Buy an old/classic RCBS ROCK CHUCKER or a new RCBS ROCK CHUCKER SUPREME?

[THE_ANTIDOTE]

Deleted

[MUSTANG]

Watching - A question I too have had in mind.

[Delkal]

If it matters to you the Rock Chucker supreme is now made in China. I believe the later Rock Chuckers were too but I don't know the changeover date.

[jsizemore]

A friend wanted to buy my RCII to use for sizing muzzleloader projectiles. Pretty sure mine is the last press I'll get rid of. I looked for over a year and found one at the gun show a few months ago. It was a RCII with a bicycle handle. I didn't see any rust nor a bit of slop in the ram. The original box was warped from moisture/humidity and had bug spots on the outside. Fella wanted $100. I couldn't get the Benjamin out of my pocket any faster nor the friend I bought it for. It might have been a 2 year wait instead of 1. I like my spent primer catcher better and found an aluminum backup just in case. The block the handle attaches to looks more substantial on the older press. Other than that I don't see much difference. The wait for a decent RCII is also a big consideration.

[gwpercle]

I would buy Old ... made in America over New ... made in China ... every time .

But then , I'm old ... and Made in America ... and tight with my money !
I bet the Old made in America is cheaper than New made in China ...
Price influnces a lot of my buying decisions ... How Much They Selling for ?
Gary

[jakharath]

The build quality on new ones seem fine. RCBS probably requires their Chinese castings be made with good steel. That being said, I identify as someone who doesn't like to spend money, so I would opt for a used old one.

[Willie T]

Either should last the rest of your life. The supreme has ambidextrous handle attachment so you can set up to pull the handle either right or left handed. The rock chucker is right handed. The supreme has a taller opening if you want to load something really big like a 50 cal. I have the rock chucker 2 and it does everything I need. If you want new, buy the supreme. it will serve you well. If you find a money saving deal on a rock chucker buy it, it will also serve you well. You can’t really go wrong with either.
Willie

[pertnear]

I saw a used Rock Chucker Supreme at the local gun show. It was very dirty but otherwise the paint was intact & all was tight. It had the spent primer catcher, primer tube holder, a shell holder but no priming arm. When I asked, he wanted $75. I wasn't really shopping for a press. But when I walked down his same aisle on the way out, I stopped to look at it 1 more time. When he said $50 I said sold. Cleaned it up & it is a great press! Sometimes you can get a good deal at a gun show.

[jsizemore]

If it matters to you the Rock Chucker supreme is now made in China. I believe the later Rock Chuckers were too but I don't know the changeover date.

I went on the RCBS site. They claim the "legendary RCBS warranty" and "made in the USA".

[M-Tecs]

Not sure if this is correct but the claim was RCBS brought the manufactuing back to the US. Not sure if the casting are still coming from China? Having tested a bunch of cast iron from China it was below US standards.

[Winger Ed.]

I'd be curious to find out where the castings come from.
I'm not sure, but I doubt if RCBS is doing them in house.
There is still some Iron casting going on in the US, but will all the EPA regulations,
American 'smokestack' industries aren't competitive compared to getting them done in China or Mexico.

[higgins]

If a classic Rockchucker came along at the right price I would buy it without hesitation "just because". Unless it's been abused I can't imaging one being overly worn or damaged by normal hobby reloading. I bought my classic Rockchucker from a friend who always lept before he looked and dove into handloading and never took off with it. Got the press and a set of .30/06 RCBS dies for a good price in the 1980s. It was essentially unused when I got it and all I've used it for is FL sizing rifle cases; it's still lightly used by Rockchucker standards. I still use the old Spartan for rifle bullet seating and pistol reloading. BTW if a Spartan in good condition came along at the right price I would buy it too "just because".

[35 Rem]

"Made in America" doesn't necessarily mean "Made in America" anymore. Manufacturers know that many people want a product built here and they have come up with all sorts of ways to imply that their product was built here when it really wasn't. "Assembled" in America is one of them. I've read that there is some sort of standard requirement that a certain % of Assembly has to happen in the USA to be able to claim it was "Made in America".

I have two Rockchuckers that I bought new. One in either 1978 or 79. The other in about 1996 or a bit later. The earlier has the straight handle and is the one I use. The later has the ball handle and I only used it a bit when I had a loading bench set up both at my house and the farm for a few years.

[Bazoo]

Website says it was made in USA https://www.rcbs.com/presses/single-...s/16-9356.html

I wouldn't get an original Rock Chucker as it doesn't have the compound linkage that the RCII III and IV have.

[NWPilgrim]

I bought a RC Supreme two weeks ago. “Made in U.S.A”. Hasn’t disintegrated yet!

Beautiful press.

[EMT480]

I would say it depends on what you need to load. The Supreme has a bigger opening. So if you have a 338 lapua or another large caliber thumper you'll need it.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[THE_ANTIDOTE]

Every model of the Rock Chucker has been made in America all the way from the materials used to assembly. They have never outsourced their castings...not even on the current Rock Chucker Supremes. The RCBS REBEL and the RCBS TURRET presses on the other hand have had castings sourced from outside the US although I do not know the exact origin. Most of the Rock Chuckers available are not much of a deal being that they are missing some of the primer components not to mention shipping and extortion tax...I am talking of ebay buys. I can get a BNIB ROCK CHUCKER SUPREME for just over $200 with everything included. I do have a .338 Lapua so the Supreme would come in handy. I just had a little bit of overtime money that I thought I would treat myself to something extra. I might just buy both...it'll give me a reason to buy more guns lol.

[Sasquatch-1]

I have a RC 1 (just marked RC), a RC2, and a RC4(supreme). the biggest difference between the original and the newer models is the length of the stroke is shorter. I had the brand new RC4 for about a month when I broke one of the cast links while swaging a 44 cal bullet. I contacted RCBS and told them I had broken the link and all the guy could say is "You did what?" He got my address and asked if I wanted to send the press back or just have him send me the new piece.

The RC1 is on the bench and mostly used for swaging bullets to a different shape. The 2 is packed away awaiting the use by one of my kids. And the 4 is used for reloading with no further problems. I used the 2 for many years and just don't have the room for another press on my bench.

[Delkal]

I found this post on another forum (and there were other hits) saying that RCBS did outsource the casting to China for a few years but stopped and started forging their frames in the USA again. Does anyone have some back issues of Handloader to confirm?

Pretty sure the Chinese RCBS casting story got disproved, someone from RCBS put out an answer or a memo on it years ago, they said it didn't happen, forget all the details now, but, rumours like that aren't difficult to start & propagate in the US, are they?



No, it wasn't disproven because they did source the castings from China for a while. John Haviland from Wolfe Publishing wrote an article in the August 2006 Handloader magazine about his tour of the RCBS plant. It talks about how the castings for the presses (picture shows RC IV) are sourced from China but CNC machined in Oroville, CA. I'm sure they would like to forget about about it and want the handloading community to also because there were quality/durability issues. They did rectify it by finding a USA foundry in California of all places to source their casting from. I remember reading about it and was amazed that a foundry could still exist and operate in CA. I have no idea if this is still the current situation.

[white eagle]

If you can find an older one
I do not like the new one at all looks like its a more time consuming and moving the handle 2" makes it ambidextrous?
Have had mine over 30 years and it does everything it was intended to do and everything I need it to do