Pro Chucker 7..... OK Finally! .... I'm Tempted!

[GW Staar]

Looks like a tube from a 650 IMHO

Either way, totally preventable very likely. Ive crushed a few primers in my LnL, press gets a little out of time, catch the edge of the case, or maybe the case has a crimp I missed, and boom, like a little firecracker.

Glad your head didn't dent the ceiling! Startling, I'll bet! The first time I saw the picture that's what I said, 650....then I found the source....he said he owned a Hornady. That's all I know on the subject. To me safety means Murphy-proofing. We all have those days when we just shouldn't get out of bed. For all of us, there are times when we left our brains on the pillow.

Gotta hand it to RCBS for at least trying to make it safer. Accolades for Richard Lee as well. He has done some of that too. Dillon just charges enough from everybody to pay for the ruined parts. To their credit, they do at least try to direct the explosions away from the user......unless you are really having a space cadet day and walk around the house with a full primer tube bomb in your hand.

I'm least happy about going back to primer tubes......and I will say this....if there's away to mod the press to do APS I will....unfortunately for some of you....you'll have to hear all about it here. The other option, I've already mentioned. Prime on the bench or by hand like Walkalong does.....and it may just come to that for me.

are you getting the brass feeder too?

So much for waiting, I found a smoking deal today on the case feeder this morning. Amazon had a "slightly used" one for half price.....only the packaging was opened. Sucker-me bought it. Hope it has all the parts....sigh.....may be one of those space cadet days..hope it wasn't a bad idea.

 

[cfullgraf]

The other option, I've already mentioned. Prime on the bench or by hand like Walkalong does.....and it may just come to that for me.

Me too. Priming off the press just makes the actual loading operation go more smoothly for me.

 

[Tilos]

Me too. Priming off the press just makes the actual loading operation go more smoothly for me.

I prime on the press but de-prime off before tumbling...
My usual method is to start out sizing/priming 4 or 5 cases and put them aside to plug into the progression if I have a priming problem.
Then when I'm done loading I plug them in and load them if I haven't used them along the way.
I rarely have problems when I have spares standing by to plug-in....but when I don't

 

[Livin_Cincy]

Here's the chucker 5 for $400/free shipping and with any rebate would be cheaper...
https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-88910-C...pID=41fc9umMHEL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

That press is only $300 with their current rebate:
http://rcbs.com/getattachment/eef0d...d4c81acf40/Buy-Green-Get-Green-March2018.aspx

That is a tempting price.

 

[GW Staar]

I prime on the press but de-prime off before tumbling...
My usual method is to start out sizing/priming 4 or 5 cases and put them aside to plug into the progression if I have a priming problem.
Then when I'm done loading I plug them in and load them if I haven't used them along the way.

Tilos.....brilliant! The smartest thing I've heard today.

On the Pro 2000 I found that the only way the primer insertion depth stop worked, was to uniform each primer pocket first so every single one was the same depth. In turn that process made sure each case was properly swaged, because without a good Editswaged pocket, your uniformer will try to tare the case out of your hands.(improper swage is the other way to have a bad day on the progressive). Once I figured that out, I quit having stoppages where I coulda used some set aside like you do.....never thought of that! From now on I will do both!

Just when did I start uniforming each case on my Trim Mate? After a high primer turned my AR10 into a twin burst machine gun. That'll get your attention! My ex-military brother-in-law was shooting it and he thought I caused that on purpose. You shoulda seen the look on his face! Wish I'd had a movie camera on him.

 

[Tilos]

Tilos.....brilliant! The smartest thing I've heard today.

On the Pro 2000 I found that the only way the primer insertion depth stop worked, was to uniform each primer pocket first so every single one was the same depth. In turn that process made sure each case was properly swaged, because without a good Editswaged pocket, your uniformer will try to tare the case out of your hands.(improper swage is the other way to have a bad day on the progressive). Once I figured that out, I quit having stoppages where I coulda used some set aside like you do.....never thought of that! From now on I will do both!

Just when did I start uniforming each case on my Trim Mate? After a high primer turned my AR10 into a twin burst machine gun. That'll get your attention! My ex-military brother-in-law was shooting it and he thought I caused that on purpose. You shoulda seen the look on his face! Wish I'd had a movie camera on him.

My PB presses are similar in design to the Pro 2000 and when primers were hard to get I bought some Wolfs.
Those primers proved to be shorter so rather than re-adjust the primer depth stop, I just put a single edge razor blade (0.010") on the spot on the frame where the primer seating pin made contact.
Since then I have removed the primer depth stop pin and seat primers by feel.
Having said that, something will break now, doing it that way...

 

[GW Staar]

Update: Midway canceled my backorder.....they also canceled their sale. No my credit card wasn't a problem. Wish it was an April Fools day joke, but no. Reordering would cost me hundreds more now....so to me that's a bad omen on the whole deal. Maybe next year......if ever. Hope the orderers of the new Lee press fare better.

I did get the case feeder and shell plate......will need to send them back.

Update Again: See page three: Where there's a will there's a way! I'm back in the saddle!

 

[Walkalong]

Bummer.

 

[captain awesome]

wonder why? I have heard of that kind of thing happening when demand is very high then selling stuff that hadnt shipped yet for the higher price....I didnt think Midway participated in that practice. Probably something else going on.

 

[Kaldor]

Update: Midway canceled my backorder.....they also canceled their sale. No my credit card wasn't a problem. Wish it was an April Fools day joke, but no. Reordering would cost me hundreds more now....so to me that's a bad omen on the whole deal. Maybe next year......if ever. Hope the orderers of the new Lee press fare better.

I did get the case feeder and shell plate......will need to send them back.

That sucks. Did they say why they canceled the backorder?

 

[Tilos]

Update: Midway canceled my backorder.....they also canceled their sale. No my credit card wasn't a problem. Wish it was an April Fools day joke, but no. Reordering would cost me hundreds more now....so to me that's a bad omen on the whole deal. Maybe next year......if ever. Hope the orderers of the new Lee press fare better.

I did get the case feeder and shell plate......will need to send them back.

That sucks
I just read a review, on another forum, by a guy who is still breaking primer slides on his chucker 7.
He's in Europe and says RCBS will only send him 2 replacement slides at a time, so when he hears the "snap" using his last one, it's 2 weeks before he gets to prime on the press again.
I'm not sure why he does not mention priming off the press as a alternative, but I believe that's what others are doing.
He even asked RCBS for a price for 100 primer slides but they never responded.

It's odd to me, how no owner/user has come up with a work-around or mod or new slide design to fix this problem.
I've searched YouTube and found nothing, just replacing the slide spring with a rubber band.
I can see someone making/selling a 3D printed primer slide that doesn't break that would sell.

 

[cfullgraf]

T

It's odd to me, how no owner/user has come up with a work-around or mod or new slide design to fix this problem.

I could guess that there are not enough folks using the press to tap into for someone with the knowledge, mechanical aptitude, and equipment to design and manufacture a new part. Plus, since RCBS gives the primer slides away, many that might push their skill set and then back yard engineer/design a fix might not bother.

Of course, maybe RCBS has not figured out a fix that does not obsolete all the existing ProChucker presses.

For me, since I do not prime on my progressives, I cannot see a need a seven station press so the ProChucker 7 is not even on the horizon for me. And if I was interested in the ProChucker 5, I'd be priming off the press anyway so I'd have no incentive to fix the primer slide problem.

Update: Midway canceled my backorder.....they also canceled their sale.

That's too bad.

I hate back ordering things as it seems to be like playing the lottery at times. (A year or so ago, I ordered on pre-delivery an item that the company has now decided to not produce after all. I got a full refund, but...).

 

[GW Staar]

That sucks
I just read a review, on another forum, by a guy who is still breaking primer slides on his chucker 7.
He's in Europe and says RCBS will only send him 2 replacement slides at a time, so when he hears the "snap" using his last one, it's 2 weeks before he gets to prime on the press again.
I'm not sure why he does not mention priming off the press as a alternative, but I believe that's what others are doing.
He even asked RCBS for a price for 100 primer slides but they never responded.

It's odd to me, how no owner/user has come up with a work-around or mod or new slide design to fix this problem.
I've searched YouTube and found nothing, just replacing the slide spring with a rubber band.
I can see someone making/selling a 3D printed primer slide that doesn't break that would sell.

Yes, I hear these stories and this is what I think.....take it with a grain of salt if you want.

There are those who break anything and everything they touch. I have a brother-in-law who I think has the world record in returning stuff....from pencil sharpeners to brand new automobiles. You've heard of a "bull in a china closet"? That's him. He lacks patience, he cannot pay attention to details, he won't read instructions because he has no patience to follow them. The fellow in Europe may be a relative.

I was training an employee on how to lay circular glass block one time....we had two such wall to lay up on either side of a big garden jacuzzi. One a shower, the other around a commode/bidet. I was doing one side...he was to as I did and lay up the other. How did it turn out? After 3 hours he had to take his down twice and start over.....why? Because he couldn't get it through his head that we weren't racing each other.....and would not pay attention to details.....little things...like laying the courses plumb and straight. He gave up and said he couldn't do it....it was the crappy block.

I think RCBS has a two-fold problem....too many impatient customers expecting perfection, and very little Dillon-like experience in dealing with them. Not all customers are so impatient.

I went looking a day or two ago on You Tube for what you were looking for......I found this one. (the guy is obviously a mechanic....notice his "metallic" stained hands. A good mechanic and patience goes hand in hand.

.......That's too bad.

I hate back ordering things as it seems to be like playing the lottery at times. (A year or so ago, I ordered on pre-delivery an item that the company has now decided to not produce after all. I got a full refund, but...).

What's weird is the supply of P.C.7's are rarer than hens teeth.......except for old ones being sold for $850 or $900 on ebay. Grafs and Midway are out of stock....at Grafs you can't even back-order.

Based on Midway's short sale where even the PC7 was included made me think a new run of presses (improved model?) was imminent. Especially since their combo shell plate/powder measure product can now be bought separately.

Having a production engineer email acquaintance gave me a unique opportunity to argue my case vs their thinking on die plates for this press. Their thinking was that 7 stations put the dies so close together that they couldn't see an answer beyond having each plate permanently mated to its own powder measure.

My argument was that they didn't need that, if only they would produce powder dies separate from their powder measure! (like Hornady already did). He went...."you may be right!" That was 6 months ago.

Today you can order just such a powder die...and it is now in stock! and guess what! It fits my Pro 2000 just as well. Look at the picture below, and the link is here: https://www.midwayusa.com/s?userSearchQuery=rcbs+pro+chucker&userItemsPerPage=48
The separate PC7 die head is listed on that page too.........as"coming" Finally.....


I'm just bummed that their sale must have been a mistake......the prices were all way more reasonable (more Hornadyish)......It'll take a while to get over that.

 

[Tilos]

Yes, I hear these stories and this is what I think.....take it with a grain of salt if you want.

I went looking a day or two ago on You Tube for what you were looking for......I found this one. (the guy is obviously a mechanic....notice his "metallic" stained hands. A good mechanic and patience goes hand in hand.


What's weird is the supply of P.C.7's are rarer than hens teeth.......except for old ones being sold for $850 or $900 on ebay. Grafs and Midway are out of stock....at Grafs you can't even back-order.

I'm just bummed that their sale must have been a mistake......the prices were all way more reasonable (more Hornadyish)......It'll take a while to get over that.

Good find on the vid, but I couldn't help but notice after gloating over how great the press is he opened the primer catcher thing and IT WAS EMPTY.
So I watched it again, listening for the clink of the spent primer falling into the bin, didn't hear it.
I watched how he pushed the lever for primer seating, he didn't.
I'm not saying the cases were pre-primed, but it sure looks and sounds that way .
way too skeptical I know,

Edit: probably a mute point as most just step back and pre-prime at the 1st sign of priming trouble with any press.

 

[higgite]

It looks to me like he is pushing the lever right at the end of the stroke like he’s seating a primer. You can see the press shake when he does it. He is not depriming, though, for sure. There’s no depriming pin in the sizing die. He could have deprimed cases before cleaning them. Lots of folks like to do that to get the primer pockets clean.

 

[GW Staar]

I never deprime on my Pro 2000.........by the time it sees my cases they are deprimed on my summit, blinged, wet tumbler style, & swaged & trimmed if rifle if needed. All the police practice case pickup I luck on to, if .40's, are also run through a Redding G-Rx. (they use Glocks.....some old). No progressive depriming for me either.

I went back and watched some of his earlier vids where he had a few troubles. Anybody catch his mod on the case ejector? Made a little longer.....? I've never had a problem myself on the P2K, but seems like a smart fix. Also the other vids had some good tips on keeping that press running and unbroken.

 

[Tilos]

I never deprime on my Pro 2000.........by the time it sees my cases they are deprimed on my summit, blinged, wet tumbler style, & swaged & trimmed if rifle if needed. All the police practice case pickup I luck on to, if .40's, are also run through a Redding G-Rx. (they use Glocks.....some old. No progressive depriming for me either.

..."me either"

 

[GW Staar]

G-rX spit out this.
Thumbler spit out this.
Closer.....next evening it was dry.....
and ready for the Pro 2000! Patience is rewarded! (like I tried to teach my employee )

 

[GW Staar]

When I prepped this brass a couple of days before I lost the use of my right hand for a while, due to the surgeon's knife, I did a video......the joke was on me....fast forward to the end.At least it got done. I was talking about paying attention to details? Nobody's perfect?



Now you all know what the Vimeo option looks like.

 

[cfullgraf]

I did a video......the joke was on me....fast forward to the end.At least it got done. I was talking about paying attention to details? Nobody's perfect?

Yes, you can see the flats on the handle had turned between strokes. Don't you hate it when that happens.

Ever thought of setting up a tool head to combine those two operations on a progressive? You would have to come up with a different bottle set up to fit the tighter confines of the progressive but you would eliminate some of the case handling. Also, you'd probably need to skip a station or two to get things to fit.

As a thought, on Lee's push through bullet sizers, they have a catch bottle with the hole off center. It fits over a 7/8" diameter die. It may fit the Redding. Go look at Lee's web site or some vendor that sell Lee equipment to see what I am talking about.

PM me if you want to experiment with it and I'll send you one, I have several extras.

 

[Rule3]

With a 7 station press what does one do with the extra two ?
I can see with a 5 station, one is for a powder check/cop die.

 

[cfullgraf]

With a 7 station press what does one do with the extra two ?
I can see with a 5 station, one is for a powder check/cop die.

Powder cop die, bullet feeder, seat in one step, crimp in the next takes up four stations.

It affords one the opportunity to use a real expander for the case mouth instead of the powder funnels on the powder measure systems. Gives more consistent mouth expanding.

 

[Rule3]

Had not thought of a bullet feeder. So the expander die does only that,(expand) rather than expanding in the same step as the powder measure/drop?
I know you said that but just "verifying"

I saw a video of using a extra sizing die without the depriming pin, after the depriming die. Something about centering it for inserting the primer??

 

[GW Staar]

Pistol (usual):
1- size/deprime (only I size already deprimed as in the video above...the deprimer then just verifies the flash hole is clear after polishing)
2 - expand & prime (unless it's hand or bench primed)
3 - charge-
4 - check charge
5- Feed a bullet
6 - seat
7 - crimp

OR.....in my case I don't use a station to check charges....I use a spy video camera with a 4" video screen. Therefore that frees another station. Then if you also expand while charging....you really don't have to have more than a 5 stage press, do you? On the other hand if you prefer to use a lock-out die because your eyes glaze over after a while.....we're back to 6 or 7.

One can make this as complicated as you want.....look at the new 10 station Mark 7press

 

[GW Staar]

Yes, you can see the flats on the handle had turned between strokes. Don't you hate it when that happens.

Ever thought of setting up a tool head to combine those two operations on a progressive? You would have to come up with a different bottle set up to fit the tighter confines of the progressive but you would eliminate some of the case handling. Also, you'd probably need to skip a station or two to get things to fit...........

Duh, no! You are right of course.....luckily I probably have enough done......I don't have the "police dept." connection any more........too bad I didn't think of that 2 years ago!

Look at all that hand exercise I got! a few days before carpal tunnel surgery, no less.