the Hornady Lock-n-Load Kit or the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit ? i am new to reloading and i am looking at these two kits. i will manly be loading rifle ammo 7 rm and 06 these two kits are in my price rang i am aware i will need to add a few things to ether kit so what do you guys think Hornady or RCBS ?
reloading press Hornady vs RCBS
- Thread starter doc55
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this is a ford or chevy type deal. I like the hornady kit, I was able to use everything in it. I don't trust the scale, although it has not been wrong, I just trust the beam scale more. I really like the lock and load feature but you can convert the rcbs to that also. I would think it would come down to cost and if you find a better deal on one or the other. I got a very nice deal on mine from midway also bought three of their die sets which I have been happy with so far, by doing so I got 800 free bullets. The bullets were not the type I would have bought off the shelf but will find some use for them.
So I guess it is a matter of which color you like better Red or Green
gary
So I guess it is a matter of which color you like better Red or Green
gary
Hairtrigger
Well-Known Member
No bad choice here.
The Hornady has the LNL bushings which really speed up die insertion and caliber changes
The Hornady has the LNL bushings which really speed up die insertion and caliber changes
MSLRHunter
Well-Known Member
I use the hornady and really like the LNL bushings. I bought several extra sets of bushings and once I get a die set up it stays in the bushing so it takes about 2 seconds to change dies, and as soon as you put the new die in it is already adjusted so its ready to go.
I own the Hornady reloading set. My brother has the RCBS, wich I used before I bought the Hornady. I like them both. I dont like the digital scale with the Hornady kit, so I went on EBAY and bought a RCBS balance beam scale. I had a few issues starting out with my Hornady kit. Hornady's customer service was excellent!
I have not owned the hornady press but have owned their dies and camlock trimmer. I also own or have own all major die makers and hornady dies and tools were the worst by far of all I used. I threw the dies away as I couldn't sell them in good faith ! I started with a rcbs rockchucker and used it for years without complaint. IMO the forster co-ax press is tops and if I didn't want to spend that type of money I would buy ( and do for most rilfes I load for ) Lee dies. The Lee and RCBS are good quality and Lee has a price edge. The hornady stuff is all hype and low quality. Somewhere here I posted a long rant on just how bad the hornady trimmer really is so I will not go into depth but its here if you want to look.I still have that *** trimmer , might sell it to a fool I don't like someday. RCBS or Lee and forget Hornady.
Did you have the New Dimension Dies with zip spindle?
What did you not like about the dies?
I think I will be buying redding or Lee dies from now on due to better reviews but only problem I have had with mine is the seating stem was too shallow for VLD's and I had to drill them out but that only took a minute.
Gary
Yes it was the new dimension die and let me see if I can remember all the ways they sucked. To start with they rusted overnight after I cleaned them. Light sheen on the outside of the body and micrometer stemI bought with them...poor polishing. They grunted and groaned as I sized the brass the first time , slowly got better as the machine marks filled in with brass...poor polishing. The neck expander vibrated off into a case. Had to cut it out of the case....poor polishing. Lubed cases so much I got oil dents. Bullet seater bullet guide keeps sticking. Lube , graphite lube , dry , all stick. Dry and tap with little rod...poor polishing. Bullet seating varied 6 thousanths , see sticking guide.....poor polishing. I didn't know better and thought all dies were like this. Got a new rifle and was tapped out. Bought some lees as it was all I could afford. Wow ! Night and day better ! Thought they were the bomb. Got some rcbs , low end redding and then forster. The lee , rcbs , and redding were all about the same with the lees maybe a little better and much less expensive. Now the forsters are a whole level better. Don't think you can get any better. Run out and bullet seating depth are less than a thousanth and within my ability to measure. The trimmer will always vary the col by the difference in case rim thickness. This means the necks on fired brass will vary also. Neck tensoin is critical and varying neck lenght blows that out the window. I saw an ad / artical where hornady claimed their factory ammo was better than most handloaders could make. **** right if they use hornady tools to make it. As for customer service... sent them an email askinf for guidence on using their trimmer as I was two to five thousanths variance in case trim lenght. And.....nothing ! Sent it again and ... nothing. And one more thing. I got a second set of hornady dies , this time to load for a friends 308 me. About the same but the seater sleeve doesn't hang up. Threw the 7-08 dies away.
I I had it to do over it would be a forster co-ax , forster seater and full lenght die and lee collet neck die , wilson trimmer. I still use my lee perfect powder measure and trickle the charge to as dead on as the powder will let me.
That all sounds very familiar. I did have to spray them off several times with brake cleaner and they still stick occassionally. I paid $30 for the dies and got 100 bullets so they were basically free.
I will be saving for the redding dies from now on.
thanks, gary
I have not used a hornady press but I have used a rcbs rockchucker I owned and a lee classic cast a friend had and both were fine. The co-ax I use now is the best I have used or been around. The hornady tools are poorly made so I would expect the press to be also.
