Let me start off by saying that I bought a RCBS Supreme Master reloading kit about 8 years ago and while I've added to it over the years, I still use the majority of the items that came in the kit. I've been pretty happy with it.
Fast forward to now and we wanted to get a good family friend a reloading setup. I looked for a few months trying to piece things together, but just didn't see any deals. Right before Christmas Cabelas put this kit on sale and after the $100 rebate it was significantly cheaper than buying individual items, so we got it for him.
He got around to getting the press mounted, so last night I went over to give him a basic lesson on how to reload and make sure he knew how to use each piece. This is where I started getting disappointed. The Rock Chucker press still seemed to be similar quality to my old setup, but the rest of the kit has gone down hill significantly. The reloading manual is the same Nosler manual that you can get for free on their website. While it has load data for Nosler bullets, it just gives you the max case length, max OAL, etc. It doesn't give you a recommended trim length or OAL, or anything else that might give you a starting point there, just the max. This would probably be fine for someone like myself, but as a new reloader that has no idea what he is doing, it just left my friend confused.
After resizing some brass we get out the hand primer. At first glance it looks identical to mine until I go to pull the priming rod out to insert a shell holder. It doesn't come out. Upon closer inspection you have to release the handle all of the way and slide the priming rod and the spring on it out of the bottom of the handle since it is now all made as one piece. To put it back together the instructions say to get a screwdriver out and push the rod up while trying to get the rod on the handle to line up correctly. This is a huge pain, especially to have to do everytime you need to change shell holders. My old priming tool will come apart in this manner but it said specifically in the manual not to take it apart like this as it's very difficult to put back together. So on mine the priming rod is 2 pieces and you can just pull it out of the top. Why they would make it so you have to disassemble the whole tool in a way they previously said not to do, just to change shell holders is beyond me. This is a horrible design. My friend really struggled getting it back together and I had to step in to help.
Next we get to the scale. I'm sure the scale is accurate, but it's confusing to use. On my old 505 you set the grains with the big adjustment and then set it to the 10th of a grain with the small adjustment. There is also a line that you line the beam up with when it's zeroed or on the correct charge. Very easy to use and works well.
Well, not the case with this new scale. It has been replace with the M500. With this scale the big adjustment each line is 5 grains and then you set between 1 and 5 grains to the 10th of a grain with the small adjustment. This really isn't an issue, it's just much easier for a newbie to be one mark off on the big adjustment and be a significant amount off. There is no room for error here. On the other end of the scale where you line the beam up with the zero mark, instead of having a mark, it's just three metal prongs that come to a point and you want it lined up with the center one. Not an issue either, but just much less defined than the old model leaving my new friend to question which of the three points the scale was supposed to be lined up with until he got the manual out. It's also pretty obvious that this scale is made significantly cheaper than the old model just holding it in your hand.
The rest of the kit seems to work well however. The press is still the same old great Rock Chucker people having been using for years, the uniflow powder thrower is similar, as is the included lube pad. They did change the chamfer and debur tool and made it significantly larger. This may actually be a benefit. So the whole kit isn't bad, however the hand primer is horrible, the book included is lousy and available for free online, and the scale while not horrible is a bit disappointing.
Has anyone else used these kits and had similar experiences? I guess I was just a bit shocked after seeing how much better things were in my old kit.
Fast forward to now and we wanted to get a good family friend a reloading setup. I looked for a few months trying to piece things together, but just didn't see any deals. Right before Christmas Cabelas put this kit on sale and after the $100 rebate it was significantly cheaper than buying individual items, so we got it for him.
He got around to getting the press mounted, so last night I went over to give him a basic lesson on how to reload and make sure he knew how to use each piece. This is where I started getting disappointed. The Rock Chucker press still seemed to be similar quality to my old setup, but the rest of the kit has gone down hill significantly. The reloading manual is the same Nosler manual that you can get for free on their website. While it has load data for Nosler bullets, it just gives you the max case length, max OAL, etc. It doesn't give you a recommended trim length or OAL, or anything else that might give you a starting point there, just the max. This would probably be fine for someone like myself, but as a new reloader that has no idea what he is doing, it just left my friend confused.
After resizing some brass we get out the hand primer. At first glance it looks identical to mine until I go to pull the priming rod out to insert a shell holder. It doesn't come out. Upon closer inspection you have to release the handle all of the way and slide the priming rod and the spring on it out of the bottom of the handle since it is now all made as one piece. To put it back together the instructions say to get a screwdriver out and push the rod up while trying to get the rod on the handle to line up correctly. This is a huge pain, especially to have to do everytime you need to change shell holders. My old priming tool will come apart in this manner but it said specifically in the manual not to take it apart like this as it's very difficult to put back together. So on mine the priming rod is 2 pieces and you can just pull it out of the top. Why they would make it so you have to disassemble the whole tool in a way they previously said not to do, just to change shell holders is beyond me. This is a horrible design. My friend really struggled getting it back together and I had to step in to help.
Next we get to the scale. I'm sure the scale is accurate, but it's confusing to use. On my old 505 you set the grains with the big adjustment and then set it to the 10th of a grain with the small adjustment. There is also a line that you line the beam up with when it's zeroed or on the correct charge. Very easy to use and works well.
Well, not the case with this new scale. It has been replace with the M500. With this scale the big adjustment each line is 5 grains and then you set between 1 and 5 grains to the 10th of a grain with the small adjustment. This really isn't an issue, it's just much easier for a newbie to be one mark off on the big adjustment and be a significant amount off. There is no room for error here. On the other end of the scale where you line the beam up with the zero mark, instead of having a mark, it's just three metal prongs that come to a point and you want it lined up with the center one. Not an issue either, but just much less defined than the old model leaving my new friend to question which of the three points the scale was supposed to be lined up with until he got the manual out. It's also pretty obvious that this scale is made significantly cheaper than the old model just holding it in your hand.
The rest of the kit seems to work well however. The press is still the same old great Rock Chucker people having been using for years, the uniflow powder thrower is similar, as is the included lube pad. They did change the chamfer and debur tool and made it significantly larger. This may actually be a benefit. So the whole kit isn't bad, however the hand primer is horrible, the book included is lousy and available for free online, and the scale while not horrible is a bit disappointing.
Has anyone else used these kits and had similar experiences? I guess I was just a bit shocked after seeing how much better things were in my old kit.
You could use old bullets, scrap lead, or whatever heavy stuff you have around but shot was easier to level off and make look good for me. FWIW I did that to my RCBS 10-10 just because. Also good thing to do to your powder trickler as well
