Redding T-7 or Rock Chucker?

[EXD 45]

Need help deciding on which to purchase. Few things you may need to know:

- I have never reloaded before
- wanting or precision over how many I can get done this quick
- I have manuals and yes I have read them
- calibers loading will be .308,.223,and hopefully .338 Lapua

Eventually I will get a progressive but since I will also be loading rifle calibers I thought it wise to get a single or turret first....

Thanks for the help.

 

[338Shooter]

I started out with a T7. Great press. I use it to load 338 lapua currently.

 

[_CY_]

for folks just getting started, one of the best deals is RCBS Master Supreme Reloading Kit.
if you dig about $275 .. substantial savings over individual pieces that you will need anyways.
all the pieces in above kit are highest quality to where, if you replace a piece later. it'll not because it can't do the job.

best of all you will never out grow a Rock Chucker single stage press. Even if you decide to purchase a Dillon 550B later. The Rock Chucker will always be needed to load low volume rounds like say .270 win, etc, etc.

a lot of folks consider Rocker Chucker best of the single stage presses. regardless of price.
my main single stage press is a 60's rock chucker purchased from widow of a famous local gun engraver (McKool gunsmiths set the deal up). Had the good fortune to purchase his entire reloading bench with 30+ die sets. including some really rare calibers. She was really glad to see all the powder go.

 

[Lithiumokc]

for folks just getting started, one of the best deals is RCBS Master Supreme Reloading Kit.
if you dig about $275 .. substantial savings over individual pieces that you will need anyways.
all the pieces in above kit are highest quality to where, if you replace a piece later. it'll not because it can't do the job.

best of all you will never out grow a Rock Chucker single stage press. Even if you decide to purchase a Dillon 550B later. The Rock Chucker will always be needed to load low volume rounds like say .270 win, etc, etc.

a lot of folks consider Rocker Chucker best of the single stage presses. regardless of price.
my main single stage press is a 60's rock chucker purchased from widow of a famous local gun engraver (McKool gunsmiths set the deal up). Had the good fortune to purchase his entire reloading bench with 30+ die sets. including some really rare calibers. She was really glad to see all the powder go.

Im on this side, I have a chucker kit and its a great value.

 

[okietom]

I started with a rock crusher and still have it. It does complement the Dillon 550 really well. Lower volumes and case forming on the RCBS and higher volumes on Dillon. I have never used a turret press but it could be a nice way to load. Either press wouldn't be a mistake. It would be a good investment.

 

[Blitzfike]

I have two Rock Chuckers, two Dillon 550B's and a LEE 50BMG press. Most of the loading gets done on the dillon side, but all case forming and large rifle stuff
gets farmed out to the single stage presses. When not oloading 50BMG, I use the LEE press for swaging bullets. It offers just a little more mechanical advantage
than the rock chuckers. If I could only have one press, it would be a Rock Chucker. Blitzfike

 

[Shadowrider]

I've been reloading off and on for over 20 years. There is not a thing wrong with a Rock Chucker press. Pretty much all of RCBS gear is close to top shelf. That said, I wish I had bought my T-7 press years ago. It's built like a tank. I e-mailed Redding about it and what I was wanting to do with it, as I had concerns about it holding up. They replied that it would not be a problem, and told me about one of the first ones they produced. They gave it to Sierra Bullets for them to use as a longevity study and for feedback on the design. Years later Sierra called them up and wanted to order some parts as they had finally wore something out on it. They had loaded over 2 million rounds on it without any issues. Redding told Sierra to send the press in, and they were sending Sierra a brand new one. Redding wanted to inspect it and see just exactly how it held up.

I bought mine after hearing this and talking via PM to dustingaunder about his. When I pulled it out of the box, I was pretty darn happy. The back side of the turret is supported by a big shelf that is cast as part of the frame. It's cast iron and it's not gonna be breaking on anything you will encounter while reloading. I think you could press out ball joints with this thing if you could rig it up.

So as you can see, I would say go with the T7. You can leave a four die pistol set and a three die "deluxe" rifle die setup plus have a free spot to use for something like a GRx push through die. Also you can buy extra turrets if you want to leave your dies set up all the time. You can use it as a semi-progressive or just use it as a single stage. It's just too versatile to pass up IMO.

 

[338Shooter]

I think they use T7s to make Rock Chuckers.

 

[EXD 45]

Looks like it's gonna be a T-7 and hopefully a 650 in the future. Thanks for the help!