Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit

[ninosdemente]

I recently went to a store and saw this on the shelf. I am new to reloading and I am interested in learning the process and am starting from scratch. I know there are other equipment and dies that will need to get bought among other items like primers, bullets, powders, etc.

I had talked to a customer at a local gun store and he actually took the time to talk to me about reloading. I am reading what I can, not as much as I should but something. He mentioned this one stage to be good for me as a beginner. Now my question, is this a good starter for beginners? Honestly am thinking about it because of the price. At the moment I have .223 and 30-06, which mainly would use it for the 30-06. But will use to reload what I have if possible or what ever I shoot the most. Is there a limit of caliber reloading? Eventually plan of getting a .308 in the future. Also is this for hand gun loading or only for rifle? I have .380, .45, 9mm.

I am planning on making from 50-100.

Thanks in advanced for the help.

[Carriertxv]

Can't go wrong with that price. Yes it will work for what you want.

[Rangerrich99]

Hi and welcome. You're going to get plenty of good info pretty soon, but to answer your questions in a general manner:

This set up is fine for a beginner, up to an experienced reloader.

It should be capable of reloading from .17 caliber up to .50 bmg.

You can reload pistol and rifle ammunition on this set up. You just need to get the appropriate dies.

Get the Lyman's 49th or 50th edition for reloading, and probably the ABC's of reloading. You'll end up with about a dozen reloading manuals eventually, but those two are a good start.

Hope that helps.

[RC20]

Yes you can reload unlimited calibers and rifle and pistol with that setup. The Rockchucker is more than you need for pistol, you do better with it for rifle and it does pistol just fine as well. I had the Junior for my pistol when I started and its doing other work now, no press is wasted. Multiples are nice if you have the room. Used are fine.

However, the following is my road to hell write-up on reloading. If you are going to get into, count on something around $1500 and as I note, its better to go to the final solution than inch your way to it and have unused equipment left behind.

I have mostly avoided that, but I was lucky to have a brother who research's and explores this area a lot. I get to try his new equipment out as well.


The problem with advise is its almost impossible to say what you need when you don't know for sure where you wind up.

What I will say is get the best stuff out there to start with, don't hink and jink your way up to the stuff that works.

My view is not always shared by others, but I am pretty serious about it and my brother and I bounce this stuff around a lot and its all based on what really works.

And that is a issue, there is a lot of Urban Legend stuff.

In my case I started out very basic (with a Lee hand kit, piece of junk, 3 loads and the cases were gone and those were straight wall)

Next up was a RCBS Junior, it worked at the time for pistol just fine and fit in what little space I had (ahh the good old days, tiny trailer at construction jobs, shooting on the day off)

I got into rifle latter, as I was hunting it turned out to be a waste to reload. The gun I had did not care what was in it, 1.5 inches and that did perfectly fine for hunting. But I got a RCBS Rockchucker and the accessories.

The straw that broke the back was I thought I had rounds and did not and did not have time to re-load, get the trip pulled together and do the sight in.

So I grabbed a couple of boxes of Federal Premium from the store, spot on and 1.5 inches (hmmm) and off I went.

So I quit for a lot of years, then got back into shooting but target only.

Then it all came into use and the money started to flow out as the hard lessons on extended reloading began.

Case break at the base, yep, have to learn to do minimum bump and you need a .001 micrometer to check the minimum bump back.

Split necks? Yep, you need to anneal to stop and that regardless of what folks say, is a dark art that I can bring light to, I found a post by one guy who advocated you could heat brass up to 1300 degrees and not damage it. By the way, that is insane! You have to know the difference between damaging metal where it not longer is metal and what heat treatment is and does (hint, 800 maximum for a fraction of a second, 750 is more better and NEVER head the case down to the base over 450, the case will blow up.

So, one thing, no press is ever wasted. I use the Junior now down at the range, I load some COAL spot on and the rest long and I play with COAL to tune a load that way. Works a treat.

My other brother gave up his reloading and I got his Rockchucker as well.

I reloaded in a 2 foot closet (width ) with a bench high floor) and did ok, but I was loading one caliber. You can go small but its a pain.

5 feet works if its a dedicated bench. You want shelves above and not real wide ones (not cabinets) Things get to the back of a cabinet and you never find them again.
I just got up two shelves above my prep bench (my other one is a combo work and reloading). I am finally seeing light in brass organization (3 calibers)

So, for the serious re-loader.

Case Trimmers: Nothing works as well as an off the shoulder trimmers for fast and consistent and no fuss. , if you have more than 5 calibers then the Gerard motorized unit is by far the best.
My other brother gave me his RCBS trimmer. . Lengths were never the same, latch in, turn, measure, too short, too long, too - total pain. It has do with length below the shoulder and base depth.

For a couple I of calibers I have the drill chuck upside down in a vice and Gerard tri trimmers (saves steps, length, chamfer and debur)

This last time it was start over or modify for the drill (which I put upside down and clamp in a vice and lock it on) and it works great.

I am trying the Trim it II with inserts, sort of a poor mans Gerard. I should have gone with Gerard it, but got lured in to thinking only two cases to load (remember the thing about getting the best?)

Yea a Gerard sets you back $500 or so, inserts are like $30. Right now I have about $200 into Tir Timmers and another $150 into the Trim it II (but I can add calibers now at about $20) though I have to adjust the cutter, its setup for that and I do keep a lot of brass and it only gets sized about 1 in 5 times. Still the Gerard is swap and play. I am pretty close to it now.

Powder Charging: Got straight to the mechanized disperse with electronic scales, Lyman has a nice one out (y0u need a touch pen if you have fat finger like I do. Hornady one is a lot bigger but easy to use, RCBS is a great one. Beams? Nothing beats an electronics scale for ease of use and versatility. Ever try to sort bullets on a beam? Is it 168 or 175. Hmmm, adjust, slide adjust slide, ok now for 175, repeat adjust slide thing. Ok if its wrestlers weighting in, not for reloading. $157 for the lowest cost one (and its good to have second scale, Lyman makes a nice one, its the wrigh only use and backup to the other one as it has a built in trickler I can load fairly fast with.

Dies? I found the Micrometer type are really nice, those are not cheap, $100+ for an RCBS or Forster.

Anneal: I tried the torch. Saw how iffy that is quality control wise. I used my brothers Annie until I got my own (induction heating). Even then it takes some work to get right (hint, heat low until you are sure, then move up, complete cleaned brass heats slower (odd) than brass not cleaned inside. $484 (shipped and life time warranty)

Brass Polishing: That is the next step. Stainless pins and the right tumbler clean out the brass and the primer pockets. The right tumble is $350. Still not there yet but that's what I will get.

I will probably not do it each time, just when I anneal, but you8 will need to anneal by 5 rounds, 8 if you are lucky. 5 is a good number./

How much have I run you up through?

Oh yea, forgot the primer. Again opinions vary. I fell in love with the RCBS universal. Why? I don't' have to put in shell holders! One for large and one for small base (primers0

And I broke it and RCBS sent me almost an entirely new assembly (with the broken part)> I think that is only $50.

RCBS prep station, always handy. I had to resize 7.5 Swiss primer pockets that were too small (one source of Brass for that these days though its good stuff, its size for European large primers and those are a shade smaller than US)

Also has the primer pocket brush and de-burr and chamber and those are handy for all sorts of things. That's only another $100 something.

I think I have you up through $1500 (I had the presses to start with) and we haven't bought the stainless pin unit yet! ($350 and a fruit dryer rot dry the brass off afterwards)

[ajandrs]

No disrespect to RC, but I'd disagree, firmly. $1,500? My wife would have used my reloads against me if I had spent a third of that!

That rock chucker should last your lifetime and will likely always have a place on your bench. It is a fantastic option for reloading your various rifle calibers, and as others have mentioned it will handle any pistol caliber as well ... just not very quickly.

If you find you want / need higher output on your pistol calibers a Lee Classic Turret would fit the bill nicely for pretty cheap and get you decent production. Of course you can go up to true progressive presses for several hundred but they aren't necessary unless you are shooting hundreds of rounds a week.

So yes, that's an awesome deal and you should grab it! Get a couple manuals, read them. AFTER you've read them watch some YouTube videos for the calibers you want to reload and make sure what they say matches what you read, if they're doing things differently than what the books say move on to the next video.

There's obviously more equipment you'll need, but this press is a great start to get you going!


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[Powermwt]

Welcome to TFL!

Every hobby has a starting point, and that is a great price to start with.

I started with one in college you banged the case into the die with a hammer some 50+ years ago and you don't need to go to the extremes RC20 has shown you, I suggest you start slow.

Remember, this should be fun for you to do!

[ed308]

Great price for that kit. I ended up buying my first single press when was on sale too. Make the decision easier.

[lefteye]

I've used my RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme and associated RCBS accessories for reloading rifle cartridges for about 40 years. In fact, during those 40 years all centerfire rifle cartridges I used for practice ,scope zeroing, AND hunting were loaded by me on my Rock Chucker. My RCBS equipment will certainly outlast me.

[hdwhit]

ninosdemente wrote:
...is this a good starter for beginners?

When I got started in reloading (in 1977), I bought an RCBS Reloader Special (without compound leverage). I still own it and it is still my principal press. And every time I form 30 Carbine brass into 5.7mm Johnson cases, I wish I had bought the Rock Chucker.

RCBS Customer Service is second to none. Others may be cheaper to buy, but 30 or 40 years down the road will they even remember who you are? RCBS does. By contrast, Lyman's Customer Service didn't remember who I was 90 days later.

My RCBS Reloader Special has cost me roughly $2.25 a year to own. The Lyman die that they won't even respond to my e-mails about cost me almost $30 and is worthless.

As the kids say, "Do the math".

[ninosdemente]

Thanks to all for all the help and for your answers. It has really helped me a lot.

I have not really given much thought about the table but do have a basement I can set up at as I really don't have any other "space" available. Should not be hard to manage though.

The great thing about the store also is that it does have dies for the 30-06. The left is at $45 and the right is at $30 plus the sale if I remember correctly. I truly don't have idea if those are the price ranges for dies or if some are higher or less than others. Hopefully this is not a dumb question, but when I get the press should one stick with a reloading book from same manufacturer as the press or doesn't really matter?

I know I have a long way to go but am really interested in learning this and can't wait.

[DaleA]

That's an excellent price for the "RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Single Stage Press Kit."

I took a look at Midway USA, which, IMhO is an excellent resource but is kind of middle of the road as far as prices are concerned, and their price for the kit is $280 and that's on sale. Their regular price is $330.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/93...tage-press-kit

I think this kit would be a great way to start. You might decide to get a different press later on but there's not much at all that the Rock Chucker won't do and RCBS is one of the premier reloading companies.

As far as books go, 'The ABC's of Reloading' is a great reference you should have and then get a reloading manual and no, the reloading manual does not have to match your reloading equipment. Most reloaders have a couple manuals at least.

Here's a link to "The ABC's"
https://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Reloadin...s+of+reloading

Here's a couple good reloading manuals but don't just look at these, there's lots of others that are good too.
https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-49th-Ed...yman+reloading

https://www.amazon.com/Reloading-Man...oading+manuals

[Powermwt]

You need to search the differences between dies, full length sizing, small base, neck sizing, etc.

Here is Midway USA as an example... https://www.midwayusa.com/reloading-dies/br?cid=702

Ah, there are a lot of choices and depending on what your circumstances are, you make choices based not only on price but application.

You need to get a book... and a few others. There may be better & newer information but I seem to remember starting out with the ABCs of Reloading... it is cheap... I see it is like the 9th or 10th edition... I have a original I guess as it does not say anything about what edition it is.

https://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Reloadin.../dp/B004GUSBP6

Here is a thread on that book... https://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...=262300&page=3

That brings us to reloading information... a very confusing topic sometimes as there is not a lot of agreement on which are best. Loading information can come from bullet manufactures, powder manufactures and equipment manufacturers as well as all kinds of home brewed loads and internet advice.


I have even gotten manuals from stores, like Cabela's... http://www.cabelas.com/product/Loadb...A&gclsrc=aw.ds

You need to pick a manual, mine was Lyman to start... read up enough to pick what kind of dies you want, pick a bullet and powder and get their loading data, pick a primer... find a spot to reload and built or buy a bench and either buy or use brass that you have shot.

There is a lot of information to sift thru, but that is what makes this hobby interesting.

I see the RCBS press has a Nosler Manual... good choice.

Master Kit Includes:

Rock Chucker Supreme Single Stage press
M500 scale
Uniflow Powder Measure
Nosler Reloading Manual
Hand priming tool with small and large primer plugs
Folding Hex Key Set with 0.050", 1/16", 5/64", 3/32", 7/64", 1/8", 9/64" and 5/32" keys
Universal Case Loading Block, which holds 40 cases in most rifle and pistol calibers
Case Lube Kit, which includes a 2 oz bottle of Case Lube-2, a case lube pad, 2 case neck brushes for .22 through .30 calibers and an accessory handle
Powder Funnel for .22 to .45 caliber, including the Winchester Short Magnum calibers
Chamfer and deburring tool for .17 through .60 caliber

[lee n. field]

Originally Posted by ninosdemente

I recently went to a store and saw this on the shelf. I am new to reloading and I am interested in learning the process and am starting from scratch. I know there are other equipment and dies that will need to get bought among other items like primers, bullets, powders, etc.

I had talked to a customer at a local gun store and he actually took the time to talk to me about reloading. I am reading what I can, not as much as I should but something. He mentioned this one stage to be good for me as a beginner. Now my question, is this a good starter for beginners? Honestly am thinking about it because of the price. At the moment I have .223 and 30-06, which mainly would use it for the 30-06. But will use to reload what I have if possible or what ever I shoot the most. Is there a limit of caliber reloading? Eventually plan of getting a .308 in the future. Also is this for hand gun loading or only for rifle? I have .380, .45, 9mm.

I am planning on making from 50-100.

Thanks in advanced for the help.

You'd be starting off buying good equipment. For your use (low volume rifle, occasional handgun), this would be fine.

Yes, you can load handgun rounds on this.

I just looked at the pic. 50% off -- yes, grab it.

[reddog81]

That is a great price for the kit. Typically I would not recommend a "kit" because they contain items that I never use or other brands have much better options for specific tools and in my opinion it is cheaper and better to buy everything piecemeal, but that is a great price for a good kit. Buy the kit and then read the sections in the manual that explain the reloading process and then buy the Lyman #50 manual and read it also.

The very very basic questions you are asking will be answered in these books. In the picture of .30-06 dies one of the boxes only contains 1 die. This is a neck sizing die and will not be capable of loading complete rounds as there is no seating die. I'd suggest watching a video or 2 that shows the reloading process for .30-06 from start to finish so you become familiar with all different tools, how they are used and help become familiar with the new "language" that you will need to know.

[RC20]

You need to search the differences between dies, full length sizing, small base, neck sizing, etc.

No, you get a full length standard die and start there.


Then you can get into all the nuances and wonders of the rest, which to me is like doing the rock growing thing in a Japanese garden while sipping tea.

All very subtle and wonderous, but I am still using Full Length dies and don't see a reason to change.

[RC20]

No disrespect to RC, but I'd disagree, firmly. $1,500? My wife would have used my reloads against me if I had spent a third of that!

Well you obliviously need to have been married for some time as your wife is not trained! (hopefully taken in jest)

What I am trying to convey is yes you can get into it low cost, but if you do a lot of it, the rest jumps and bites you and you are money ahead of buy the big boat and not buy and sell 3 boats in between and loose money on each one.

The reality is, count on the $1500, and don't get in between stuff.

For trimming, figure out your options and get what works. Trim it II or the Gerard motorized or the Tri Trimmer.

And so on

[cw308]

Can't go wrong. I have been reloading for 30+ years with the same press. Its rock solid, one of the best presses. Cleaning your brass look into a wet tumbler with stainless steel pins I switched from dry to wet, brass looks like new inside & out. Go with the standard RCBS dies, like the press they will last forever. Keep connected with this forum ,just as good as a personal trainer. Welcome to the family.

Chris

[NHSHOOTER]

I started out with the very same "kit" you are looking at and I paid 299. There are other tools you will need but the kit does come with a nice speer reloading manual that will answer many questions, as has been said over and over, read!! Then come on here and ask more questions, there are always helpful answers here. Welcome to the Forum..

[ajandrs]

Originally Posted by RC20

Well you obliviously need to have been married for some time as your wife is not trained! (hopefully taken in jest)

Haha - she's pretty well trained at this point, but it's more of a disposable income factor for me. We made the tough call for her to quit her job and stay home with the kids until they're both in school full time. So I have 2 more years of slowed / delayed gratification. I can't complain though, for the most part I've been able to do what I really want to do ... but I am certainly looking forward to a second income again!!


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[RC20]

Good luck and I hope the two years go fast.

We manage off one income but no kids either.

If I need something I can sell a gun. I have been shifting the resource into the re-loading as I am doing non competitive bench rest shooting and shooting a lot, then the other stuff comes to the surface.

[Tsquared]

That is a very good deal. I have my dad's RockChucker. It has loaded untold thousands of rounds. I still use it for small ammo runs or to work up a load. Most of the time it is pulling duty for rifle case prep.

[Snyper]

I paid about that much for a used identical kit nearly 40 years ago and it's still working like new. You need to jump on that deal.

[ninosdemente]

Thanks to everyone for all the replies again. You guys have been very helpful indeed. I will definitely be asking more questions. But have to start reading and learn a lot of the terms that were used here as don't have an idea what it means. Soon to change.

One thing is for sure, I can't thank enough to the one guy at Cabela's whom I interrupted his shopping, asked him about reloading. He answered what he knew and then sent me to this forum.

[Reloadron]

At that price I would buy it in a heart beat. The press will last you a lifetime. Heck of a good deal.

Ron

[billcarey]

That is a GREAT price and you will need to add very little to be reloading...all quality components. Don't hesitate because deals on Rockchuckers are far and few between.