hrh Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 RCBS has a new press available in 5 or 7 stage configuration. Also you can start with the 5 stage and convert to the 7 stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 The 7 stage press can't do anything you can't do in 5, with a GSI tool head on a 650. Unless you count on waiting for the release of a case feeder. What interests me most is why they went away from the APS system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencerhut Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 The RCBS move away from APS is a sad one for me. I have wondered why they don't just give away the patent and let the system proliferate naturally. Strips are far more efficient than tubes. I have one Pro2000, two Super 1050's and several 550's and 650's. APS is the best priming system by far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Tompkins Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Anyone actually using one of these? Thoughts & opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 (edited) They have a case feed yet? Wouldn't consider one without it. Edited July 25, 2015 by jmorris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave33 Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 There is a pretty detailed thread at ar15.com about the pro chucker 5. Seems to be a great press, but has an Achilles heel being the primer slide. Apparently it breaks a lot. Guy who has one doing the review had to debur the primer system to be able to run the press but everything else seems to be really good. If RCBS gets the primer slide system worked out and gets a good case feeder the boys in blue (and red) are going to have some very serious competition. I'm at my wits end with my Lee equipment, if RCBS gets the primer system straight there might be some green on my bench in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester121 Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 If Hornady has a patent on the powder drop, they might have a grievance. And last I checked Green has priced these things quite dearly. Like over 2x the Hornady. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaldor Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 There is a pretty detailed thread at ar15.com about the pro chucker 5. Seems to be a great press, but has an Achilles heel being the primer slide. Apparently it breaks a lot. Guy who has one doing the review had to debur the primer system to be able to run the press but everything else seems to be really good. If RCBS gets the primer slide system worked out and gets a good case feeder the boys in blue (and red) are going to have some very serious competition. I'm at my wits end with my Lee equipment, if RCBS gets the primer system straight there might be some green on my bench in the near future. Ive read and contributed to that thread. The primer system, more specifically the slide being made of an ABS plastic, is piss poor at best. Why engineer a part to fail? I know, so you dont break other parts. Still unacceptable. A plastic such as delrin with steel pins in it would have been a much better choice and would have still offered a level of protection I guess. I like the way the press functions, as it seems super smooth. Price is a little high, as they trying to directly compete with Dillon when they have no case feeder. I dont load a ton, but a case feeder is mandatory for me, even more important than a bullet feeder, as I use my LnL to decap and size my brass in large batches of 1000+ but load in smaller runs of 200-500 or so. However you guys that load 1000+ at a time, a case and bullet feeder is probably mandatory? They need to get a case feeder up and running, it needs to work all the time, not like a Hornady case feeder, more like a Dillon. They need to knock a little off the price. They are trying to steal business from Dillon at that price point, and honestly I dont think they will except for the hardcore RCBS buyers. They need to come in somewhere between the LnL and the 650 for price for the 5 station, and the 7 station should be a little more than a 650. At that point they would have a good shot at pulling some market share. They do those things, they have a shot at getting some business. They dont, then whatever, it will sell, but poorly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Why engineer a part to fail? Call it a fuse or circuit breaker, will make more sense that way. The fact that it "blows" them too often is indicative of a design failure but if you made one out of steel, it would just ruin other parts of the press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaldor Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Why engineer a part to fail? Call it a fuse or circuit breaker, will make more sense that way. The fact that it "blows" them too often is indicative of a design failure but if you made one out of steel, it would just ruin other parts of the press. I understand the concept behind it, but when they break because you looked at them wrong, then they screwed something up. My other concern is what happens if you pinch a primer and it goes off in the press while seating? Plastic will just melt. Granted this doesnt happen alot, but its another potential issue. Look at the Z bar on the LnL primer system. Does the steel primer slide snap off when it jams on the LNL, or does it damage any other parts on the press? No, the Z bar pops loose which takes a couple seconds to snap back into place. That has been engineered to have a fail safe. I dont own any Dillon presses, but Im sure they are not engineered to have a part break. I know Im preaching to the choir here, especially to you jmorris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Tompkins Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Until I had asked the question if anyone was using one I had not noticed they did not have a case feeder, just a bullet feeder. Being a long time LNL use with a case feeder and having tried the LNL bullet feeder I have the basic view the case feeder is necessary and the bullet feeder is optional. BTW the LNL bullet feeder works ok but is so noisy as to be painful and unusable – I sold mine not long after I got it. But thinking back over my experience with the case feeder it’s not always been a bed of roses. To set it up with small diameter cases (9mm sized) there is a set of parts, for large diameter cases (45 cal sized) another set of parts, and for medium cases its mix and match with no parts sized exactly right and each needing different adjustments. Getting mixed brass in the system can be a problem as well – a 40 cal case mixed in while reloading 9mm is a PITA. What a pain. Don’t know if Dillon’s case feeder is any different but maybe, maybe not. The LNL bullet feeder had very specific caliber parts and fewer of them. It was quite easy to set up and change over and since we use new bullets not much chance you'll get an incorrect one mixed in. Manually loading both cases and bullets into a progressive is not very fast nor enjoyable (to me anyway). However loading brass with bullets being automated seems no slower than automated case feed and manual bullet feeding. With a manual case feed I would expect far fewer problems due to mixed / incorrect brass. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaldor Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Rob if you didnt like the Hornady bullet feeder, you probably wont like the RCBS one. Pretty much the same design I think. I agree with you, for loading, its a wash to have to insert one or the other. For case prep (everyones favorite) having the case feeder is far more beneficial IMHO. I have the LnL case feeder, and while it works good now, it required a bunch of tweaking to get it working. You have one, so you have a point of reference here as well. I think the big issue if faces is having to jump across the shell retainer spring, especially with narrow base cases like .223. I may have to flick 1 in 20 when loading .223, but 9mm works perfect, narrow base, but short case, so not heavy. I also use the shotgun shell trick on my drop tube so I do not get any bounces anymore. RCBS could do alot worse than to to just copy the Dillon case feed mechanism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 I understand the concept behind it, but when they break because you looked at them wrong, then they screwed something up. My other concern is what happens if you pinch a primer and it goes off in the press while seating? Plastic will just melt That is the design failure part but I doubt it will melt, might blow apart but there is such a short duration of heat provided it won't melt plastic. 25 years ago I bought some of the Speer plastic cases and bullets that fired with a primer, shot them over and over and over.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Tompkins Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Good info on the RCBS bullet feeder. For about the same money or just a bit more the Mr. Bullet Feeder can be had it appears to be a far better machine. I might have to get one. Good point on the case prep if you do that separately. I hear you on the 223 cases. I know some of the early 223 shell plates had a larger bevel that did not push the retainer spring down far enough. I heard Hornady will swap them out but I had a buddy selling off his LNL (upgraded to a 1050) and I picked his up for $10. Haven't tried it but definitely a smaller bevel. I'm hopeful 223 will feed better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaldor Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Good info on the RCBS bullet feeder. For about the same money or just a bit more the Mr. Bullet Feeder can be had it appears to be a far better machine. I might have to get one. Good point on the case prep if you do that separately. I hear you on the 223 cases. I know some of the early 223 shell plates had a larger bevel that did not push the retainer spring down far enough. I heard Hornady will swap them out but I had a buddy selling off his LNL (upgraded to a 1050) and I picked his up for $10. Haven't tried it but definitely a smaller bevel. I'm hopeful 223 will feed better. I would like to have a MBF for 9mm and 223, but being that I only shoot 500-600 rounds a month, thats pretty tough for me to justify the cost. I had to get a new 223 shell plate. Mine was too narrow, and about 20% of my case rims would not fit. The local shop I get powder/primers/bullets from sent it back to Hornady for me, and gave me a new one off the shelf. I have had to call Hornady a few times, and their CS is great. I can see your point jmorris. Id prefer to have a part that does not break, and would probably spend the time to make one properly from a material like delrin, with a small roller on it like the LnL primer slide uses. Just have to not force anything when the press jams. Im sure RCBS was thinking they would make it "idiot" proof by making it a sacrificial part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 I can see your point jmorris. Id prefer to have a part that does not break, and would probably spend the time to make one properly from a material like delrin, with a small roller on it like the LnL primer slide uses I have no idea what plastic they use but I also don't know what it takes to break what they have. I do however know some folks that could break an anvil with a rubber mallet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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