RCBS Grand Shotshell Reloader

[Arcadia Outlaw, SASS 71385]

Anybody have RCBS Grand Shotshell Reloader,How do you like it ?

 

 

 

thanks AO

[Dubious Don #56333]

Funny you put this post up right now; I just finished loading my first twenty five rounds on one I just set up!

 

When the book says play with the machine dry, do that. I also played with empty hulls, no powder or shot just to see how things worked. Slick machine! WHen the book says do one round at a time for a bit to get used to the machine, do that too.

 

Two things to remember; turn off the auto primer feed (but even if you forget to do this, it doesn't hurt anything they just stack up in the feed tube) and make sure the gates for powder and shot don't stick. You won't find this out until you load the hoppers. I'm using Ramshot Competition powder and it is a bit fine and gummed up the powder gate so it sticks open. When the charge bar cycles it dumps powder of course because the gate is open.

 

That wasn't as bad as when I left the shot hopper on dump and went to fill it. Dumped about a pound of shot all over the machine, bench and floor before dumb'ol me figgered out the shot was running out the bottom as fast as I poured it in the top. To add insult to injury, I did this TWICE! (took about an hour both times to pick up all the shot on the floor, bench and tweeze the darn things outta every nook and cranny in the machine. The dump feature is real handy, just don't do what I did!

 

There's three crimp positions that come adjusted from the factory for Federals. I'm using W-W AA's and grey wads so I had some adjusting to do but it would have been easier if I A had marked the original positions before I fiddled with it and B read the instructions more thoroughly. On my last read I discovered the part that the START crimp closes up the little hole in the center then I had to fix THAT one and put the other two back where they were.

 

Once I got everything adjusted it turned out some pretty good looking shells easy as you please. We'll see how they shoot this Saturday.

 

I started out mounting it right on the bench and they will tell you to drill a three inch hole in the top for the finished shells to exit. OR, just put a bucket right there and they drop right in. However, the way my bench is constructed, this left the bottom part of the ram blocking the doors to the bench. (and the dead primer holder wouldn't fit this way) Sooo, I got the riser stand from RCBS. Raises the press four inches AND forward about an inch and a half how it clears the doors and the dead primer bucket fits BUT, that stupid stand flexes.

 

I'm thinking I'm better off dumping the stand and making a solid one out of wood to raise the press but I haven't decided yet. All things considered it works as advertised, a very smooth and slick machine. The wad pressure adjustment uses a couple of different tube lengths and a stupid lock nut; not as simple and easy as my MEC but once its set (or you know the settings for whatever loads you use) its not too bad. I think I like it.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Funny, I just got one too. One thing I found after a lot of careful measurement is that the Dillon tall strong mount (they come in two heights) fits perfectly. The press holes line up perfectly with the holes in the stand and it raises the press so the ram just clears the top of the bench. Had to make a different primer catch tray, but it sure is nice on the Dillon stand. Similar experience to Don. Makes perfect shells with Remington STS hulls, but will need adjustment for Winchester AA's.

[twelve mile REB]

I've had mine for a while and I like it the biggest weakness is the plastic primer feeder the part that takes it from the primer tube to the shell plate. Order a replacement today its not if it will break but when. Other wise it makes great shotgun shells. I have loaded Remington, AA and the alum based estates and I have no complant other than the primer feed thing and finding a method that works for my bench to collect the loaded rounds. RCBS service is almost as good as Dillion but much slower. Their service department is harder to get on the phone, my average wait has been about a half an hour the three times I've called and twice they cleared the phone stack every 15 min. and started over very very difficult not to get mad after getting dropped twice. I ordered Dillion parts and RCBS parts the same day. Got the Dillion parts two days later the RCBS parts took a week.

12

[GW Ryder, SASS #50690]

Been running mine for about eight years. Have loaded thousands of rounds for skeet, trap and CAS. Have broken a couple of primer slides, and the eight fingered wad guide. Always, an email to RCBS customer service gets me the part I need in a few days with no questions asked. I never had to call customer service, so can't comment on that.

This is a great reloader. Quite a bit overkill if you just load for CAS, but great for high volume loading.

GW

[Dubious Don #56333]

Couple of updates: made a batch of STS shells after work today, perfect crimps without changing the adjustments from AA hulls! One thing I noticed is the primers didn't "quite" seat all the way so need some adjustment there between the two hull types. It's slight enough (I think) that when I adjust it for the STS it will still do the AA's ok. Anyone with similar experiences?

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

Couple of updates: made a batch of STS shells after work today, perfect crimps without changing the adjustments from AA hulls! One thing I noticed is the primers didn't "quite" seat all the way so need some adjustment there between the two hull types. It's slight enough (I think) that when I adjust it for the STS it will still do the AA's ok. Anyone with similar experiences?

 

 

Since it works so well with STS's I haven't changed the settings to take care of problems with AA's. On mine the primers seat just fine on the STS's but are seated much deeper on the AA's.

[Dubious Don #56333]

Made a small adjustment to the primer seater; didn't take much at all (it is very awkward to get a 3/4" wrench in there) to get the STS's primers seated right.

 

As I'm getting more comfortable with the press I like it more and more!

[Dubious Don #56333]

Update on my RCBS Grand project;

 

Using the RCBS mount which raises the press four inched higher and an inch and a half forward, I still had a slight annoying wobble to the press. Not really surprising because this is one big, heavy sucker! So, today I had the time to "re-engineer" the loading bench. Had an extra Dillon strong mount which I bolted to the Grand. Then, I moved the Rock Chucker, also bolted to a strong mount and put the Grand in its place. I had to drill two more holes in the bench because the Grand is about an inch wider. I also modified the spent primer drop tube, my plan is to put a small box under the mount to catch'em for the time being until I come up with a better idea for this.

 

That strong mount is SOLID !! No more wobble, which might have contributed to the occasional high primer. The press is up higher, makes it easier on us tall fellers. Even better, now when I unbolt the press to use the rock chucker in the same place, the Grand will sit pretty as you please on the corner of the bench.

 

If I had enough room I would of course mount each press in it's own place but I only gots so much room to work with. All the loads I tried last weekend worked real nice. I even filled the shot hopper and didn't forget to turn the hopper off so I didn't have a threepeat of shot all over the floor YEE-HAW!!

[Buck D. Law, SASS #62183]

I helped a pard of mine get one set up and it is working like a charm. I was impressed enough that if I had it to do over, I would choose it over my Ponsness Warren 800 Plus. Both make great shells, but the RCBS is case ativated and the learning curve is much shorter.