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Marc Adamchek
09-20-2010, 03:20 AM
Good Evening - I'm a new guy here, asking new guy questions about casting and reloading. Here goes one now:

I placed an order a month ago with Buffalo Arms for some 450 brass and 450 dies.
When I called to check on my order last week I was told that the dies were on backorder.

I visited the R C B S website today and noticed they have the dies for 100 bucks more.

I've only reloaded handgun ammo, back kin the 90's and just past 00, on a Lee turret press. Easy as pie.

I bought an unused Rockchucker press from a guy going through a divorce. It's still unused after 12 years. I never got the oomph to load for my 45/70 or anything else. I was shooting/hunting with old double shotguns by that time, a passion that is still going strong. Now I'm into old double rifles, or at least trying to be. My first was a .72 KODIAK (not too old, eh?), a beautiful Joseph Lang double 23 bore muzzleloader from 1825, and a nice Alex Henry 450 BPE 3 1/4

My question: Just how hard/easy to load for a rifle calibre? Will the Rockucker meet the needs of a beginner and also the needs of more "esoteric" calibres?

Your help is much appreciated. The knowledge you gentlemen have is truly deep and comprehensive.

versifier
09-20-2010, 03:54 PM
Your Rockchucker will do anything you could ever ask of it for centerfire loading with the possible exception of 50BMG (I can't remember exactly when they added a little height to them to accomodate the longer round, the new ones will). It is one of the best single stage O frame presses made and has been in production with only minor changes for over 50 years. Obviously they did it right as all the big manufacturers have a clone of it in their own product lines. Mine is well over 30yrs old and still gets regular use. There are faster presses, but none more versatile, than the single stage and it is the perfect beginner press as it lets you do just one operation at a time so you learn it completely.

Rifles are as easy to load for as handguns, just a little different. For full length resizing you need to lube rifle cases, but you do not need to expand their case mouths like you do for handgun rounds unless you are shooting cast in them. Likely you will want to be neck sizing most of your rifle cases for longer case life. Lee makes custom collet neck sizers for very reasonable prices, even for the oddball rounds you are getting into.

Double rifles are something else again. They are regulated to hit the same point of impact with a specific load at a specific distance with both barrels. The trick is finding out what that load i/wass and that is not always an easy thing to do. Start by researching the specs of the available factory loads when the rifle was made. When you know the bullet weight and the approximate velocity, then you can try to match it and see if your load hits near where it is supposed to from both barrels. This is a trial and error process and you might get lucky and solve it quickly (if your research into old loads hits paydirt), or it could turn into a real project that will keep you busy for the foreseeable future. If you are the patient sort who likes difficult puzzles, you ought to have your work cut out for you.