Thank you for taking YOUR time to tell me. Much appreciated.

I bought my Forster from Brownells as well. I absolutely love it. This is a great video too

Well, thank you, Mickey. You are most generous with your praise. Glad you enjoyed the video, and thanks for sharing it.

Now you've just scared me to death!

+novaman68 Yes, he is a NATURAL born Speaker, not sure why he doesnt know that already.. very easy to listen to and very informative video..

Jeff from Jersey Thank you so very much, Jeff.

Wow! I feel like I'm talking to Irad, the great-grandson of Adam. Your ancestor did us all a great service when he designed that press. Thanks for your comment.

I've never regretted buying any truly good tools.

Bruce, thank you for one of the nicest comments ever.

Outstanding. I got to spend Saturday with one of my sons, so I know what you mean by a fun day.

Welcome to our wonderful hobby. I'm glad you're thinking in terms of quality purchases. It will pay big dividends in the long run.

I didn't know about this press and ended up with something else. This is the press for those who want to make some accurate ammo.

Fun! Thanks for sharing, best of luck with your reloading, and thanks for the nice things you said.

I appreciate that very much. Thanks.

Thank you very much.

+Hardy Birch As one hobbyist reloader to another, you are very welcome. Thanks for commenting.

Glad you enjoyed it and thank you for commenting.

Robin England Thanks so much for sharing with us.

Thanks for the encouragement. I have done a few other videos including a previous video on the CoAx.

@@RexRoach Yep watched that too. Also well done thanks.

Thank you for commenting, Jamie. I hope to do a range report on the 357 Sig.

@@RexRoach My email is: joliver65@yahoo.com Have you ever been associated with Deeprock water well drills

You're quite welcome. It's a fabulous hobby and I'm glad you're part of it.

Thank you, sir! If you were not an educator previously in life, society is worse for it. Your videos are educational, informative and very enjoyable. Thank you so much! (just finished the 300 winmag one :))

I guess I found my calling late in life. Thank you for the encouragement.

Glad you enjoyed it, Garth.

+Gary O'Neal Thanks much for your comments. It's so good to have a truly experienced person validate what I've been saying. Opinions are fine, but opinions based on experience are the best.

Buzz Clark Well, Buzz, you have just made my day. I'm always thrilled when another good person joins our merry band of handloaders. If your collection of reloading tools includes anything you're not familiar with, let me know. I'm looking for subjects for videos.

+Mark Manes So good to hear from seasoned reloaders. I appreciate your support.

Thank you, Mick, for taking the time to comment. Very kind. Greatly appreciated.

We had a beautiful vacation in Bavaria several years ago. Spectacular part of the world.

Thank you. If you plan to reload for handguns, be sure to get the short handle. Revolvers are the perfect guns for reloading.

+Hotstixlix I noticed that MidWay had them on sale the other day. I know what you mean about not seeing one before buying. I bought mine totally on reputation (plus seeing one on TV used by the Army marksmen).

Anders Hallberg thank you. I will repeat I have NO CONNECTION with Forster but I will say you will be glad you bought it when you use it the first time.

Very true. Numbers are a big no-no in video. It's really impossible to follow math presented verbally.

Rex did you work at WTVY Dothan,

+velvetsnout My sense of humor doesn't do that to most people, so I'm very grateful. Your "handle" cracks me up.

Thank you very much. It's always good to have independent validation of what I've been saying.

What loads are you getting that kind of runout "most of the time" with and where are you measuring "run out"?

I'll be curious to learn how lenient Forster is with replacement parts. I expect they'll be generous with swapping old/broken for new. Let us know, and thanks much for commenting.

Thanks much, my Anglo-Franco friend. Also, mounting it lower than other presses yields easier-on-the-back results.

Thumbs down? There's just no accounting for taste, is there. But thank you very much for your nice comment.

I would love to see a coyote that had been shot with a .338 Rem Ultra Mag.

Rex Roach 180 Accubonds turns them into pieces much like a HV .224 and a prairie dog.

A true varmint shooter.

Thanks for your comment, and that was a very nice way of calling out...mistakes.

​​@@RexRoach i took delivery of my co ax press about a week ago, watching this video i convinced myself to pull the trigger and buy it. I actually made the order the day i made my original comment, but had to wait for a stock refresh as these seem to be hard to find. So far its been terrific, I truly am very pleased with its performance. Your videos on this press were very detailed, clear, and concise. I now have 5 presses, and i fear i may have a problem.

@@jimmysp4des229 You won't be unhappy with this press ever. If everyone who reloads had bought this press first, the disease of anotherpressitis would not be rampant. Nah, the iron deficiency syndrome would be just as strong. Oh, and by the way, if you reload handgun calibers on your new press, I urge you to get the short operating handle. In fact, you can use the short handle for just about everything except full length resizing of rifle cartridges.

@@RexRoach coincidentally, after loading about 50 rounds of ammo with the co ax, I was thinking "I wish I had bought this press first" I mainly shoot and reload ammo for my various revolvers, so I will take your advice and order the short handle today. Thanks for the tip.

Very nice of you to take time to say so. Thank you!

How wonderfully nice of you. I notice that many of the comments come from folks outside the U.S. Maybe that's the reason. What country are you in, Erik?

+Rex Roach I am from Sweden, looking forward to se more from you

+Rex Roach I am from Sweden, looking forward to se more from you

Tack så mycket.

You'll find it has very high leverage, so sizing those big straight cartridges is pretty easy. Let us know what you think after you've had some seat time with it.

Rex Roach I am currently using a Hornady Classic and Autopress. They are very good machines but after watching your videos I believe this is a better design. I am loading 45/70 and 45/120. I hope the yoke will clear the 120. Will let you know.

osbornephoto1955 I think the yoke will easily clear over the top of the die. Any problem will be with seating a 500+ grain bullet in the 45-120 case. As with almost all presses, it will be close.

+Christian Arbeiter I promise your English is a billion times better than my German. Your points that precise seating depths are routine with the Co-Ax and there is nothing to fear in regard to the strength of the die lock threads are exactly what I was trying to say in the video. Vielen Dank und die besten Wünsche für das Jahr 2016.

I've been handloading since 1971. I learn new things about this endeavor almost every day. Good luck with your quest.

Excellent point. I suppose this really applies to all reloading equipment - if things are held together with threaded fasteners, they should always be snug. It's a great idea to check out your gear from stem to stern every once in a while and look for wear and/or loose connections. For me, I sometimes forget to really snug the locking nut on a die adjustment and get about 100 rounds into a session only to discover the die is out of kilter. It's maybe the #1 rule of reloading - PAY ATTENTION

Excellent information. Wish I had thought of that. Thanks for commenting.

Thank you for your kind remarks. Let me say I LOVE MY ROCKCHUCKER! And you are spot on when you point out the GREAT customer service from RCBS. They honor their products for the lifetime of the product. It's almost beyond belief this day and age. You are also correct in your praise of the RCBS bench priming tool. I have never used the APS strips, but the tool is the same when it comes to punching in the primer, and I agree it's the best "production" primer you can get. Fast, extremely reliable and accurate. I've never seen the APS primers for sale in any of the gun shops I frequent, including a few large ones in B'ham, although they may have been there and I missed them (don't see what you're not looking for, doncha know?). It's such an attractive method, I've often considered getting one of those loaders to roll my own, but I'm just so used to my traditional priming methods, it's hard to get motivated. FYI, I use a vibrator tool that quickly fills the priming tubes for the RCBS (or any other) priming tool. Takes about 45 seconds to dump the primers and fill a tube. Hard to beat that. It's called the Frankford Arsenal Vibra-Prime.

Rex Roach Thanks for the reply, as it's cool to see an older video with the uploader still tracking comments. Yeah, I've seen the Vibraprime in action, a really cool idea once set up. I sprung for the strip loader for my APS, so I just buy primers normally packaged and load my own strips that way. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to use it. One funny bit of experience learned from trial and error on my part is that I was having all kinds of trouble initially with the APS bench system, with it jamming and failing to load. I had it mounted to a cutoff 2x4 so that I could C-clamp it to my bench because of the limited space there, and I figured out that the problem was that I had failed to clamp it firmly enough to prevent it from flexing upward a fraction of an inch, which (of course) caused the primers to slide off the priming ram enough to go off center. Once I just snugged down the C-clamps enough to prevent flexing, it works 100% of the time, with the only speed limitation being how fast I can swap out cases. I love my RCBS equipment, but I admit that I still lust after that Forster Co-Ax. Keep up the great videos, which I have to admit you do a great job on with your lighting and camera work, and that's before mentioning the great detail you go into on them.

I love the exchanges I have in the comments with great viewers like you. Most people probably don't read these comments (because, frankly, on many sites the comments are hostile and worthless), but more's the pity because there's been a great deal of good, additional information posted about the subjects in my videos. Case in point: your comments about the clamping issues. Thanks again!

Excellent! Please let us know how you like it after you've had a chance to wring it out.

You won't regret it. I predict the more you use it, the more you will appreciate it.

+Maciej Cho As a worst case solution, you can get Forster's shell holder adaptor which allows you to use your "regular" shell holder. I have one and it works fine. I needed it to hold the extended "ram" for pushing .40 S&W and such cases through a Redding Rx die.

will the co-ax even accept the dies for the 577-450 arent they bigger and threaded 1-1 14x12? I dont know, but i dont think so. Correct me If I am wrong and I hope so because i am awaiting a 577 Snider and may have a possible chance picking up a used Co-ax.

Fenrir You've raised a good point. I was not familiar with the 577-450 Martini Henry, but it seems the dies of choice come from Lee and they have the 1-1/4x12 threads. I can't see any way to practically use the Co-Ax. The die will not even enter the slot, so shell holder questions are moot.

+Rex Roach Yeah i have to see want to pick up a co-ax so badly and this video helped a lot, but i need a new press who i can use the 577 dies and the Rcbs shotshell die also. Think I just have to buy the co-ax any way cant justify the price for a new one right now, but its hard to resist a good deal. Great video by the way

+Rex Roach Thanks a lot it will be great fun, but it is a Snider Enfield in 577 Snider i am awaiting , but dont you worry the Martini henry is probably next on the list:-)

Dusty, I'm usually reluctant to use the term "best" when talking about products. It's a pretty subjective thing, but in this case I'm OK with saying the Forster Co-Ax is the best single-stage press on the market. There are others which are equally well-made, so the tipping difference is the unique design of the Co-Ax. I think most everyone who uses this press quickly reaches the conclusion that its design makes it their favorite. Good progressive presses have a major part to play in reloading and they are all about -volume-. If you burn through hundreds or thousands of rounds per week, you NEED a progressive press. Actually if you're burning thousands of rounds per week, you need a sponsor. Have you ever noticed that so many people have two, three, four and more progressive presses set up in their reloading operation? Get one and you'll quickly find out that they require a lot of fine-tuning to get running smoothly. Once you've dialed in the magic settings, you'll find yourself quite reluctant to break it all down in order to switch to another caliber. Yes, most progressives offer some sort of quick-change part that eliminates a lot of the time and labor, but even at that, it can make you yearn hard for a machine for each caliber that you shoot in volume. The two calibers you mention are two that I would normally associate with single-stage reloading. The 6.5 CM is usually fired in a precision target rifle at great distances. This requires ultra-careful reloading and often involves the use of high-end precision tools. I don't doubt someone somewhere has loaded good 6.5 CM ammo with a progressive press, but I'd wager most of the people shooting out to 1,000 yards and beyond are using single stage setups and even hand tools. I bought my S&W Model 29 .44 Magnum in 1974, I think. I added a couple more over the years and I can say I've had more fun experimenting with that cartridge than any other. I've tried all manner of bullet and powder combinations including an awful lot of cast bullets I made from scrounged metal, wheel weights and more recently, "store-bought" alloy. One thing I can say with great certainty is the words "load development" and "progressive press" are rarely found in the same sentence. I would strongly urge you to buy a Forster Co-Ax or any other high-quality single-stage press to begin your reloading endeavors. It's much more versatile and will have you making top quality ammo so much quicker than you will with any good progressive press. If you find yourself shooting a few hundred rounds of the same ammo each week, get yourself a good progressive press for that caliber and enjoy. Thanks for joining the discussion.

Rex Roach Many thanks. Great info.

If you havent all ready. Its usually good to start with a single stage. If you you get where its something you want to do as an on going hobby you will want both a single stage & progressive press

+Hardy Birch Outstanding! A thousand thanks for sharing this, Hardy. I had a strong feeling this Hornady puller would be a winner.

Most of the time when Hollywood shows someone making ammo, that someone is a serial killer at the very least. Glad you liked the video. Thanks for the comment, and keep scrubbing that barrel.

Glad to have more Scandinavian viewers. One of my high school classmates has lived in Norway since the 1970's. Her husband is a retired airline pilot. She lives in Sandane, I think.

+Hardy Birch Excellent! I look forward to learning about it from you. Thanks, Hardy.

Wow, nothing but the best in your reloading shack.

I've looked at the shell holder jaw housing replacement or upgrade part from Manzgear and it looks good. I haven't felt the need to buy one, but I think if I had to replace the original, I would consider it. As far as I can tell, there are three differences: the springs are captured, the thin middle section is slightly thicker and Manzgear says it is made from better steel. I've never had a problem with the springs and haven't lost one, but if I were replacing the part, I'd just as soon have the springs captured. I mean, why not? My original housing hasn't bent. The housing is stressed only when you have a case that is reluctant to come out of the die. Upward force has no effect on the part, only when you're pulling down. I guess I must do a good job lubricating my cases, because I've only stuck one in forty-plus years of reloading and it wasn't on the Co-Ax press and it was carelessness on my part. Aside from the captured spring, I can see no benefit of replacing my original housing with the Manzgear part, but I would certainly consider it if the original failed and needed replacing.

Hello Thomas and thanks for your inquiry. I would advise anyone starting out in reloading to start with a single stage press or a turret. A turret press is normally operated like a single stage in that you will complete one operation on ALL the cartridges before moving to the next step. In other words, a turret is not a "poor man's" progressive where you can size/decap - expand/prime - charge with powder - seat bullet - crimp in a sequence on a single cartridge. Yes, you CAN do that, but you'll find it more feasible to, for example, size and deprime ALL the cases before moving on to the next steps. I really like a turret press because all of your dies and powder measure can be set for the loading session and if you need to go back for any reason and repeat some steps, it's a quick matter of turning the turret. Likewise, the Forster press allows for almost as quick changes between dies. Granted, you can't mount a powder measure on it, but I've always operated my measure from a separate setup with any reloading. As to dies and accessories, the Co-Ax uses standard dies so any brand will work. Of course you can't use hand dies like the Wilson, but that's the whole point of that die, isn't it. Truth be tole, you may be able to use more dies with the Co-Ax than any other press because the dies are mounted with the lock rings that slide into the groove. Therefore, in theory, you could use something like the old Lyman "nutcracker" dies which are smaller than standard modern dies, but it would simply be a matter of getting a nut for the die that's large enough to fit the press. Now I didn't say that's a good idea, just that there may be more possibilities with the Co-Ax than with others. As to turret presses, you can find them from Redding, RCBS and Lyman. I have several presses from both Redding & RCBS and a lot of Lyman products. However I don't have a turret press from any of them. The Lyman is attractive because it has 8 stations which would allow you to fill it with dies for two calibers without a problem. Furthermore, you can buy extra turrets for all of these and the Lyman is a bit less expensive. The Redding 7-station would probably be perfect for a couple of calibers and I can say my Redding press is a magnificent beast. I've probably had more RCBS presses and equipment than all the others combined, but the 6 hole turret puts me off a bit, as if it's almost enough. Working with a single station (or turret) press creates a more focused environment. You are only doing one thing at a time so your concentration can be razor sharp on that. If an operation "feels" funny, chances are there's something wrong and you can sort out that bad apple right then and there. With a progressive, so many things are going on at one time, your attention is spread out all over the place. If anything goes wrong, and it will, it takes a lot more effort to "clean up" and restart. Believe me, I know the appeal of the progressive press--I have five of them. In their place, they are fantastic. I still marvel at seeing raw brass go in one end and a finished round drop out the other end with each pull of the handle. But these presses are harsh mistresses. They require a lot of fine tuning and care, and once you have one running smoothly, you'll be loathe to change it over to another caliber until you've loaded several thousand rounds of whatever to justify the whole thing. My advice is to get the Co-Ax (and AGAIN, I HAVE NO CONNECTION WITH FORSTER or any other manufacturer) and be secure in knowing you have the best single stage press you can get (in many/most people's opinion). Buy good dies. My advice here to go visit several on-line forums to learn what people are having best luck with, especially for rifle. Take a look at Glen Zediker's reloading books, especially for the .223 and .308. His writing style is charmingly quirky and sometimes a bit twisty to read, but his advice is top notch and he will introduce you to a world of knowledge about ammunition and the making thereof. Oh, get a subscription to Handloader magazine, by all means. I've been subscribing since 1980 and have every issue which I often go back to.

Albert, that is an extremely valuable bit of information that I failed to include in the video. Yes, the jaws COMPLETELY ENCIRCLE the shell and that really increases your odds of successfully extracting a stuck case. People don't realize how much leverage this press design has because it looks "small."

@@RexRoach Glad to help. Just adding what I have found and like about the Forster. I have had 2 friends come over to use some tools of mine, they both now own Forster presses. After 40 years as an Industrial Mechanic, I have learned the price of well built tools are usually worth it.

@@6handicap604 Thanks so much!

I think those who vote "yes" with their wallets would think it justified. Not so for everyone else. Rest assured, great ammo has been loaded with presses of all makes.

I ordered a Co-Ax today. Perhaps my .223 Remington group size will improve soon...

It certainly should not get worse (ha, ha). All kidding aside, the press is an important factor in making quality ammo, but there are many other things to get right as well. For a lot of us, myself included, the weak link in the chain is that which pulls the trigger.

Yes, same here. My next efforts are toward trigger discipline. Rainy day here now, so reloading with the new press is on the list for today. I really like your videos..keep up the good work!

Thank you so much, Robin.

Thanks for your comments, Lyle. I often use the priming tool on the Co-Ax when I have 25 or so cartridges to load. Even though you handle the primers one at a time, it's still faster than setting up a bench priming tool and loading the tube(s). Plus, as I have belabored in the videos, the Co-Ax priming tool is superbly accurate. If you think about it, a high-dollar hand priming tool like the magnificent Sinclair or K&M is a one-at-a-time tool where you handle each primer individually. People use those for the quality of the finished product, especially benchrest shooters who will use every possible trick. IMHO you get the same benefits with the Co-Ax primer, so in a way you could consider the press comes with a $100 (or more) priming tool. My personal favorite priming tool for 25+ cartridges is the RCBS bench tool. I also use the Frankford Arsenal Vibra-Prime device for quickly filling the primer tubes. I have the Forster bench priming tool, but prefer the RCBS. Of course like almost all priming tools, it requires more consistency on the part of the operator instead of having the primer position precision built into the design of the machine. Finally I have some advice if you are just beginning to load. Start with a single stage press. It doesn't have to be the Co-Ax, but get a good one and you'll have it forever. I have several progressive presses and they have a great place in the reloading scheme, but I strongly feel everyone should start with a good single stage press. The guy who started me in handloading in 1971 shot about 2000 rounds a week of .45 ACP using bullets he cast and then loaded with an RCBS Rock Chucker. Yes, I know anyone in their right mind today would use a Dillon for that many rounds, but progressives were rare back then and I mention this to show that it certainly can be (and was) done with single stage presses. The single stage will allow you to quickly change calibers and give you much more versatility at lower cost. I also think it's much safer to build ammunition in a "batch" method where you can examine the lot for primer and powder errors, both of which can sneak in on a progressive.

Rex Roach 2000 rounds a week would certainly be enough for me. thanks very much for the help.

I would second the thought on single stage presses and the RCBS bench primer. The RCBS primer is a bit of a clunker, but it gives a very nice feel and feedback. What do you consider "at volume?" I used an RCBS Rock Chucker for over 20 years to load ~250 rounds a week and it was pretty painless. Once you get the system down it goes very smoothly. I would just size/deprime/flare a bucket of brass, hand prime while watching TV (gives me a chance to inspect each case by feel/vision, then load up until I got bored or was out of something. The press is cheap and very accurate, the shell holders are cheap, die changing takes only a moment, and can reload about anything. Do not worry about some magical primer depth for pistols, just push it in until it is below the rim. The pocket does not need to be cleaned, you do not need to measure its depth or any of time wasting nonsense. If you can feel it being below the rim with your finger, it is deep enough. You should only worry about all the fancy stuff like clean primer pockets, primer depth, neck turning, neck trimming, tumbling (only do it to make them nicer to handle), powder weighing each charge, etc on rifle ammo that is shot purely for accuracy. None of that crap will make any difference for a pistol cartridge, and will not make a difference for most rifle cartridges unless you are a really good shooter. You can take the extra step to gauge all your loaded ammo if you want, but I just ignore it. If the case is too long, the breach won't close, the gun won't fire, no biggie. Pistol brass will almost always split at the mouth when you load the bullet when they stretch to long. A decent trigger will give you far more accuracy than fussing over the ammo.

I would suggest maybe 500 rounds or more at one sitting to be "at volume." You are spot on about the value of overthinking and overdoing as regards pistol ammo. I was using pistol brass for the demo, but honestly would never use the press for priming pistol ammo. Mostly I was impressed with the consistency of the priming function. Thanks for your insightful comments.

Rex Roach This is really sound advise, I think that until I started to shoot handguns I really did not need anything with more volume capacity than a single stage press, after all I could not shoot more than around 30 times a session with most of my rifles( 475NE, 577NE etc) but when I shoot 45 Colt 100 rounds goes in no time, that said I much prefer the peace of mind that loading 5 Gr of powder into the case by hand gives, over the unseen automatic measure you get with the higher volume reloading techniques.Just look at how many guns are blown up with an overcharge.

The standard jaws will not open that wide, I'm almost certain. Forster has a set of jaws called LS (large/small) to handle most extremely large or small cases. I know it works well with .45-70 or .30-30, but I can't say about your .577/.450 Martini Henry. My advice is to contact Forster and ask them. If those jaws won't work, you can always get the adapter which allows the use of any "standard" shell holder from RCBS, Lyman, Redding, Hornady, etc.

It's definitely a .357 Sig.

It's right there on the headstamp.Thank you.

Easier on this press than most any. The case holder jaws are spring loaded and easily separated by pressing through the opening with something appropriately tapered or simply by pulling them apart and allowing the ram to drop down. Then the case and die can slide right out. Hope that makes sense.