Bought an old reloader it’s a tank

[Hawkeye]

Can't beat the old RCBS Rockchucker press. Mine is over 30 years old and works great.

 

[Patrick]

High altitude overview of what you have there.

A fine older press that will serve well for pistol caliber reloading tasks. For that style press, things have evolved and they are much stronger and stiffer than what that one was. The multi hole concept was way ahead of its time and took a long time for single stage press people to warm up to it. I don't know if you can still get turret plates for that press. If you can, it allows you set up once and run that ammo without having to change out and reset dies. That is a huge time saver. Disassemble and clean and lightly lube that press. Make sure it is smooth operating with no hang ups or wobbly spots in the stroke.

I have an RCBS powder measure just like the picture. It is a pain in the rear. It can throw 100 good charges the go off the rails for no reason. Then it's on again without messing with anything. I've had better luck with the cheapest Lee adjustable powder measures. Improvements to these have been incremental over the years. A modern one is far more reliable. I don't know what they have done to make them better or if yours can be smoothed over to work better. For perspective, the RCBS powder measure was a huge improvement over scooping and weighing each charge which is how it was done before powder measures were a thing.

It looks like you have dies with it. Almost all pistol dies try to seat the bullet AND crimp in the same step. All it really does is inconsistently seat the bullet and crush the case at random. Seat bullets and crimp in separate steps. Lee Factory Crimp dies are great. You prevent the seating die from crimping by unscrewing/raising the die until the crimp area doesn't touch the case.

You have a good start but will need a lot more stuff to get started. A tool here, a trimmer there. It won't be cheap and you can't reload for much cheaper than you can buy. No price tag on making your own ammo.

Before you get to making ammo you need these tools as minimum:
A way to clean used brass
A scale to weigh powder
Dies for each caliber
Trimmer
Kinetic bullet puller

That's a good amount to digest, I'll check in later.

I bought just about everything I need, Well I think I did. I read my Lee 51st Manual along with My Lyman manual. I also watched copious youtube videos from product manufactures like Brownell's, Lyman, RCBS, and Lee. I have most of my supplies coming tomorrow 10/1/2025 from MIDWAY. I will take pictures of all the stuff that comes in. I bought a Hornady digital scale, however I also have a Lyman 500 beam scale coming as well. I also decided to upgrade my RCBS die lock rings to Hornady Sure-Lock rings. I bought Starlite and Winchester brass, and also have some once fired Federal, GFL and Norma. Hornady XTP bullets in 158 & 180 Gr. and some Magtech 158 Gr. for both .38 Spl & .357 Mag. The powder I bought to start off with are Ramshot Silhouette & True Blue, Accurate #5 and H110. I am looking forward to dialing in my load for more accuracy. I was at the range today with my Henry and I am shooting very well with the factory ammo at 30, 40, and 50 Feet. Good groups, however i think my prescription shooting glasses need a update a little blurry for the 50 feet. I Also plan on joining a local outdoor range and practice longer shots and possibly a little cowboy action shooting.

 

[Patrick]

If you want to get a reservoir for the powder measure that is missing it, look at this.

RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure Reservoir-used | eBay

NOTE: FOR assistance with installation.Google the "You-Tube" video.

www.ebay.com

I received some plastic tube from the shop that sold me the press. I cleaned it up, lubed it with some Extra fine dry graphite powder, and 3D printed a cap. Good to go.

​

 

[Patrick]

Be prepared to through-bolt that press to a sturdy table. No clamps or wood screws please...

Debay is a good source for parts and dies. GB for the rarer stuff. Zamazom (and debay) for loading manuals.

I bolted it to a 5/8" thick piece of 20" x 20" alum plate. Sturdy

 

[no4mk1t]

I bought just about everything I need, Well I think I did. I read my Lee 51st Manual along with My Lyman manual. I also watched copious youtube videos from product manufactures like Brownell's, Lyman, RCBS, and Lee. I have most of my supplies coming tomorrow 10/1/2025 from MIDWAY. I will take pictures of all the stuff that comes in. I bought a Hornady digital scale, however I also have a Lyman 500 beam scale coming as well. I also decided to upgrade my RCBS die lock rings to Hornady Sure-Lock rings. I bought Starlite and Winchester brass, and also have some once fired Federal, GFL and Norma. Hornady XTP bullets in 158 & 180 Gr. and some Magtech 158 Gr. for both .38 Spl & .357 Mag. The powder I bought to start off with are Ramshot Silhouette & True Blue, Accurate #5 and H110. I am looking forward to dialing in my load for more accuracy. I was at the range today with my Henry and I am shooting very well with the factory ammo at 30, 40, and 50 Feet. Good groups, however i think my prescription shooting glasses need a update a little blurry for the 50 feet. I Also plan on joining a local outdoor range and practice longer shots and possibly a little cowboy action shooting.

Glad you are doing your due diligence rather than just jumping in.

Are there more parts for the press that are not in the first pic? There should be a priming device that attaches to prime the cases. Or did you order a hand priming tool from Midway?

For your blurry issue, here's an old shooters hack.
3D print a part like this to attach to your glasses. The pin hole effect is the same principle that cameras use to focus without manual adjustment.

Here the file for it.

Shooting Aperture for Revision Sawfly Glasses - Rev 2 - New Version

This is an aperture (Rev 2) for precision shooting with a pistol or revolver for the open sight. It is made for the safety glasses Revision Sawfly with the Prescription RX Carrier (ITEM 4-0436-0101 new model with square lens carrier). Only snap in and have fun. Useable on left or right side...

cults3d.com

If this works for you, but you want something better, Bullseye pistol shooters use a device like this that has an adjustable iris built in.

Gehmann Iris - Disc for Regular Glasses | Champion's Choice

 

[Patrick]

Glad you are doing your due diligence rather than just jumping in.

Are there more parts for the press that are not in the first pic? There should be a priming device that attaches to prime the cases. Or did you order a hand priming tool from Midway?

For your blurry issue, here's an old shooters hack.
3D print a part like this to attach to your glasses. The pin hole effect is the same principle that cameras use to focus without manual adjustment.

Here the file for it.

Shooting Aperture for Revision Sawfly Glasses - Rev 2 - New Version

This is an aperture (Rev 2) for precision shooting with a pistol or revolver for the open sight. It is made for the safety glasses Revision Sawfly with the Prescription RX Carrier (ITEM 4-0436-0101 new model with square lens carrier). Only snap in and have fun. Useable on left or right side...

cults3d.com

If this works for you, but you want something better, Bullseye pistol shooters use a device like this that has an adjustable iris built in.

Gehmann Iris - Disc for Regular Glasses | Champion's Choice

View attachment 35344

I did get a Lyman hand primer, and I have a bunch of stuff coming from Midway sometime today. Hey thanks for the safety glasses insert, I am gonna print that out tonight. I will be posting a picture of all of my reloading goodies later.

 

[Bongo Lewi]

Very cool! First time reloading? I have not gone down that rabbit hole... yet.


Stick it to the man!


Who? The gun dealer asks? What constitutes "proof?"

In NC, when you purchase a firearm, the buyer has to sign an agreement that they will assure the gun is secured when not being used. The gist of this was to prevent kids from getting their hands on a gun. They don't ask for proof. They just tell you in writing that if some kid or other puts hands on your unsecured gun and something bad happens, you may be prosecuted.

In Washington, gun safes were exempt from sales tax. The idea was to encourage people to buy them.

 

[bkbrno]

Lee Factory Crimp Dies are more of a category than a specific design. They are caliber specific and case type specific. Taper crimp for calibers that typically head space on the mouth and roll crimp for rimmed calibers. They do make pistol FCDs just not the collet crimp like rifle dies. The feature the pistol/straight wall dies have is that there is a slightly oversized carbide resizing ring. It will iron out any bulges from seating the bullet. If the FCD needs some effort or drags a lot on the case, you have done something wrong in a previous step. It should just kiss the brass. I find that the FCD crimping is more forgiving of case length variation but just by a little. Side bar. I think they had a bin full of out of spec carbide resizing rings and found a good use for them.

I seek out and use Lee FC dies in every caliber I reload if it is available.

Keep a close eye on that powder measure. As I said, mine can throw bad charges. Keep the powder level in the hopper within a small range. It's better with ball powders and worse with flake powders. I think I try to keep mine around 1/2 full and never let it get more than an inch below 1/2 full. Probably 50 or so rounds of pistol throwing 8ish grains at a time.

 

[no4mk1t]

As bkbrno says, the Uniflow measure works great for ball powder, OK for flake powder, and not so OK for long kernal extruded powder.

If you don't already have one, get the powder baffle. It helps maintain the consistency of the charge weight as the powder level in the hopper changes. Here's the RCBS factory baffle.

rcbs uniflow baffle - MidwayUSA

Shop MidwayUSA for the best rcbs uniflow baffle

www.midwayusa.com

There is also a 3D printed baffle that claims to be better. I have never used one, but you may wish to try it.
There's someone selling them on ebay for $13, but I'm sure you can find the file and DIY.

As far as operation of the Uniflow is concerned, there is a technique to get it to throw consistent charges. With no baffle, keep the powder level half full to 3/4 as bkbrno suggests. With the baffle, you can let it get lower, but I typically refill at 1/3. The baffle keeps the powder column over the drum more consistent and less prone to weight variances as the hopper level changes.

The courser the grains of powder, the more this knocking technique matters, though I use it for all powder types.
With the hopper full, knock the handle twice each stroke both at the top and bottom of the stroke. This does two things. It helps the powder settle evenly in the drum, and it helps prevent bridging in the nozzle.

I typically throw at least 10 charges and dump them back in the hopper to settle the powder, then fine tune to throw the desired weight.
Make sure the adjustment doesn't loosen and change the weight. It's good to touch the lock ring every so often and check the weight of a charge on the scale to make sure.

The Uniflow was shipped with a large and small cavity drum. For pistol calibers and small rifle, use the small drum.

 

[Patrick]

As bkbrno says, the Uniflow measure works great for ball powder, OK for flake powder, and not so OK for long kernal extruded powder.

If you don't already have one, get the powder baffle. It helps maintain the consistency of the charge weight as the powder level in the hopper changes. Here's the RCBS factory baffle.

rcbs uniflow baffle - MidwayUSA

Shop MidwayUSA for the best rcbs uniflow baffle

www.midwayusa.com

There is also a 3D printed baffle that claims to be better. I have never used one, but you may wish to try it.
There's someone selling them on ebay for $13, but I'm sure you can find the file and DIY.
View attachment 35380
View attachment 35381

As far as operation of the Uniflow is concerned, there is a technique to get it to throw consistent charges. With no baffle, keep the powder level half full to 3/4 as bkbrno suggests. With the baffle, you can let it get lower, but I typically refill at 1/3. The baffle keeps the powder column over the drum more consistent and less prone to weight variances as the hopper level changes.

The courser the grains of powder, the more this knocking technique matters, though I use it for all powder types.
With the hopper full, knock the handle twice each stroke both at the top and bottom of the stroke. This does two things. It helps the powder settle evenly in the drum, and it helps prevent bridging in the nozzle.

I typically throw at least 10 charges and dump them back in the hopper to settle the powder, then fine tune to throw the desired weight.
Make sure the adjustment doesn't loosen and change the weight. It's good to touch the lock ring every so often and check the weight of a charge on the scale to make sure.

The Uniflow was shipped with a large and small cavity drum. For pistol calibers and small rifle, use the small drum.

I just made my own Baffle.

 

[meistermash]

I dig that old press op.
Few gunshows ago I spotted an inline about 6 or 8 station ol timey press.
But I couldn't get it away from the chisler for less than $350.
It had a bunch of odds n ends garbage that the guy though was worth the extra scratch.

 

[no4mk1t]

I dig that old press op.
Few gunshows ago I spotted an inline about 6 or 8 station ol timey press.
But I couldn't get it away from the chisler for less than $350.
It had a bunch of odds n ends garbage that the guy though was worth the extra scratch.

If it was one of these, be glad you didn't get it.

 

[meistermash]

Ohh no, the one I saw looked like it was made about the time that the guy who started rcbs was a twinkle.
Maybe a Holywood? I have an extremely old reloading book by Sharp and I bet it might be in there.

But I will watch that video.