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August 31, 2002, 02:03 AM | #1 |
Senior Member
Join Date: August 23, 2001
Location: Peoples Dominion of Kanada
Posts: 288
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Mangled Press. Which one Now?
Wow, last night I completely destroyed my Lee Challenger press. Blew the linkage all to he** and bent the handle almost to a 45 (where's the little symbol on the keyboard for degrees? Jeeze I think this Cuban Rum is interfering with my typing ability???)
And all I was doing was trying to resize some surplus 7.62 IVI brass. So far Iv'e narrowed my choices down to the Lyman Crusher ($149 CDN) or the RCBS Rock Chucker ($189 CDN). I'll be using it for cartridges up to .416 Rem and .375 H&H as well as mil-spec 7.62 and 5.56. So whats your favorite single stage heavy duty press |
August 31, 2002, 02:35 AM | #2 |
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Join Date: August 13, 2001
Location: Montana
Posts: 489
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Rock Chucker
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August 31, 2002, 07:25 AM | #3 |
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Join Date: November 26, 2000
Location: Northeastern Ct.
Posts: 1,019
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Either, both are well made and rugged as they come.
I would probably give the nod to the RCBS only because of the wonderful customer service received from them in the past. Take Care |
August 31, 2002, 08:30 AM | #4 |
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Join Date: March 7, 2001
Location: Littleton, Colorado
Posts: 342
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Rock Chucker!
Dan |
August 31, 2002, 08:44 AM | #5 |
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Join Date: February 20, 1999
Location: home on the range; Vermont (Caspian country)
Posts: 14,324
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Lyman = 3 bolt-down holes
RCBS = two bolt-down holes Also suggest not discounting the superb presses from REDDING............ My single-stage heavy-duty's include a Lyman Crusher II and the superior Bonanza (now Forster-Bonanza) Co-Ax.
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August 31, 2002, 12:12 PM | #6 |
Senior Member
Join Date: November 26, 2001
Location: Sask.
Posts: 108
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Ram stroke:
RCBS Rockchucker 3 5/16" Redding Boss 3.4" Lyman Crusher II 3 7/8" Forster Co-AX 4" Redding Ultramag 4 1/8" Maximum Cartridge Overall Length of the .375 and .416 is 3.6 " Bye Jack |
August 31, 2002, 01:17 PM | #7 |
Senior Member
Join Date: March 16, 1999
Location: So. CA Mountains
Posts: 540
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Redding Ultramag -- my primary singlestage...
The secondary is a Rockchucker, in semi retirement after years of good service... And it still gets used as lot! You've discovered the big problem with Lee: Great designs, so-so manufacture . Tom
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August 31, 2002, 01:29 PM | #8 |
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Join Date: February 26, 1999
Location: Danby, Vermont
Posts: 349
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Had a similar experience...
The Compound leverage links on the challenger are the weak point of the design. Mine started to develop cracks, and when I noticed this, I swapped them - as the crack was only on one side. But this was only a temp fix, as the second piece soon cracked.
I'd thought that perhaps the 3 or 4 thousand military cases I'd swaged the crimp out of the primer pockets was the primary cause of the breakage, and this may be true. It might have also been the 12-15 thousand rounds that I'd loaded to boot. Who knows? But now the challenger sits as a backup, and I've started to use an old JR 2 press from RCBS. This thing is rock solid and I doubt I'll ever wear it out. This is (in a way) unfortunate, as I would really like to get a Rock Chucker! Anyway, that would be my suggestion to you - go RCBS. If for nothing else, do it for the customer service. Unkel Gilbey |
August 31, 2002, 03:12 PM | #9 |
Senior Member
Join Date: November 26, 2001
Location: Sask.
Posts: 108
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You won't wear it out. Bought my RCBS Jr. in 1968 and it's still going.
Bye Jack |
August 31, 2002, 03:36 PM | #10 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 29, 1999
Location: Dewey, AZ
Posts: 12,858
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45°
alt 248 = °, use the number pad for the numbers. Above good word re stout presses. Sam |
August 31, 2002, 07:23 PM | #11 |
Member In Memoriam
Join Date: March 19, 2000
Location: Jeanerette, La. Near the
Posts: 1,999
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"Bought my RCBS Jr. in 1968 and it's still going strong"
I know what you mean Jack. I bought mine in 64 and it's still like new. Been through a hurricane and all. Hell Andrew removed the roof of my shop, dumped s*** on the reloading bench and soaked everything with 10 inches of rain. It was 2 weeks before I could even START to clean it up. The only thing I lost were some old reloading manuals, and thanks to E-Bay I was able to replace those. I think that there is no way to abuse stuff more than that...........leaving things wet, and EVERYTHING was OK. Had some rust but cleaned up just fine. that RCBS green is good stuff. The only thing that ever broke on my JR was the 2 lil aluminum "tits" that the rubber band goes around on the primer catcher. I drilled 2 holes and put 2 machine screws in them and just put the rubber bands on that now. Ya just CAN'T kill the thing. |
August 31, 2002, 08:51 PM | #12 |
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Join Date: February 2, 2001
Location: Beaufort County NC
Posts: 51
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Cain R, Been using a RCBS RockChucker since 1978 - you won't ever wear it out. But, check out the "Big Boss", new from Redding, just like the old Boss, but has a bigger opening for the longer cases (375 H&H, etc.).
Southla1 - know what you mean about those hurricanes. My gear has gone under water twice (Fran and Floyd) - my Dad dunked it all (press, powder measure, scale, dies, brass, etc.) in pails of motor oil (I was in CA with the NG for Floyd) and I cleaned it up twice - what a mess! I have since moved it all to my garage - we are on higher ground here, HOPEFULLY never again. NG Bruce |
September 1, 2002, 12:58 PM | #13 |
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Join Date: March 19, 2000
Location: Jeanerette, La. Near the
Posts: 1,999
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Amen to that Bruce!
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September 4, 2002, 11:56 AM | #14 |
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Join Date: June 5, 2000
Location: Job hunting on the road...
Posts: 3,827
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Use either more, or a higher quality, case lube. I prefer Imperial Die Wax.
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