Which Press to Buy

Win Mod 70

Well-Known Member
Getting back into reloading and looking to buy a press. What do people think of the following? Anyone use them? Any problems I need to know about before parting with cash?
Lyman - T-Mag II
RCBS - Turret Press
RCBS - Rock Chucker Supreeme (for those that say I should stick to single stage)

Going to be reloading 243, 308 and 30.06
 
Turret presses are OK but why bother other than you can leave your dies set up?? One you haven't mentioned is the Forrester Coaxial. It's about the best press made these days, IMHO. ~Muir
(pricey through...)
 
My budget didn't stretch to a Forster Co-ax at £300, so after a bit of shopping around to find a relatively tall press with good hand & case access, I bought one of SmartReloader's single stage collet presses. This has all of the advantages of a single stage press (no irritating turret 'flex') but with the added advantage that each die has a twist & lock collet screwed on so you can switch between pre-set dies in a couple of seconds. I paid just under £100 and have found the press a pleasure to use, with a nice smooth action and a decent primer catching system.

I load for .223R, .270W, .300WM and shortly for .458WM / Lott - the press will handle everything up to and including .50BMG.

Adam.
 
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I have a Redding Big Boss 11, first class press, built like a tank, will last a lifetime.

same here a soild press big open section so easy to get your hand in there. also the tube to catch the spent primers are handy
 
I still have my two no longer required presses listed in classifieds. An RCBS Rockchucker at £105 and the Australian Simplex Master (their "take" or "knock off" of the Rockchucker) at £85.

Please PM me if any interest. I am in Leicester near J21 of the M1 Motorway and Leicester Forest East Services.

The Rockchucker - This has the removable insert in the top to take large 1 1/2" dies for such as 600 Nitro or even 12 Bore as well as the standard 7/8" dies. With its large diameter ram it will pretty much reload anything and everything.

However I would not use it despite what the makers claim for bullet swaging. The clearance in the opening of the "O" is ideal for 243 and 308. It is OK for 30-06 and 270 but I would not find it ideal for 300 H & H Magnum or 8mm Remington Magnum.

Unlike modern versions this has the slot in the top so that you can use a semi-automatic primer feed tube. Modern RCBS presses are inferior as they lack this feature that enables the user to choose themselves which method of priming suits them best.

The Simplex - This has no removable insert to the top so the standard 7/8" dies are the largest it can take. Again apart from the diameter of the ram it is pretty much the RCBS Rockchucker in another incarnation.

So it will do anything and everything that the Rockchucker can. Again it has the slot for the semi-automatic primer feed tube holder.

The opening of the "O" is ideal for 243 and 308. It is about 1/4" less tall than the RCBS Rockchucker so is OK for 30-06 and 270 in normal factory OAL but if using long bullets seated well out is a very little "fiddly".

This really only is an issue if you have a single shot rifle as it is the sort of length that anyway is too long for most modern magazine fed rifles! If you stick to normal OAL length as specification of the factory cartridge it won't be an issue.

It would, as with the Rockchucker, not be a first choice for 300 H & H or 8mm Remington Magnum length cartridges.
 
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Thanks to everyone for replying. Lots of food for thought.
Enfieldspares, I'll give it some thought but in no rush. Have enough factory ammo to see me through the next couple of months. Will let you know....
 
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