Forster Co-Ax

[John_M]

Vigilante, I would recommend the Forester rings ONLY with the Forster co-ax press. They would work with other presses but are best with the Forster. I am unfamiliar with the Dillon rings so I can't comment on them. Lee rings have a rubber "O" ring to provide some resistance to turning out of adjustment. As I recall, RCBS and Redding rings use a set screw which is screwed into the threads on the die. This holds the ring in place and in my OPINION is not nearly as good as the cross-bolt design used by Forster, Hornady and Lyman.

Forster rings are aluminum. Both Hornady and Lyman provide all steel rings and both have the cross-bolt design which tightens the ring onto/into the threads of the die. This design is MY favorite. I would give a slight preference to the Hornady rings because of the two flats on their rings. Hornady also makes a ring wrench which fits their rings very nicely for easy removal from the press. Lyman rings are the equal to Hornady for holding power. Hornady holds the lead for the two sided design. Lyman holds the lead in price.

It seems I have unintentionally hijacked 454Bore's thread. He has my apologies for this transgression. So, I'll say no more about die rings.

[454bore]

No apologogies necessary John M. Sounds like there has been a lot of good discussion.

FYI - the vendor I ordered the press from did make it right and I did get a unit with the hole centered.

Been extremely happy with the unit and have seen a dramatic improvement in the concentricity of my loads and their performance on paper. I really like the quick change capability and not having to reset the dies each time I load them. I have found that the Hornady dies work fine in the unit and see no difference in the level of concentricity achieved.

One nice added feature is the closed system for depriming. Keeps things alot cleaner compared to my Rock Chucker.

I would have no problem recommending the Co-Ax.

[mtnmn]

The foster body is a sand casting.While this cost effective way to produce the body it is not the most accurate. It may have looked to not concentric to the outside of the casting, there was most likely no worry that all the machined bores and surfaces were concentric, square and parallel. It's the one of the issues with older but proven methods of manufacturing. They stood behind the product that whats counts.

[hrt4me]

I have already purchased new 6/32 x 1/2" stainless cap screws with a hex drive drive head to replace the Phillips head cap screws which come with the Forster rings.

thanks for the tip; I'll have to replace mine too!