Anyone want to hit Angeles this weekend with Jeff and me for some rifle playtime?

I just revamped my reloading and have to develop a new load this weekend. I tossed my Sinclair baby press and joined the Co-Ax Cult:



This Co-Ax is awesome. It blows away any other press I've tried. In fact, it's so good that I'm actually pissed that I didn't get a Co-Ax at the very beginning.

My Sinclair arbor press broke during my last reload session and so I exchanged it and the Wilson seater for a tumbler:



This is my first tumbler. Up to now I've just wiped off the cases with a rag.

I also changed my old Chargemaster+Varget for a Harrell's+8208. The Chargemaster took too long and the Varget wouldn't meter well through the Harrell's. Hence the change to 8208.

We'll see how this plays out.

John do you have room to fully cycle that press? Looks like the handle is going to hit the bench

John,
Why do you like the Co-Ax or other presses.

John,

I just noticed your Forester is missing the primer attachment. Did you purposely removed it?

Steven my press is like that and clears.

Does anyone use the primer seater on the press? I don't.

As for way you have to use one. They rock but you could hate it as the front load vs side load.


Sent from my iPhone.

I actually prefer using the primer seater. Im staring to have carpal tunnel with my right hand from work. My hand primer is not cutting it anymore.

[quote="gau17" Im staring to have carpal tunnel with my right hand from work. [/quote]

Riiiggghhhttt.... thats what nate tells his wife too...

DirtRacer151 wrote:[quote="gau17" Im staring to have carpal tunnel with my right hand from work.

Riiiggghhhttt.... thats what nate tells his wife too...[/quote]

Ya but I'm left handed.

I'll be there before opening.

Gnzrme wrote:John do you have room to fully cycle that press? Looks like the handle is going to hit the bench

There's tons of room.

Handle up:



Handle down:



Note how the top drawer on the KRL is open. The standard sex toy Co-Ax handle would probably hit the open drawer. I wouldn't know though because I had Randall drill me an 8-ball and I epoxied it to the handle shank. I much prefer the large ball to the sex toy handle. The ball lets me grip it shifter style at the top of the stroke and turn my hand on the ball as I press down at the bottom of the stroke.

I cut down the handle shank with a pipe cutter, but it's still too long. The Co-Ax is "geared" very low, with a 180-degree swing arc to move the ram up and down fully. This means that the handle travel is very long but little force is necessary, so there's no need for a long handle. Also, orientation of the handle helps with power as you push the ball down and away from you for full-length sizing and up and toward you to withdraw the case from the sizing die. It's actually easier for me with a short handle. I'll probably cut the handle shank in 1/4" increments until it's as short as I can get it and still have knuckle clearance around the yoke.

The handle clears the table easily, but the collection bottle for spent primers doesn't fit on my box because of the thickness. I just put an Akro bin in the drawer below the primer tube:



I actually prefer the bin to the bottle, as it's easier to dump the spent primers using the bin.

Downrange67 wrote:I'll be there before opening.

Sweet.

You're also welcome to join us at the cafe for chicken fried steak if you like. We'll be at the cafe when it opens at 7:00.

gau17 wrote:John,

I just noticed your Forester is missing the primer attachment. Did you purposely removed it?

Yes, I removed it. It cluttered up the beautiful Co-Ax and I was never going to use it anyway. So I pulled it.

Got it. Is the Dillon tray acting as your spent primer catcher?

Ha just read your post. Answered my own question

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.

gau17 wrote:Got it. Is the Dillon tray acting as your spent primer catcher?

Correct. I just put the Akro at the front of the socket drawer and it sits under the primer tube when the drawer is shut.

Dillon and many other loading companies use the Akro bins:

https://www.google.com/search?q=akro+bi ... 1&tbm=isch" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good write up John. I'm glad you like it.

Would a 50DTC die fit in a Co-Ax press or just the regular 7/8ths thread dies?

Stoopy wrote:Would a 50DTC die fit in a Co-Ax press or just the regular 7/8ths thread dies?

Just the 7/8" dies fit.

I think you would also run into length problems. For giggles, I just tried a .416 Rigby round in the Forster and a loaded round was too long to fit under the Redding seater. A Rigby case head wouldn't fit into the shellholder jaws either.

I'll see you guys there

Sweet. Join us for breakfast as well if you're free. You need a full stomach if you're going to shoot well.

Not sure if I can wake up that early but I'll try.

johnlee wrote:Anyone want to hit Angeles this weekend with Jeff and me for some rifle playtime?

Jeff must have a new toy to actually show up at the range...
I can say this since he is scheduled at my place later today to BUILD the new toy...

I think Ill join you guys tomorrow as well.

John. Lee Collet die + Forester = good combo.

gau17 wrote:John. Lee Collet die + Forester = good combo.

Thats some shiny brass

Ceramic media

gau17 wrote:Ceramic media

How well does it do in the primer pockets?

not that well but it makes the outside look like jewelry.

Is it less fuss than STM?

i had my range spy watching the practice session today,
and I think that you should have worked on your positional
shooting a lot more.
Just saying.

Look out... Big Brother is watching....

When are you coming out to shoot Brad?