Rock chucker Question

[GypsmJim]

I load 28 rifle and handgun calibers. ALL my Dies are Lee. Since I liked them from the beginning I never saw the need to buy a different brand. That said, I can't say positive OR negative things about the competition because I never tried them.

Fifty years and about 100,000 rounds loaded so I guess Lee is good enough for me.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

I started with a Rockchucker and RCBS .38 Special and .45 ACP dies. I expanded to many handgun and rifle calibers and progressive machines too.

Now I am just loading .38 Special and occasionally .357 Magnum or .44 Special.

 

[geeollie]

Sounds like the Lee die set will be just fine for me. Thank you all for the input.

For 38 Special and 32 S&W Long/32 H&R do you find the regular 3 die set works well for a roll crimp? Is the Factory Crimp die good to learn with or is it better to learn first and then evaluate if the Factory Crimp is needed.

 

[A10]

For handguns I've always used a 3 die set. The factory roll crimp works fine for revolvers. I prefer a taper crimp for my autos.

If you can afford it, carbide is the way to go.

 

[mtgianni]

Sounds like the Lee die set will be just fine for me. Thank you all for the input.

For 38 Special and 32 S&W Long/32 H&R do you find the regular 3 die set works well for a roll crimp? Is the Factory Crimp die good to learn with or is it better to learn first and then evaluate if the Factory Crimp is needed.

The three die set is all that you need.

 

[geeollie]

Many Thanks for the replies.

 

[Drm50]

I’ve not loaded as many rounds as a competition shooter or the bucket of bullet brigade but have loaded dozens of calibers both standard and wildcat
all on single stage press.
I had north of 100 sets of dies and only bought 10 or so new. The only dies that I have no use for are Lee and Hornady.
I loaded for quality not quantity. I would have 100rds on hand for each rifle
and 500 for each handgun. Exceptions for exotic cartridges that brass wasn’t availed to have that many rds on the shelf.

 

[Skeet 028]

I have 3 sets of Lee Dies. Rather use the old Herter's. Actually have 4 but the carbide ring on the 500 S&W broke on the 14th case and they would not replace them. The rest I got in estates and never used...Prefer Dillon on their presses and a tossup tween Redding and RCBS. I don't have a Rock Chucker...but have 2 or 3 of the predecessors.. The bigger RCBS A2...Strong suckers

 

[Drm50]

Back in 60s and before companies could not stay in business peddling junk.
Sometime in 70s the economy stuff started seeping out. Before Lyman, RCBS, C&H, Texan, Redding, Bonanza, Pacific and several other smaller companies made very nice dies. The big corporations have gobbled them all up.
I would still rather buy a set of used dies of a good manufacture than the new cheap lines. I had a policy concerning dies that was arrived at by personal experience. Never sell a set of dies unless you have multiples.
It never fails if you sell a set of dies that you will get another gun for that cartridge and have to look for dies again.

 

[glowe]

I own two RCBS RCs and love the quality and durability of these presses. I have used it when resizing brass for several specialty calibers up to 45-75 Winchester from 50 Alaskan. I also used to load 577 Snider and that took a 1 1/4"-12 thread pattern die set which is the OD of the steel die insert in the top of the press.

The most useful attachments I have used with this press is a primer tray to catch the ejected primers and an RCBS primer feeder. These feeders come with two tubes (large & small) that hold 100 primers. The seating tool also comes with large and small primer seating feature. I find hand-held units are hard to work and not all that reliable, but this feeder is simple and works very well for me. I have one press set up to resize the brass, de-prime, prime. The other is for seating the bullet and crimping the case.

 

[dobegrant]

Still using both my Rockchucker and the junior from the 1970’s

 

[Greyman50]

Have 2 RC’s and a JR. Have them set up on bench and have a “ progressive” set up to load. Bought my 1st in 75 and its going strong. Switched to all carbide dies as its quicker. Buy several loading blocks to hold brass, makes things easier. RCBS powder measures are also pretty good as their scales are. Check powder charges every 8-10 rounds. Safety First.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My Rock Chucker II is so old, the spent primer tray is cast aluminum, and the green color is a paler green.

The only problem using some 7/8-14 dies is, some are so short there isn't room to get a lock ring on the die above the press. Most guys just used the bottom on the bottom of the die. With the Hornady Lock-N-Load conversion, you can Lock-tight (blue) the die in the collet, and not use lock rings at all if necessary.

I have about 30 of the collets and leave several die sets mounted. I try to keep 3 die sets worth of collets (6-9) available to swap around. I have a Forrester Collet style bullet puller in one L-N-L collet for quick access.

The large diameter hole is 1 1/8"-12 threads to the inch. RCBS made a 12 gauge loading die set in the Cowboy series and CH4D made 12 and 20 gauge dies. The CH4D is a much better design! (I have both.) The big game cartridges like 500 NE 3" to 700 NE are in 1 1/8"-12 dies too.

Ivan

 

[rwsmith]

We have established...

Accepts 7/8"x14 dies, which is almost all of them. You can get into an internet fistfight over Lee products including dies. For most purposes, most cartridges and most people they work fine.

...in past threads that reading the instructions to Lee dies has made all the difference in satisfaction with their performance.

 

[Skeet 028]

Those large shotshell dies from anyone were more than useless. You could load faster on a whack a molle Lee Loader...and cost more than a MEC shotshell loading press. I had a set once...they "worked" kinda

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Those large shotshell dies from anyone were more than useless. You could load faster on a whack a molle Lee Loader...and cost more than a MEC shotshell loading press. I had a set once...they "worked" kinda

I have the 12 ga. RCBS (they are less than worthless) and a set of 20 ga from CH4D (slightly better design!). I load and reload the MAGTECH all brass hulls, if you crimp an overshot card to hold them together, the die sets allow you to remove that crimp (It doesn't shoot out at Black Powder pressures)

Paper and plastic hulls both are much better is loaded any more modern way! MEC 600 Jr. being the best bang for the buck!

Ivan

 

[Skeet 028]

The bad part about loading brass shells is that you need larger wads at least the over powder cards 11ga for 12 ga...filler wads will spread a bit Plastic wads will work as the o p cups will spread but you end up with an unopened crimp. Use the right size OP cards and fillers with the right wad pressure even PB will take out crimp most of the time Never loaded 20 ga brass. I'll bet that's fun...I did load BP paper shells and AAs with BP. ...wake you up...Mec Is the way to go. I used Sizemasters to do load development on. Loaded at least a hundred thousand shells on a 600 Jr and still have a few...3 inch 410 esp.

 

[smoothshooter]

I have been using the same Rockchucker press since 1972 with several brands of dies, including Lee brand with no problems.
Some of the really old Lyman dies have a smaller OD but I don’t use them.