RCBS Rock Chucker primer catcher

[Big Tom]

I had the primer catcher for the RCBS Rock Chucker press for 2 years now and the "Handloader magazine" had a small article about it in their latest issue.

Here is the article if you are interested http://www.primercatcher.com/docs/article.pdf

[OS OK]

Sad huh? A day late and a dollar short, regurgitated articles from years gone past or articles advertising something for a customer. This magazine has lost it's appeal to me.
I have a stack of them a foot deep and can't remember when I went digging through them last to find some important information.

[sukivel]

I want to like that magazine, but it leaves a lot to desire.


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[OS OK]

Yep...I've got a foot deep stack of them...all the time me trying to like it.

[fred2892]

I suppose the magazine catches a different audience than those who are members here. We may have seen it a couple of years ago but there are many who have been left behind by the digital revolution who will have seen it for the first time in Handloader magazine. Similarly we all saw the Buchanan Hand Press from its very birth a few months ago, the very same press which is featured in the latest issue of Handloader.

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[Hardcast416taylor]

I still use the original aluminum catcher and put a piece of blue painters tape over the priming arm slot to keep primers out. I keep large diameter soda straws for a diverter tube for spent primers down thru the ram. Raise the ram to the top cut a straw for that length to the shell holder. On the bottom of the straw cut it on a 45 degree angle so the primers won`t bounce off the tray onto your floor.Robert

[tstowater]

I read the Primer catcher article and thought it was worth a try. The current model is for the Rock Chuck IV and not the earlier models. I have the Inline Fabrication case ejector system on my RC IV and I was really concerned about whether the primer catcher would work. I sent an email to Tom at Primercatcher explaining my concern and he offered to send me one to try and pay if it worked or keep it if it didn't... hard to beat that deal. When I got it in, there was no way that it would fit on the RC with the case ejector on it. I sent Tom several pictures explaining what I was running into and he has since designed a different version that I received last weekend. The new one works perfect with the case ejector system. For me, it is a great product and awesome customer service. Sorry, no pictures of the current set up. Quite impressive how fast this will resize and deprime brass. Haven't run very many pieces yet, but I don't see where I am going to have spent primers all over the place. The case ejector system really speeded up the process. My plan is to run brass through the FA tumbler without the pins and dry them and then resize and otherwise prep if necessary and run back through tumbler with the pins. This is necessary for third party sourced brass of which I seem to have an abundance of now.

Yeah, I could have gotten the Inline Fabrication spent primer system but the Primercatcher was a little less expensive. Both are good products.

[Big Tom]

I still like the magazine - not so much to get important information out of it, but to read about other people's experience reloading different calibers and quite often they have some really cool stories in it that I simply enjoy reading for entertainment while having my cigar... For current / real in-depth load data / chrono information, there are for sure other options. For me and the price they sell them for, still a great read ;-)


Sad huh? A day late and a dollar short, regurgitated articles from years gone past or articles advertising something for a customer. This magazine has lost it's appeal to me.
I have a stack of them a foot deep and can't remember when I went digging through them last to find some important information.

[lightman]

That device looks interesting but I can't really tell from the picture how it works. I just suffer with the catcher that came with the press. Yeah, I occasionally have a spent primer escape but no where as many as the haters talk about. It seems to make a difference in how aggressive you work the ram. I'm pretty slow and deliberate myself.

[ioon44]

I just place a piece of primer box card board in the tray and it catches most all of the escaping spent primers which are not very many.

[No Blue]

Hey OP, do you think you do a link to the articles on the bore scope and the reduced rifle loads in the same issue? I bought a $20 endoscope to look inside barrels, I'm curious as to what a dedicated scope can show.

TIA

[Big Tom]

Hey No Blue - sorry, but I only got the permission to share this article specifically - they sell the online subscription at a very reasonable price (as far as I remember, it was below $20 for a year).

[rundownbear]

It's not a patch on the old magazine...went to hell when it was bought out.

[Big Tom]

What is different with the current version? I only had it for about 2 years now and thought it was an interesting magazine.

It's not a patch on the old magazine...went to hell when it was bought out.

[Big Tom]

Here is a video that shows a bit more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hssD02aP9XQ


That device looks interesting but I can't really tell from the picture how it works. I just suffer with the catcher that came with the press. Yeah, I occasionally have a spent primer escape but no where as many as the haters talk about. It seems to make a difference in how aggressive you work the ram. I'm pretty slow and deliberate myself.

[gifbohane]

I got sick of stepping on spent primers and/or kneeling on the floor picking them up as they spewed out of my new RCBS press.

The price for this gadget seemed Ok but the shipping almost matched the price

Vamos a ver...

[No Blue]

I got sick of stepping on spent primers and/or kneeling on the floor picking them up as they spewed out of my new RCBS press.

The price for this gadget seemed Ok but the shipping almost matched the price

Vamos a ver...

Shipping has become a profit center; with some vendors the shipping is the major source of profit. They break even on the item, pay all their costs from that.

I bought 4 ammo cans and 65 rounds of shotgun slugs and buck, got free shipping. But the receipt was broken down to include $33.75 for shipping that was waived!

[LittleLebowski]

Very interested. Subscribing.

[omgb]

I'm not trying to be snarky but Venturino's contribution to the magazine seems pretty lame. He's tired and his writing shows it. Pretty pedestrian these days. I like the tech articles but they are getting fewer too. Still, both Handloader and Rifle, it's sister publication are far and beyond Shooting Times or Guns and Ammo IMO. I guess Guns is dead so what's left? The NRA mag is now pretty lame too. That's my $.02 anyway.

[LittleLebowski]

I was hoping for something that would work on my old RCBS Jr.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I watched the video closely and I still don't know how the thing works. The spent primer comes out in front of the ram, how does it get into the tube in the back of the ram.

[AR15-SBR]

I ordered mine off ebay for the RC2 press. It came with a plastic piece that fit into the ram's "primer chute" to guide the spent primers into the part on the press that holds the tube. (clear as mud....right?) :smile:

It works great. Just wish I hade one of these 20 years ago.

BTW, I had to reverse the ram on my RC2 press, but that was no big deal.

AR15-SBR

[Tmaloy]

I got this off ebay too. I think it's the same thing. For my RC2. I added the Inline Fabrication ejector kit with it. Reverse the ram insert the guide piece. Hasn't given me any trouble.

188244

Feeds to a jar for the spent primers.

188245

[Kenstone]

I watched the video closely and I still don't know how the thing works. The spent primer comes out in front of the ram, how does it get into the tube in the back of the ram.
The ram is reversed...removed, rotated 180 degrees, and re-assembled so the slot is in the back.
Kinda hard to prime with it though;)
:D

[Big Tom]

Yes, shipping is expensive - I pay between $7.20 and $8.30 just for USPS Priority shipping. Add the packaging material and cost of gas to drive to the post office and you are actually over the $9.50 shipping fee. It unfortunately is not a means to increase profits.

An alternative may be non-priority shipping, but that does not provide any tracking information nor insurance. Local pickup at zero cost is not a problem at all.

The biggest hit on the latest raise of shipping fees was the increase of UPS shipping to Canada. It was around $26 (yes, cheapest option...) and that went up to slightly above $40 beginning of the year. So, item cost of $15, plus $40 shipping - looks ridiculous, but neither me nor another vendor is making any money on over-charging for shipping...



Shipping has become a profit center; with some vendors the shipping is the major source of profit. They break even on the item, pay all their costs from that.

I bought 4 ammo cans and 65 rounds of shotgun slugs and buck, got free shipping. But the receipt was broken down to include $33.75 for shipping that was waived!

[Big Tom]

I am finishing a version right now that replaces the factory catcher on the RC 2 - it is slightly larger and has a higher wall and a drop into a tube in the front. Just decapped about 500 shells and had zero on the floor... It does not require rotating the ram and priming can be done just like with the factory one.
Below some pics of it - can be used without the primer assembly, I provide a slot filler for that case...

188536

188534 188535



The ram is reversed...removed, rotated 180 degrees, and re-assembled so the slot is in the back.
Kinda hard to prime with it though;)
:D

[Soundguy]

That device looks interesting but I can't really tell from the picture how it works. I just suffer with the catcher that came with the press. Yeah, I occasionally have a spent primer escape but no where as many as the haters talk about. It seems to make a difference in how aggressive you work the ram. I'm pretty slow and deliberate myself.

Agreed, some reloaders look like they are in Vegas on the slots the way they pull.

[tunnug]

I am finishing a version right now that replaces the factory catcher on the RC 2 - it is slightly larger and has a higher wall and a drop into a tube in the front. Just decapped about 500 shells and had zero on the floor... It does not require rotating the ram and priming can be done just like with the factory one.
Below some pics of it - can be used without the primer assembly, I provide a slot filler for that case...

188536

188534 188535
Now this is more my style since I prime on the press, will you be making these available or is it for your own use only? I'd buy one if not too expensive............

[Carrier]

I am finishing a version right now that replaces the factory catcher on the RC 2 - it is slightly larger and has a higher wall and a drop into a tube in the front. Just decapped about 500 shells and had zero on the floor... It does not require rotating the ram and priming can be done just like with the factory one.
Below some pics of it - can be used without the primer assembly, I provide a slot filler for that case...

188536

188534 188535


This makes far more sense than anything else I've seen.

[Clark]

I spent few minutes taping cardboard to my RCBS partner press and made a 10 second video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JssktdBRhAk

[gifbohane]

Well, I bought and received the primercatcher and I installed it. It works exactly as advertised. Have not had one primer drop on the floor or bench since the installation.

The shipping still stings but my back says 'thank you!"

[Big Tom]

Yep, shipping is expensive and after double checking with USPS, every package over 13 oz has to be sent Priority Mail. The catchers (incl. the packaging material) are unfortunately over that limit. As mentioned before, I'm more than happy to combine shipments and have had a few people picking it up locally at no cost.

Clark - that looks like a nice workaround!

[m.chalmers]

Yep, shipping is expensive and after double checking with USPS, every package over 13 oz has to be sent Priority Mail. The catchers (incl. the packaging material) are unfortunately over that limit. As mentioned before, I'm more than happy to combine shipments and have had a few people picking it up locally at no cost.

Clark - that looks like a nice workaround!

Call your PO (Postmaster) an get a business account for click an ship. You pay the postage online(USPS) which lets you ship up to a 16 oz package at the first class rate. If you have to buy shipping packaging U-Line is the place, if going Priority USPS will send you everything for free. Then you file a customer pick up an your Letter Carrier picks up your stuff. It's all tracked (free) if you pay the postage online.

Good luck!

[Carrier]

Yep, shipping is expensive and after double checking with USPS, every package over 13 oz has to be sent Priority Mail. The catchers (incl. the packaging material) are unfortunately over that limit. As mentioned before, I'm more than happy to combine shipments and have had a few people picking it up locally at no cost.

Clark - that looks like a nice workaround!

Id sure like to get one from you but shipping to Canada would cost me as much as a new press especially with our 74 cent peso.