Perfect press for BT's dies :-)

[ETG]

The old 35 year Rock Chucker is workable. But took quite a bit of pressure and I have read where the ram/shell holder could be ruined. Light bulb finally went off. Pulled out the Hornady 50 BMG press - ram is 1 1/2" without the primer cutouts or shell holder cut outs. Ram threaded for standard 7/8"x20 threads. I used an adaptor for a regular shell holder. Set up the dies and it is a breeze to swege with. Today I'm taking some 7/8" threaded rod and going to bore and thread for a 1/2" bolt. Will use standard 1/2" grade 8 bolts to make new punches. I did get interrupted while I was experimenting with core seating. My wife called me in to help her and I had a case with a core up in the die. Came back out and of course put another case/core on the ram and tried to press it home. Met a lot of resistance. Finally extracted the case to find that two were in there. I have the proof that an annealed 40 S&W case can be expanded to 55 caliber :grin: Anyway, if any are looking for an all around heavy duty press the Hornady 50 BMG lock and load is definitely worth consideration. I won't go back to the Rock Chucker. The other thing I am looking at is with using the 7/8" threaded rod it will be easy to make the bullet ejector - there is more than enough travel to make it longer and just use a nut to hold it on the ram.

[Sarg]

Funny thing about the Hornady 50 BMG press is it is made by RCBS. I broke the primer seating punch and called to order a new one ..... funny thing the Hornady Tech said that they had to order it from RCBS. I think they call theirs the Ammomaster or something like that. The 50 BMG dies though are Hornady dies. I've used mine to resize several thousand 50 BMG cases ... good press.

[shaggist]

Another great swaging press is CH4D's Heavy Duty Champion Press. It takes regular 7/8x14 dies and can also be used for reloading. It is of much heavier construction than any other O press I have seen, with a 1.185" ram and a 'cam-over' feature built in. They are listed on the CH4D website for $282 and are a great buy at that price.

[buck1]

I made a handle extenshion for my RCBS RC press and a total of "0" issues with it. I use BTs custom punch, but I modified it by adding a set screw to the nut and adjusted it so the punch rests on its base and the nut at the same time. I also have a Herters but mins a bit beefier with a extra heavy reinforcement built in to it.... buck

[ETG]

Funny thing about the Hornady 50 BMG press is it is made by RCBS. I broke the primer seating punch and called to order a new one ..... funny thing the Hornady Tech said that they had to order it from RCBS. I think they call theirs the Ammomaster or something like that. The 50 BMG dies though are Hornady dies. I've used mine to resize several thousand 50 BMG cases ... good press.

I've only used CH4D dies for my 50. Also use their projo resizing die - it takes a LOT of force to resize some of the pulled AP and API projos.

[Buckshot]

...............I believe CH made a replacement heat treated ram for the Rockchucker so there is no danger of collapsing the shellholder cut. I don't know if they still do or not, but you might check.

..............Buckshot

[buck1]

Thanks Buckshot!...Buck