browningguy
Member
I just received my new Forstner Co-Axial press and thought I would give a short review. This review reflects my needs for loading extremely accurate loads, not for high vlume reloading.
I've only been reloading for a couple of years for some obsolete calibers in some old rook rifles and a couple of my hunting rifles, and using both a single stage Lee and a Lee turret press. Over the past year I have started loading for my heavy barrelled .243 Savage 12FV and just not getting consistant groups, it mostly shoots in the mid .3's to low .4's but I seem to always put 3 or 4 shots in one small hole and then 1 or 2 outside that by a bit. I started paying more attention to my OAL measurements and checked runout on a friends comparator and then I saw the problem, the Lee turret was just not up to the task, I guess because the inserts move around so much. This was giving me differences in OAL of .003-.005, and bullet runout in the range of .003-.005. After reading lot's of reviews and talking to a couple of guys that use them I went with the Forstner.
The setup was completed in about 5 minutes, counting the time to drill the mounting holes. Unbox, mark and drill four holes, screw to bench, install primer catching cup, wipe down and re-oil.
The wipedown was needed on mine also, although it was not as heavily coated as some have said, it did have a nice layer of lubricant as shipped. I also purchased a 12 pack of Forstner locking rings to replace the rings on my existing Lee dies.
In use it is a real pleasure, smooth and with a lot of mechanical advantage built in. If you are going to use the priming tool built in to the press this takes an additional 60 seconds to set up. You loosen three small screws, install the centering tool, place a case in place, lower the handle, adjust the three centering blocks and screw back down. It takes longer for me to type it than to do it, and seats primers extremely consistantly to a depth of .005".
I picked out some old grungy 30-06 cases for the first try with it. After adjusting the dies as instructed place the case on the open shell holder, pull the lever, lift the lever, remove case. The old primer drops down the tube into the supplied jar. SImple, smooth, accurate and fast.
The shell holder is also worth discussing, rather than normal shell holders this one fits most cases Around 40 or so) as supplied with the press. It has two slideing jaws that center the case automatically and grip it when you start pulling the handle. For small base cases such as .223 you flip the jaws and it then fits another dozen cases automatically. Also available are a special set of jaws for extremely large and small cases, and an adapter for using traditional shell holders.
You can use any standard 7/8thx14 dies, just make sure you have locking rings that fit the Forstner. The die set-up is another strength, dies with the locking ring snap in and out in literally a second, yet are held and aligned firmly when operating the press. The self alignment of the case and the dies apparantly leads to automatically making good ammo.
Even using my old Lee dies the OAL difference is unmeasurable, now off to the range in the morning to try the new loads out. I'm now trying to decide on either Forster or Redding dies for my precision rifles, hope to make that decision this weekend.
I've only been reloading for a couple of years for some obsolete calibers in some old rook rifles and a couple of my hunting rifles, and using both a single stage Lee and a Lee turret press. Over the past year I have started loading for my heavy barrelled .243 Savage 12FV and just not getting consistant groups, it mostly shoots in the mid .3's to low .4's but I seem to always put 3 or 4 shots in one small hole and then 1 or 2 outside that by a bit. I started paying more attention to my OAL measurements and checked runout on a friends comparator and then I saw the problem, the Lee turret was just not up to the task, I guess because the inserts move around so much. This was giving me differences in OAL of .003-.005, and bullet runout in the range of .003-.005. After reading lot's of reviews and talking to a couple of guys that use them I went with the Forstner.
The setup was completed in about 5 minutes, counting the time to drill the mounting holes. Unbox, mark and drill four holes, screw to bench, install primer catching cup, wipe down and re-oil.
The wipedown was needed on mine also, although it was not as heavily coated as some have said, it did have a nice layer of lubricant as shipped. I also purchased a 12 pack of Forstner locking rings to replace the rings on my existing Lee dies.
In use it is a real pleasure, smooth and with a lot of mechanical advantage built in. If you are going to use the priming tool built in to the press this takes an additional 60 seconds to set up. You loosen three small screws, install the centering tool, place a case in place, lower the handle, adjust the three centering blocks and screw back down. It takes longer for me to type it than to do it, and seats primers extremely consistantly to a depth of .005".
I picked out some old grungy 30-06 cases for the first try with it. After adjusting the dies as instructed place the case on the open shell holder, pull the lever, lift the lever, remove case. The old primer drops down the tube into the supplied jar. SImple, smooth, accurate and fast.
The shell holder is also worth discussing, rather than normal shell holders this one fits most cases Around 40 or so) as supplied with the press. It has two slideing jaws that center the case automatically and grip it when you start pulling the handle. For small base cases such as .223 you flip the jaws and it then fits another dozen cases automatically. Also available are a special set of jaws for extremely large and small cases, and an adapter for using traditional shell holders.
You can use any standard 7/8thx14 dies, just make sure you have locking rings that fit the Forstner. The die set-up is another strength, dies with the locking ring snap in and out in literally a second, yet are held and aligned firmly when operating the press. The self alignment of the case and the dies apparantly leads to automatically making good ammo.
Even using my old Lee dies the OAL difference is unmeasurable, now off to the range in the morning to try the new loads out. I'm now trying to decide on either Forster or Redding dies for my precision rifles, hope to make that decision this weekend.
