Thread: Foster coax or Rock Chucker

Yes the good old Lee loader with a hammer, not much different from the flash as Wilson in line die set. They certainly teach you the fundamentals very well.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

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.

Not always better but seldom worse. It isn't always about money either. Some expensive things, including reloading gear, are just nicer to use. If you can afford it and enjoy using those more expensive things then why not? "You're a long time dead" as the saying goes so why deprive yourself if you can afford it?

Don't get me wrong @10-Ring, I love nice stuff. I've lost count of the amount of times I've stood in front of various makes of presses and scales and so on and nearly walked out with a bundle of goodies... One day, it will happen, sooner rather than later if @Wingman keeps sending me videos of his very cool new set up and how smooth and fast it is...

The question of affordability and "deprivation" is a good one, something that's very different from person to person obviously. I guess it's got a lot to do with the way you are programmed when you are young. I think the primary reason I haven't committed to high-quality super funky reloading gear is not because I can't afford it (I can), but because I was always taught that functional is more important than flash. (Maybe replace the word "taught" with "brainwashed".) This was when I was a teenager being taught by my grandfather how to reload on a shoestring and still bring home a fat deer of an evening. And that approach to life in our house is applied pretty much across the board, even though I hated it as a kid and I'm pretty sure my kids hate it now! We are just a chip off the old block after all...

Funny though, because put me in a situation where I must choose gear to survive a year in the remote outback, and I will buy the most expensive fridge freezer I can find (Engels - I have three), and then spend a small fortune on building a rocksolid auxiliary triple battery system with Redarc charge controllers, with solar.... Because the risk of warm beer is a risk I would never ever be prepared to take... Whereas my grandfather would have dug a deep hole and tried to keep the ice frozen inside a polystyrene box in 35°C, for a fortnight.

Can't deny though there is an element of (probably misguided) pride at being able to put together accurate rounds with a minimum of kit. I also like its portability - I can take my reloading bench into the bush and mount it on a Black & Decker Workmate and sit under a tree.

I'm reading a book at the moment about the early days of benchrest competition. Whilst benchrest is of no interest to me whatsoever, reading about how those guys acheived fantastic accuracy with 1950s and 60s kit, reloading at the competition under a tarp with their nerdy mates... kinda puts my old Grandpa's approach to life in perspective. They didn't really know any different.

Anyway. I'll stop waffling.

The new Hornady Iron press looks very good as well.

Flyblown,

Super accurate ammo can certainly be loaded with less expensive reloading gear if you're meticulous and take your time to get everything right.

There's nothing wrong with the No.8 fencing wire mentality. Our pioneering forefathers had to improvise because they had no choice. It worked well too most of the time. However, most of us these days do have a choice. Some like to load fast because of the volume they have to reload, some just like nicely engineered gear etc.

My Wilson hand dies and arbour press which I use to load my 6.5 Creedmoor and formerly a 6PPC certainly produce consistently more accurate ammunition than my Co-Ax press does with the Redding bushing dies. Does it make a difference in the field for hunting? Probably not at long range and certainly not at shorter hunting ranges. I use the 6.5 CM for target shooting as well though, so there, every bit of extra accuracy helps. Of course you have to have a rifle that can take advantage of that extra accurate ammo, otherwise you're pushing it uphill.

It's all fun at the end of day.

Originally Posted by johnd

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.

Seeing as I now own the very same press that came out of Mainly Hunting I shall take it to get it skimmed at some stage

Thanks for the advice

Cool as! I learnt to reload on that press. I have an old rock chucker now which is great but so is the co ax. You can’t go wrong

I went straight from a lee loader and hammer (just given it away with my .303) to a Co-Ax. A mate from the Warren Page era told me that was the best and I was fortunate enough to be able to afford it. So, I haven't had to buy again - only got one press - I don't understand the techniques needed to use a screw in sort of press and get the best out of it. I suspect the Co-Ax is easier to use and foolproof for someone like me with limited knowledge or understanding.

If you're already getting 0.5 MOA with your old press why change ?
@10-Ring Thanks for the tip about the aluminium Forster rings. I've used steel Sinclair ones and thought the Forster were cheap lite alt.