Wanting to Upgrade Reloading Press for Live Varmint Rifles

P

P Corncob Bob

Guest
Wanting to Upgrade Reloading Press for Live Varmint and Big Game

Old Pacific "O" style press may be starting to see its better days. Seems to be getting some tolerances. Thousands of rounds have been reloaded and wanting to upgrade.

What would be some recommendations from experience on a good choice for a reloading press upgrade?

New press will be used to resize and bullet seating for 22-250 Ackley Improved and 6mm Remington for live varmints and deer - and - In addition
7mm Remington mag and 300 Weatherby for big game. Will be using Redding dies. Accuracy is critical.

Are single stage reloading presses still the "cat pajamas"? -or - Are there progressive turret reloading presses worthy of consideration? - or - Would tightening up tolerance on Old Pacific "O" style reloading press be worthy of consideration?

Thanks!

Cob
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The Co-Ax is IMO a great up-grade and my favorite, but I honestly think you can get great service from the flagship presses RCBS, Redding, Hornady or Lyman offer.
 
IMO "tightening up the tolerances" does nothing for making straight ammo. Slop is good. The only function of the press is to drive the cartridge up into the die and pull it back out. The initial fireforming establishes the concentricity of the brass and the fit/setting of the dies maintains this relationship.

NOW, to qualify this a little....... RADIAL slop is good. The press must consistently top out solidly. In this regard some of the turret style presses are wanting as headspace can vary due to tolerance/wear. Headspace is set by the press.

I'd spend the money elsewhere. If accuracy is critical consider buying some fitted dies instead of the Redding's.

al
 
What would be some recommendations from experience on a good choice for a reloading press upgrade?

Thanks!

Cob
 
What would be some recommendations from experience on a good choice for a reloading press upgrade?
 
Do you have a concentricity gage? The reason that I ask is that you have made an assumption that the slop that your press has developed is having a negative effect on the accuracy of your ammunition. As others have said, that is probably not the case. If you want a new shiny toy to play with (Don't we all?) buy yourself a way to actually measure the results that your dies and press are producing, and then try to arrange use of friends' presses to see if superior results are achieved.

One of the best shooters in the Gulf Coast Region of the NBRSA, Jackie Schmidt, reloads with a rack of RCBS Partner presses that have had their rams turned down to produce more radial clearance, slop if you will. The reason for this is that this allows the case to find better alignment with the die. Jackie is an experienced machinist. If he thought that a tight fit would work better, he would have his rams fitting as tight as humanly possible, and I am sure that if he thought that lack of availability of a suitable reloading was holding him back, he would build one.

I think that what you want is a new press. I like my Rockchucker for loading at home. It will last forever, particularly since I spend most of my range time shooting a 6PPC that I load for at the range...with one of my Harrell's presses, either a combo, or a turret. Both produce good results and are a whole lot easier to pack around than the Rock Chucker.
 
Buying the Bonanaza Co-Ax press immediately eliminated fliers in my groups, no more nine and one ten-shot groups. Also the Co-Ax and Redding benchrest seating dies, case length and neck preparation, and consistency in seating practice in how consistently you bring the ram up also helped.

There is not one thing, but many that makes a rifle and cartridge combination shoot. Experimentation is the key.
 
For my hunting rounds I use the Co-Ax press like others have mentioned.
For my BR rifles I use RCBS Partner presses.
 
Turret press: Redding T-7, Lyman T-Mag, or RCBS.

I think getting any more precise that what these guys provide and you are ordering out of the Sinclair Intl. catalog.

Good dies like Redding/Forster will offer consistent/precise bullet seating.

Electronic powder thrower like Lyman, Pact or RCBS will really speed things up for volume varmint rounds while still maintaining strict powder charges weights and the can meter more consistently than powder throwers. No cut powder! Metering components and charges is not fun for me. I'd rather mess with the brass.
 
To throw in one more...the Redding Ultra Mag. For me, it handles those Mag cases better than any of my other presses.
 
Tony Shankle said:
To throw in one more...the Redding Ultra Mag. For me, it handles those Mag cases better than any of my other presses.
Click to expand...

I second on the Ultra Mag. Wide open access from the front, and it will handle almost any size case & die. I've heard that some dies won't work in a Coax due to the horseshoe shape of the handle.
 
I've owned two of the coax presses. I just can't get over that creepy feeling my forearm gets when priming with the coax presses. Or all the fun I had when the rim gets ripped off of a case with that spiffy shell holder (universal). You would think I learned my lesson with the first one by the time I got rid of it, but I didn't. 10 years went by before I found a good used one at a gun show. Didn't take me more than and hour before I remembered why I sold the first one. I'm glad I'm to old to make that mistake again.

You know that that little RCBS Partner press sure is lite weight and it doesn't take a lot of space to haul a couple around with you.
 
"after thousands of rounds", you sure it isn't your guns?
maybe your dies are wearing a little.
i would think a press would be at the bottom of the food chain w/ these sort of rifles.
 
Do you want portability?

I like the Harrells compact press for portability and ease of removing from my bench to do other things.

http://harrellsprec.com/index.php?crn=205&rn=383&action=show_detail

I have also seen people put a big "O-Ring" between the lock-nut and the press to add play. They say it works great!

I would think you would need to keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't move on you and mess up headspace.

Ralph
 
I have 9 presses.

I like the Forster Co-ax press.

I have modified the jaws for quick change between big cases and small cases.

I simply drill and tap the jaws and counter set the plate for a flat head 4-40 screw to keep he jaws, plate, and springs together as one assembly.

I use knurled cap screws to attach the assembly to the ram.

I have two assemblies.

Before I did this, it took minutes to swap, and sometimes a spring would shoot across the room.

Now I can swap in a couple seconds while blind folded.

Most guys I know have two co-ax presses to avoid this problem.
 
"What would be some recommendations from experience on a good choice for a reloading press upgrade?"

With over fourty years of experience, I've never seen any evidence to suggest a conventional press of any type was an automatic "upgrade" for better accuracy. Within reasonable limits, a press is a press; if it puts cases into the dies and pulls them back out, it's good. Only those with little experience with various tools still believe there's any magic in our presses.

User convience and easy operation is another issue.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
sell them at a yard sale

upgrade to an arbor press and wilson chamber die and bullet seater. just my .02 Fred
 
Boyd Allen said:
One of the best shooters in the Gulf Coast Region of the NBRSA, Jackie Schmidt, reloads with a rack of RCBS Partner presses that have had their rams turned down to produce more radial clearance, slop if you will.
Click to expand...

Just how much clearance is there between ram and frame?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top