OLD RCBS RS A5H Press ?

[JesterGrin_1]

What say ye all of this old Press? To me it seems much better built than any Rock Chucker I have ever used. And much tighter with no slop next to a Rock Chucker. Is this the old Steel Press people talk about? The only thing it has cast into it is --RS-- on one side RCBS on the other and in small A5H.

Thank You all in advance.

[JesterGrin_1]

Bump

[Pressman]

Sounds like a late Reloader special. The small a5h is a casting number. The all steel presses people talk so much about are the A and A2 presses. The A3 is cast iron.
Ken

[JesterGrin_1]

Bump

[JesterGrin_1]

Bump Again

[NVcurmudgeon]

Appears to be the old RCBS Junior press. I used one heavily for about 25 years. I wrote RCBS whether I should be concerned about a slightly wobbly ram. Their answer was that the press was just getting broken in and not to worry. They also sent me a new Reloader Special 3, no charge. A friend of mine is using my 45 year old Junior to this day, and I have been happy with the Reloader Special 3 for about 20 years. The Reloader special replaced the Junior.

[jlchucker]

Ditto NVCurmudgeon. I started out with an RCBS Jr and used it about as long as you did. In fact, I think I gave it to my brother, who may still be using it. The photos here look just like the Jr.

[JesterGrin_1]

Thank You guys. But I will have to say this. This RS press looks and feels better made than the new Rock Chucker. As this press has no overtravel and little if any play in the ram.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

That's cause your new Rock Chucker was made in China. The old press you have was made in the United States. The change to China is one among a number of reasons I recommend buying a Lee Classic Cast single stage over the Rock Chucker nowadays.

Regards,

Dave

[quasi]

I also started on a Junior, then went to a Rockchucker and found it much less ergonomic for two handed loading than the Junior was.

[1hole]

The Reloader Special (RS) series ran the gamet of changes. Some were supposed to have been made of an aluminum casting to compete, cost wise, with Lee, while others were cast iron. Most RS models had the simple toggle lever system, as yours does, but at least one had the much more desireable compound toggle linkage.

I started reloading with a simple toggle link press but will never buy another press without the compound toggle system.

The value of a tightly fitted ram is often counter productive to making concentric ammo. A slight "float" will allow any case to precisely enter the die. A tightly fitted ram may not allow them come together properly and that can force a bananna curve into the case.

Hand dies for BR shooters are fully "floated" and there is no fitted ram at all.

Dies and precision chambers are reamed with floating reamer holders.

In fact, nothing truly precise is machined with a locked holder AND a locked cutting tool.

[enfieldphile]

That's cause your new Rock Chucker was made in China. Regards, Dave

China? The pain, oh the pain!

[JesterGrin_1]

China? The pain, oh the pain!

The reason they are made in China is simple that is what the U.S.A. consumers want. If a product does not sell then it is no longer produced or it is made elsewhere. Which I feel is a bit odd as most reloaders seem very pro AMERICAN but yet they will still purchase an item made in China. That also has some impact as to why my new reloading purchases are from LEE such as there Lee Classic Cast Turret Press. And I am very happy with its performance at this point.

[1hole]

"That's cause your new Rock Chucker was made in China." Regards, Dave

Dave is correct, or at least the frame casting is from China.

I prefer to buy made in USA but don't totally avoid buying anything made elsewhere, none of us could buy much if we took that extreme. Nor will I pay exhorbitant prices for something just because it was made in the US - my own income is too far below the wages of most of our union workers for that kind of home-grown welfare purchasing phylosophy. But, when I can both buy US AND save money, it's a no-brainer!

The Lee Cast series of presses are made here, cost less, are massively strong and have superior design features to virtually any other competitive presses currently being sold.

[crowbeaner]

I just finished loading 1100 rounds on a press almost identical to yours. I've had mine for over 35 years. I bought another on feebay last fall so I can put one die in one, and one in the other. I have no earthly idea how many rounds mine has loaded over the past 3 1/2 decades; tens of thousands. They are good, solid presses, and will outlast you and your grandkids. No BS warranty, and RCBS is still in business; I don't see them moving to Mexico even if their castings are made overseas. China has no regulatory heavy handed bureaucracies to interfere with their slave labor, and no unions to demand a fair pittance for their workers. If the Chinese can make them for $1 and it costs $20 to make them here, why doesn't the PRICE COME DOWN? Check the prices on used RCs on feebay.

[Pressman]

Your RS press is an evolution of the Jr series of presses. The Jr2 is the RCBS answer to the need for a smaller and less costly press for handgunners and small caliber rifle reloaders. (there is no Jr or Jr1 press). It is a very good press. The Jr3 is the stronger, reinforced version of the Jr 2. The handle and toggle block would occasionally break on the Jr 2 so it was beefed up. This brings us to the early 1980's and the marketing people are comming up with new ideas. With the introduction of the Jr 2 RCBS had offered a package deal of the press, dies, shellholder and maybesomething else, called the Reloader Special. Eventually the Jr3 became the RS, Relaoder Special sometime around 1980-81. However, it was short lived and soon replaced with a swing arm press called the RS2 around 1983-84. I have some gaps in my catalog collection so dates are approximate as taken from the Handloader's Digest.

The Jr2 name comes from Junior size press and second effort to market such a press. The Model B was the first effort and it flopped because it was WAY too costly to make, besides being a bad design.

Ken

[floodgate]

I just received one of the two RCBS "Juniors" Beanflip offered for sale last week; it too has the "RS" on the frame and the simple reversible toggle, except that the upstroke toggle socket is cored in the casting but not bored or threaded, so it has just the (preferred) downstroke function - non-compound. Mine is a perfect match to my Rockchunker, both having the tiny "79" date stamp next to the die socket (which moves Pressman's date for the "Reloader Special" back a year or so). Casting code on mine is "H7A", and it is definitely cast iron, not aluminum.

Beanflip is also one of our "good guys"!

Floodgate

[floodgate]

As to the relative "power" of the Rockchucker and Reloader Special presses - at least for my cast-iron 1979 examples, - the RC has a ram 1.000" in diameter and the handle is .750", as compared with the RS's 0.800" and 0.625"; not to mention the compound vs. direct upstroke linkages. The RS is still a fine press, though.

Floodgat

[partsproduction]

I used to believe companies were evil for exporting jobs until I started to run my own business.

Over regulation and high taxation, over protection of workers "rights" (That means $$ down the hole for nothing) and many other things libs have forced on our country have made it almost impossible to operate here. I'd move operations if I could but that's not the nature of my business. There's always another side to the story!
Anyway, it does look like my Jr. press I use for pulling bullets.

Sorry for the rant, first post here.