Forster Single-stage Press

[def4pos8]

Well, after twenty-seven years I finally took a chance and purchased a press that doesn't say RCBS on the casting. Son #1 is starting to load. He'll make use of the old hardware.

Midway offered a discount on Forster's single-stage, so I could tell The Wife that, "I had a coupon!"

What a neat machine! In a very creative way, its designers used "compensating slop" to achieve extreme concentricity. I especially like the "universal shell holder" features of the primary ram and the priming station. I can even "will" my antique, RCBS primer press, and a bunch of shell holders, to Son #1!

My only regret regarding this press was not purchasing one fifteen years ago!

 

[ranger335v]

Another fellow cured of the "Green Tool Only Syndrome." Good man!

You will also like the fact that the spent primer catcher actually works.

 

[paperpuncher49]

I've been using a Co-Ax press since the mid-1970s, when I replaced an RCBS. Not that I didn't like the RCBS; I liked the Co-Ax better. Wouldn't use anything else. My only complaint is that you cannot use the big washers if you want to load 38 Spec and 357 Mag or 44 Spec and 44 Mag. But since I only load mags and not specials it really doesn't matter to me.

 

[Walkalong]

The Co-Ax press is one the best presses available for helping to load straight ammo.

 

[Ol` Joe]

The Co-Ax press is one the best presses available for helping to load straight ammo.

+1

 

[AZ Pete]

>>My only complaint is that you cannot use the big washers if you want to load 38 Spec and 357 Mag or 44 Spec and 44 Mag.<<

Paperpuncher, I don't understand your comment. I have loaded a bunch or .38 spl, and 44 spl on my Co-Ax. BTW I bought mine used about 15 years ago for $60 at a small gun shop, to replace my Pacific press.

 

[snuffy]

I've had a Bonanza co-ax for over 20 years, still going strong. It replaced a RCBS rockchucker. And I bought it used,(slightly). Can't say enough good things about it.

 

[def4pos8]

Uh, Paperpuncher -- the first rounds I loaded this week were .38 Specials.

Things worked just fine with the larger arc of the standard shell holder jaws.

 

[paperpuncher49]

Paperpuncher, I don't understand your comment. I have loaded a bunch or .38 spl, and 44 spl on my Co-Ax. BTW I bought mine used about 15 years ago for $60 at a small gun shop, to replace my Pacific press.

Uh, Paperpuncher -- the first rounds I loaded this week were .38 Specials.

******************************************************************

I did NOT, repeat NOT, say 38 special or 44 special could not be loaded on a Co-Ax press. What I said was you could not use a washer to compensate for the difference in length between a special and a magnum. The 38 Special case is shorter than the 357 Magnum case. The 44 Special case is shorter than the 44 Magnum. Since the cases are of different length, the expander plug and the seating die have to be adjusted for whatever case length you happen to be loading. For example, if you expand the case mouth of a 357 Magnum case with a die set for the 38 Special, the plug will go way too deep into the 357 case, and you will expand much more of the case than should be expanded, overworking the brass if not actually damaging it. RCBS supplies a washer with their 38/357 dies and their 44 Spcl/44 Mag dies. With Redding, you have to buy the washer seperately. Don't know about Lee or Hornady because I do not use their dies - my personal preference is for Redding. By adjusting the dies to load 38 Special or 44 Special, all you have to do is place the washer under the lock ring of the expander die and/or the seater die when screwing it into the press. It doesn't matter with the sizing die, since the sizing operation is not case length critical. The thickness of the washers are the difference in the case length between the special and magnum versions of the the two different calibers. In a conventional press like the Rockchucker, using the washers effectively raises the dies so that with the washers, the dies adjusted for special sit higher and will expand and crimp the magnums properly without having to readjust the dies. Because of the way dies "snap" into the Co-Ax press, these washers simply can't be used, so to switch between special and magnum, the dies have to be adjusted for the different length, or you need a second expander and seater, one adjusted for the special's shorter case length and another for the magnum's longer case length.

 

[def4pos8]

Oh, so that's it.