CH Press Questions

[BigRix]

I stumbled across this CH press at a yard sale and it was rusted pretty bad. Nothing would move. Got her cleaned up and now I want to put it to good use.

It is by far the strongest press I own so I figure it will come in handy for something. Trouble is, I don't know what.

Do they make a universal shell holder for this thing or am I stuck finding the correct one for every caliber I want to load?

Can this thing be used for swaging?

What do y'all use yours for?

[Kevin Rohrer]

Yes, CH makes a universal shell-holder adapter they call the "Universal H-Ram", which is about $10.50.

The press is aluminum, but you MIGHT be able to swage with it.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

These were made by "Roddy" which built them originally in the early sixties; red was the standard color and then at a later date they went to black. The one you have was called the "magnum" (for all of $36 new) and it was almost immediately followed by a 3 station version. Considered a strong press back in the day, it full length sized anything in rifle or pistol. The spent primer system was awful...all over the bench. The priming system was a "stalk" between the links and changing from small to large primers was a chore. I currently have two of them; one is my second press ever owned and the other I found in a junk pile-sale at Numerich once upon a time for $10. I resurrected it and got it working again. I never case formed or swaged on either of mine; you might get away with case forming, but swaging might put a strain on the linkages. I do oil and grease both presses and tip them upside down to get to the link pins underneath the platen. They are good solid presses, compact and handy to use on top of bench. I mounted mine on pieces of 2x6 and move them around on the bench using 4" C clamps. As mentioned previously a universal shell holder is still around and it handles any brand of SH. I would venture that parts are still made by CH4D, excerpt for the platen and die holding head. An interesting project might be to get in touch with CH4D and see if their current four station platens and die head holders could be switched in/onto the single station frame and as such convert it to a four station press. I made a primer catcher out of those little shampoo bottles that you find in motel rooms as they are narrow and fit between the links and I punched a couple of holes in the sides and rigged them up with thin wire under and around the nut that holds the SH ram. They catch all the spent primers so there is no more mess when FL resizing/decapping. If you can get the old paint/powder coating off you can repaint it and it will look new. A bicycle handle will work ok or a wooden ball as well. That Saeco melting pot in the background of your pic is also a treasure. Treat it well. LLS

[W.R.Buchanan]

Where as you can full length size with one of those presses they really don't have the mechanical advantage to do it without a lot of effort. You can do it and it won't hurt the tool it just takes alot more effort to accomplish the task. As far as swaging bullets That would not work very well unless you were Superman.

The newer C&H parts will probably work just fine on the base. But what you would be doing then is making a Pistol Champ, and you can buy one for $225, and keep your single hole one for other things..

I use my Pistol Champ for loading all of my Rifle rounds and any Pistol cartridges that I don't load on my Dillon SDB's. Note I said LOAD!

I deprime and size the .30-06's and .308's on my RockChucker, as it has a much more favorable mechaical advantage and takes considerably less effort to use than the C&H.

What I would use your press for is Priming Brass, doing hardness tests on lead with a Lee tool, swaging Primer pockets, Debulging .40 S&W brass, and a variety of other single operation tasks that you only do once in awhile. It is compact enough to store out of the way and easily brought out and clamped to the bench for the task and then re-stored until needed again.

I have been looking for one for several years now and they all just seem to be priced way too high. I passed on one at a gun show for $50 a couple of years ago andd have regretted it ever since.

I drilled and tapped the lever on my Pistol Champ 3/8-16 and installed a 3/8 x1" set screw as a stud and then screwed a 2 1/4" ball on to it. This is the perfect size . You can get a ball knob from McMaster-Carr for a few $.

Randy

[Wayne Smith]

If that shell holder is like my Bair and Hollywood (both use 1/2" holes) the shell holder base is hollow and a piece of plastic tubing slides in pressure fit. The other end of mine is stuck in a hole drilled in the top of a pill bottle - instant primer catcher! My Bair is now my choice for depriming.