Rock Chucker speed?
- Thread starter Madmax
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45Badger
Member
Rock Chucker speed......
I think they call that an oxymoron.
For speed, I use my Dillon 550B. For painstaking detail, I use the RC.
Not sure if you're loading rifle or pistol. For rifle, I clean, size, deprime, and prime a boatload of brass, and throw it in a jar.
When I want to load a few (or more), I charge, seat, and crimp.
I think they call that an oxymoron.
For speed, I use my Dillon 550B. For painstaking detail, I use the RC.
Not sure if you're loading rifle or pistol. For rifle, I clean, size, deprime, and prime a boatload of brass, and throw it in a jar.
When I want to load a few (or more), I charge, seat, and crimp.
shu
Member
i should be able to provide a definite answer for you, but i cant.
i got into reloading (with the master reloading kit, including rock chucker press) for rifle, but now find myself doing mostly pistol - 9mm, 38/357, 45acp. i probably shoot 200+ rounds a month, and have not felt sufficiently deprived to invest in a more automated press.
i enjoy tinkering with different loads, usually runs of 15 at three or four different powder charges. a progressive press would be less suited for this than for steady production.
i have intentinally not timed my production, thinking that to do so would make production rate a goal and detract from attention to quality. however beginning with primed cases i could certainly load 100 in less than half an hour, after which my arm needs a rest.
three passes through the press are required: deprime & size, bell & prime, seat & crimp. these i do in batches at successive sittings. for the final pass the powder drop is set up about a foot to the left of the press; pile of primed cases to the left of the powder drop, pile of bullets between powder drop and press.
this makes for an efficient motion stream: grab case, drop powder (visually noting powder fall thru tube), grab and place bullet, slip into case holder, cycle press arm, remove finished cartridge.
i got into reloading (with the master reloading kit, including rock chucker press) for rifle, but now find myself doing mostly pistol - 9mm, 38/357, 45acp. i probably shoot 200+ rounds a month, and have not felt sufficiently deprived to invest in a more automated press.
i enjoy tinkering with different loads, usually runs of 15 at three or four different powder charges. a progressive press would be less suited for this than for steady production.
i have intentinally not timed my production, thinking that to do so would make production rate a goal and detract from attention to quality. however beginning with primed cases i could certainly load 100 in less than half an hour, after which my arm needs a rest.
three passes through the press are required: deprime & size, bell & prime, seat & crimp. these i do in batches at successive sittings. for the final pass the powder drop is set up about a foot to the left of the press; pile of primed cases to the left of the powder drop, pile of bullets between powder drop and press.
this makes for an efficient motion stream: grab case, drop powder (visually noting powder fall thru tube), grab and place bullet, slip into case holder, cycle press arm, remove finished cartridge.
Sludge
Member
Well, I remember doing 50 experimental .40S&W loads from scratch and hand priming with my Rock Chucker this winter. Making all 3 passes, hand priming, and weighing the powder on a balance beam (I wasnt trusting the powder thrower for these loads) I loaded the 50 in about an hour or so. When I make my normal runs of pistol ammo I use a Dillon 650 for that. Needless to say it makes short work of it since it drops a completed bullet out about every 2 seconds, but its not a machine for experimentation.
Hope that helps.
Hope that helps.
Clark
Member
1) Clamp the board to a table at the range.
2) Shoot a round.
3) Place the case in a Lee Reloader press with decapping die and de cap
4) Rub Imperial sizing wax on case
5) Size case in Rockchucker with sizing die with expander ball removed
6) Prime case in Lee Auto Prime II in Lee Reloader press
7) Charge case with powder from RCBS Uniflow clamped to board
8) Seat bullet in RCBS partner press with seater die
9) Shoot the round.
This process goes faster than a barrel can cool.
Re use the same case for the whole group.
Note case life.
Zero in on powder charge and seating depth for smallest group.
atek3
Member
thats a pretty cool setup you've got there clark.
atek3
atek3
caz223
Member
The speed depends on your attention to detail, case prep,the number of "extra" steps like primer pocket cleaning, etc, how you dispense your powder, and whether you lube your cases, or tumble/lube them.
If you use a powder measure, use carbide dies, crimp/seat in the same step, and don't count your hand priming time, and your case prep time, you can break 200 rounds an hour. After all, you can tumble cases, and hand prime while watching TV.
You can easily beat that with about any progressive press and you don't have to cheat to do it.
If you use a powder measure, use carbide dies, crimp/seat in the same step, and don't count your hand priming time, and your case prep time, you can break 200 rounds an hour. After all, you can tumble cases, and hand prime while watching TV.
You can easily beat that with about any progressive press and you don't have to cheat to do it.
SASS#23149
Member
I'ts been ten years since I went progressive,but...
near as i can remmeber a hundred rph is really moving ,with no miseaks or mashed fingers.
figure that's a minmum of four hundred hand movements....five hundred if you're hand lubing,600 if removing the lube.Works out to 6 seconds per operation.Not likely to happen.
But since some of the operations can be done in front of the tube,and you're cost-per-shot drops dramatically,what the hay,right?
near as i can remmeber a hundred rph is really moving ,with no miseaks or mashed fingers.
figure that's a minmum of four hundred hand movements....five hundred if you're hand lubing,600 if removing the lube.Works out to 6 seconds per operation.Not likely to happen.
But since some of the operations can be done in front of the tube,and you're cost-per-shot drops dramatically,what the hay,right?
I've used a RockChucker since ~ 1980. Have not been tempted by a progressive. The RockChucker does one operation at a time; allows me to control what's going on.
I have tried a MEC Grabber progressive for 12ga shotshells - it is faster than a single stage press, but if there is a malfunction at one station, then everything is $#%^&&$# and I am quite frustrated as I reset everything. I now use my single stage MEC 600 for shotshells and the single stage RockChucker for pistol and rifle I have a single stage mindset and just feel more comfortable operating in that mode. For my production needs (~100 handgun cartridges/week) this is sufficient.
My current production process is to segregate brass by size immediately after shooting. When I have accumulated a couple hundred cases of a particular caliber, I'll clean, size, deprime. bell and prime it, as time permits. Then, on a separate day, reloading operations consist merely of powder charge, seat and crimp; this goes quite rapidly.
Remember, if it isn't fun anymore, find a new hobby.
- Bob
I have tried a MEC Grabber progressive for 12ga shotshells - it is faster than a single stage press, but if there is a malfunction at one station, then everything is $#%^&&$# and I am quite frustrated as I reset everything. I now use my single stage MEC 600 for shotshells and the single stage RockChucker for pistol and rifle I have a single stage mindset and just feel more comfortable operating in that mode. For my production needs (~100 handgun cartridges/week) this is sufficient.
My current production process is to segregate brass by size immediately after shooting. When I have accumulated a couple hundred cases of a particular caliber, I'll clean, size, deprime. bell and prime it, as time permits. Then, on a separate day, reloading operations consist merely of powder charge, seat and crimp; this goes quite rapidly.
Remember, if it isn't fun anymore, find a new hobby.
- Bob
Probably hard to say, as when doing a larger volume, most people probably separate out the operations. I'll usually decap/resize (and flare, if pistol) in smallish batches as I go. Once I start run out of previous stock, I take all the processed brass and hand prime it in one sitting, then charge and seat in another. As mentioned above, the amount of case processing you want to do has lots to do with it. Pistol has an extra operation (flaring the case mouth), but people tend to do pay more attention to processing for rifle rounds, if loading for extreme accuracy.
It's a slow process, but less tedious for me if I break it up as above then if I try to do everything at once. However, finally had enough, and ordered a 550B on Sunday....
Rocko
It's a slow process, but less tedious for me if I break it up as above then if I try to do everything at once. However, finally had enough, and ordered a 550B on Sunday....
Rocko
bogie
Member
Clark, you don't need quite that many, but who am I to say?
Jackie Schmidt (yup, that's his real name...) is an accomplished benchrest shooter - He uses a pair of partners... One bumps the brass and decaps, and the other is for seating. He hand primes, which I've also found to be superior.
I can load 20 rounds of match-grade ammo, clean a rifle to benchrest standards, and shoot a 5-shot group (in an allotted 7 minute block) all within 30 minutes.
The speed of a single stage press depends upon how many rounds will fit in your loading block(s). Running a lot of blocks I can get close to a progressive, when it comes to overall speed...
Jackie Schmidt (yup, that's his real name...) is an accomplished benchrest shooter - He uses a pair of partners... One bumps the brass and decaps, and the other is for seating. He hand primes, which I've also found to be superior.
I can load 20 rounds of match-grade ammo, clean a rifle to benchrest standards, and shoot a 5-shot group (in an allotted 7 minute block) all within 30 minutes.
The speed of a single stage press depends upon how many rounds will fit in your loading block(s). Running a lot of blocks I can get close to a progressive, when it comes to overall speed...
swifter
Member
The first secret is to use batches, and do one operation on a batch at a time. The second secret, on a Rockchucker, is to use a RCBS "Casekicker" to minimize handling the brass. My production on my 'Chucker is high enough thast I rarely use my 550 anymore...
Tom
Tom
PDshooter
Member
There is NO SPEED
But there is a hell of lot reliability
I like the fact I can switch from 45ACP to 30-06 to form 25-06 brass. Then load .223 and then 38s. My RockChucker is 15yrs old.
I just love RCBS. But it is alittle slow.
But there is a hell of lot reliability
I like the fact I can switch from 45ACP to 30-06 to form 25-06 brass. Then load .223 and then 38s. My RockChucker is 15yrs old.
I just love RCBS. But it is alittle slow.
swifter
Member
Madmax,
The Casekicker is a sheetmetal dingus that fits around the Rockchucker. It has a spent primer diverter and ramp to send primers to a waste receptical, & a flat spring that rides over the shellholder and pushes the case onto another ramp that leads to a collection box. You place the case in the shellholder as you raise the ram, the primer slides off into the trash, and as you lower the ram the spring pushes the case onto the ramp for the collection box... Almost every time... You may need to call RCBS to see if they still make it. I've had mine for around 25 years, and its given me good service. Never have seen one in the "quick turnover" shops...
Tom
The Casekicker is a sheetmetal dingus that fits around the Rockchucker. It has a spent primer diverter and ramp to send primers to a waste receptical, & a flat spring that rides over the shellholder and pushes the case onto another ramp that leads to a collection box. You place the case in the shellholder as you raise the ram, the primer slides off into the trash, and as you lower the ram the spring pushes the case onto the ramp for the collection box... Almost every time...
You may need to call RCBS to see if they still make it. I've had mine for around 25 years, and its given me good service. Never have seen one in the "quick turnover" shops... Tom
swifter
Member
Too late to edit...
But to add to my last post: Just called RCBS, and the "CaseKicker" is no longer made. Damn shame.
Tom
But to add to my last post: Just called RCBS, and the "CaseKicker" is no longer made. Damn shame.
Tom
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