RCBS A2 Press

[speedy110363]

Doe's anyone have a rcbs a2 for sale? Can't find any where.
Thanks

[1hole]

Occasionally see an A2 and A3 on ebay.

[azcoyhunter]

I have a RCBS JR2 for sale or trade

See my post in Swappin and selling

Clint

[floodgate]

speedy:

(This is NOT a pitch for eBay, but stems from an estate settlement I was helping with.)

Watch "ricketts" on eBay; he bought out the bulk of an estate sale from a collector who lived near RCBS, and there were several of the "A" presses in the lot; I believe he plans to parcel these out on eBay.

floodgate

[David Wile]

Hey Speedy,

You probably already know this, but just in case you don't, I will mention it anyway.

The RCBS A2 was a massive press which was essentially replace by the RCBS RockChucker around 1967 to 1969. The RockChucker is a good bit lighter than the A2, but it is plenty strong enough for most of what most folks do. In fact, it may be the strongest reloading press still in production today.

There are lots of RockChuckers to be found for sale, but there are very few A2s available. Because of this, the A2 will fetch a much higher price than the RockChucker.

Now if you already knew all this and really need the A2 for some special reason, just ignore my ramblings. If you don't really "need" an A2, however, don't be afraid to buy a RockChucker. It is a beast of a press in its own right and has stood the test of time by still being in demand as well as production.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[JesterGrin_1]

I have an old RCBS RS-2. Would anyone know anything about them?

[David Wile]

Hey Jestergrin,

Here again I may be wrong, but I saw some pictures on E-Bay of RCBS RS presses, and they looked pretty much like the RCBS Jr. presses of the 1960s. I know the Jr. press changed to Jr 2 and Jr 3, but I have no idea of what changes were made to initiate a change in the model number.

In the 1960s, RCBS started to market the Jr press in a "Reloader Special" package that included the press, a set of dies, and a shell holder. If there was anything else in the package, I don't remember. I think I read somewhere that RCBS started marking the Reloader Special package presses as RS rather than Jr, Jr 2, or Jr 3.

I don't know if this is true, but there sure isn't much difference I can see between any of the Jr presses and the RS presses. I do recall, however, the first Jr press I bought had a cast aluminum primer catcher that was later replaced by the plastic primer catcher used today. Both primer catchers were also used on the RockChucker presses, and an aluminum one will fetch a nice price today since they are not made anymore.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[JesterGrin_1]

David yes the Jr press and the RS-2 press look close to the same. But I heard tell that the old RS Version was steel and not cast iron?

[quasi]

The Rockchucker is far from the strongest press available today, in fact it has been far surpassed by the competion. All of Reddings presses, Lee's Classic, RCBS's Ammomaster, Forster, C-H Heavyweight champ, ...

[Morgan Astorbilt]

I had an RCBS A-2, Back in the sixties. When I set it up for bullet swaging, I purchased a Pacific SuperPro, and was so impressed with it, that I sold the A-2 when I sold the swaging dies I had installed on it. The Pacific was made much stronger, with better fitted parts, a clever plunger-style auto primer, foolproof spent primer catcher, and a full length 1-1/8" dia ram. The only failing, was a set screw holding the removable shell holders, which tended to loosen. I quickly solved this by turning down and grooving the top of the ram to accept a spring clip to retain the shell holders. I liked this press so much, that after Pacific went under, I bought another one under the Bair Machine label(I believe Bair was who made them for Pacific.) Too bad they're no longer available. I they brought one out with a larger opening, I'd buy it in a flash.

Morgan