Co Ax and the 2 Step Dance

[Bret4207]

Bret, how high is your bench and how high above that do you have presses set up?

Do you stand or sit when using press?

The bench is about 45" high, the presses mounted to the top at that height and I stand for all reloading/casting operations. Could just be the angle I stand at and the way I have things set up. I imagine there's an awful lot of variation in the way we all do things. I would never, ever cast while sitting for example. Others would never, ever stand to cast.

[quasi]

that offset co-ax handle with roller looks like a great idea.

[Sonnypie]

There is a VERY pissed off brass monkey out there.
I use a Co-Ax for 30-06 reloading. I do depriming, neck sizing with a collet die, and seating on it. Mostly sitting down.
I looked in my drawer of odds-n-ends for driving and such and had a nice billet of .750 round brass bar.
A little spinny-spinny with various grits, and any brass monkey would be envious....





And so far, I have not found any reason to switch back to the longer handle.

[odis]

There is a VERY pissed off brass monkey out there.
I use a Co-Ax for 30-06 reloading. I do depriming, neck sizing with a collet die, and seating on it. Mostly sitting down.
I looked in my drawer of odds-n-ends for driving and such and had a nice billet of .750 round brass bar.
A little spinny-spinny with various grits, and any brass monkey would be envious....





And so far, I have not found any reason to switch back to the longer handle.

I think it looks great, your bench makes mine look like a .... a well a big mess which it is.

[milprileb]

Impressive handle, great innovation.
Short handle does say a lot about the leverage of the press.
That hunk of brass has weight to it and must enhance
the leverage a bit on the down stroke.

[Bret4207]

Out of curiosity I tried all my presses yesterday. I do the same small "dance" with each- a slight shifting of my weight to the left and then back to the right as I run the handle down and then back to the left as I lift it. It's the same for the Co-Ax, RCBS RS, Lee Challenger, Lyman All American and Spar-T. I also note I shift my hand on the lever of all of them through the stroke.

Whatever, I'm sure OSHA would find something wrong with all the presses!

[milprileb]

Bret, I think , on my part, its got a lot to do with older age and ranges of motion
that are tolerable or not. The Co Ax has become a bit distracting so I am into a major
handle change of some sort. Not a press I can sit on stool and operate.

That all said, maybe OSHA will determine I am the one that needs to be replaced.

I don't have any issues running my Dillon 650 with the roller handle and I am eying such
a handle for my Rock Chucker press.

Of course, all of this is in the Elective category, the factory handles all work the presses and its more of convenience over necessity for most folks. However, a change to a roller handle on my Co Ax just might make it more user friendly and I am going to buy into that.

There probably is not a perfect press or handle combination but I admit, I chase rainbows to seek the ultimate press for some reason. The Co Ax was such a purchase after 30 yrs of wondering about it.

[ronbo]

Have had my coax for almost 40 years but have never liked the handle grip. Yesterday I shortened the factory steel handle a little and attached a wooden ball dolls head from a craft store for $2 to the end of the handle.

[zxcvbob]

I bought a 2" wooden ball from the craft store and a 3/4" oak dowel to make a short handle. Already drilled a hole in the ball, but then I found a broken sprue cutter handle from a Lee 6-hole boolit mold. (the cast steel part snapped when I tried to cut the sprues when the mold was cold, I'm sure nobody else here has ever done that...)

Anyway, the handled looked about the right size, so I measured it and it's pretty much perfect. I cut it off just below the ferrule and it's a tight fit in the Co-Ax handle socket. It looks about like a wooden version of Sonny's brass monkey, and it's already stained and lacquered. I can take that dowel back to Home Depot, and I still have the original long steel handle if I ever need it for sizing military .30-06 brass, etc.

So if *you* have a broken Lee sprue handle in your junk bin, now you've got a use for it

[Sonnypie]

Out of curiosity I tried all my presses yesterday. I do the same small "dance" with each- a slight shifting of my weight to the left and then back to the right as I run the handle down and then back to the left as I lift it. It's the same for the Co-Ax, RCBS RS, Lee Challenger, Lyman All American and Spar-T. I also note I shift my hand on the lever of all of them through the stroke.

Whatever, I'm sure OSHA would find something wrong with all the presses!

Yep.
They make big bucks with video tapes to get the girls to do what we do naturally in our loading rooms.

[Sonnypie]

Impressive handle, great innovation.
Short handle does say a lot about the leverage of the press.
That hunk of brass has weight to it and must enhance
the leverage a bit on the down stroke.

Just a chunk of rod I had, that happened to be the right diameter.
Sometimes I'm just luckier than I have a right to be.
It does seem to work fine for me.

I didn't like the throw of the original handle. I found myself choking up on it. So the shorter handle was a quick change for the better.
I have 3 functions for the press:
1. Decap for cleaning.
2. Neck sizing.
3. Bullet seating.

I tried the priming feature, but still prefer to hand prime with one of my Lee primer tools. The round tray type. Yep, I'm old fashioned.

I didn't throw away the original handle though....

[milprileb]

(the cast steel part snapped
when I tried to cut the sprues when the mold was cold, I'm sure nobody else here
has ever done that...)

Reaching down into my box of broken things which were engineered to break in the hands of an idiot, I just happen to have such a handle.

However, that little roller stubby handle sure looks sweet. I am going to try the roller handle longer version for Co Ax model and convert my RCBS rock chucker to a roller handle. I hope this will make things easier on my wrist which lets me know long strings of FL sizing 30 caliber brass on the rock chucker is not welcomed. Old age creeping in my joints makes the purchases a worthwhile objective.

The broke off Lee mold handle will serve for short handle till I evaluate all these rollers. I may go the dolls head on dowel approach or the stubby roller approach if the Lee handle is found wanting.

I get little wrist drama and don;t have to move about when I use the roller handle on my Dillon 650. I guess I lucked out on handle , bench height and arc movement as this situation works very well for me. I hope I can replicate this with roller handles for Co Ax and RC. I will say this, for me the roller handle on the Dillon is pure joy to use. Every time I crank that handle, its one of those satisfying things of "Oh yeah", this is the way to go sort of sensation.

[flashhole]

Interesting mods, shows where there is a will there is a way. Personally, I did not like the ergonomics of the Co-Ax press at all and don't miss not having it on the bench. The brass monkey dong is nice though.

[gefiltephish]

I have some of Latesmith's roller handles on my star and LCCT. Maybe he'd make some up for the Co-Ax? That said, one thing to consider is that they do add to the overall width of the press, if your bench is already crowded this could be an issue for you. I have t-bolt tracks embedded in the full length of my bench, so I can slide tools whichever way I need at any given time, or easily remove what's not needed.

[milprileb]

How about a roller handle for Lyman 450 / 4500 lubrisizer ? Any love there to be gained ?