I'll Make Mine
12-26-2012, 10:33 PM
I've got a CH 206 press I bought used in 1981; I haven't used it as much as I'd like, but I'm getting ready to start using it again.
This press is unusual; it's got a sort of O frame, but with dies carried in a bar that slides front to back (like a turret press, but without the rotation). My press came with one bar, and until this year I've never really felt the need to have more than one -- but now, I'll be reloading for .357 Magnum (the cartridge I originally bought the press for), 7.62x54R, and possibly .380 ACP.
So, questions are: where might one get additional die bars for this CH 206 -- or will I have to pay a machine shop to make them up? Yeah, 7/8-14 threaded holes in a piece of cold-rolled, but the bar also has notches along one edge that interact with a spring plunger in the frame to locate the dies above the ram, so have to be precisely located relative to the holes. Is this press strong enough to handle full length sizing large cases like my x54R, .30-06, etc.? Is it, perhaps, strong enough for light duty swaging, even (I know it doesn't have the leverage for heavy swaging, but .22 to .31 is where I'd be headed on this)?
This press is unusual; it's got a sort of O frame, but with dies carried in a bar that slides front to back (like a turret press, but without the rotation). My press came with one bar, and until this year I've never really felt the need to have more than one -- but now, I'll be reloading for .357 Magnum (the cartridge I originally bought the press for), 7.62x54R, and possibly .380 ACP.
So, questions are: where might one get additional die bars for this CH 206 -- or will I have to pay a machine shop to make them up? Yeah, 7/8-14 threaded holes in a piece of cold-rolled, but the bar also has notches along one edge that interact with a spring plunger in the frame to locate the dies above the ram, so have to be precisely located relative to the holes. Is this press strong enough to handle full length sizing large cases like my x54R, .30-06, etc.? Is it, perhaps, strong enough for light duty swaging, even (I know it doesn't have the leverage for heavy swaging, but .22 to .31 is where I'd be headed on this)?