SDS drills with advertised chuck sizes

Question

I am looking to buy a hammer drill, but have no experience in this area. Everywhere I look, it seems that SDS/SDS+ is a universal chuck design, in that any SDS bit will work with any SDS drill and vice versa. Here, I mean the bit and drill will attach, not necessarily that the drill will have sufficient power to run the bit effectively, or anything like that.

My major holdup is that SDS drills seem to have advertised chuck sizes. How is this possible if the chuck is completely described by the fact that it is SDS?

For example, I was looking at the drill at the following link. It is SDS-plus, and so I should be able to use it with any SDS(-plus) bit. However, I am not comfortable buying it without knowing why it advertises a 5/8" chuck, as it is my understanding that it has an SDS chuck, and all SDS chucks are the same size.

http://www.toolbarn.com/milwaukee-5263-21.html

Answer 1

Looking at the Milwaukee web site the chuck capacity refers to the largest solid bit (hole diameter) the drill is capable of drilling. They are referring to using a solid bit not a hole saw. If you notice, that diameter increases as the power of the drill increases along with the price. That is not to say that you can't drill a hole larger than the rated capacity but it will tax the motor and shorten tool life.