Thread: Foster coax or Rock Chucker

Righto folks, if one was to upgrade the single stage press from the Lee, which one?????

Lets skip the "double the price" comments if possible, unless it adds significant value

I have a Rockchucker, had it for years now, probably be able give it to the great grandchildren one day working as well as when I bought it, don't know anything about the coax sorry.

Just found this in my mailbox, timing is everything
it may be of some help.
https://www.longrangehunting.com/thr...7#post-1568138

Vice grips and a hammer would be a step up from anything Lee.
No experience with either press but have other Forster gear and it functions well. I have a Redding Big Boss and couldn’t see any reason to ever need another press.

Forster.
Case holder floats, dies float, great for consistent runout. Has a consistent priming setup.
And a good feel to it when seating projectiles. You can notice anything different just by the feel.
4 screws into your bench and doesn't take up much room.

If you ever go to loading ridiculously large cartridges like a 50BMG you can change the handle.
I recently bought a fixed plate shell holder that you can use standard case holders in. I needed it for a smaller than normal cartridge.

Bought the co-ax in 91-92 haven't had any breakages or problems apart from the paint fading.

I have iirc lost the springs that work the case holder jaws once or twice. They are a bit fiddly and can fire off to little hidy places, even tho not under great tension.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by kiwijames

Vice grips and a hammer would be a step up from anything Lee.
No experience with either press but have other Forster gear and it functions well. I have a Redding Big Boss and couldn’t see any reason to ever need another press.

I also run a large Progressive Press for pistol and some rifle stuff, but figure the new rifle desevse a new press too. My 12 year old Lee single stage (loaded over 7,000 rounds) with Lee dies can produce <0.4moa ammo in factory rifles if I do my part. Also worth noting that when I've needed parts for it, I've called them and they direct ship to NZ and in the case of a defect part, all at their cost (remember this is a NZ$80 press they shipped a US$15 part at to NZ).

No real help here, dont own a Coax press, I do have a lot of their other gear though.
I found it concerning from the attached add on post from jakewire regarding their customer service, I have found them to be excellent, When I bought my coax primer the included large primer assembly had a weak spring . a quick talk ( that they initiated via conference call ) had them sending a replacement.
I have bought stems and dies and bushings from them direct no problems too.
Word to the wise, the ultra micro stem and the bench rest stem arent interchangeable.
Some of their stuff is a bit proprietary but they are aware of their downsides and try to improve.... the coax seater is a bitch to recharge the primer tubes.... they now have a nice plastic device that makes recharging a breeze!

And as has been said Lee make some good stuff too.... I like the way they think outside the square ( just like Forster ) and end up with some proprietary gear.... the Lee multy stage presses and their collet die being to prime examples.

Just to throw a curve ball though.... T 7's are bloody nice for similar money, a mate got one and had a couple of thou skimmed of the turret head ..... took out all the play, very nice!

Originally Posted by johnd

No real help here, dont own a Coax press, I do have a lot of their other gear though.
I found it concerning from the attached add on post from jakewire regarding their customer service, I have found them to be excellent, When I bought my coax primer the included large primer assembly had a weak spring . a quick talk ( that they initiated via conference call ) had them sending a replacement.
I have bought stems and dies and bushings from them direct no problems too.
Word to the wise, the ultra micro stem and the bench rest stem arent interchangeable.
Some of their stuff is a bit proprietary but they are aware of their downsides and try to improve.... the coax seater is a bitch to recharge the primer tubes.... they now have a nice plastic device that makes recharging a breeze!

And as has been said Lee make some good stuff too.... I like the way they think outside the square ( just like Forster ) and end up with some proprietary gear.... the Lee multy stage presses and their collet die being to prime examples.

Just to throw a curve ball though.... T 7's are bloody nice for similar money, a mate got one and had a couple of thou skimmed of the turret head ..... took out all the play, very nice!

Good info.

I have a Hornady Lock and Lock 5 station progressive that I get great results from for the 260 and 308. Very consitant powder thrower and would use this for the new rifle if I wasn't going to try and shoot 2,500m

Rockchucker type press is good. Redding boss is good. Co ax is very good. Only one thing I found with co ax is that the new hornady seating dies drop that inner sleeve down so far that the co ax is awkward with it. Conventional seating dies are fine though. As somebody already stated; the co ax floats the dies so everything centres nicely. I also like to use Lee hand press with Lee primer seater ad a seperate operation sometimes. Lee neck size collet die sometimes too. I have no regrets with my forster co ax. Its very good.

Originally Posted by johnd

Just to throw a curve ball though.... T 7's are bloody nice for similar money, a mate got one and had a couple of thou skimmed of the turret head ..... took out all the play, very nice!

Sorry for the digression, but what was the deal with this? Do they usually have play in the turret head? How do you skim a couple of thou off and how does that help? I remember Phil at Mainly Hunting in Wellington was a bit frustrated with the T7 they had in there - I think for a similar reason.

I've had both. Firstly the Rochucker for about twenty odd years; a good reliable press. Replaced it with the Co-Ax some time back now on a whim when I was earning a lot more than I do now. The Co-Ax is very well made, has tight tolerances and is very easy to use. I really appreciate the primer catcher. You should use the Forster die lock rings with it though because they're made of alloy and won't wear into the die slot on the Co-Ax like steel lock rings can. I've found slightly better concentricity of loaded rounds with the Co-Ax. Overall, if you can afford it, go the Co-Ax, if not then the Rockchucker will still do everything you want.

Originally Posted by WillB

Sorry for the digression, but what was the deal with this? Do they usually have play in the turret head? How do you skim a couple of thou off and how does that help? I remember Phil at Mainly Hunting in Wellington was a bit frustrated with the T7 they had in there - I think for a similar reason.

There is a VERY SMALL amount of tilt to allow for the rotation of the tool head, it sits on a bushing (IIRC), he took it to a engineering co he used to work for and they machined the bushing down. I cant comment on how they did it ( I have zero tooling skills ) but the end result was less play in the fitting, if he ever sells it I would be first in line.
Lymans turret presses used to have an adjustable bolt at the rear of the press/turret to adjust the play out.

Personally I have a redding big boss 2 and it does a great job, theres just something about a T7 that I like. Maybe its the satisfying clunk as it rotates to the next station.

Originally Posted by kiwijames

Vice grips and a hammer would be a step up from anything Lee.
No experience with either press but have other Forster gear and it functions well. I have a Redding Big Boss and couldn’t see any reason to ever need another press.

It is probably worth reminding the reloading fraternity that some of us routinely develop 0.5 - 1.0 MOA loads with our single stage Lee presses, cheap arse beam scales, various bits of budget 'kit' and cheap arse rifles too (and we prove it to our mates).

And we reload a lot.

Just sayin'. Big and expensive is not always better, in measureable terms, for hunting.

As you were.

Maybe add the newer cast iron Lee press onto your list - it gets very favourable reviews on the net for concentricity and general build quality.