Rcbs A-2

[RANGER RICK]

I picked this RCBS A-2 last week and have a question about a threaded hole on the bottom of the linkage ??
Not sure what it would be used for . This press is very heavy !!!!!
Thanks for any information.

RR


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/RANGERRICKQUIGLEY/DSC00569.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/RANGERRICKQUIGLEY/DSC00568.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/RANGERRICKQUIGLEY/DSC00567.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/RANGERRICKQUIGLEY/DSC00566.jpg

[carpetman]

Ranger Rick on my Rockchucker where the dies screw in,there is a threaded sleeve. With the threaded sleeve removed,of course you could screw an even bigger die in. Back in the 70's I got to thinking a set of dies could be made to reload shotgun shells. I wrote RCBS and asked if that possibly was the purpose of the sleeve. Got a response from none other than Fred Hunnington himself. He said it would be possible to make shotgun dies but not practical nor worth it. His example was if it cost him $15 to make it would be $45 by the time it got to market and in those days $45 would buy you a shotgun reloader which would be better and faster. I have since seen RCBS with shotgun dies on the market??? Anyways Fred Hunnington said that the larger hole with a sleeve was to facillitate reaming the bottom portion. So Im guessing that is the purpose of the one you asked about.

[RANGER RICK]

carpetman

Thanks for the information . Actually you answered my second question I was going to ask .

The threaded hole I am talking about is in the first picture and it is located on the bottom of the linkage where it connects to the ram ??

Thanks

RR

[Tom-n8ies]

It looks like a place for the handle to go.

My RCBS Jr 3 has an extra hole in the bottom part of the linkage to reverse the stroke I think.

Maybe you take out pin and turn the part with the hole in question and turn it 180 degrees and put it back together. then move the handle to the other hole. It looks like it would shorten up the stroke if nothing else because the ram will not be able to go all the way back down because the handle would hit the press.

My guess is this position I described would be used for bullet swagging where you don't need a full stroke of the ram and if the handle doesn't fit then maybe it was designed for a bigger heavier handle.

Thanks for posting the pictures, I had heard of these fine old presses but never seen one in person.

tom

[carpetman]

Ranger Rick---You answered another question on another thread. Colbyjack restored a Rockchucker press and thought he had an A-2. Your pictures confirm that his is rockchucker. They had the A2's when I bought my Rockchucker in 1967 but I didnt spend the extra for it---wish now I had---but why--the old Rockchucker has served me well.

[carpetman]

If all else fails you could call RCBS and they could tell you.

[NVcurmudgeon]

It looks like a place for the handle to go.

My RCBS Jr 3 has an extra hole in the bottom part of the linkage to reverse the stroke I think.

Maybe you take out pin and turn the part with the hole in question and turn it 180 degrees and put it back together. then move the handle to the other hole. It looks like it would shorten up the stroke if nothing else because the ram will not be able to go all the way back down because the handle would hit the press.

My guess is this position I described would be used for bullet swagging where you don't need a full stroke of the ram and if the handle doesn't fit then maybe it was designed for a bigger heavier handle.

Thanks for posting the pictures, I had heard of these fine old presses but never seen one in person.

tom

I believe Tom has it right, though the purpose of the extra hole is probably to reverse the movement of the ram. Quite a few presses in the olden days had the capability of allowing sizing and seating on either the up or down stroke. I never had an A2, but a friend of mine bought one about 1959 or 1960. At that time, RCBS presses were gray as shown in Ranger Rick's picture. By the time I bought my RCBS Junior in 1963, RCBS green had been introduced. (Maybe RCBS had to wait until Lucky Strike Green got back from the war and the OPA released green paint. If you understand the last two sentences of this post you are really old, like me.)

[smokemjoe]

Ijust looked at mine, buts its A2, was hoping it would load 50MG but it just a tab short

[RANGER RICK]

Thanks for the information guys .

RR

[NoDakJak]

Good morning NVcurmudgeon, While aboard ship during the late 1950s I bought sea-store cigarettes that were so old that they still had the Green Bulls Eye. Damn near as bad as smoking Bull Durham. They were so dried out that in about three or four drags you were burning your lips. I paid sixty dollars for a used RCBS A2 thirty years ago. Best sixty dollars that I have ever spent. I use almost a dozen different presses now but it is still the most used, especially for full length resizing. And forming wildcat cases! Several years ago I purchased a 55 gallon drum of 3006 cases that had been fired in an old 1917 Browning with grossly huge headspace. It took a little extra umph on the handle and a bit of trimming but most of that brass is now 8x57 cases. Good ones too! I don't even want to think about how many thousands of primer pockets that I have swaged on that press.
I spent many years roaming the desert while a guest of the Navy at Fallon during the late fifties and sixties. I popped thousands of Jackrabbits along the south edge of the "Carson Sinks" during that time. I visited my sister a couple years ago and noted that most of my hunting areas are now housing developements. I had planned on retiring at Fallon. in 1967 the population was 3,200. When I returned two years ago it was 34,000 and growing at an astronomic rate. At the present time I am thinking about looking for a place in Austin but this area of North Dakota is one of the last great undiscovered places in North America. BTW! Do you know my hunting partner? Garth Logsdon! He was a miner out of Winnemucca for many years! Neil

[26Charlie]

Looking at the pictures, you would have to turn the whole linkage and ram around, then the knuckle would fall behind the ram and come forward on the upstroke. Looks like there is enough bench clearance.

[Earl Brasse]

Glad I joined up with this site. I bought an A-2 @ 10 yrs. ago. I was going to reload shotshells on it. I finally rounded up all the goodies for 20,16,& 12 ga. . I got one spare sizing die reamed for brass hulls. Then, better things came up so it all got shelved. I thought @ selling the press & the dies. Now, after hearing you guys talk, maybe I need to hang onto it for swaging work, if I get into that in the future. With the price of brass these days it may be that there will be more forming will be in the future also. mine still has most of the green paint but is is a little flakey

[Echo]

Yo, NV;

When I was in Germany in the late '50's, the C-Rations we got in the chow hall had green-pack Luckies in them...

EasyEd
USAF Ret
NRA Patron
O&U

[remy3424]

I bought one at an auction 2 years ago, I got it and a RCBS competion powder dumper for $45(still not sure why no one bid it up)!!! The best $45 I ever spent. RCBS doesn't service it anymore though, no parts available. Mine is missing the priming arm, but just fine for the money.

[NoDakJak]

I snagged a Herters 12 gauge set of dies at a gun show while back. Originally made for the Herters #3 press but also fits the old RCBS A2 perfectly. I seriously doubt if I will ever use them but they are a worthy ssition to my collection. Neil