[Zeppelin!]

I used a Dillon to load most of my ammo, .223's, .308's, .44's, ,45LC, 45acp, 475's etc and it works great. I dont like the way it handles the larger caliber stuff I reload like .338/.378 weatherby or even the .450 Marlin. RCBS or LYMAN? I see some new stuff out with 4" clearence but I have limited experiance with a single stage.

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Zeppelin!
The one limitation of the RCBS Rockchucker is it's short stroke. From Handloader's Digest #17:
Forster Co-Ax - 4"
Hornady Classic - 3 5/8"
Lyman Crusher II - 3 7/8"
Rockchucker - 3 5/16"
Redding Boss - 3.4"
Redding Ultramag - 4 1/8"

Bye
Jack

 

[1badmagnum]

rcbs has a new rock chucker supreme out with a 4 inch clearence,$100 at midway usa.

 

[kciH]

Hey Zep,
I bought a Redding Ultramag after having a RCBS RS3. It's money you'll never regret spending. I have a couple SDB's and a 550B which are great. The beat the heck out of the progressives I had prior to them. I don't see shooting enough of the really big stuff to justify wanting to reload it on a progressive. The fact that you want to clean the primer pockets and have to trim the brass make the progressive somewhat impracticle anyway for these rounds. I don't shoot anything as big as a .338/378, but I do shoot a .340 and .35 Whelen Improved. The amount of rounds I shoot in these is mainly for testing and loading hunting rounds and I like to make sure the powder is a little more exact than a powder measure will drop when using the stick powders that are commonly best suited to these rounds. The Ultramag is an awesome press and will take care of anything you want to do in the future, so long as you don't want to use it to reload .50BMG. It does have the removable bushing in case you want to do anything that requires larger than standard dies. Case forming is a breeze. It will turn 30-06 military brass into a 30BR with one easy stroke. In general, I've had excellent results with everthing I've purchased that is Redding/Saeco.

 

[1badmagnum]

HEY ZEP !

I just bought my first rifle,a eaa/izhmath/saiga .308 with wood stocks and 22 inch barrel and could use some help with my reloading.
I bought rcbs small base dies which are reccommended for semi auto rifles.
1000 cases of once fired brass and hornady 150 grain boat tails.
I'll be using surplus powder from gibrass(imr 3031 and imr4895)
did I buy the correct dies?
any other suggestions would be helpful,I'm experienced with pistol reloading but know nothing about rifles.
thanks for any help you might post.

 

[MikeG]

Hi, I wouldn't use the SB dies unless you have to. I've never known anyone who really needed them. They will shorten the life of your brass and make it a lot harder to resize.

Try standard dies first, you can probably pick up a full-length sizer by itself for not too much money. If it doesn't work (and I think it will) you won't be out much, and can probably find someone who wants it.

Dad has loaded lots of '06 brass for Rem. autos, and I even neck-size my .35 Rem cases for my Marlin lever gun.....

 

[1badmagnum]

thanks for the reply,I'll get the standard sizer die to add to my current set,just in case.
I'm using once fired brass and may have some military cases fired from a full auto weapon which may need the small base dies.

 

[MikeG]

Check the military stuff carefully, if it's been fired in machine guns it may be way too long (badly stretched) and prone to separations.

If it's substantially harder to resize than once-fired brass that came from your gun, be cautious. Might section one or two to ensure that the cases aren't stretching badly.

 

[1badmagnum]

I ordered winchester I believe but received lake city,the small base dies work great.
the bullets I bought are shorter than specs when crimped in the groove,but they shoot fine.
I'm very happy with the saiga 308 rifle,alot of fun to shoot,very accurate,and minimal recoil.
just wish I didnt have to trim cases and use lube.