Suggestions for a noob - Forster press?

[OldSalty]

All,

I am going to invest in reloading. I "helped" my dad reload many years ago and while I have some knowledge, I humbly consider myself a noob.

I do have some equipment, several die sets, funnels, balance scales, some components etc, but will need a few things as well, including a press.

My goal is to produce good quality loads and at this time I am not concerned with speed.

Calibers I want to "start" with:

Initially start w/ straight wall cartridges -
.357 Mag
.44 Mag
.45-70

And then necked -
6.5CM
.30-06
.260
.22 Remington Jet
.303 Brit
.30-30

Eventually I may also want to reload 9MM, .223 and .45, but for those and a handful of others, I may choose a second setup down the road which may enable more speed...

I have read quite a few threads here and online articles. As such, I am leaning towards a coaxial Forster reloading press.

Any pros and cons yall can share on the Forster would be greatly appreciated. Or, just any general feedback on choosing the Forster for the noob.

Thank you,

-Salty

 

[Kadams1563]

The Forster is a great press. I use it for all of my precision rifle ammo but I would not want to do any sort of pistol work if your shooting in any quantities.

I use a Dillon 650 for pistol and the Co-AX for 6GT and 6.5 creed. Loading in it is very simple.

 

[natdscott]

Forster makes a great press. Quirky compared to everybody else, but great.

I will say that it is a big ol’ honky press for even .357, much less the little bitty 9mm.

 

[OldSalty]

Forster makes a great press. Quirky compared to everybody else, but great.

I will say that it is a big ol’ honky press for even .357, much less the little bitty 9mm.

Thank you.

Yeah, for 9MM and others, I will likely look at progressive presses down the road. I have no real desire to reload 9MM at this time...for a few reasons .

 

[filefish]

I don’t think there are any bad presses. I’d stay away from the budget friendly caliber specific setups.
start off with a used rockchecker. Nobody in the history of reloading ever said: “gee I wish I hadn’t bought that rockchucker” and you can load everything you mentioned and up to .338lapua

I have 2 550’s and a rockchucker if I could only keep one, it would be the rockchucker. It’s hard to load precision ammo on a progressive.

 

[natdscott]

I’ve loaded some .357 on the CoAx, as is. It’s workable for sure, it just wastes 88.46% of the ram stroke.

Get a tall case holder, and a case holder adapter, and you’d reduce that by about 2”.

 

[OldSalty]

I’ve loaded some .357 on the CoAx, as is. It’s workable for sure, it just wastes 88.46% of the ram stroke.

Get a tall case holder, and a case holder adapter, and you’d reduce that by about 2”.

Good to know. Again, I am not concerned at all with speed. I shoot a fair amount but not a 10,000 round per week 3 gunner.

My intention is to start reloading the 1000s and 1000s of brass I have accumulated over the years. Mostly in rifle cartridges but some mag pistol as well.

Will eventually add a progressive.

 

[natdscott]

Quick question: How/where have you stored all that brass?

It had not been stored close to any ammonia, or cleaners containing ammonia, correct?

 

[Sharpshooter3]

The Forster is a great press. I use it for all of my precision rifle ammo but I would not want to do any sort of pistol work if your shooting in any quantities.

I use a Dillon 650 for pistol and the Co-AX for 6GT and 6.5 creed. Loading in it is very simple.

This is what I have as well. Co-AX is in my opinion one of the best single stage presses. The produce ammunition with little to no runout. When I started I used the Forster for both rifle and pistols loads for about 4 years till I saved enough money and could justify to myself buying a Dillon 650 for pistol.

 

[OldSalty]

Quick question: How/where have you stored all that brass?

It had not been stored close to any ammonia, or cleaners containing ammonia, correct?

In 5 gallon sealed buckets (some seperated by headstamps) in a cool dry environment. Growing up was always taught to "save ALL your brass", so here I am...LoL.

Last week I took the time to start seperating out the brass. Was an endeavor in itself, but I did get some help from the boy. Took some of the brass and put into empty ammunition boxes (which I also save)...

Its not prepped yet, but its ready.

For example, sorted out about 600 rounds of 3006 federal gold metal match brass from Hornady match brass...and stuck them in empty holders...

 

[Sharpshooter3]

A few more pluses for the co-ax is you don’t need a shell holder as it uses jaws instead. It has a small and large base side on each of the jaws. They are quick and easy to switch from one to the other just a couple screws flip the jaws over and put the screws back in and your good to go. Another big plus in my opinion is how the dies mount in the press. #1 they are floating so they are able to always line up perfectly which will produce ammo with none to very little runout. #2 It is fast and handy to switch from one die to another in seconds and they will be exactly at the same setting you had them the last time you used them. One note with the way dies mount in the press, you have to use Forster locking rings but they are not that expensive. The last plus off the top of my head would be the spent primer catcher. The little tube they drop down and in to the collection cup is great. Helps to keep the floor around my reloading bench cleaner which keeps my wife happier!

 

[Pixel_wasted]

I love my coax.doesnt need a shellplate so theres that money that can be put elsewhere.I use it primarily for 308,but now that im in 6.5 and 338,its primary job is a brass former.i couldnt imagine doing 9mm in it though.im sure lots do but as much as i shoot 9,i leave that to the dillon,where each crank of the handle produces a round.Its easy to use and you can get into a groove quick with though.

 

[Kadams1563]

If you get a CO-AX the shorter handle is a must. Least for me it made a huge difference not having to move out of the way to run the press.

 

[OldSalty]

I love my coax.doesnt need a shellplate so theres that money that can be put elsewhere.I use it primarily for 308,but now that im in 6.5 and 338,its primary job is a brass former.i couldnt imagine doing 9mm in it though.im sure lots do but as much as i shoot 9,i leave that to the dillon,where each crank of the handle produces a round.Its easy to use and you can get into a groove quick with though.

Thank you for the reply.

I do not have much desire to reload 9MM (or .223) at this point. I shoot a decent amount of both, but prices were really good the past few years so I am pretty good to go at this point. Down the road I may look to a progressive to reload 9 and .223.

I will want to reload .357 and .44 on the Forster though.

 

[Sig Marine]

I have 3 presses: Redding T-7 turret, Forster Co-Ax and a Dillon 550. If I had to choose just one to load pistol AND precision rifle I'd choose the Dillon 550. I've had absolutely no problem loading accurate match grade ammunition on the Dillon and actually did an accuracy test loading 6.5x47L ammunition on all three presses and DID NOT see an appreciable difference in the ES/SD numbers or results on the target. To be honest, I use the Dillon for handgun ammunition and while the Forster is a good press, it's relegated to the job of decapping only as the ergonomics don't work well for me; I find the Redding T-7 is a better fit

The 550 is a manually operated progressive while the 650 is an automatic progressive. In my opinion, the 550 has an advantage when having to clear a problem and changing calibers. Let me add that there a few world class shooters, including John Whidden and David Tubb, as well as many good shooters on this site reload rifle ammunition on a Dillon.

Here's an article about setting up a Dillon: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fp72h0e4awobo65/6_19_Dillon-Prometheus-Article_v1.2.pdf?dl=0

 

[Cascade Hemi]

If you get a CO-AX the shorter handle is a must. Least for me it made a huge difference not having to move out of the way to run the press.

Just cut the end off of the long handle...instant short handle.

 

[Pixel_wasted]

If your doing low volume shooting,do the coax and invest in tools needed for the “trade”

 

[OldSalty]

If your doing low volume shooting,do the coax and invest in tools needed for the “trade”

Sort of my thought. I can certainly "keep up" my volume with a single stage, at least for the calibers I mentioned above.

Eventually when I have some extra cash on hand I will invest in something like the 550 as well. Because at some point this brass will factor in making it a worthwhile investment.

 

[Jefe's Dope]

A few more pluses for the co-ax is you don’t need a shell holder as it uses jaws instead. It has a small and large base side on each of the jaws. They are quick and easy to switch from one to the other just a couple screws flip the jaws over and put the screws back in and your good to go. Another big plus in my opinion is how the dies mount in the press. #1 they are floating so they are able to always line up perfectly which will produce ammo with none to very little runout. #2 It is fast and handy to switch from one die to another in seconds and they will be exactly at the same setting you had them the last time you used them. One note with the way dies mount in the press, you have to use Forster locking rings but they are not that expensive. The last plus off the top of my head would be the spent primer catcher. The little tube they drop down and in to the collection cup is great. Helps to keep the floor around my reloading bench cleaner which keeps my wife happier!

Also includes the primer seater.

 

[Sig Marine]

Here:

Thanks...

 

[marchboom]

Sharpshooter3 nailed it pretty good. I wish I would have saved my money and bought a Co-Ax when I first started handloading in the early 70's. Sooner or later you will get a precision press. Why not do it now and get the benefit of it right from the beginning? And no press offers faster die changing. And like Sharpshooter3 said, your dies will ALWAYS remain adjusted. The worst part about handloading is adjusting dies, IMO. I looked at a lot of other presses and all had issues except the Co-Ax (which I got from a friend a few years ago). The main reason some people don't buy it is because of it's price. But compared to the other stuff shooters buy the price difference is so small it's hardly worth mentioning. Just get the Co-Ax...you'll never regret it.

 

[natdscott]

Just cut the end off of the long handle...instant short handle.

No, I don’t recommend that.

Sooner or later, you’ll want that heavier leverage.

 

[Cascade Hemi]

No, I don’t recommend that.

Sooner or later, you’ll want that heavier leverage.

No you won't. I have three different length handles for my CoAx and the shortest (that I cut off) is all I ever use for any cartridge that will fit in the press. Nevermind the fact that the CoAx handle sits about 12" higher than nearly every other press on the market. One of the major selling points of the CoAx is it's leverage. Go ahead and cut off that handle, you aren't going back once you do.

 

[OldSalty]

Short throw handle is like 20-25 bucks. Seems worthwhile.

What other press specific accessories do yall recommend?

Any mount recommedations, etc?

 

[marchboom]

No, I don’t recommend that.

Sooner or later, you’ll want that heavier leverage.

Exactly. That's why I bought the short handle. The minute you cut down the long handle you'll need it for some heavy duty sizing.

 

[natdscott]

No you won't. I have three different length handles for my CoAx and the shortest (that I cut off) is all I ever use for any cartridge that will fit in the press. Nevermind the fact that the CoAx handle sits about 12" higher than nearly every other press on the market. One of the major selling points of the CoAx is it's leverage. Go ahead and cut off that handle, you aren't going back once you do.

No. I’ll keep doing what I do.

Being that I’ve been loading on it for quite some time now—on a strong mount—with BOTH handles, and it’s helped me load thousands and thousands of rounds of ammo, I guess what I am saying does in fact work.

The ball on the short handle is nicer anyway.

Although I will say that if I had known about the Inline roller handle before buying the short ball, I’d probably have gone that direction.

 

[natdscott]

What other press specific accessories do yall recommend?

Any mount recommedations, etc?

Go look at the stuff Inline Fabrication makes.

Lose the lights though. I could never get mine to stay put. That, or ask him how to rig them better than the 400 ways I tried.

 

[OldSalty]

Cool, yeah I like the idea of an elevated mount. The inline looks like a decent deal. At first I wasnt sure it would work with thr primer catch but looks like it does...

Going to add to my purchase.

Ultramount for Forster Co-AX & CoAx XL - Inline Fabrication

( Price always includes FREE shipping within the US! ) (Which is a real cost factor nowadays!) Raises your Co-Ax up to get that...

inlinefabrication.com

 

[natdscott]

Just know that if you have a high bench, you can go TOO high.

 

[OldSalty]

Looking at bench options. Whether to build a custom or purchase a work table. Have most of the materials needed to build, but like some of the premade benches as well.

So will consider height as a factor.

I use a bench similar to this as a computer work desk (but my desk has a crank handle and no middle support).

Was thinking this workbench. No issues with drilling holes in it I like the fact it has 6 floor contact points.

 

[natdscott]

1/4-28 SS Tee Nuts countersunk into the bottom.... just 4 little holes in the top for SS Sockethead Caps holding your strong mount down.

Multiple plates f0r different tools to stick into the strong mount.

...see where I’m going?

 

[Cascade Hemi]

No. I’ll keep doing what I do.

Being that I’ve been loading on it for quite some time now—on a strong mount—with BOTH handles, and it’s helped me load thousands and thousands of rounds of ammo, I guess what I am saying does in fact work.

The ball on the short handle is nicer anyway.

Although I will say that if I had known about the Inline roller handle before buying the short ball, I’d probably have gone that direction.

I cut down a roller handle too and removed the Inline Fab riser. The height of the CoAx is incompatible with the height of other presses.

 

[Amanda4461]

I’ll just add another recommendation for the Bonanza co-ax and the Dillon RL550B. The co-ax has the most sensitive primer seater and is simple to use. It is my backup priming tool for when my handheld fails, or when I want to make sure my primers are bottomed out and uniformly inserted. If you drop a primer while placing it in the punches cup, no problem, just pull the handle a bit, and the dropped primer falls into the primer cup. Make sure and keep the little brown parts envelope that ships with the press in a safe place. Eventually, you will need the goodies inside. The spent primer drop tube gets gunned up. I clean mine out weekly to keep spent primers from stacking up and making a mess when I unscrew the full drop tube. I have a RockChucker too, but it started gathering dust after I bought the co-ax. The co-ax has much better engineering and is much more user-friendly. It just costs a bunch more?
The bench in your picture is like mine. I suggest you get two pieces of angle iron, drill some holes in it to let you bolt the two pieces of angle to the back wall studs (normally 16” apart, center-to-center), and the off side of the two pieces of angle iron to your bench. The angle iron keeps the bench from moving when you get cranking out a few hundred rounds an hour on the Dillon, or doing a lot of case forming. Make sure you only bolt it to a wall stud, or your drywall plugs will pull out. I also keep my powder measures on this bench, but my electronic and beam scales are on a separate bench to keep vibrations from messing with the delicate instruments. Keep a drop of oil on each joint of the co-ax occasionally, and enjoy it.
?

 

[Pixel_wasted]

My coax is on inline fabs taller mount on a quick change ordered by accident.the height is nice actually doesnt bother me,and im on the ankle biter height status