Henry Rifle Forums

do you load bottle neck ammo with a multi stage press .. .. comments / observations from those who do would be appreciated

I don't have a progressive press, but I do load bottleneck on a turret press.

I have Dillon Square deal presses that only allow you to load pistol calibers. I load all of my rifle cases in the RCBS Rock Chucker press I have . It does a good job for me.

I resize all bottleneck on my Rock Chucker and seat bullets & crimp on my Co-Ax press. Only reason is because I HAVE the Co-Ax press and I prefer it for most loading operations over the Rock Chucker.

responses appreciated ..... I've always resized bottleneck cases on a single stage press .... doing so lends itself to then deburring each case

I use a Lee turret press, but I removed the auto advance rod and basically use it as a single for the rifle calibers.
I like the turret as all my dies stay setup, and I just swap out the turrets to change caliber.

RP

I too use my Lee Classic Turret to load bottlenecked rifle calibers. .223 and 30-06. I normally do them in small batches. Works well. I was wondering if it had enough brawn for the 30-06. It does.

clovishound wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 28, 2020 1:39 am

I too use my Lee Classic Turret to load bottlenecked rifle calibers. .223 and 30-06. I normally do them in small batches. Works well. I was wondering if it had enough brawn for the 30-06. It does.

Oh yeah, they're pretty darn stout. My rifle cases are 25-20, 223, 30-30, 308 MX, 30-06, and 35 Rem.
Not a bottle neck but the 444 is loaded on it also.

RP

I have never used a progressive or a turret. I still use my Rock Chucker that I bought almost 40 years ago. The first couple of years of reloading I was tempted to get a Dillon but never did. I simply prefer loading one round at a time. Now if I was a high volume shooter, things might be different.

So for me and bottle neck rifle, it makes more sense to use a single stage. I am sure others are happy with using a progressive. To me there are more things to go wrong with bottle neck compared to straight wall cartridges so I will continue to do it a round at a time.

I have a Lee Turret press and I use it for volume loading, mostly handgun but I do load .223 for semi-auto shooting on it.

I also shoot .223 from a bolt gun in matches and for that I only load on my single stage press. Even though I load 100 at a time it’s worth the extra time to create an accurate match load.

Spade5 wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 28, 2020 9:25 am

I have never used a progressive or a turret. I still use my Rock Chucker that I bought almost 40 years ago. The first couple of years of reloading I was tempted to get a Dillon but never did. I simply prefer loading one round at a time. Now if I was a high volume shooter, things might be different.

So for me and bottle neck rifle, it makes more sense to use a single stage. I am sure others are happy with using a progressive. To me there are more things to go wrong with bottle neck compared to straight wall cartridges so I will continue to do it a round at a time.

One of the nice things about a turret press is you can load a number of ways. Even in continuous mode, you are doing one function at a time. It also allows me to use a powder check die. They make it easier to spot an over/under throw, much easier than eyeballing a group of filled cases in a block. It is nice to be able to rotate the disk versus removing and inserting the next die, especially if you must unscrew them vs something like a breech lock insert.

I load bottleneck rifle calibers in single stage mode, because there are only two dies anyway and I have to pull the case after decap/resize to check length and trim, so I lose the advantages of continuous mode. If I were loading a larger capacity of .223, I might consider a rifle powder drop die and switch to continuous mode. As it is, I don't load many bottlenecked rounds. .223 is too cheap, and I don't shoot much 30-06.

Clovis, on my 30-30's, 308 MX and 35 Rem. I use a Lee Factory crimp die also.
As they all go in a tube magazine.

RP

will the Lee turret presses accommodate Hornady Lock-N-Load die bushings

I have both a Rock Chuck press, and Hornaday single stage press. I load all my pistol and revolver and .223 ammo on my Dillon 500B. When the Dillon was new, I loaded .22-250, .270, .303 Brit, 8mm Mauser, and .45-70. I noticed that my bottle necked rounds were not consistent as the single stage presses were. I blame the powder measure. Run out was within .001 or 2 compared to Dillon. I prefer the single stage for all my bottle necked rounds. I usually only load small batches.
Muddy Waters

At one point I 'briefly' considered going to a progressive, or maybe just a turret but after some consideration I added a 2nd press (Forster Co-Ax with quick change die capability and mechanical shell holder) and a couple other 'practical' accessories to 'streamline' my reloading. These 'simple' additions probably increased my loading 'efficiency' by about 50%.

The addition of the 2nd press was what really changed things and the quick change die capability really speeded things up.

I highly recommend a 2nd press for anyone who is moving up to moderate or more reloading or is starting to add multiple calibers.

The Good 'ol Rock Chucker is a great press but a bit slow. It shines however when set up and used for resizing larger rifle brass. The CO-AX press is about twice as fast when it comes to bullet seating and crimping.

I too have a Lee turret press but only load pistol cals. on it. I do all of my rifle reloading on a rock chucker. Someday I will have a co ax.

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 28, 2020 1:02 pm

Clovis, on my 30-30's, 308 MX and 35 Rem. I use a Lee Factory crimp die also.
As they all go in a tube magazine.

RP

I'm a big fan of the Lee FCD for rifle calibers.The collet style crimp can't be beat IMO.

clovishound wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 29, 2020 1:44 am

I'm a big fan of the Lee FCD for rifle calibers.The collet style crimp can't be beat IMO.

we use them on our 357 & 44 Mags

Someday I will have a co ax.

Well, if you already have a Lee turret press along with your Rock Chucker your pretty well fixed - providing the Lee is working well for you.

I was given my CO-AX about the time I was considering another press so although I knew little about it I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately it was pretty dirty and the shafts were rusted so it required a complete tear down
For cleaning and some minor repairs before I could use it but it came out good and works well.

I am glad it all happened as I learned the CO-AX is an excellent press and when set up and adjusted properly operates very fast and efficiently. The mechanical shell holder is a little finicky but when adjusted properly works very well. The spent primer system is great in that they fall through the ram, into a tube threaded in the bottom and into a cup with the tube flared and through the cap of a cup on the bottom. No primers on the floor with a CO-AX press! Many believe it is the best single stage press of all and I largely in part agree.

One minor problem with the CO-AX is with resizing larger rifle cases. While it does ok the design of the ram does not provide the leverage of say the Rock Chucker and requires a little more effort. Also its beneficial for the die to be solidly mounted in the press for heavier rounds (such as with the Rock Chucker) but for seating, crimping and resizing pistol brass it works very well.