RCBS Progressive Press

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Christobal said:
http://www.uniquetek.com/product/T1595

Here the pro chucker 7 plate without powder measure ...
Click to expand...
Thanks. Still $130 a pop. I like my Lee Turrets for pocket change or my Hornady which doesn't use plates at all, given a handful of LnL bushings. Assuming there is no mechanical reason for tying a "quick change" powder measure to a die plate, I am betting RCBS will get this right eventually. And that assumes the website represents all of what they offer. For that money, I would just screw the dies in and out, relying on lock nuts.
 
I imagine the reason is to make money. One can get pro chucker 5 "die plates" without a measure and they are not built into the 7's or this photo couldn't exist.

Pro%20Chucker%20Die%20Plate.jpg


Interesting that for not a lot more than the die plate and measure for the 7, one can get everything to convert a 5 to a 7.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/3...ersion-kit-to-pro-chucker-7-progressive-press

Maybe there just not enough owners out there crying foul that they separate the two different items on the 7?
 
So I guess the real question is who here actually has a problem with getting just the die plate for a pro chucker 7 and have they made a call to RCBS?
 
RealGun said:
That isn't helpful, nor is any other cynicism about RCBS. There is an actual reason, and someone who actually knows might comment.
Click to expand...

Hmm.... if RCBS ONLY offers it with a powder measure then it's a valid response. If someone from RCBS knows why they do it I doubt they are going to tell us.
 
Tell you what.......I think a lot of us in THR just are not crazy about jumping on that band wagon just yet. I think the problem with RCBS isn't RCBS ..... it's who owns them. They do the marketing and they SUCK at it.

However, Tilos, I know you'd like to get some more data about a system that is just plain interesting. The 7 station press just is .... interesting and super promising! Vista Outdoors is probably going to finish this system off unless a lot of people start making noise. And most don't care quite that much. I personally have written RCBS....got a token cookie-cutter reply. The engineer I use to email back and forth to, changed his email address after these Pro Chuckers started causing people heartburn.....I wonder why? Poor guy. Not his fault....he wasn't on the new press's development team. So then I wrote Vista Outdoors......NO REPLY....period. I think they have a gag order in place.

Over at AR15.com there are a couple of threads started by real owners. The same concerns rear their ugly heads there too, and its a crying shame for a product with so much potential! However.....those guys have gotten the Pro Chuckers to work fine....they just had to learn the system, and RCBS had to tweak the plastic parts that break....to make it happen less often. Ultimate Reloader has a video on that new part RCBS send you for free....in triplicate sometimes!

Anyway, here's a link to the latest AR15.com Pro Chucker Thread:
https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/455537_Pro-Chucker-7.html

In that thread is another link to the first thread with experience of other owners.
None of the owners have any desire to take them back....they work as smooth as a baby's butt until they get a primer in wrong and break the slide. BTW, one of them is the guy who got with the aftermarket company Unitek and talked them into making that billet die head in the post above. They are hoping the presses take off. Obviously they see great potential......and d.....m..t there IS! But I'm not going to buy one and perfect it for them......already did that for the Pro 2000 and they dumped it and APS! Once shame on them....twice shame on me.
 
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and they dumped it
Click to expand...

That has been a reoccurring theme with RCBS and their progressive presses though.

That said if I found a smoking deal on a 5 or 7, I'd buy it just for the challenge of figuring out how to make it work without breaking.
 
GW Staar said:
Tell you what.......I think a lot of us in THR just are not crazy about jumping on that band wagon just yet. I think the problem with RCBS isn't RCBS ..... it's who owns them. They do the marketing and they SUCK at it.

However, Tilos, I know you'd like to get some more data about a system that is just plain interesting. The 7 station press just is .... interesting and super promising! Vista Outdoors is probably going to finish this system off unless a lot of people start making noise. And most don't care quite that much. I personally have written RCBS....got a token cookie-cutter reply. The engineer I use to email back and forth to, changed his email address after these Pro Chuckers started causing people heartburn.....I wonder why? Poor guy. Not his fault....he wasn't on the new press's development team. So then I wrote Vista Outdoors......NO REPLY....period. I think they have a gag order in place.

Over at AR15.com there are a couple of threads started by real owners. The same concerns rear their ugly heads there too, and its a crying shame for a product with so much potential! However.....those guys have gotten the Pro Chuckers to work fine....they just had to learn the system, and RCBS had to tweak the plastic parts that break....to make it happen less often. Ultimate Reloader has a video on that new part RCBS send you for free....in triplicate sometimes!

Anyway, here's a link to the latest AR15.com Pro Chucker Thread:
https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/455537_Pro-Chucker-7.html

In that thread is another link to the first thread with experience of other owners.
None of the owners have any desire to take them back....they work as smooth as a baby's butt until they get a primer in wrong and break the slide. BTW, one of them is the guy who got with the aftermarket company Unitek and talked them into making that billet die head in the post above. They are hoping the presses take off. Obviously they see great potential......and d.....m..t there IS! But I'm not going to buy one and perfect it for them......already did that for the Pro 2000 and they dumped it and APS! Once shame on them....twice shame on me.
Click to expand...
Good post. I Agree that RCBS needs to make some changes and put a little more effort into it's CS. That includes a good "finished" design and not all the new presses.

If I had a dollar for every fan of the "original Rockchucker" press I would be happy. People seek them out and I don't blame them. Simple and rugged. Built to last a lifetime. If they were making that press today they would likely sell more of them than they do the new ones.

Speaking of Ultimate Reloader he did a few videos on the new Mech SS. Really wanted one after that but it just outside of my current budget. Especially with all the things I have going on with an AR build, a big casting session starting, new load developments, and a rifle stock project.
 
After going through the agony of trying not to feel defeated by Lee and Hornady presses, all good now, Loadmaster cast aside as an unworthy pursuit, I think I will wait on the utopia of at least 6 stations. Ten years from now, they might have a mature product right from the box.
 
GW Staar said:
Tell you what.......I think a lot of us in THR just are not crazy about jumping on that band wagon just yet. I think the problem with RCBS isn't RCBS ..... it's who owns them. They do the marketing and they SUCK at it.

However, Tilos, I know you'd like to get some more data about a system that is just plain interesting. The 7 station press just is .... interesting and super promising! Vista Outdoors is probably going to finish this system off unless a lot of people start making noise. And most don't care quite that much. I personally have written RCBS....got a token cookie-cutter reply. The engineer I use to email back and forth to, changed his email address after these Pro Chuckers started causing people heartburn.....I wonder why? Poor guy. Not his fault....he wasn't on the new press's development team. So then I wrote Vista Outdoors......NO REPLY....period. I think they have a gag order in place.

Over at AR15.com there are a couple of threads started by real owners. The same concerns rear their ugly heads there too, and its a crying shame for a product with so much potential! However.....those guys have gotten the Pro Chuckers to work fine....they just had to learn the system, and RCBS had to tweak the plastic parts that break....to make it happen less often. Ultimate Reloader has a video on that new part RCBS send you for free....in triplicate sometimes!

Anyway, here's a link to the latest AR15.com Pro Chucker Thread:
https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/455537_Pro-Chucker-7.html

In that thread is another link to the first thread with experience of other owners.
None of the owners have any desire to take them back....they work as smooth as a baby's butt until they get a primer in wrong and break the slide. BTW, one of them is the guy who got with the aftermarket company Unitek and talked them into making that billet die head in the post above. They are hoping the presses take off. Obviously they see great potential......and d.....m..t there IS! But I'm not going to buy one and perfect it for them......already did that for the Pro 2000 and they dumped it and APS! Once shame on them....twice shame on me.
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting the link and other info
If I had a pro 5 or 7 I'd be fabbing another "primer transfer bar actuator", with a longer rise to ease the pressure on the primer slide stud, with angle like this:
index.php

I don't have a pic of the pro 5 or 7 "primer transfer bar actuator" to mark up/show what I have in mind.
The cam profile could be also moved up to insure primer pin underneath is completely retracted out of the primer slide hole BEFORE the slide starts to move out from under the shell plate.
Oh, and the bottom of that rod in the pic, pops out if the slide gets jammed, only had that happen once in 10+ years:scrutiny:
It could be easily made out of flat stock steel or aluminum.

I am confident that USERS will come up with the best fix for any short comings of this new design

I'll go read that link now,
:D
 
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I was looking back in my Email communications with my favorite RCBS engineer (he has been super helpful to me in the past).....and I found this reply to an early Pro Chucker 5 question, why the breakage of the primer slider started happening often with early adopters. This is what he said:

"I’d say the biggest one Greg, is trying to prime a crimped case and or forgetting to completely prime. Forgetting to completely seat the primer is the biggest. Another is not keeping your press free of debris. After a powder spillage the shell plate should be removed and the powder should be cleaned out, as extruded powder in the right place can and will impede operation. We’ve made provisions for this in this design; however, the right amount in the right place can get you. Another is going too fast and not paying attention to what’s going on, if you're new on a progressive, it is best to run one case at a time through, then bump it up to two for a few cycles, then go to three…..,etc. "

I use to write software for my company years ago.......of course anyone who has done that knows that you try to predict EVERY stupid move a user of it can do. I have a sister, Sally, who could (and can) bring any software to its knees in a matter of minutes. So, my "development process" I called "Sally-proofing".;) I think progressive presses work the same way. I remember when a friend of mine invited me over to watch him "demonstrate" his brand new Dillon 650. In a matter of 5 minutes, he had powder and primers all over the floor.....no I didn't laugh, I helped him cleanup the mess....and I invited him (smugly) to come to my house to watch what the "superior" RCBS 2000 could do. :uhoh: He did, and I proceeded to load 50 "perfect .45 ACP rounds"..........he picked one up and Unique started trickling out the bottom. Seems that I forgot, that I had to snap on another 25-primer strip half way, and the last 25 had no primers.

Point? RCBS indeed, may have brought the presses out just a little too fast......the engineer claimed they tested and tested for over a year and was dang sure of the product.....nevertheless.....they should have sent ME one.....to be Greg-proofed!:) The other point? In this instant gratification age, we need to regrow our patience. No Dillon or Hornady progressive came out flawless at first either. Takes time to "Greg-proof" them. Pretty sure they will, if Vista Outdoors will just get out of the way......and lose the stupid combo pm/die plate product. I'd have a PC 7 today if not for that. I already have 3 Uniflows......I sure as hell don't need 4 more!
 
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RCBS is going to have to really commit to these presses. Not build them for a couple of years a drop them like they have other progressives in the past. Anyone else remember the "Green Machine". That right there soured a lot of people on green progressives.
 
I was looking into purchasing the RCBS 5 station progressive press lately, but I read about the primer strips breaking. For an expensive press, that just is not acceptable. I haven't heard that the problem has been fixed, is that correct?
 
Zendude said:
I was looking into purchasing the RCBS 5 station progressive press lately, but I read about the primer strips breaking. For an expensive press, that just is not acceptable. I haven't heard that the problem has been fixed, is that correct?
Click to expand...

Zendude: People have been able to make their Pro Chuckers work. RCBS has been working on a fix and have replacement sliders that resist breakage considerably. Ultimate Reloader has a page on that.....I'll refer you to that page Here. In a nutshell, with come common sense, and the normal education required to learn a new progressive, the "fixed" design will make breakage a lot less common. But it won't do away with it totally....that would defeat the purpose.

We've been talking about "idiots" of late. I include Me.....and I think all of us have had our moments of "duh" in our lives. I freely admit that one of the reasons I chose a RCBS Pro 2000 over a Dillon 650, was that the Pro 2000 with its APS super safe primer system, was more "idiot-proof".....IOW, I knew I was capable, in a moment of complacency, of giving my wife a heart attack with a Kaboom in my Reloading Room.....right under her bedroom....who knows how I'd fare....hearing loss...or worse.;)

I mention the above only for one reason. RCBS really is trying to make a safe product. They went back to tube primers, not because they wanted to make me mad, but because reloaders in general (led by Dillon-lovers) rejected the very safe APS system as a serious improvement in progressive loading. Reloaders and change?.....well you know how it is.

Anyway, the infamous breaking plastic slider was MEANT to break first.....before us dummies could light up our man caves with exploded primers, or whole tubes of them.
It would be easy for RCBS to make them of Titanium, unbreakable, but then mangled primers would be the result and we know what mangled primers can do.

Keep in mind, that WE not the machines cause mangled primers. (See the RCBS engineer's quote in my last post.) The infamous primer sliders are supposed to catch us at it before we lose our hearing and break more expensive parts.

The Pro Chucker 5, IMO, is now a go. But I want a 7. (I have a 5 station press) Everybody! Complain to RCBS about their stupid expensive P.C.7 dieplate/P.M. debacle!
 
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"Anyway, the infamous breaking plastic slider was MEANT to break first.....before us dummies could light up our man caves with exploded primers, or whole tubes of them.

Keep in mind, that WE not the machines cause mangled primers. (See the RCBS engineer's quote in my last post.) The infamous primer sliders are supposed to catch us at it before we lose our hearing and break more expensive parts.

Sorry, I'm not buying that, since they had a practical safety system on both the Piggyback and Ammomaster Auto, that I own and still use.
If something holds the primer slide from moving back the bottom of the rod pops out of a socket in the frame, and NOTHING BREAKS.
Notice too, that the top of that rod is snapped into a fork, that pivots out of position too when the force is too great, nothing breaks, and only needs to be "reset".
index.php


It's seems they could re-design the way the "primer transfer bar actuator" attached to the press in such a way to pivot out of the way when the primer slide applied too much pressure on it, like replace the lower bolts with a ball detent and let it pivot on the upper bolt(?).
How about replace that slide stud that breaks with a tightly coiled spring (a small version of a door stop spring) that would flex/deflect when over burdened.
Lots of things would work rather than copping out to: it was "designed to break".:(
jmo
:D
 
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It's seems they could re-design the way the "primer transfer bar actuator" attached to the press in such a way to pivot out of the way when the primer slide applied too much pressure on it, like replace the lower bolts with a ball detent and let it pivot on the upper bolt(?).
Click to expand...

There certainly ways to eliminate part failure due to over pressure/force. Take a shirt with buttons and apply more force than they hold and you will need string and thread, replace the buttons with snaps and the fix is fast and simple.

In electrical worlds fuses and breakers are what is used for the task of providing the "weak link" before damage to other components.

"They" can do lots of stuff and it would be nothing new to revising a product to perfect it, lots of folks do that on millions of products, others start with clean sheets of paper.

I really had no desire to keep the Pro 2000 I had but I don't see what the chucker 5 brings to the table except problems its predecessor didn't have.

That said there are things "designed to break" out there, shear bolts are one of them. They are a one time use tamper resistant fastener that cannot be over torqued.

shear-bolts-500x500.png
 
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Tilos said:
Sorry, I'm not buying that, since they had a practical safety system on both the Piggyback and Ammomaster Auto, that I own and still use.
If something holds the primer slide from moving back the bottom of the rod pops out of a socket in the frame, and NOTHING BREAKS.
Notice too, that the top of that rod is snapped into a fork, that pivots out of position too when the force is too great, nothing breaks, and only needs to be "reset".

It's seems they could re-design the way the "primer transfer bar actuator" attached to the press in such a way to pivot out of the way when the primer slide applied too much pressure on it, like replace the lower bolts with a ball detent and let it pivot on the upper bolt(?).
How about replace that slide stud that breaks with a tightly coiled spring (a small version of a door stop spring) that would flex/deflect when over burdened.
Lots of things would work rather copping out to it was "designed to break".
Click to expand...

Well keep in mind the those engineers who came up with the press "features" of your press, are retired or worse.;) And the next generation is running things out there. What's the chances they would look at the better parts of an old system designed by their grandfather's generation?.......that is unless YOU show them.
Have you seen RCBS's "Idea portal"? Tell them what, will ya! :)
 
GW,
Thank you for that link. All the years I've been reloading, I never knew that there was an"idea portal" Any other companies have this option that you know of?
 
The portal is only a few months old.....and I don't know of any others.....sorry.

Interesting news today.....I was emailed!! by my engineer friend.....he said change is coming with the die plate/p.m. ..... all I can say right now is it's going to be a very good change. And finally I know the why for the combo product. The P.C. 7 stations are so close to each other that the p.m. needs to be set and left alone, because moving it means moving 2 other dies. But there's another way......coming...
 
GW Staar said:
The portal is only a few months old.....and I don't know of any others.....sorry.

Interesting news today.....I was emailed!! by my engineer friend.....he said change is coming with the die plate/p.m. ..... all I can say right now is it's going to be a very good change. And finally I know the why for the combo product. The P.C. 7 stations are so close to each other that the p.m. needs to be set and left alone, because moving it means moving 2 other dies. But there's another way......coming...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the update
I guess they assume all owners will be using a Uniflow or similar measure, I have 2...gathering dust on a shelf somewhere.
The dies on 5 station Piggyback/Ammomaster are close too, but the Dillon die nuts solved that problem for me.
http://www.dillonprecision.com/dillon-5-pack-die-lock-rings_8_4_24511.html
Two nuts, locked together, will maintain the lock ring location.
Get the Dillon wrench too
:D
 
Thanks Tilos for the link.....maybe I'll try Dillon nuts....they DO look smaller around. That would make 2 Dillon products I use. I bought some case polish locally a few years ago.

BTW, this picture has the answer to RCBS Pro Chucker 7 die plate problems.;)
0fdeaf7c-ab2c-4c8e-a67f-2d705766d866.jpg
 
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