Wife bought me a Forster press

[MovedWest]

My wonderful wife bought me a Forster press for my birthday. I currently reload only for 44 magnum (and special) and noticed on Forster's website that they only have dies for rifle cartridges.

I plan to start reloading for 5.56, 6.5x55, and 7mm Rem Mag down the road, but my 44 mag is my primary cartridge. Not having dies for this caliber isn't an option for me. Will other manufacturers' dies work in this press?

I currently have the Lee Carbide die set with the Lee hand press (yes, this is a serious upgrade). Will my old dies work and/or are there noticeably better dies out there that will work with the Forster? Thanks in advance!

-MW

 

[zxcvbob]

Lee carbide dies work great in a Forster press. You can even use the Lee lockrings (which really surprised me when I tried it.)

The press should have come with one or two Forster lockrings, put one on your seating/crimping die. That's the one you don't want to have to adjust every time you mount it. You can use the Lee rings on the sizing die and expanding die because those are easy to adjust and not critical anyway.

 

[rcmodel]

Any brand of 7/8"x14 TPI dies will work.

You might have to put Forster die lock rings on some brands to get them to snap in place correctly. Some brands don't use real lock-rings (Lee) and others use hex-nut types that probably won't fit the Forster press.
http://www.forsterproducts.com/catalog.asp?prodid=700332

rc

 

[MovedWest]

Thanks for the info guys! This really helps.

-MW

 

[Lost Sheep]

Congratulations, and Happy Birthday

You have a couple of "keepers" there.

Lost Sheep

 

[Otto]

Midsouth has a twelve pack of Forster lock rings for $34...that's what I'd use.
Other brands may or may not work, better to stick with original equipment.
Great press btw.

 

[rg1]

Yes, go ahead and buy the 12 pack of die lock rings. I use Lyman, RCBS, Hornady, and Redding pistol and rifle dies in my Forster Co-Ax. Nice present!

 

[Doug b]

+1 for the 12 pack of cross bolt lock rings.Just checked every lock ring I have on my Co-Ax,Redding,Lee,RCBS,Hornady,and Lyman.Everyone slipped past the lock ring detent ball.I tried to get by using one of these when I first got my press and gave a casing mouth a very fat lip when the die walked out beyond the detent ball.That would be assembly #28,29,and 30 in your owners manual.

 

[kelbro]

The Hornady 44 dies are great.

 

[MovedWest]

The tips for the lock rings were spot on. Those are necessary. As far as the press goes - WOW!!! I can't believe how smooth, accurate, and well thought out this thing is!

If ANYone is debating going with this press versus another press, I highly recommend the Forster press. I've literally gone through all my reloads and marked the boxes loaded with the different presses. My old ammo is now devoted to less than important uses (target practice).

-MW

 

[tunnug]

My first press was a Bonanza, which is what turned into the co-ax when Forster bought them, I still have it and use it 15 yrs later, great press.

 

[thorn-]

I really like my Hornady 44mag dies... top-notch. But as others pointed out, your Lee dies will work just fine. Do get some quality rings, though. Unless you're feeling some need to replace them, I'd just stick with what's been working for you.

And congrats on the new press!

thorn

 

[Snowbandit]

When you figure in the value of the 100 free bullets Hornady gives you for buying a set of their dies they are the best value.

 

[jelenko]

Congrats on the Co-AX!

Mine's 20 years old and still produces rounds with less than 1/1000 runout.