RELOADING
Metallic Mecca
A visit to the RCBS plant is the reloader's equivalent of being stuck in a candy factory.
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We've all heard about the kid in the candy factory. Well, I'm not too fond of comfits, but I think I know how he felt. I've been a serious reloader for many years, so when I was invited to visit the RCBS facilities to see how they make their bonbons, I jumped at the chance. RCBS is short for "Rock Chuck Bullet Swage." The company was founded and so named by Fred Huntington because Fred's first dies (produced in 1943) swaged bullets used to take the local yellow-bellied marmot, or "rock chuck."
Since then, the company has expanded and refined its product line into a variety of reloading disciplines. Product line manager Kent Sakamoto summed it up by saying, "We try to give the customer what he wants." Everywhere I went in the plant, skilled craftsmen were on watch over sophisticated machinery, making sure all was well. Engineering manager Alan Schufeldt said that continual (and random) QA checks are made to ensure that everything is within spec. The company's current motto is "Precisioneered Shooting Products," and the moniker seems to fit.
RCBS has made reloading dies in over 3,300 calibers, and they are the company's bread and butter. The production of dies is impressive. A massive magazine feeds long pieces of 7/8-inch round bar stock into a spiffy Myano CNC drilling and turning lathe. The specs to make about 660 cartridges are stored in the main computer, and the change-over of tooling and software from one caliber to another takes about 15 to 20 minutes.
A five-station rotating head turns the outside diameter, knurls the top, drills and threads the top hole for the decapping rod, chambers the body and wacks it off to length. The part is then automatically transferred to the other side of the unit, where additional machining takes place. Operator Larry Teague oversees these complex doings, and he says that a finished die body clunks into a bin at the end of the machine about every 90 seconds.
At another work station, die bodies destined to become carbide pistol sizers go to a five-turret 3DC lathe that inserts the carbide ring, crimps it in place and trues up the base of the die. Mark Mariano hovered over these operations like a mother hen.
After machining, the dies go to a super-duper washer where all vestiges of metal chips and cutting oil are removed. When dry, the dies go to what I dubbed the RCBS "Fire Breathing Dragon"--the heat-treating unit. Racks of dies are placed into an oven heated to 1,650 degrees, quenched in oil, then allowed to cool. As the oven door glides up and the die rack exits, fire belches up about three feet; the effect rivals a Chinese New Year's celebration. Operator Robert Douglas correctly called this roasting "the coolest part." The dies are then given their final polishing, various parts are added, and then they're boxed and labeled.
Environmental wackos will be delighted to learn that there is very little industrial discharge from RCBS plant operations. Metal chips, cutting oils and other lubricants are cleaned and reused or recycled. Even cardboard boxes are flattened and recycled.
The company has a couple of new die sets and case-prep accessories that should excite accuracy bugs. The Gold Medal Match Series dies are available in both full-length and neck-sizing sets. They use changeable bushings that allow the reloader to custom fit the necks of their cases to his rifle's chamber.
