Mobius38 wrote:John,
Why do you like the Co-Ax or other presses.
A reloading press is one of those things where if you ask 20 different people, you will probably get 20 different recommendations. I think the Co-Ax is the nicest and best press I've used or played with.
Float. Everything is floaty on the Co-Ax. The die floats in the press. The die moves side to side and front to back. It can even tilt slightly in every direction. The shellholder jaws float side to side. This float is supposed to let the various pieces self-align during reloading. I don't think this is a gimmick either, as the rounds from my Co-Ax are extremely straight. Run the loaded rounds over a concentricity gauge and you'll see that it's no gimmick. I can't say this makes an actual difference in accuracy, but it doesn't hurt for sure and it certainly feels good to have straight ammo.
Primer Collection. I love how the decapped primers fall through the tube and there's no carbon or anvil mess anywhere. This is isn't a super huge deal, but it's nice. It shows that the designer of this press thought things through.
Die Changing. The dies don't thread in. They push in from the front. It's very easy and convenient to change dies this way. I think changing dies is so easy on the Co-Ax that it obsoletes turret presses. Unless you're the type to misplace your dies or something, I don't see the advantage of a turret press over the Co-Ax because the dies are so easy to change.
No Shellholders. The shellholder dies pinch in and out. My .308 and .223 cases fit without having to flip around the jaws. The jaws also look wide enough to me to take .375 and .404 cases, but I don't have any of those to test it out. But .308 and .223 cases fit for sure, and that's good enough for me.
Another little thing that I like:
Note the threaded spike behind the primer tube. This spike threads up and down and you can set it how you like. The spike's tip is what spreads the shellholder jaws at the bottom. I adjusted my spike so that the press doesn't bottom out hard. Rather, the press is slowed down and padded by the spike so that the press opens nicely without a hard bottom at the end of the travel. Again, this is a little thing. But these little things add up.
The Co-Ax also feels neat. I purposely mounted my Co-Ax against a flat surface without the bottom of the rams or the primer collection bottle showing. This way, the two rams and primer tube seem to appear out of wood. It just makes the press feel a little more neato.
