RCBS Piggyback

[AnthonyB]

Fellas; I bought a used Rockchucker II and what looks like a Piggyback progressive press recently. The Piggyback appears to be missing several parts, and I know RCBS customer service will replace them for no charge. Question is how well these do these things work? I'd set this one up in 45 ACP for a buddy don't want to go to the trouble or have RCBS send me parts if they don't work very well. Anyone using one have any opinions? Tony

[45nut]

I bought one when they first came out, be prepared to waste plenty of primers and powder. The primer assembly constantly needed tinkering and was notorious for trying to seat them sideways, upside down and the powder drop was just as finicky. I must have been on the phone to RCBS weekly trying to troubleshoot the beast.
I did indeed get lots of ammo out of it in-between failure but once I got a hold of a Dillon it was expendable.
They are now in version 4 or 5 Piggyback I think so perhaps it is "ok", but I will not be trading in my RL550.

[TCFAN]

I have one it is a Piggyback 2. Mine has the auto index.I bought this one in the Springfield MO.BassPro Outlet store A few years ago for 50.00. It has not given one second of any kind of trouble.It is set up for 44 Mag. and I don't change it to any thing else.

The only thing I don't like about it is the unshielded primer tube which set right up front.......Terry

[No_1]

Hi Anthony and welcome back!

I have a ammo master which I got in a trade from one of the good members here. When it first arrived it was kinda of grungy, had a timing issue and missing parts. I downloaded the manual and parts list from RCBS. After reading the manual and cleaning up the press I did a little adjusting here and there. I called RCBS (when you do, have the part numbers in hand) and ordered the parts. While on the phone with them I ask if they intended on discontinuing the parts and the answer was a quick NO. When the parts arrive I installed then and it now operates flawlessly.
I started reloading with a 550B and still have it. I have wanted a auto progressive for some time and I think this will fit the bill. It will be set up for pistol calibers (9, 44 and 45) since it came with those shell plates. I will continue to use the 550B for rifles and also the Redding single stage for the really particular stuff.

I did a google on the RCBS ammo master and of course came up with tons of stuff on the piggy back. The reviews are mixed but you will have that with every press....

You can get the manual here: http://www.rcbs.com/downloads/instructions/PiggyBack_Conversion_Unit_Instructions.pdf and the parts list is on page 28 & 28

Good luck with yours,

Robert


Fellas; I bought a used Rockchucker II and what looks like a Piggyback progressive press recently. The Piggyback appears to be missing several parts, and I know RCBS customer service will replace them for no charge. Question is how well these do these things work? I'd set this one up in 45 ACP for a buddy don't want to go to the trouble or have RCBS send me parts if they don't work very well. Anyone using one have any opinions? Tony

[klw]

I think that I've owned all the RCBS progressives. Up until the Pro 2000 and the Piggyback III I would not have recommended them. Starting with these units, however, they all used the APS primer system. That priming system works very very well.

The Piggyback II as I recall was a true pain in the a@#!. Just didn't work very well.

I noticed that someone mentioned auto indexing on a Piggyback. Really? I don't remember that.

[TCFAN]

I think that I've owned all the RCBS progressives. Up until the Pro 2000 and the Piggyback III I would not have recommended them. Starting with these units, however, they all used the APS primer system. That priming system works very very well.

The Piggyback II as I recall was a true pain in the a@#!. Just didn't work very well.

I noticed that someone mentioned auto indexing on a Piggyback. Really? I don't remember that.

Yes the Piggyback II is auto index at least mine is and it does work very well. I might just have been lucky to get a good one.

And I would not recommend any one buy one at least for the list price when there are a lot better presses on the market.......Terry

[klw]

I just don't remember that but then again I don't remember yesterday all that well. Age!

I'm glad your works. As I recall on mine spent primers would stick on the decapping pin and then get reseated. Also I seem to remember RCBS saying that one of the problems was making sure that all the parts got into each machine. I seem to recall that some assembly was required and the people putting all the stuff into the bags didn't always get it right.

As an unrelated, unimportant little fact, the idea of converting a single station press to a progressive was the brain child of CPM who made a Star-like progressive.

[johnp]

I have one(PBII) that was brand new when I got it. The only thing that gave me trouble was the indexing bushing but it was my fault for not fully going thru the stroke. Do not stop half way up and then come back down, go all the way then back down.

If I was going to buy something new I may would have gotten something different but this came in a package deal and I basically got it for free.

Get the parts and give it a try. Most folks either love it or hate it. Not much middle of the road with them

Good luck.

[klw]

Any chance of a digital picture of the auto indexing mechanism?

[Patrick L]

I have a Piggyback that was given to me used in about 1990 or so (I actually bought a Rockchucker to use it on.) I subsequently bought an Ammomaster progressive (now discontinued) a year or two later when I decided I wanted to load .30-06 progressively. Since I was already set up with the PB, the Ammomaster seemed the way to go since it was basically an enlarged version of the same format.

I can honestly say I have had no problems with the system over all these years and many, many thousands of rounds. Of course, you can screw up with any progressive if you do something stupid, particularly if you are careless in terms of cleaning and maintenance.

I currently use the PB for all of my small primer cartridges (.38 spl, .357, .30 carbine, .223, and used to load 9mm) and my Ammomaster for all large primer cartridges (.45ACP, .30-06, 7.7 jap, .30-30.)

I won't go so far as to say they're the best progressives out there, but they are fine presse and they work very well indeed, at least for me.

[AnthonyB]

Fellas, thanks for all the info. This is definitely an auto index press and I'll set it up in 45 ACP and leave it alone.

KLW; the online manual has some pictures of the auto index system; let me know if you need more detail and I'll try to get some pictures.
Tony