WTH just happened I broke my Rock Chucker?

[little_scrapper]

I was about to shoulder bump a bunch of 2F M118LR brass. I drop 1st case into holder. I start screwing down the Redding FL resizing die. I start to feel some tension finally in the lever so I give it about a quarter turn. I start to push the handle down expecting to measure some shoulder bump. At the bottom I cam it and BAMM!! Both arms on the chucker break at the bolt holes. Left arm at the top bolt hole and right arm at the bottom hole down by where the handle screws in.

This chucker is barely 6 mo. old. Case holder is fine, Redding die is fine, CASE is fine and ZERO shoulder bump took place. WTH just happened?

 

[Steel head]

I’m impressed!

Seriously,,,,it almost has to be a manufacturer’s defect.

 

[little_scrapper]

Kinda looks like me minus the hair. I have some native blood so I am fairly hairless. Granted I am a big strong dood. however, and that being said i did goose it a bit at the bottom; but thats camming it. Didnt feel like much to me. I just felt some tension and cammed it quick expecting to start making fine adjustments. Did NOT expect things to break and the whole bottom fell out.

 

[sea2summit]

Pics or BS!

 

[little_scrapper]

Gimme a sec., Pics inbound my friend. Last pick shows case length. That is the case that was in the chucker when it broke. Let me know if you need any other angles.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Yeah in for pics. Call them on Monday. I bet they get ya squared away.

 

[b2lee]

Years ago I did the the same...except I also broke the bottom plate. The BS in RCBS stands for Bullet Swage...and I was swaging some 40cal bullets using 9mm brass and a 124gr 9mm lead bullet with a BTSniper die....and broke it because the lead I was using was a little too hard. RCBS will send you a new one rather quickly...but I made my own for bullet swaging...it has two lower connecting points....one for reloading...another for swaging...depends on how much leverage I need and the length of the dies.

 

[Danale147]

That has to be a bad batch of metal or defect somehow. I've seen a plenty of those presses last decades without issue. Agreed, call RCBS, they should make it right

 

[sierracharlie338]

That’s definitely a first for me. Hope it gets squared away for ya soon.

 

[little_scrapper]

I contacted them through their web site as it late night on a weekend day. If I dont hear back by early Tuesday I will call.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Had to be a porous cast. I've used their stuff since '95 and had a few issues over the years. I'm sure they'll take care of you. Their customer service is usually outstanding.

 

[goosed]

"Just started to feel tension..." he says as he breaks a solid chunk of iron in half.

 

[LawnMM]

 

[aprocast]

I believe they are made in China now, read that on the internet, so it may or not be true

 

[pmclaine]

This is exactly why JB Weld exists........

Anyone have a cone shaped hone for cutting 1911 ramps with a Dremel to lend me?

 

[supercorndogs]

 

[Stavey]

I’ve done the same to my 650 a couple of times now. Just a side effect of cast parts.

 

[little_scrapper]

View attachment 7245112

Yes more like that. I have been married for 20 years. Also, Im a righty. One normal sized hand and one grossly oversized muscular hand. Yet it smooth and supple.

 

[bobke]

Talk to William Reed at RCBS Customer Service. 800.379.1732. Very helpful getting my 20+ year old progressive back in proper working order.

 

[little_scrapper]

Will do. If I don't have an email reply Monday I will call him. Thank you for the contact info.

 

[Rocketmandb]

This morning I was just using an old Rock Chucker to hydroform 8x68S into 300 PRC. Contrary to the normal operating procedure, I have to beat the crap out of it with a mallet to get the brass to move that much.

We're talking 5 heavy hits with a big ass steel mallet for each case. It has been rock solid under the stress. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that there has to be a defect in yours for it to fail under normal use, and that a call is in order.

 

[little_scrapper]

The whole thing just seems bizarre to me. I wonder if there was an obstruction somewhere. A piece of cachinggus somewhere got bound up and was putting weird stress on it. Just not sure. Or maybe yea just a defect or a stress fracture and snap.

 

[10ring1]

Yeah in for pics. Call them on Monday. I bet they get ya squared away.

Second to none customer service

 

[little_scrapper]

We're talking 5 heavy hits with a big ass steel mallet for each case. It has been rock solid under the stress.

Well I snapped off both rod ends with one arm. Because Im EFFING HUGE! LOL

Couple of back and fourth emails with one pic sent and they are sending me two new arms. No questions asked, no fuss no muss. As it should be. I already have both upper pivot pins out and are waiting for the new arms to arrive. Maybe by Friday if all ships well.

 

[Foul Mike]

I am sure they will fix you up. I never broke anything big like that but have fucked up more small parts than a person should.
They have always been good to me other than a 6.5 C die that was sticking and scoring brass.
It made 2 trips for polishing etc. and still scored brass so on the return trip was a die that worked.
They said it was the same one but the ID scores being gone told me they replaced it.
Did they think ID scribes were going to be gone??
Overall, good people to do business with. FM

 

[b2lee]

Here's an example of how good RCBS customer support is. Last year I called them up and asked them if they could sell me the little screw on 30cal nozzle for my powder thrower. I told them I lost it and can't find it and would like to purchase another one. They asked my name and address and said it would be in the mail that day....I asked them how much? They said nothing..and thank you for being an RCBS customer. Two days later it was in my mailbox.

 

[spife7980]

I sold my chargemaster and during shipping the clear plastic tube broke, I called them and told them what happened and they were glad to mail a new one to the new owners address no problem.

 

[ubettcha]

RCBS is great to deal with in the event you need to.

 

[Milo 2.5]

Can I laugh, cause this is funny? RCBS will replace it.
I have a friend who is an animal KO a summit press in similar fashion. "It kind of bound up, so I put 270 lbs into it, don't look so good"

 

[lightman]

Glad they are taking care of you. Their CS is legendary.

 

[DownhillFromHere]

Twenty-some years ago I bought an over/under skeet gun - one of the premier brands in the world, sold new then for over $9k and over $13k today. Long story short, after a day of shooting in damp conditions, the 12 gauge bores under the subgauge tubes would be rusted black (barrels aren't chromed). The company replaced the barrels.

A short time later, at the Masters shoot in Savannah, I encountered the nationally-known distributor from whom I'd bought the gun. I told him the story... he said, in the many years he'd been in the business, he had seen similar issues with every part in every brand of shotgun he had carried. Krieghoff, Perazzi, Beretta, Kohler, all of them. One had a trigger guard that rusted. One a barrel tang. Another had bad barrels like I had. Point is, he said, individual parts look fine and go together without issue and no one knows there's a defect in the metal until the [whatever] is out in the wild. It doesn't matter where the [whatever] is made or how much it costs.

 

[culater]

It's made probably in China lol

 

[ditter]

RCBS is great. I had an RCBS powder measure. I was cleaning it with brake cleaner and the brake cleaner spilled back into the powder hopper and permanently stained. I called them up to buy another one. The rep said he would get me anther one, but refused to let me pay for it. Had it here in two days.

 

[little_scrapper]

Ya know it really wouldn't matter if it was made in America and was machines out of hardened armor steel. I still would have broke it because Im so effing huge. LOL

The guys at RCBS realize this, and just send new arms.

 

[Hawk37]

Gimme a sec., Pics inbound my friend. Last pick shows case length. That is the case that was in the chucker when it broke. Let me know if you need any other angles.

Just make sure there is nothing between the right arm and the handle bracket, because they do touch, then most psi is on right linkage arm

 

[Lunchbox27]

God damn! Definitely use your other arm for cranking off.

Never had an issue with my Rock Chucker, but have with some other RCBS stuff. Their support is awesome!

 

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

... and BAMM!! Both arms on the chucker break at the bolt holes.

Ever f..k up an anvil? Just sayin...

 

[little_scrapper]

Arms arrived int he mail today. I will install them probably tomorrow. Then see if I can break them again. Gotta make sure it was a fluke. LOL

 

[lead.rain]

Damn! I am impressed! Next time I am wrenching on the truck and the 4 ft snipe isn't working, I'll call @little_scrapper

 

[little_scrapper]

Got the chucker back together.

So now today I reef the crap out of it and well the chucker didnt break. However, because I am soo damn huge, the whole damn benchtop comes off still attached to the chucker. So here I am stand there holding this chucker with ONE ARM and it has 15' of benchtop still attached to it..... You should have been there to see it. Strong!

LOL

Anyways yea the chucker is back together and I figured out that the arms must be attached at the bottom first. At least one of them anyways. Then run the ram up and attach the rest. I attached both at the top before I realized that wouldn't work.

 

[lead.rain]

Sure are a destructive guy hey?

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Nothing much to add here, and definitely not a complaint,,, but back in the late '80s in gunsmith class, the instructor was showing us the Corbin bullet swage system and using a Rock Chucker to do such. First bullet went fine (.357 hollow-point) but during the second, the handle snapped off at the base of the threads.

He'd said that wasn't the first time that had happened to him. We were all surprised when it happened. Class shifted to another direction for the duration of that lesson. Everything has limits, and everything needs to be maintained.

That's why I never trust a 'safety' and ALWAYS maintain muzzle control. No-more-oops.

 

[b2lee]

Yea....everything has limits...but if we didn't try to push those limits...we wouldn't be men. Some of us learn our lessons....others just lay there while their friends attend a funeral.

 

[Average guy]

Years ago I did the the same...except I also broke the bottom plate. The BS in RCBS stands for Bullet Swage...and I was swaging some 40cal bullets using 9mm brass and a 124gr 9mm lead bullet with a BTSniper die....and broke it because the lead I was using was a little too hard. RCBS will send you a new one rather quickly...but I made my own for bullet swaging...it has two lower connecting points....one for reloading...another for swaging...depends on how much leverage I need and the length of the dies.

View attachment 7244972

I repaired a friends Lee press in a very similar way. Nothing like some cold rolled flat milled to fit.

 

[truck1]

Casting defect for sure. I've got 2 Rock Chuckers , older models with thousands of rounds from previous owners and myself, still tight with minimal slop. You got a Monday press. I bet RCBS gives you a new one.