RCBS A2 press Parts Manual

[GLL]

Does anyone have a copy of the RCBS A2 press Instruction Manual that has the exploded parts diagram? I would very much appreciate a scan or Xerox copy of that manual.

RCBS has the A4 on their website but not the A2 !

Jerry

[skeettx]

Have four of the A-2s but no manual
If one is located, lets scan it and post it please
Thanks
Mike

[Char-Gar]

I have and A2 as well. Why would you need a parts diagram? A ten second look will tell you all you need to know. They are very simple machines.

Huntington's did sell some parts for the A2, they might be a source of instructions as well.

[94Doug]

I have the RCBS PDF parts diagrams, 3rd Ed..... I am not familiar with the A2 description though, don't see it in there.

Doug

[skeettx]

The A-2 is the Grand daddy of the Rock Chucker

[GLL]

Char-Gar:

Thank you for the suggestion ! :)
I have four A2 presses but one is missing the “ram extension/shell holder thingy” that is pinned to the main ram. I wanted the parts blowup to determine its correct name and RCBS part number. I looked at all of mine for ten seconds but that information was not immediately forthcoming ! :) Please take a quick look at yours and see what you come up with !

I called RCBS but they do not have a parts list and were unable to figure out what I was talking about. A call to Huntington customer service directed me to what sounded like a curry bar in Mumbai ! No help there either. A2s are just not that common I guess. The ram on my A4 is a completely different design. Luckily a member here on the Forum not only had the part name [“Shell Holder Ram”] and part #09176 but also had a NIB extra and is sending it right away ! All is well !

I am working in the Glass Mountains and near Eagle Pass this summer. How about a beer at Railroad Blues or Crystal Bar in Alpine!

Best Regards,

Jerry Lewis “GLL”

[Char-Gar]

I know the part you are talking about, and doubt if you will find one. It should not be much of a chore to make one from a Rockchucker ram or from another make of press. It appears to be held into the larger bottom ram by a pin. The top ram your are looking for has an outside diamter of 0.834 and a length of 2 1/4 " above the top ram. I don't know how far down into the bottom larger ram it goes. You can measure that on your press.

It it milled at the top for a regular snap in shell holder with a "C" type retaining clip like The Rockchucker. The A2 ejects the spent primers down though the ram assembly and out the bottom into a bucket. If you want to deprime on the press, you would need to drill or bore out top ram to allow the primers to fall. The top ram has the standard cut out for a primer arm if you want to prime on the press.

Anybody with a lathe could shorten the RC ram to the required length, bore it out for the primers to fall, turn the bottom to fit the bottom ram hole and drill the holes for the pins. Should not be much of a trick.

But you know all of this as you have four of these great preses.

I went to undergraduate school at Sul Ross in Alpine. Hunted all over the Glass and Chalk Mountains. Great country, but driving 600 miles for a beer is a bit far.

[skeettx]

What you want is the shell holder RAM

HMMMM
Just called RCBS at the number below, pressed 2 when the recording began
and got a very nice lady.
I told here I needed the shell holder RAM for an A-2
She said she had one and would send it right out.
Also said that she did not have many parts for the A-2s left

Mike

RCBS Operations
605 Oro Dam Blvd
Oroville, CA 95965
1-800-533-5000

[Char-Gar]

Skeetx..Rush out an buy a lottery ticket. This is your lucky day!

[Kent Fowler]

Skeettx...No, it's not your lucky day, You obviously missed the warning yesterday that having more than 3 A2 presses will cause a piece of the moon to fall off and crash into your reloading room. Luckily, for you, if you take one of those over to Dumas and leave it with my good friend there, I'll pick it up from him next time I come up from the Hill Country and you can avoid having a hole in your roof or hitting the lady of the house. See what a nice guy I am to help you in your time of need. Might want to hurry up about it, though, as I'm seeing meteor showers to the north.

[skeettx]

NO one has a good buddy in Dumas :)
You must be mistaken

I would bet he would keep it and say I never took it there

Why would ANYBODY want to go to Dumas???

[Leslie Sapp]

NO one has a good buddy in Dumas
You must be mistaken

I would bet he would keep it and say I never took it there

Why would ANYBODY want to go to Dumas???

I've heard most folks there are friendly, but there are a few old soreheads.:bigsmyl2:

[Kent Fowler]

NO one has a good buddy in Dumas :)
You must be mistaken

I would bet he would keep it and say I never took it there

Why would ANYBODY want to go to Dumas???

I'll have you know, sir, that I learned the mechanics of a Maidenform bra in the backseat of a 57 Ford in that little town.

[skeettx]

Was the car new at that time? :)

My first car was a '52 Pontiac

Mike

[Kent Fowler]

Was the car new at that time? :)

My first car was a '52 Pontiac

Mike

No, that was about 1965, my sophomore year. I also had a 56 Chevy at the time that someone gave me. Then, the next year, my mother bought a new 66 Buick Riviera with the 425 c.i engine. I got into a lot of trouble in Amarillo on the weekends racing that thing. One night, after avoiding the Amarillo PD, I hightailed it back home only to have the sheriff of Moore County waiting for me at the county line. He let me go after a good *** chewing. I promised him I'd stay out of Amarillo. At least he didn't call my mother. That would not have been a pleasant experience.

[skeettx]

:)
Since you do NOT have an A-2 for reloading
What are you presently using for the big stuff?
Mike

[Kent Fowler]

Keep rubbing salt in the wounds, sir:razz:

I still use the same Texan c-press I bought in 1970 for most things and while I've had to put a piece of pipe for a cheater handle on it a few times when I was young and dumb, I've managed not to break it through the years. I don't have to do that anymore as a good friend in Tyler gave me a big C-H 201 he wasn't using about 25 years ago. I own/owned a Rock Chucker briefly, but a friend of mine who has a commercial reloading business in the Houston area started getting orders for some wildcats based on the 375 Weatherby case. His machines were all Dillon progressives and big commercial machines, so he borrowed the press to make them and has kinda assumed ownership of it. Which I don't mind as he's done a lot for me during the years. I figure one of these days he'll be through with it and give it back.

[skeettx]

Let me know when you are going to be in the Amarillo area.
I have the keys to the skeet, indoor pistol, outdoor rifle and pistol ranges
We can PLAY
I am loading 45ACPs today on the Dillon 1050 large primer set-up

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/MVC-020S15.JPG
Mike

[skeettx]

MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I sure do dislike the Federal 45ACP cases with the small primers !!!!!!!!!!!!
Messes up the speed on the Dillon
Mike

[Kent Fowler]

Mike, thanks for the invite, I'll bring my 28 gauge. We're going on vacation in early October and may be passing through Amarillo. My uncle used to work for Pantex.

[skeettx]

GREAT
Let me know the dates and we will PLAY
The 28 would be perfect to play with

I also USED to work at Pantex, RETIRED
Maybe I know your Uncle.

Mike

[Kent Fowler]

His name was Ben Denton. He retired from the USAF, SAC as a master chief, then went to work at Pantex around 1960. I believe he retired in the mid 80's. He was in North Africa and other places during WW2, then flew on the B-52's , don't know what he did on the plane exactly but would bet money it had something to do with a big bomb. My dad knew, but would never tell me. Getting any info out or those WWII guys was next to impossible. Pretty common knowledge though, back then, what went on at Pantex.

[skeettx]

OK, Thanks
I was also in SAC from 1971 till 1978
I worked there from 1984 to 2011
www.pantex.com
Mike

[grogel]

Hello all, new to the forum and mostly reading. Better at digging through the internet than casting ;)

I was able to find this link to a copy of the a-2 manual. not real clear but hope it helps.
http://oaklandarms.com/OldTimeGunandShootingResources/A-2_Press_Instructions.pdf

[GLL]

grogel:

Welcome to the Forum !

Thank you for the link as well.
It appears the old A2 manuals do not include a parts blow-up and part number list!

Jerry

[quasi]

Nobody needs 4 A2's, your just being greedy!

[skeettx]

Come to Amarillo and play and you will see the need :)

[quasi]

I think Texas in June would melt me! What is the difference between an A2 and a A3?

[skeettx]

The difference between A2 and A3 is 1

http://www.rcbs.com/downloads/instructions/A-2_Press_Instructions.pdf

http://www.rcbs.com/downloads/instructions/A-3_Press_Instructions.pdf

Found this at
http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-263535.html

The earlier RCBS A series looks like this:
The A press was 1949 - 1959. The patent was issued on August 19, 1958 for the bullet swedge (sic) press patent Nº. 2,847,895 over eight years after application. The bullet press had a cam in the linkage to alter the stroke shorter for bullet swaging, longer for loading.
The 2A 1959 - 1961 the A2 1961 - 1969. The early ones were olive green-gray to the mid '60's, then green.
The A 3 (I've never seen one.) 1969 - 1971. Ken Neeld says it was cast iron rather than cast steel, but otherwise the same except for the marking.
The A 4 Big Max 1982 - 1988.
The B was made only in 1961, 500 made.
The hopeless drudges among us may wish to google up the patent office and read the patent, then go on to view other RCBS patents.

[Pressman]

The 1951-1956 presses were a kind of A type. They operated on the upstroke and did not have the pivot block the A's have. These are a pre-A's.

They incorporated a series of running changes so a 1951 looks a lot different than a 1956. 1956-1959 was the intro for the A. 1959-1961 for the 2A then the 61-66 2A.

Prior to 1951 a few presses were made by hand from welding bar stock into a press. They are very well made, very rare and have NO markings. One would have to know what you were looking at if you ever stumble accross one. In appearance they look like the pre-a's.

1967 the Rockchucker came along and the A2 was changed considerably. It will be stamped with a date of mfg. The bushing was eliminated along with the hand fitting. The upper frame "O" is larger - and it is cast iron.
The A3 is rare, very few were made as it was found the RC would do everything the larger. costiler a would do.
The Rochucker is a modified JR2.

There are a lot of fine details to sort out though I have most of it in a nearly ready to publish format. Finding time to get it finished is an on going problem.

Ken

[shotgun sherry]

Pressman,
I have one of those presses that you have in the picture it still has all the primer set up on it and looks almost new. I gave 25.00 dollars for it at the range one day. and before I could grab the Holywood senor my buddy grabbed it for 25.00.
I am still using an old A2 press for reloading.

[EDG]

http://rcbs.com/RCBS/media/RCBSMedia/PDFs/Instructions/English%20(EN)/A-2_Press_Instructions.pdf



Does anyone have a copy of the RCBS A2 press Instruction Manual that has the exploded parts diagram? I would very much appreciate a scan or Xerox copy of that manual.

RCBS has the A4 on their website but not the A2 !

Jerry

[jmort]

Nice
Thank you