A bottle support construction for a capping machine comprising a rotatable table having a series of circumferentially spaced openings. A plurality of bottles are conveyed onto the table with each bottle being positioned in registry with an opening. The bottles, preferably composed of plastic, have a cavity in their lower surfaces with each cavity containing one or more radial groves. A chuck is mounted for vertical movement within each opening in the table from a lower non-chucking position to an upper chucking position where the chuck engages the cavity in the bottle. The chuck is provided with one or more radial ribs which engage the grooves in the cavity of the bottle to lock the bottle against rotation while a cap is threaded on the neck of the bottle. The chuck is moved between the lower and upper chucking positions by cam mechanism in which a follower is mounted on the lower end of a rod attached to the chuck and the follower rides on an inclined cam surface as the table rotates to move the chuck between the lower and upper positions.