stubbicatt
Member
I have owned several presses during my hand loading career. Few years back when it was first introduced, I just had to have a RCBS Summit press. I have been struggling with it ever since, trying to like it. But fact is, after all this time, I'm going back to an "O" style press, and going to sell the Summit. Maybe someone else will like it. It just has too many quirks and foibles for me, and at my age I no longer enjoy the struggle.
The Summit I have is the first generation version. It has two screws each side at the base and top which hold the base and linkage block to the large central ram. These screws come undone according to their own whims. So gotta keep them snug. The die carrier is just cramped and challenging to use when screwing dies in and out. Setup of FL sizing dies is not the same as standard "O" presses. One screws the die in to touch the shell holder then another ¾ of a turn. Of course I didn't know this when I bought the press and struggled immensely to figure this out. Here in the last 2 months I called RCBS and they informed me of this "trick" to get it to set back shoulders on bottleneck cases. This additional depth of the die is to accommodate the slop and tolerances in the linkage. The amount of effort you have to put into the handle when FL sizing is much more than other presses. There is no provision for priming, which alone is not enough for me to give up, as I knew that going in, but in conjunction with these other shortcomings, I have just said "enough."
Using it to seat bullets is a joy. The feel and all provided in this press during bullet seating is second to none. I had thought to keep it to use as a dedicated bullet seater, and I haven't dismissed this idea altogether just yet. I like that there is no linkage under the level of your loading bench to whack your knees on. The primer catcher is 100%, even if its capacity is limited. There is no tilting of the bench or table when you resize cases as the moment of leverage is linear rather than offset as is any "O" press I have used. It does have its merits, true enough. That's why I want to like it. But I just don't.
It pains me to face the reality that I just don't like using this press. I really wanted to like it. In the balance, the minuses exceed the plusses for me. Perhaps the second generation Summit with the 3 screws at the bottom and the top to hold things to the large central ram is better. I hope it is.
The Summit I have is the first generation version. It has two screws each side at the base and top which hold the base and linkage block to the large central ram. These screws come undone according to their own whims. So gotta keep them snug. The die carrier is just cramped and challenging to use when screwing dies in and out. Setup of FL sizing dies is not the same as standard "O" presses. One screws the die in to touch the shell holder then another ¾ of a turn. Of course I didn't know this when I bought the press and struggled immensely to figure this out. Here in the last 2 months I called RCBS and they informed me of this "trick" to get it to set back shoulders on bottleneck cases. This additional depth of the die is to accommodate the slop and tolerances in the linkage. The amount of effort you have to put into the handle when FL sizing is much more than other presses. There is no provision for priming, which alone is not enough for me to give up, as I knew that going in, but in conjunction with these other shortcomings, I have just said "enough."
Using it to seat bullets is a joy. The feel and all provided in this press during bullet seating is second to none. I had thought to keep it to use as a dedicated bullet seater, and I haven't dismissed this idea altogether just yet. I like that there is no linkage under the level of your loading bench to whack your knees on. The primer catcher is 100%, even if its capacity is limited. There is no tilting of the bench or table when you resize cases as the moment of leverage is linear rather than offset as is any "O" press I have used. It does have its merits, true enough. That's why I want to like it. But I just don't.
It pains me to face the reality that I just don't like using this press. I really wanted to like it. In the balance, the minuses exceed the plusses for me. Perhaps the second generation Summit with the 3 screws at the bottom and the top to hold things to the large central ram is better. I hope it is.