New to Me, Redding 7-1 Press

[Alan in Vermont]

For a while now I have been thinking it would be nice to have a small press that I could use for decapping cases prior to processing. I have a Rockchucker that carries the heavy mail and a Pro-2000 for handgun use but a smaller press would keep primer crud out of the works on either one of the big presses.

My club has a table in the lobby of the clubhouse where stuff gets left, either lost & found or up for grabs for anyone who wants it. Yesterday there was a frozen solid Redding C frame press. There is "7 - 1" cast into one side of the frame and "Redding cast into the other. It is now at home with me.

Some copious applications of penetrant followed by a brass punch & BFH got the ram to move a little. So I pried off the appropriate jesus clips and drifted the pins out. It had a primer seating arm which I removed and it will likely stay that way. The die hole had rusty threads which was not a problem since I have a 7/8-14 tap. The spring retainer for standard shellholders is there and works as it should, other than being a bit tight. Shell holders need a little help with a plastic mallet going in and a quick pry with a screwdriver to remove. There is no pitting on the ram or in the hole the ram rides in. The linkage was all taken down, sanded with 600 grit, wet sandpaper, oiled and reassembled.

The only thing missing is some manner of primer catcher. I've never used a tilted-back press, if it turns out I don't like it I can either give it a new home or make up a tapered mounting block to straighten it up.

Somewhere in my deteriorating memory I seem to remember that someone made a block for just that purpose.

[Pressman]

Alan, what color is it, brown or green? They are good presses that do not turn up for sale all that often.

Your dim memory is correct, RCBS made a block, but their's was a reverse taper for the JR series of presses. Pacific also made a straightening block for their Super presses, but it is about as scarce as hen's teeth.

[Alan in Vermont]

This one is green, a lighter shade than RCBS green, with maybe a hint of yellow in it.

[ulav8r]

I have a Texan that leans back, like that. I made a tapered wooden wedge to bring the ram to vertical. It now needs a light bungee to keep the handle up when released.

[alamogunr]

I was curious since I had never heard of this press. Found a YouTube video. Interesting if you can get by the inane comments by the fellow that put it up. He took several minutes just to unwrap the press.

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

[country gent]

The blocks arnt hard to make usually, once you determine what actual angle you need. Once that's determined a table, radial arm or miter saw and some 2x lumber. set saw to cut angle wanted and cut the blocks leaving 1/8"-1/4" tall. rough sand sides flat and leave very rough. Use the coarsest sand paper you can find 40-60 frit is great here. Set up 2 rails cover with waxed paper and 3-4 bar clamps. glue together to make slightly wider than the press base I like an 1 1/2 or so on each side clamping tight together. let cure. When cured work down smooth with a hand plane top bottom and sides then sand to smooth and finish. drill mounting holes. If you want even stronger after gluing drill 3 holes side to side for 1/2"-3/4" dowels and glue this in then 1/4" dowels thru top to bottom to lock.

I have been using a homemade decapper for years to just decap cases, with this I can decap anywhere. My BPCR rounds I decap at the range before dropping them into the soap water. Several make these tools. Mine is made from hardware store copper tubing and parts