Stepping back to single stage

[Bugkiller99]

Sorta.

Doing load development for my 357 carbine. AND I'm having a friend come over soon for a little schooling, going to start them off single stage, loading some .45 acp. So I broke out the SS, for a little review.

Got to admit, I enjoyed slowing down and going back to my roots. Relaxing.

Not throwing out my turret press, but the SS may come out more often.

 

[robertrwalsh]

Nothing wrong with a single stage press.

 

[Adk Mike]

I've loaded for 35 years on a Rock Chucker . Nothing againest a turret. I have a turret press on the bench I use to seat cast rifle bullets .
I just like simple. I batch load mostly in the winter for the next year. Few mistakes and no double charges etc.

 

[MichiganScott]

I've never owned a progressive press. The range is snowed in nine months out of the year and watching reality TV is not what I want to do in my free time. The Rockchucker fills that need quite well.

 

[SMSgt]

For reloading, I've never felt the need for speed. My Herters SS press cranks out every round I load.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

Slow & easy

Us old guys aren't in a hurry so a single stage works just fine.
Slow & easy turns out a quality product we're confident in.
I'd be paranoid if it tried to reload with a progressive.
.

 

[chief38]

I have a Dillon 650 buy still use my RCBS Rock Chucker for .45-70 and .38-55. It's great for the large rifle cartridges (don't load too many at a time) but would not want to use it to make large quantities of .38 Specials or .45 acp's - way too slow.

 

[scooter123]

Another single stage fan here. Being mildly Obsessive Compulsive there just isn't any way I could load on anything else. The good news is I'm not so bad that I have to measure my powder charges by counting each granule but I just don't understand how anyone can charge a batch of cases without looking at the powder level of every case in a loading tray. Pluses for single stage presses for the non obsessive are that the presses are a lot less complicated to set up, cost less, and you can push as many as 200 cases through a stage in an hour. If you curtail watching some TV it's not difficult at all to produce 3 or 4 hundred rounds in a week using a single stage and that is enough for my needs.

 

[63expert]

Even though I have a progressive, my Rockchucker isn't going anywhere. I use it for my precision 223 and other rifle cases. The output of a single stage can be increased somewhat by helping the press to unload itself.

Many years ago RCBS sold an accessory for the Rockchucker called the Case Kicker. It is NLA, but it can be reproduced easily.

A "reprint":

How I never knew about the case kicker I don't know, but after seeing one I thought I might want one. Of course I can't get one from RCBS, and I don't want to pay way to much for a used one, so I made one. The only material needed was some industrial strapping. I also wanted to make it work with the OEM primer catcher. It turned out well and it works wonderfully. I hope to be able to be loading on a progressive by the end of the year, until then the Rock Chucker will have to get the job done.


Case Kicker by zweitakt250, on Flickr


Case Kicker by zweitakt250, on Flickr


Case Kicker by zweitakt250, on Flickr


Case Kicker by zweitakt250, on Flickr


Case Kicker by zweitakt250, on Flickr

A short video showing operation. Case Kicker

 

[Cdog]

Never considered a single stage a step back?

Quality, consistency, and safety aren't antiquated on my bench.

 

[webfarmer]

In 37 years of reloading ammo, I've never needed a progressive press. I've admired the mechanics and the cool factor but stick to Lyman single stage. Of course my life is a tad slower than most so after shooting say 150-200 9MM at a session, I just reload them right away. I know a lot of guys like reloading over the winter (me too) but it's how I roll (get it LOL?) I've seen several progressive press users at the club have squib loads and need the wooden dowel. Never happens when it's done the old way. No disrespect to blue machines Good luck!

 

[Johnnu2]

RCBS Jr

Been 42 years with the same little RCBS Jr. single stage press... I think that the ONLY thing that would drive me to a progressive would be the need for large quantities of ammo on a regular basis; but, I've never been a 'high volume' shooter so it's my 'Jr' till the end... J

 

[MyDads38]

Been 42 years with the same little RCBS Jr. single stage press... I think that the ONLY thing that would drive me to a progressive would be the need for large quantities of ammo on a regular basis; but, I've never been a 'high volume' shooter so it's my 'Jr' till the end... J

My 1978 RCBS Reloader Special still has a place on my bench and gets used quite a bit. I use it with a Universal Decapper, as I deprime before cleaning. Also use it with the RCBS Swaging Die set to remove military crimped primers. And when I load 223 rifle rounds, that's where I go.

I've used Lee 3 & 4 hole turret presses since they came out on the market for my pistol rounds. I use these because I can remove the case at any stage before completed; I just don't have to remove/replace the dies in the process.

Not a thing wrong with single stage presses; slower, maybe. But you get a quality cartridge, and that means a lot, when every shot counts!

 

[Jaymo]

I am SO stealing that case kicker design.

I've only been reloading since I was 21.
Of course, that was 23 years ago.
I've never even used a progressive.
I bought an RCBS Partner Press kit in .223 and have been using it for many years.
I got a Lee Classic Cast O-Frame a few years back, for boolit swaging.

I bought a Lee Classic Cast Turret Press last Christmas.
I like it a lot.
So far, I use it as a multi-position single stage.
Manually indexing it allows me to decap, size, expand, add powder, and seat/crimp in batches.
Guess I just can't seem to get out of the single stage mindset.
Even so, it has sped up my loading process immensely without compromising quality or safety.
It is nice not having to change out dies every time I change processes or calibers.
Now, I just need to get enough Lee Auto Disk powder measures for each of my calibers.
That way, all I have to do is change turrets, fill measure with the powder I need for that load, and get to loading.

 

[dickttx]

Having had a Lyman All-American Turret, a C-H Champion, a Lee Classic Turret and a Hornady LnL AP (still have the last three), I will only say that none of them are inherently evil. The person operating the press is responsible for the quality of the ammo produced, not the type of press.
You should use the press that produces the quantity of ammo you need.
As I got older my shoulder would not stand the number of strokes needed to operate the single stage and the LCT for the quantity I was shooting, so I went to the LnL.
For my needs, I would feel just as silly using a Dillon 1050 as I would a Lyman plier type or a Lee hammer operated.

 

[SMSgt]

If I had to wait for "winter" I'd never get a round loaded. I have to load inside so the powder doesn't get waterlogged from the humidity.

 

[Engineer1911]

If you want production from a RockChucker, use the original handle for resizing, than switch to a 10" long handle for everything else. Belling case mouths and seating bullets happens quickly with no real effort when using a 10" handle.

Try it, you'll like it. But if I want to load ammo I'll use my Dillon 550s -- one is large primer, one is small primer.

 

[Moe Mentum]

I use a single stage press, because I like to reload, and its fun. So, why hurry along on a progressive press and take all the fun out of it.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Back when I was shooting IPSC, pins, plates and finally SASS, I was going through a ton of .45 ACP and .45 Colt ammo. With work and family it was tough to keep up with my ammo needs with a single stage so I went to the blue side and bought a Dillon Square deal. Loaded a lot of ammo with it with few problems but when I quit competing and retired from work I no longer needed hi volume reloading. Retired the Dillon and my old Lyman C press and bought myself a new RCBS Rock Chucker. I still shoot about 12 to 14 thousand rounds of center fire hand gun ammo a year but being retired with no kids around the house any more I find it's no problem with a single stage press. Besides as I no longer hunt and have no winter outdoor activity's besides snow removal I save a lot of processed cases to stave off the winter blues and chick flicks. It's nice to be back to precision hand loading.

 

[fredj338]

I load on a 550 & 650, but still use my ss press more than one would think. When I teach classes, they all learn on a ss press.