Well, I did something I never thought I'd do, I bought a RC II off of eBay last night for $73.40 shipped. I'm one of those weird freaks who likes every product that the reloading snobs hate, ie: Lee. I've been wanting a cast-iron single stage press for a while now and really wanted a Lee Classic. The cheapest place to get one is Ft. Worth (150 mi.) and no one here stocks them. I looked on auctionarms.com and gunbroker.com but every press I found was stupidly priced for the product offered. I happened to look at eBay last night and found a RC II that a guy had just listed with a "Buy Now" price of $44.95 in near-new cond. I've never liked RCBS products as I think they are over-priced for what they are, but most of them do work well. I'm looking forward to seeing if it can load ammo any better than my Lee press. Maybe I can paint it red?
Except that buying anything off E-bay supports the anti-firearm crowd, you did well. Lee's warrantee isn't as good as RCBS's. If you have any problems with it, RCBS will fix it, even though you bought it used, with a phone call.
It won't load ammo any better than any press though. The quality of the ammo comes from the techniques the loader uses. Not the tools used.
Great price toolman! My dad started me on Lee. When I was stationed in Germany, I decided to get back into reloading. All the Rod & Gun carried was RCBS. I bought a RC and all the accessories and I've been using it ever since. Going on 30 yearsoff and on.
__________________ I keep tellin ya Doc, I'm in pretty good shape considerin the shape I'm in !!
I can't complain about RCBS. I bought my first junior press in '78, and used the snot out of it. I still use it, plus two more juniors I came across over the years. One is dedicated to decapping, and the other two are set side by side so I don't have to change rifle dies. And I picked up a RC with carousel for loading handgun ammo. Any time I've had trouble I call RCBS and they make good. Their guarantee is better than Craftsman.Scotty
Well, as usual, every time I buy something that isn't red, I get P.O.'ed! My press got here today and I immediately went to bolt it down on the bench. As long as RCBS has been building presses, you'd think they could figure out that the end of the handle and the toggle block should NOT hit the bench when you lower the handle! My cheap Lee will mount just fine with the ram up against the edge of the bench, but this RC II will either have to be mounted away from the edge or the bench modified so the press will work. I guess I can mount it on my portable stand until I can chop the bench all to krap to make the press fit.
Here's a few pics to illustrate what I'm talking about. As you can see at the bottom of the pics, the handle and toggle block will hit the bench long before the ram is at full stroke. I've worked as an automotive tech., carpenter, piggy-back truck driver, and wrecker-body installer, so i have a bit of experience in geometry\fabrication\installation. As near as I can tell, there are three ways of eliminating the interference issue with this press.
A. Put a block between the edge of the bench and the lip of the press to position it farther forward on the bench, increasing the "flex factor".
B. Saw a notch into the bottom of the bench to allow for clearance, increasing the "Mickey Mouse factor".
C. Make and install a wedge under the press to tilt it backwards, creating clearance. This also increases the "MM factor".
This would work fine if the front of my bench was only 3.5", but my bench is 4.75". The Lee's don't have this problem.
OMFG...Tim...
That aint how that press Mounts... The flat piece with the U shaped cutouts sits on the Bench and the bolts go thru the cutouts...The handle and moving Mechanism sits BELOW the Bench top....
LMAO...Sorry,
Rich
__________________
[I]You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM!:( [/I]
OMFG...Tim...
That aint how that press Mounts... The flat piece with the U shaped cutouts sits on the Bench and the bolts go thru the cutouts...The handle and moving Mechanism sits BELOW the Bench top....
LMAO...Sorry,
Rich
You beat me to it mooseman.
I am looking at the pics and then turn my head to the left and see how I have mine mounted and the two just don't match.
Toolman mount it as Mooseman describes and you shouldn't have any clearance issues.
Scott
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mooseman684
OMFG...Tim...
That aint how that press Mounts... The flat piece with the U shaped cutouts sits on the Bench and the bolts go thru the cutouts...The handle and moving Mechanism sits BELOW the Bench top....
LMAO...Sorry,
Rich
The board in the pic is just to illustrate the clearance problem. Steve, my bench is a 2x4 frame bolted to the wall on three sides with two sheets of MDF glued and screwed to the top. The front face is 4.75" deep. It's not really a problem as I'm going to be moving in a few days anyway, it's just irritating. Here's the problem:
Scotty
