Bonanza Co Ax

[GONRA]

GONRA has used (a) small "Tool Post Grinder(s)" on my lathe to modify shell holder holes to fit.
(Some are hardened steel, counter bored holes! Don't rape yer drill bit!)

Here, "Tool Post Grinder" is whatever small HF or other electric unit that has a Plain Jane external geometry
suitable for turning rounds or drilling / tapping for tangential tight mounting rings / bolts.
Then its easy to mount in an Aloris Quick Change lathe bit Holder.

EZ to swap out Aloris Lathe Bit for small light grinding jobs without a Major Sweat Tear Down / Setup....

[rbuck351]

Grinding out 20 some shell holders from 1/4" to 5/16" is not my idea of fun. I do have a lathe and a small tool post grinder but it was much easier to make two holders for rcbs primer punches plus if I modified my shell holders, I would have to get more to work in my other presses.

[country gent]

Grinding .060 out of a shell holder is a major pain with the right equipment let alone make shift and make do equipment. At work we had a moore jig grinder that was designed for this type work. Very accurate high speed spindle, set up to grind in this size range. When working dowel holes or punch holes we left .010 - .012 to clean up after heat treat. depending on material this amount would usually require a second dressing on the stone. Removing .060 with a stone running slow Would be a lot of dressings and break down.

A carbide die drill in 5/16" should allow you to drill the hole out, they will cut 55-60 rc ran carefully. But these drills are not cheap either.

I have mounts made for several air grinders in tool holders and they do get you by, but they are under powered and weak .001 - .002 is about all you can take in a pass, and then when coming u to size it may take 5-7 idle passes to "spark out". I have one made for a .5 HP 1/4" die grinder that's used to grind lathe chucks in. This does okay but again is under powered and at 20,000 rpm on the slow side for smaller stones

[rbuck351]

I set up a Foredom to work as a tool post grinder and although it works fair I have no intention of trying to remove .060 from one shell holder let alone 20 some shell holders. I used to turn auto flywheels on a big lathe with a fair sized tool post grinder and that took quite a while to remove a few thou. I did find out one thing about the coax that was annoying. Using a Lee universal decapper,I broke two of the primer pins off trying to decap commercial 30/06 brass without decapping even one.
Without anything to center the case and the brass the primer pin doesn't hit the primer hole very often. Live and learn.

[country gent]

Try setting the decapping rod a little higher so the case is into the die a little more before it enters

[Three44s]

As I recall, Hornady shell holders have a center hole significantly larger than others made today.

I thought that the Forester Co Ax press utilized a spring to roughly center installed dies?

Three44s

[rbuck351]

country gent
The Lee universal decapper has no method for centering the capping rod other than to center the die before the rod reaches the primer. The inside of the die is much larger than a 30/06 case. After breaking two primer rods I switched to a rcbs sizer decapper die and it worked fine. With both the die and the case floating to center in the sizing die it works great.

Three44s
The OD of the Bonanza coax primer punch is roughly 5/16" where most modern ones are about 1/4".
This Bonanza coax is apparently a very early one with no springs or any other means of centering the dies other than to let the case move everything to center which seems to work very well for sizing and bullet seating. It doesn't work with the Lee universal decapper. I don't know about the Forster coax.

[Three44s]

I looked at the parts diagram and pictures of the co ax (I do not own one myself mind you) and the word ”centering” might not be accurate.

I see a hex set or keeper screw retaining a spring loaded steel ball that looks to hold tension down on the die lock rings when a die with a ring is installed.

A thought: I inside flash hole debur all my brass ... everything. That bevel helps decapping pins enter the flash hole easier. Might help you.

I do not know if the Hornady shell holder center hole is large enough for a 5/16” primer seating punch to traverse but I know it is decidedly larger than others like RCBS. You could call or email Hornady.

Also does Forester make conversion punches to fit standard shell holders?

Three44s

[trebor44]

As stated before I have a Bonanza coax press. At the time of purchase my small selection of shell holders worked with the larger diameter on press primer seating punch. However the shell holders have since changed so that it became necessary to use an 'off press' primer seating tool - that is what I prefer and for me is the most efficient. Never was a fan of using the press to seat primers but I do it on my 550B's with caution. The different vendors do vary the hole size on the shell holders. Note also that hole size can vary per caliber by the same vendor.

[rbuck351]

I have 5 of the early Lee hand primer things but rarely use them as I prefer to prime on the press with the Lee hand loading tool being the exception. Now that I have made small and large primer posts for the coax, it is no longer an issue and I can use all of my rcbs, Hornady and Lee shell holders. The coax with it's moving shell holder and die needs a decapper die that centers the decapper pin on the primer hole or the decapper pin of the Lee universal decapper can completely miss the primer hole. Not a big deal but it does require you use the proper die for each cartridge.