As the proud new owner of an older Searcy double in 470, I've been trying to buy dies and start loading for three weeks. Midway is backordered, Huntington's is out, even RCBS doesn't have any. (Maybe next week. Maybe.)
Can anyone suggest a source? Anyone got a set for sale?

Try CH4D.

George

Thanks a million for the CH4D tip. Not only did they have what I need, but Dave spent close to an hour entertaining and educating me.
Marty

I'm glad I could help. What press are you going to use?

George

George-
Probably an older single stage RCBS- think it's a rockchucker. Butch Searcy said that as the breech face is not quite perpendicular to the chamber, each round will need to be turned 90 degrees twice, and run through the die three times to assure proper chambering. I don't think my 550B would allow that!
Marty

Marty,

I hope that you have better luck with Ch4D dies than I've had and several other aquaintances as well. I had a set in .460G&A that were unusable and the boys at CH4D were less than helpfull with in resolving the problem.

Good luck and enjoy your Searcy .470. I love mine.

Just FYI a normal RCBS press is not wide enough to seat .470NE rounds once they're seated you won't be able to remove them from the die with out unscrewing your seating die. The best press for your needs is an Ammo Master by RCBS.

Greg Allyn

I know other guys have had trouble, but my CH4D .470 NE dies work fine.

If you try to load on your dillon 550B it will require a special conversion kit. They made some for the 50-70 awhile back. I don't know if they have any left or not. I emailed and they scrounged one up for me. I have the CH4D dies and the only problem I have with them is I can not crimp when I load cast bullets. The bullet nose gets messed up. I emailed them, but got no responce.

I'm glad Dave entertained you because he is a better entertainer than he is a die maker..His specs are different than the rest of the world...and his BS is thicker than most....

I bought a set of RCBS 470 NE and shell holder for Graf & Sons just yesterday..may be they still have some?

Also, the Rockchukker will not work...found that out the hard way last night....I ended up purchasing a Rockchukker Supreme last night form Midway...RCBS said it would work for the 470 NE.

I think RCBS is very close to making a run of 470 NE dies...so others may have them available in a relatively short time ..if Grafs does not.

Guys,

No kidding I've tried several preses including the lyman with the "wider" opening. The only one that really gives you enough rooom with the big Nitro rounds is the Ammo master which was designed for reloading .50BMG ammo.

I wouldn't screw with anything else. You need btter than 4" clearance one you've got your seating die set and a shell holder in place. Especially if you are going to load Barnes X that makes for a really long round.

Just trying to save you some time and money.

Greg

Greg,

Thanks for the information on the Press. I had difficulty in locating the RCBS Ammo Master...but after your post I called Grafs (they did not show availability on thier Wed Site) and they did have the Ammo Master in stock and for a good price...well it is on the way...

I guess I will send the Rockchukker Supreme back unless someone wants to buy it.

quote:

Originally posted by surestrike:
Guys,

No kidding I've tried several preses including the lyman with the "wider" opening. The only one that really gives you enough rooom with the big Nitro rounds is the Ammo master which was designed for reloading .50BMG ammo.

The Redding Ultramag has plenty of room for the nitro express cases. I load .470, .500 and .416 rigby on it and there is plenty of clearance.

quote:

Originally posted by jjs:
Greg,

Thanks for the information on the Press. I had difficulty in locating the RCBS Ammo Master...but after your post I called Grafs (they did not show availability on thier Wed Site) and they did have the Ammo Master in stock and for a good price...well it is on the way...

I guess I will send the Rockchukker Supreme back unless someone wants to buy it.

You'll be very happy with the Ammo Master. That's what I use. There are probably other choices out there that are just as good, but the Ammo Master is hard to beat. It'll work. I use mine for all of my rifle cartridge reloading.

-Bob F.

I'll second the Redding Ultramag. Plenty of room.

I used the rockchucker press when I first started loading for the 470NE. It was a pain in the butt. Had to screw the seating die up and down for each round. Also had to dremel of some metal on the press itself. It worked, but I got tired of it and bought the Ammomaster as you did. I also had to modify my RCBS handhelp priming tool to get the 470 shellholder to fit. Work fine now.

Erik

quote:

The Redding Ultramag has plenty of room for the nitro express cases. I load .470, .500 and .416 rigby on it and there is plenty of clearance.

500,
what brand of dies do you use?
Thanks,
lawndart

My .470 dies are CH4D. .416 dies are RCBS. For .500 I have both RCBS and CH4D.

Thanks.

I have a high mileage Ultramag. It has never bobbled at all.

lawndart

500grains et al,

I have a new 460 G & A. Have yet to chuck up my dies and do some loading. Will I have the same press issues that are being discussed here? I too use a standard Rochchucker.

Thanks,

Jeff

You're 460 should be ok, but you won't have much room to share. I use a rockchucker with my 500 Jeffrey, it works. I should have sprung for an Redding ultramag, but I load everything else on my co-ax.

Thanks for all the input, guys. I have ordered an ultramag press, that'll save some bad words when the dies come. Grafs did have the RCBS dies, but the CH4D dies are on the way, so we'll see.
Dave at CH4D said there has been some problems with the Norma brass being a bit out of spec, but again we'll see.
What we have here is a bit of a science project.....

What about the Lee classic cast press? It looks to be pretty huge and is inexpensive.
They make a kit for 50 BMG with it also.

Jeff,

Anything that fits in a Mauser fits in a Rockchucker. Anything that is too large for a Mauser needs a bigger press than a rockchucker.

The 460 GA, being a blown out .404, fits in a Mauser, therefore...

Marty,

I ran some of my Norma Brass through my Rockcukker (you can size but not seat) and measured them according to the specs I have available...they seemed to be spot on.

I had no problem with the Norma Brass is sizing either....What was the guy concerned about with the Norma Brass?

Gents,
the VALUE press for anything over 3.5 is the rcbs supreme.. 2 weeks ago, it was 99 bucks from midway.

If you have ANY problems with your ch4d dies, it' been my expereince, to seend some brass and bullets to dave and he'll fix it right up.

I've had 585 nyati, 550, 500 jeffe and 470 mbogo from them....

one thing I don't like is the taper crimp... i ALWAYS seat / crimp in two operations with their dies

jeffe

Yes Dave does say that Norma is out of spec, the Searcy is out of spec, the RWS is out of spec and Federal is out of spec (they are all the same btw) and they damn well may be, but if the damn dies don't work in your gun, who gives a fat rats ass, when you buy a set of dies you expect them to work...I made him refund me and then he charged me a $20 restocking fee because his dies were not the same as everybody elses and I let that go...I bought a set of RCBS and have not had any problems with the gun nor has anyone else with the 470 and RCBS.

Bottom line is I don't care about "specs" thats the die makers problems...He had me send him 6 rounds of fired and he kept them btw...told me my chamber was out of spec...I got hold of butch and RCBS and they said he's full of it..He then told me that he would cut a new set to my fired cases but I would have to pay a $75 set up fee,and that did it...He can stick it where the sun don't shine.

Hopefully he has quitly changed his specs on the .470 because he knew he had screwed up...

Isn't the whole purpose of sizing dies to bring cases back into spec's? I know there are some dimensions that the sizing die doesn't touch, but something does sound odd.
I use only Norma brass (RCBS dies) and have never had a problem. I tried Bell 470 brass, and that stuff wouldn't even chamber (head and rim size was oversize).

Grafs should have your dies...and shell holder. The RCBS RC Supreme works great...as I'm sure others do, but I'm used to reloading about 10-12 other calibers on the old RC...the Supreme is identical...but bigger. Don't know about all the others, but Merkel, Norma and RCBS were on the same page as in conjunction, all 3 work great!

Gary B.