9mm loads, everything is done on a Hornady Pro-Jector.

Buy what works for you and your budget, not to mention your game...
 
maynard said:
Max Owner,
When I finally decided to replace my old Lee press after about 15,000 rounds,
both the Rock Chucker and the Redding Big Boss where side by side on the shelf. The Redding was about $30 more but was on sale and ended up about$5 cheaper then the Rock Chucker. I am very happy with the Redding but would have been just as happy with a Rock Chucker.
Click to expand...

Thanx Maynard.

Hafta get a few other projects completed before I get into more serious research.
 
Maynard is right on the money. I noted this while reloading some 300wm rounds this fall. I could not figure out what "I" was doing wrong until I started checking the rounds I was reloading with.
 
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