RCBS Summit as the only press?

Personally, I would not let the "unable to use a collet puller" stop me from buying a press. If you do use a collet puller, do you pull hundreds of rounds at a time? Or a couple hundred rounds per year? A collet puller would fir my press(es), but I don't use one. One thing I think the OP was questioning was the storage of a press; the Summit does not extend below the bench top and would be easier to store than a press with parts hanging below the bench or mounting board.

BTW; some said I couldn't use a push through bullet sizer on my Co-Ax, but it just took a bit of thinking, and I could prolly find a way to use a collet bullet puller on my Co-AX...(if one worked on cast bullets and I made a lot of mistakes).

I have a 550, a Rockchucker, and a new MEC.
I use and love all 3. We're I to have to reduce to one press , would choose the Dillon, the MEC, and the RC ., in that order.

Here is my opinion on the Summit after owning one for a few months. As a back ground on myself, and my experience. I have been loading ammo now for over a decade, load for several different calibers, and usually average about 500 rounds a month shot/loaded when I'm on a roll and that has been pretty consistent. I have been using the Summit for every process since I have bought it and comparing it to my Rockchucker. I have yet to find any of the issues stated here except for some screws coming loose when it was new. Sizing with the long handle is fairly effortless and about on par with the rock chucker. One must remember that the die plate on the Summit is HEAVY especially with a die, so the down stroke of the actual sizing of a case for me personally is easier. It requires less strength and less "body weight" so to speak compared to a traditional style press where it is up to you and your arm strength to push the case up into the die. Pulling the die off the case (case out of the die?) can take a little more effort. A good case mouth lube or regular old case lube here helps here because of the weight of the die plate.

Bullet seating speaks for it self. I have rather large hands and have had issues for years with my Rock Chucker where I will occasionally have issues fitting my hands into the frame and dropping a case full of powder. I don't have this issue with the summit, and seating a bullet is effortless. Many have also noticed that due to all of the slop in the linkage, that run out is a lot better; I have noticed this as well. I would even go so far as to say that ammunition loaded on my Summit is a smidge more accurate than ammo loaded on my RCIV.

As far as on press priming goes, I don't really care. I have used my Lee ram prime with it but I still stick with an autoprime. I wouldn't let this stop me.

With all of that being said, would I recommend this press as your first press? No. Die set up is a little different from a traditional press, and thus a little bit of experience is required here to make sure you are setting up your sizing dies properly. The instructions included with the press on die set up aren't exactly correct. The reason for this is the slop in the linkage, which is by design. You have to get all of the slop out of the linkage before you can actually set a shoulder back. Tools to measure this, cause gauges, or simply screwing the die in until it touches the shell holder, and then continuing to screw the die in until you see the die plate raise up and the slop taken out is sufficient. Not only that, it just makes more sense to learn on the type of press most manuals are using when they were written. It takes the confusion out of things because this press is essentially "upside down".


Hope this helps. It's a good press either way and it has it's place on my bench... I love it.

I mounted my Co-Ax at the same height as my other presses and it works very well, but I don't know what other users have tried. Perhaps they are having trouble with the "long" handle swing (nobody told me I have to hold the handle all the way out to the end and I often "choke up" or hold the yoke). I do have a short, 8" handle but I rarely use it. I mounted my press at about a 30 degree angle to my left which better suits me.

I started with the RC back in the late 60's. Not much choice back then, but knowing what I know now, I think I would probably go with an O frame design for my first press. Get a kit and start there. Just about everything will fit and work in this design without much thought.

My brother started reloading and his first project was .338 Lapua Magnum. He chose the Summit and that handles it just fine. He loves it and so do I. I've got the Partner for the same cartridge and that works fine too, but I'd gladly trade if he would let me.

Don't let having to use a kinetic puller stop you. Just pay meticulous attention to detail and you won't make any mistakes. That's why I own two kinetic pullers.