I picked up a RBCS rock chucker kit at academy on clearance.

Time to get started on something new.

Goal is to reload
375 Ruger
375 H&H
450-400
300 H&H
300 win mag
30/06
7.5 Swiss

Maybe
303 British
8mm Mauser

Mike

First, buy and read, and make sure you understand, all day for two weeks, two reloading books. Which two? doesn't matter. Understand the basics, then start loading.

quote:

First, buy and read, and make sure you understand, all day for two weeks, two reloading books. Which two? doesn't matter. Understand the basics, then start loading

+1

Good advice above and good choice in the rock chucker. They do wear out pretty fast. Bought mine in 1974 and it’s showing slight wear.

1974? That is a brand new one. To me. Clean and oil the ram every ten years and it will out last you. (It will anyway.)

Mine's younger : 1977. A couple of times I've taken it apart and lubed the ram with RCBS case lube. It attracts dirt and dust so it needs to be cleaned with solvent about once every twenty years, otherwise it chatters when being pushed.

Thanks for all the advice.

I am going to go learn how to reload from an ar member who is a very skilled and experienced reloaded.

What workbench should I buy to reload?

I am going to convert my home office into a reloading home office.

What I am thinking of getting

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gl...GAWB06MTZG/204246902

Thanks,

Mike

That bench looks pretty good, if you can afford it and have the space. More weight does help but I have managed the bit of reloading I do with one of those Workmate-type saw-horses - not ideal but it does pack away.

The bench you posted should work, I always anchor my benches to the floor.
Get a Sierra manual even if someone is helping you you must read repeatedly to understand and have it as a reference.

I think my Lyman is older them me.

That may be the best reloading bench to be had! I don't think so, however. I don't like to be negative but I see no bracing support for lateral, vertical or torquing strengths.
Build a 6 footer out of 2x6s and 2x4s. Anchor to the floor and a wall. I enjoyed building the 2 I have.

Build your own bench. For that price, you can build a really nice one. There is a set of plans online for a bench with cabinets/storage that works great. I modified it a little for my needs, but helped my uncle build one as the plans call for and it turned out great. See if I can find the plans.....

Here they are

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
That bench looks pretty good, if you can afford it and have the space. More weight does help but I have managed the bit of reloading I do with one of those Workmate-type saw-horses - not ideal but it does pack away.

+1.

That's what my Rockchucker is affixed to. My progressive is attached to a very large and heavy old oak desk. Both are rock-solid.

Mike-

Glad to see you're taking the plunge!
Good advice by folks already given, but I'd second a couple:

Read, Study and take Safety as your primary mission.

Get a heavy bench, with enough bracing to take a lot of abuse and anchor it, if you can. Solid is better; a wobbly set-up will just make your posts on the Political Forum more stressful. Seriously, a solid bench is a must.

I find loading to be a good form of therapy/decompress from one of those days at work where SHTF.

Have fun!

Great! Wish you a safe and fun time.

One of the best things about hunting and shooting for me is the actual load development for the rifle and getting good results and taking game successfully with it.

Some good advise there.

I would get the latest Lyman manual and read the early chapters (not the loads) 3 times.

I would read the info on pressure every year.

Yes your experienced friend will be helpful but I would suggest that you focus on your own understanding of critical issues like safety, pressure, case expansion, ratio of expansion, correlation between powder charge, pressure & velocity etc.

One important tool I would strongly recommend that would help a lot & save time is the Hornady comparator for measuring head space and OAL - It will help you size brass and produce ammo of same dimensions every time without variance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCxQJZ376gY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llvsEsaK8-M

The reloading bench will be on the second floor on hardwood floor and cannot be bolted down or into a wall.

It will have to be a standalone bench.

I also have this table in the room right now.

https://www.crateandbarrel.com...2-work-table/s495980

Not sure I can mount the press on it but the table is rock solid.

Mike

The issue is stability, not how you achieve it.

Is there a way you can you bolt the table to the studs of a wall? That might be a solution, or a part of your solution.

If you can't bolt, then use WEIGHT for stability for your bench. My first real bench was weighed down with sand bags full of gravel. I was in the Army and they frowned on bolting
things down to their walls and floors in Govt quarters. .

The reloading table won't be bolted in the floor or attached to the wall.

I am thinking as heavy a table as possible. Some of these work benches can be pretty heavy. 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 maple butcher block table top.

I will use a rcbs base plate to attach the press to the work table.

Mike

I agree with dpcd

That bench looks fine. All you need is a couple of 5kg bags of sand or lead shot on the folding legs to give it more stability.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
If you can't bolt, then use WEIGHT for stability for your bench. My first real bench was weighed down with sand bags full of gravel. I was in the Army and they frowned on bolting
things down to their walls and floors in Govt quarters. .

If bolting is out, weight is in.

You can either get a very heavy loading bench (my large, old free-standing oak desk works just fine) or you can, as dpcd and Naki say, use heavy sand bags or metal weights.

I won the latest Norma reloading manual and it’s awsesome. Lots of info regarding components and the science behind them. I flip through it all the time.

Run. Run as fast as you can.

Let the weight that holds the bench down be you. In other words reload sitting down on a bench that is integral to the work bench it's self. A cobbler's bench is what they were called way back when. A friend built me one about 40 years ago when I was temporarily relegated to apartment living and I've been using it ever since, even though I could have gone back to a full sized bench any time.

Here's the problem with a free-standing bench or table that no one seems to have adequately described: Your press will be on the outer edge of the table top, and the press handle will lever forward of that. Even a very heavy table, if it is free-standing, will try to tip forward when you bear down on the press handle. That's why you're being told to anchor it to the wall or floor.

Weight helps, but weight on the forward portion of the table (like your press) doesn't help much -- it is weight toward the rear, away from the leverage, which helps hold the table in place. IF you were to build a shelf between the two back legs and store all of your bullets, ammunition, and whatever other heavy material there, then that might hold your table against tipping when you try to full length resized a large cartridge.

Another way to reduce the leverage on your bench recess your press mount away from the outer edge and toward the center. This would require "notching" a section out of the table top to mount the press more to the rear of the table. This reduces its leverage by moving it closer to the center of gravity of the table.

Also, I see that the Home Depot table is adjustable for height. The higher off of the ground the more leverage the press handle will have on it and the more it will tend to tip. If you place it at its maximum height in order to work standing up, then it will require some bit more weight to counterbalance against the leverage of the press.

I started reloading sometime back in 55-58 with a Lyman Nut cracker for 30-30 and soon after a set of Lee "Hammer" operated reloading dies...MY Rock chucker was obtained as soon as they hit the market or soon after I first saw one...seems to me to be 60-65...could be sooner or later, just can't remember when, and it's "still working".

Stonecreek is right on with the physics...I built one out of 4 x 6's with 2 x 8 planks plus a fitted piece of 1 1/4" plywood flooring on top and a 3/8" piece of that old dark brown hardened press board "stuff" you can't get anymore on top of that. 3/8" steel plate on top and bottom with the press sandwiched between and THROUGH bolted with 1/2" bolts and the plates also through bolted separately in addition. This "Monster thingy" is also bolted to two walls at 90°. I've been hauling that thing around from place to place for 50 odd years, and it's worth more to me than two of my motorcycles, and half dozen rifles.

With ALL of this weight, bulk and stiffness I can still feel it flexing now and then when I was forming large cal cases into small cal wildcats using a 3' snipe on the press handle...The strength of that press NOT coming apart is amazing...I did tear off lots of case rims tho', trying to get those cases out of the die.

Yeah... and a 16Bore say's...RUN, run as fast as you can...this game is worse than Golf at keeping you poor.

Good Hunting

My Hollywood single stage press is older than all the posters on AR combined..I found it at the locas dump, cleaned it and been using it for near 70 years, A good press just doesn't wear out, if it does its not a good press..end of story..My RCBS A-2 is 30 years old I guess and its lie new..My C press from RCBS sleeps under my bench and it still works perfect, I just don't use it anymore.

I paid nickels for a Rockchucker that cost me thousands....

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 16Bore:
I paid nickels for a Rockchucker that cost me thousands....[/QUOTE
Now that right there is funny. I don't care who you are. That's even funnier than the guy who asks "how much money can I save by reloading?"

TOTALLY 16BORE

Don't get me wrong, I don't wanna pee in a fellas Cheerios. If you're an over-analyzing skullfucking numbers guy, it might not be for you. It's a whole new hobby. You shoot a lot more dinking around with a lot of stuff. Then you push and push and dial and tweak. You'll learn everything about how/why things go bang. You make lots of cool custom ammo. You'll spend late nights and rainy Saturday's making shit perfect. You'll shoot better, because you shoot more. You'll shoot tiny little groups. You'll spend hours at the range, you'll take detailed notes of everything.

Then....

On the last day of deer season, you'll poke a doe at 15 yards and wonder: "what the hell am I thinking?"


And being a true over analyzing skullfucking numbers guy myself, you remember diminishing returns and the idea of 90% return on 20% effort...