RCBS RockChucker 2, cast iron or steel?

[littlejack]

I bought a RockChucker 2 about 20 years ago. Can anyone tell me if they were made of cast iron back then or were they made of cast steel?
I have been thinking about swaging paper patched bullets for my 45-70 rifle. Would I need to get one of the upgrade kits to make this press better for swaging?
Also, there is a person that goes by the name "hawk" on ebay that sells swaging dies for reloading presses. Has anyone had any expierience with his products, or heard any positive feedback for his swaging dies and or his equipment.
Thanks for taking the time. Any advice or expierience appreciated.
Jack

[MIBULLETS]

littlejack,

Not sure about the press, but the "hawk" on ebay is the President of Hawk Bullets. The bullet dies he sells that I have seen are for reloading presses and they make a semiwadcutter type bullet like the Corbin semiwadcutter die. You have to have a edge with a little bit of lead about the jacket or do not use a jacket.

[Pressman]

All the Rockchucker presses are made of cast iron.
Ken

[littlejack]

Thanks for the replies.
So, if the frame is cast iron, it being the O type will swage certain lead bullets. Right? I am guessing that the weak link would be the part that the handle or arm is attatched to. If it is of cast iron, it would probably break. Is this one of the parts that a person can get in a kit to strenghten to swage.
I saw on ebay that Hawk does make a die to swage paper patch bullets with that are used in reloading presses.
Would the RC press swage a 500 grain pure lead bullet with one of the Hawk dies.
Jack

[jcunclejoe]

No trouble at all using the RC to swage most anything.
I swage a 41 caliber 250gr jacketed bullet on my RC and have no problem at all.
A large pure lead bullet will form like butter in a RC.
Swage away and never look back.
Joe

[sargenv]

RCBS = Rock Chuck Bullet Swage

[littlejack]

Thanks fella's for the information.
Joe, now you have opened a can of worms. I have loaded and shot a 41 mag since 1969. I may have to try swaging for it also. Is there any dies that are better or worse than others?
What doe most of you fellas use?
Thanks Jack

[jcunclejoe]

Littlejack, I am using the CH4D dies for the 41 bullets. The punches are slightly modified. I added a lead bleed die and went to a solid punch for the core seat station. I was a tooling engineer at Nosler for 6 years, so I tend to change things for what I think might be a better way. The dies work well though and make great bullets. I have sold several thousand of those bullets. The biggest improvement to my bullets was getting a Corbin power Cannelure machine. It makes way nicer cannelures than the CH hand tool and it's about 1/100th of the effort.
I'm a big fan of the 41 too. Have about 5 of them, 6 if you count the 414.
Have fun.
Getting jackets is the hardest part. I use 10mm jackets and they work fine.
Joe

[littlejack]

Joe, do you live in Central Oregon, or is the question discrete? I lived in Central Oregon for about ten years. I was in the
Redmond, Terrabonne area. I did visit Bend once in a while and took a look around at the Nosler factory. I live back in the Willamette Valley now.
Does your RockChucker press have the stronger ram in it? I guess that would be the solid one. I have read that it is wise to get one of the solid rams to be safe. Do you know if the leverage toggle that the handle goes in is made of cast iron? I would think that it would be the weakest link for that press. I saw a video on youtube of a fella swaging 9mm's W/gaschecks on a RockChucker and it didn't look like he was using much pressure at all.
Jack

[Echo]

In days of yore I used my RC to swage 131 gr .357 JSP bullets. Used cores cast w/Lee carbine mold - and had no drama whatever. I would think that, as long as one were using pure lead for the core, as one should, the RC has sufficient strength to survive...

[littlejack]

Thanks Echo. I appreciate the expierienced input on the press.
Jack

[JohnM]

Don’t try swaging wheel weights, just pure lead or close to it!

You’ll probably rip your press of the bench before breaking it. I’ve just put 5 inch longer handles on 2 of mine to make swaging jackets easier

John

[Jim_Fleming]

Hi Gents...

The weakest part of the reloading press, when swaging, is the top of the ram...

Where the shell holder snaps in. It's possible to crush it when swaging to the point that shell holders won't 'come out' or go in.

Just some food for thought.

[kawalekm]

I bought a RockChucker 2 about 20 years ago. Jack

I started out with a RockChucker #2. I broke the frame at about bullet 400 hundred. It cracked right in the cleff where there primer arm is supposed to be mounted. Obvously, the frame is weakest there because of the cutout there.

I've since replaced it with a RockChucker #4, RCBS's latest design, and that model seems stouter. They redesigned that area of the O ring so there's no cutout and I've been making bullets with it ever since.
Michael

[BrianB]

Littlejack,
I kinda doubt it is cast iron. I checked into the availability of iron about 15-20 years ago and if memory serves me right, there were only a few places making it and they were in Europe and England. It seems it was very expensive as well. (I wanted some to forge some 19th century-look hardware) People tend to use the term "iron" for anything that is cast or made of soft steel. It would be, more than likely, cost prohibitive to make a press out of actual iron.
Take Care, BAB

[JohnM]

Hi Gents...

The weakest part of the reloading press, when swaging, is the top of the ram...

Where the shell holder snaps in. It's possible to crush it when swaging to the point that shell holders won't 'come out' or go in.

Just some food for thought.


Larry Blackmon makes 2 size rams for the RCBS (as do others) that have a thread fitting instead of the shell holder. Think the kit is somewhere around the us$60?

John

[Jumptrap]

Littlejack,
I kinda doubt it is cast iron. I checked into the availability of iron about 15-20 years ago and if memory serves me right, there were only a few places making it and they were in Europe and England. It seems it was very expensive as well. (I wanted some to forge some 19th century-look hardware) People tend to use the term "iron" for anything that is cast or made of soft steel. It would be, more than likely, cost prohibitive to make a press out of actual iron.
Take Care, BAB

Cast iron is STILL as common as fleas on a hound. It is one of the most used materials extant for numerous reasons. It has excellent machining capabilities, it is easily cast, cheap compared to other materials and for static uses, very strong. I'd have to dig out my copy of Machinery's Handbook to find the tensile strength, but it is quite high.

That is not to say that the 'cast iron' of today is exactly the same as circa 1850.....but damned near it. It can be found in every (iron) foundry in the world, being used for lots of common items, i.e., manhole covers, grates, wood/coal stoves, valve bodies and engine blocks and heads, just to name a few.

Yes, cast steel has replaced cast iron in some applications, but where malleability is of little concern, cast iron still reigns king.

I seriously doubt any reloading presses are made from cast steel.....it's just too expensive for that application.

[trevj]

Littlejack,
I kinda doubt it is cast iron. I checked into the availability of iron about 15-20 years ago and if memory serves me right, there were only a few places making it and they were in Europe and England. It seems it was very expensive as well. (I wanted some to forge some 19th century-look hardware) People tend to use the term "iron" for anything that is cast or made of soft steel. It would be, more than likely, cost prohibitive to make a press out of actual iron.
Take Care, BAB

My money says that the "iron" you were looking at was Wrought Iron. It is not real common.

Cast iron, on the other hand, is everywhere, and is relatively easy and cheap to produce.

Good wrought iron is much sought after for blacksmithing and ornamental ironwork. It moves well under the hammer, and is easier to forge weld than most things that can be put into the fire.

Cheers
Trev

[nicholst55]

Larry Blackmon makes 2 size rams for the RCBS (as do others) that have a thread fitting instead of the shell holder. Think the kit is somewhere around the us$60?

John

He now gets $95 for the replacement ram.