Dusting off the RockChucker II with Piggyback II conversion for .454 Casull

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MCMXI

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A bit long-winded so I apologize in advance ...

It's been cold up here in NW MT these past few weeks and rather than work outside in a garage that sees a high of 15F I figured I'd stay indoors and finally get around to tidying up my gun room which had deteriorated into a state of chaos. It's still a bit of a mess but I'm making progress. I added some home security cameras recently and one is in that room ... and no, I'm not going to post a link! :p

My first reloading press was an RCBS RCII that I bought in 1992 as part of a boxed reloading kit when I lived in Portland, OR. Around 1995 I added an RCBS Piggyback II to the press since I was shooting hundreds of rounds every weekend and I was getting tired of spending most evenings during the week assembling ammunition. Back in 2009 I upgraded the RCBS powder measure and linkage to a Redding 10X with Hornady's Case Activated Powder Drop, and the following year modified a Redding BR-30 to work with the PB II in the same way. The last time I used the press was in 2011 when I lived in Hawaii. I left Hawaii the same year to work for Remington in AR and didn't load a single round at home during the next two years. I moved to MT in December of 2013, bought a house in July of 2014 and mounted the PB II to the bench shown the first week of being in the new house, and there it sat in non-operational mode because the nut that holds the handle on wouldn't clear the steel frame that the bench top sits on. Lame I know.

Last year I sent a Ruger Super Redhawk "Alaskan" .454 Casull to Bowen Classic Arms to have him work his magic. I carry that revolver whenever I'm out hiking, hunting, camping etc. Now that spring is almost here I want to shoot it a lot more and that means I need to reload for it. I was using my Redding single stage press for small batches of 6 to 12 rounds but that's not ideal for 50 to 100 rounds in a session.

This past weekend I decided to resolve the problem with the RCII/PBII. I have a stick of 3/4" x 1-1/2" flat bar in the garage so lopped off an 8" piece, drilled it for two 5/16" lag bolts, bolted it to the bench to move the press further out, and drilled new holes for the press. Now the nut clears the frame by about an 1/8". Last night I set up the press for .454 Casull and after an hour or so of messing around managed to put together 12 rounds using 24.0gr of H110, 360gr WNFP GC TrueShot bullets, Starline brass and CCI small rifle magnum primers.

The press isn't particularly fast, but it's always been a rock solid reliable setup. The addition of the Redding 30-BR and 10X with the Hornady Case Activated Powder drop makes this set up a real winner. I'll most likely use this press for .454 Casull and .45 Colt only. It's hard to believe that the press sat idle for at least 8 years! What a waste!

Here's a link to an old thread about this upgrade.

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I too have resurrected my old PB, removed the clap-trap powder dispensing mechanism, replaced it with a Lee auto disc/Lee powder thru expanding die, and added a Hornady bullet feeder die with long plastic tubes to keep it fed...game changer.

Ok, no quick change over die plate, so I just change out the hole top plate with dies intact, just 3 screws.
Old piggybacks sold on ebay continue to demand higher/higher premium prices, as reloaders discover how versatile they can be.
I have acquired 2 more along the way, one is an Ammomaster, and missed 2 more at a recent local gun show.
PwdrSprg(2)S.jpg

I might need to delete this post to keep the piggybacks a secret...:uhoh:
:D
 
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You are better folks than me. I have a PB is parts from the old days. The better solution for me(YMMV) was going with a 550B. I'm not a hater. Most likely, I did not have enough time of the PB. I did find the PB to be complicated. OP's loads look great.
 
@Mowgli Terry, would you sell your PB? I like their simplicity and size.

Tilos said:
Ok, no quick change over die plate, so I just change out the hole top plate with dies intact, just 3 screws.

That's an excellent idea. I had no idea that the PBs were in such demand. Nice work by the way.
 
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I found the complete set up including RCII and Uniflow powder measure in a pawn shop. I had gotten the update kit that RCBS sold at the time. The press and powder measure are in current use. RCBS supplied enough parts to make RCII and Uniflow complete for use outside the PB.
 
I'm glad to see people using these and liking them. I had one, it came with the whole used package I bought from a widow lady. The PB was brand new, I set it up for .357 and ran a hundred rounds in a few minutes and then took it apart and sold it. There is just too much going on at one time for me, I guess I'm too much of a simpleton to get used to it. That, and I'm rather anal about everything being just so.
 
I'll admit to lots of initial frustration with my 1st PB, most associated to the direct powder measure linkage that dropped a charge every cycle, regardless of case/no case.
I modified the PM linkage to be a quick disconnect, but it still was fiddly to operate.
RCBS tried to rectify this flaw with design changes in newer versions but their methods just added more complexity rather than simplicity.

For me, along came Lee's powder thru the expander die case activated design, a simple "bolt-on" way to solve the powder drop problem on the PB/PBII/etc. and flare the case in the same station.

RCBS eventually figured something out (or paid Hornady?) with a complex linkage design of a case activated powder drop, adaptable to the Uniflow.
Too much, too late, just my opinion,
:D
 
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Tilos said:
RCBS eventually figured something out (or paid Hornady?) with a complex linkage design of a case activated powder drop, adaptable to the Uniflow.
Too much, too late, just my opinion,

I don't think that the Hornady case activated powder drop is complex, it's actually quite simple and it allows me to use either the Redding 10X or BR-30 with the PBII. The Redding powder measures are some of the best out there, and coupled with the CAPD they're so dead nuts reliable that I've never dumped any powder by mistake, or had a no charge or double charge condition. I have a Hornady LNL progressive press with a case feeder and CAPD so can use either Redding powder measure on that press for larger runs of .45 ACP, 9mm Luger or whatever.

I do agree with you though that the original powder measure linkage from RCBS was a bit of a mess that did result in dumping powder all over the shell plate on numerous occasions, or didn't drop powder at all. I've thought about getting another progressive at some point and will probably opt for another LNL.
 
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