RCBS Rock Chucker Press

[Colorado Redneck]

I have only used an old Rock Chucker since I started loading a few years ago. The primer set up works fine. The primer catcher will dump a few on the floor, but if ya hold a trash can under the cup when you take it loose, the spent primers all fall into the trash can. I don't wanna spend the dollars to buy a different one. It is kinda like my older brother that drove a Model A pick up for years...he didn't want to change cause he enjoyed the old truck. He knew how to make it work. If something went wrong, it was a challenge to fix it.

[David Wile]

Hey folks,

I can't believe Tuttle and Reloader are that young and still stick with RCBS press primer feeding system. I can remember when I first got the auto feeder to add to the priming arm. I spent a fair bit of time getting it adjusted where it worked just fine until the last two primers in the tube. I stuck a wood dowel in the primer feed tube, and that made all the primers feed. Many years later when I got my LNL AP, I found wood dowels also worked to make the last few primers feed in it.

That first primer feed system on the RCBS Juniors and RockChuckers was indeed a fine improvement at the time. Later, when a friend showed me about priming by hand with the Lee tool, I was hesitant at first because I just did not like Lee stuff. After trying it one time, I bought one and a set of Lee's shell holders for it. Maybe a year later, I saw that RCBS had a hand held primer tool, and with my preference for RCBS, I bought one right away, and it was of course built like a tank compared to the chincy Lee tool. I used the RCBS tool maybe a half dozen times until I finally decided the Lee tool was easier to use than the RCBS tool, and that was something for me to admit. I still have the RCBS tool, but it is just a conversation piece for me.

I know what Tuttle means about the Lee tool making one's thumb ache if it is used too long, but most of the loading I do on the single stage presses is usually just small batches not worth messing with the progressive press. In fact, since I got my LNL AP in 1997, a whole lot of my loadings on my single stage presses consist of five cartridges at a time that I want to test.

For Wncchester chiding those of us "who swear by their RC presses as the greatest things since interchangable shell holders soften their tone quite a bit after trying something else!" , I would inform him that RCBS really was one the greatest presses since it was actually one of the first to use interchangeable shell holders, incorporate some sort of spent primer catcher, and provide a very good reprimiming system that did not require one to touch the primers with one's hands. And, as you can see by the comments of others on this thread, there are many of us who still use those old green relic single stage presses because they still work well after all these years, and there is still plenty of work to be done on them if one is wise enough to recognize it.

After listening to some of you guys talking about still priming on your old green machines, I guess I will just have to get my Lyman Nutcracker out and load some 45-70s just to try to get in some sort of step with you retro guys.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[abber]

The primer catcher will dump a few on the floor, but if ya hold a trash can under the cup when you take it loose, the spent primers all fall into the trash can.

I use my shop vac to suck up all the spent primers, then remove the catcher. I have never primed a round on my RC press. The priming arm and its related parts are in a junk box on the shelf. I can't see why one would want to handle their primers one at a time. The hand priming tool has its drawbacks, but nothing like press priming. In my younger days, I primed on my old RS5 press. It seated the primers unevenly. I'd seat it, then turn the case 180 degrees and hit it again. What a pain! I'll stay with the hand priming tool, but otherwise the RC is a beauty.

[micksis86]

I got myself an RCBS universal hand priming tool and I love it. You can do 200 cases in about 10 minutes or so. Now annoying shell holders. I used to have a Lee auto prime hand held primer and after getting several shell holders that were too thick to fit i junked it. would never use anything but my RCBS universal.

[David Wile]

Hey Abber,

If I read your post correctly, it seems you are missing an important part of the old RCBS priming system used on their Junior and RockChucker presses. When I first bought them, the press came with the swing arm primer seater that had two interchangable primer holders so you could load both large and small primers. You are correct that you had to pick a primer up by hand and put it in the primer holder or primer cup before you would swing the primer arm under the case to reprime same. That was pretty much how most presses were fifty years ago. However, the Junior and RockChuckers presses were both made to accept an automatic primer feeder which would eliminate one touching primers with one's hands.

If I recall correctly, the RCBS auto primer feeder was not included in the cost of the press and had to be purchased as an accessory. It consisted of an aluminum block and two primer tubes, one for large and the other for small primers. The Junior and RockChucker presses have a slot in the top front where the aluminum block is held in place with set screws above the primer swing arm, and a tube of primers was placed in the block to feed the primer swing arm. The trick was to get the aluminum block mounted just right above the primer swing arm in its retracted position. You would then pull the swing arm back to the block, depress a detent, and a single primer would then fall into place on your primer swing arm. Then you would raise the sized case on the ram, swing the primer arm under the case, lower the ram to seat the primer, then raise and lower the ram to free the now empty primer swing arm so it could come back to the automatic feeder assembly and pick up another primer. The whole idea was to load the primer tubes with a primer flipper and prime the cases without ever touching the primers with dirty or oily hands.

Remember, this concept was first started about 50 years ago and was a great innovation for its time. You could purchase one automatic primer feeder and move it from one RCBS press to another if you wanted, but in reality, adjusting the aluminum block to feed the primers correctly into the swing arm took a good bit of time, and I suspect that when most folks had it adjusted correctly for one machine, they would just keep it on that machine. Before the RCBS automatic primer feeder system, everyone I knew picked up each primer one at a time to place in a swing arm seater. As soon as RCBS marketed their primer feeder mechanism, other folks like Lyman and others came out with their own versions of an auto primer feeder.

Today there are better auto primer feeders, of course, but the RCBS Junior and RockChucker presses can still allow one to prime his cases without ever touching a primer with one's hands.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[abber]

That's all news to me David. I never knew about that type of system, but then I am a noob of only 20 or so years

I've never worried about handling the primers, because as I said, in my old days I used the press primer, and hand loaded every one. Never had a primer failure, so the "oily hands" are not of a concern to me.

You've made me curious, though. I thought I knew everything!!

Just kidding, of course, but I am going to learn more about the system you talked about, if only to satisfy my curiousity.

Thanks, and have a great day!

[MADISON]

The RCBS Rock Chucker is the excellent single stage press.
LYMAN and REDDING make excellent Terret presses.
Without all the springs and add-ons Hornady's L-N-L Progresseive is excellent.

[FlyFish]

I bought my RC in the early 70s and have loaded many tens of thousands of rounds with it, but never seated a single primer because I bought a separate bench-mounted primer tool at the same time. I removed the aluminum primer arm and had the same problem that others have mentioned with primers bouncing out of the catcher. I cut a small piece of kitchen sponge and stuffed it in the spot the primer arm would occupy and that solved the problem. I've had the same piece of sponge stuffed in there for 35 years or so.

I now load my pistol rounds on an LnL, but the RC is still bolted to the bench in the same spot it occupied originally and it's still doing duty for all my rifle reloading except .223. Truly a great product, and the standard of the industry.

[hawkeye-911]

Fellas....Why try to detach the primer catcher when a small shop vacum can suck up all your problems.....nothing hits the floor that way.

[kle]

because eventually the primer catcher gets full?

And haven't I read somewhere that vacuums and reloading components (primers, even spent primers, and powder) shouldn't mix? Something about static discharge and BOOM. Or something.

A broom would do the trick, though.

[BIGR]

My 1980's model Rock Chucker has been a brute of a press and the primer catcher does do a great job.

[FlyFish]

Why try to detach the primer catcher when a small shop vacum can suck up all your problems.....nothing hits the floor that way.

I don't doubt that it works, but I can't imagine having a vacuum running next to me for the duration of my reloading session.

[David Wile]

Hey folks,

Maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect what Hawkeye meant was not to run a vac alongside your press the whole time you are loading, but rather, to size and deprime a batch of shells and then use a vac to suck the spent primers out of the catcher rather than to bother removing the catcher. Sounds like it could work to me, and I wouldn't worry any about using a vac to clean spent primers, powder, and other dirt from the floor. If I somehow spilled a large amount of powder on the floor, I would first use a dustpan and broom to get the bulk of it up.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[Pongo]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect what Hawkeye meant was not to run a vac alongside your press the whole time you are loading, but rather, to size and deprime a batch of shells and then use a vac to suck the spent primers out of the catcher rather than to bother removing the catcher.

That's what I thought he meant.

I think I'm correct in stating that the static discharge problem with vacuum cleaners is the metal suction nozzles can cause sparks but I don't think the plastic ones are a problem.

[FlyFish]

That's what I thought he meant.

Yes, of course. Good grief - I must have been suffering from an excess of adult beverages when I read it the first time.

Not a bad idea, either, though it doesn't help with the bouncing out problem.

[warnerwh]

The Lee Classic Cast is the best deal going. It's as good or better than the others. The spent primers go where they're supposed to. I don't know how someone using the RC can only have 2 out of a hundred primers land on the floor, there were a lot more than that for me. When I started shooting again earlier this year the first thing I knew I need is a single stage press.

The Lee I read so much good about I took a risk as I was apprehensive being a Lee. I also like the Safety Primer system. You never have to touch the primers and it is fast. Midway is selling them for 76 dollars til the end of the month. You get an excellent press for way less money.

Lee out did himself with this press. It's made in the U.S.A. RCBS is sourcing from China. I have nothing but good to say about RCBS. They have gone beyond what you should expect from a manufacturer for me and they win when it comes to the warrantee. The Lee is the better press to use imo though.

[BigJakeJ1s]

I think I'm correct in stating that the static discharge problem with vacuum cleaners is the metal suction nozzles can cause sparks but I don't think the plastic ones are a problem.

Not quite. Static charges are much harder to build up on a conductive surface (they spread out too easily). If you have a plastic hose with a metal nozzle, the static charge built up on the inside of the hose may discharge through the metal nozzle to some grounded surface (the spark), but the metal nozzle did not cause the problem. When wood working shops first started putting in plastic piping for their dust collection systems, there was a rash of fires caused by static buildup from the dust flying through the non-conductive plastic pipe. It was never a problem with metal pipes. The answer? Run a grounded copper wire or braid down the inside of the pipe the entire length. Now the plastic pipes for dust collection systems are treated to make their surfaces somewhat conductive.

Andy

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Well, I started years back with a Herters press. I did then, as you do now get what I paid for.

Moved up to a RCBS Jr. - big step in quality - and later to a RockChucker.

I never did like the priming system on the RockChucker, but have seen worse, such as the one on the RCBS Partner press.

Anyway, bought a bench top priming system to get away from the on press system and sent it back about as fast as I got it.

Good Name brand, but piece of junk!

Quickly got an RCBS bench top priming system - not the strip model - and it is the best priming system I have ever used. Way, WAY!! better then the press mounted type.

I liked the idea and the operation of the hand held primers, but the one I had was - a Lee - and it was like many of their products, good idea but lacking in integraty.

It just didn't last. I would expect the RCBS hand held to do much better.

But presently, the RockChucker is taking a holiday as I work thru the learning curve on my new Hornady L&L progressive.

The RockChucker will still be used for rifle ammo, but I can and do put a lot more lead down range with the handguns then with the rifle so that is where the L&L will come in handy.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot