4 of us took an excursion to Amish Country (Berlin, Ohio) today. The guys went to 2 Amish gun shops and the girls went shoe & fabric shopping.

The one shop has a reputation for buying whole estates and collections of guns, so he has the most wonderful junk table!

Today's yield was a small plastic tacklebox with some much older reloading equipment in it. A Lyman bullet mold for a 38 158 grain SWC (single cavity), a Lyman True-Line shell holder for 38, a set of True-Line 38 special dies (somewhat modified) two more sets of True-Line dies: 45 Colt & 8mm Mauser, a Lyman arbor press die for 7.7 Japanese, and a few odd True-Line shell holders. Nothing seems to be in the correct box, so I'm sure there will be a few more surprises. All this for $19.99+ tax.

I don't own a True-Line press, but I own the adapter bushings Lyman makes to use in a 7/8-14 press and these dies will fit my 310 tong tools. The 45 Colt & 8 Mauser die sets are ones I didn't have before in this system. This takes me to about 18 or so cartridges I can load with the tong tools.

I woke up a week ago had had a desire to visit this shop. Like Gibbs says, "Always trust your gut." (what rule is that?)

It was a great day for the Grey Hairs in Amish country!

Ivan

I’ll never forget the first Amish Folks that I ever saw.
They had pulled their Buggy into a Dairy Cream in Kokomo, IN.
And the last ones I saw?
South of Alamosa, CO.
That Buggy was in high cog on a paved highway right of way.
That was a good looking horse and it was moving out!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

A guy broke into a Quaker's farm house, when he looked up, the farmer was standing on the stairs, pointing a gun at him. "Friend", he said, "I would not harm thee for anything in the world, but I must warn thee that thou art standing wherest I am about to shooteth."

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Wow, I like your tastes! Lyman 310 tools, Tru-Line dies and presses, a nice old .38 mold....all in an old tackle box!
And, all those great cartridges!

What, you walked into one of their stores and did not come out with at least one jar of their home made

Jam or Jelly !!

Shame on you.

...went from selling eggs to selling coffins. It's a shame. They had darn good eggs but Hurricane Hugo blew all of their chickens away.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

We ourselves are more than a few generations than a few generations out of the same homeland. But I beg to differ, my wife makes the best jams and jelly's!

Ivan

Every year or so I load a box or two of ammo on 310 tools or Lee Loaders, just to remind me of how good it is to load on a progressive Dillon 550!

Ivan

My first reloading setup 53 years ago - Lyman 310, 45 ACP dies and scales. Ahhh for simpler times.

Back then, even a Caveman could do it !!

A progessive, anything, is nice to have if you have one.

However;
there were times that I gritted my teeth when I was loading
shotgun shells and goofed, with the pellets and power,
every now and then.

A 1 1/8 oz. of #8's, can go all over the pace and make a big mess.

My first priority in Amish country is finding some fresh scrapple. Next is Lebanon sweet bologna. Then some authentic shoofly pie, with maybe a side of apple dumpling.

I haven't had a shot spill in the family room in over two years! The vacuum cleaner is still complaining about it every time I vacuum.

That's one of the things I like about my manual indexing Dillon and MEC presses. almost as fast as auto indexing, but there is no going forward until I say so! That will take some getting used to when the 1050 comes here to live.

Ivan

I can't seem to wrap my head around using the words "Amish" and "guns" in the same sentence. I always pictured them as teetotalers when it came to firearms, but I guess I'm mistaken. To me, an Amish gun store would be like a Hindu beef market or a Baptist dance party.

hunting for food

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NRA RSO

Like I mentioned in the opening post, we went to TWO Amish gun stores. From experience these are the best two of the 8 I know about in the area.

When on long bike rides, we sometimes get to the Southern limits of this area of Amish. In the last 2 years, we see Amish riding ELECTRIC BICYCLES! Different sects have different beliefs. My grandfather's farm is in a different Sect's area. They aren't allowed bicycles at all, because they have AIR FILLED TIRES!

Ivan

We used to have to check in our deer in person. Seems the Amish always shot their deer in the head.

Lots of people around here have Amish neighbors. According to them, they can be a PITA. Want a ride. Want to use your phone. Want to put a freezer in your basement. Want to sit in your AC.

Before we moved here to Wy we had a farm in Md. Next door farm was large for that area...1200 acres. Bunch of Amish fellows from Pa rented it for deer hunting. Holy cow...they shot everything with horns.. Ruined the local deer hunting...cept on our place. When deer season came in the bucks started living on our place. I did not shoot them. Their lease came up for renewal. Another farmer and I talked to the farm manager...Got him to change the lease with the stipulation if someone shot a buck they had to have the head mounted and had to shoot two doe before a 2nd deer. He NEEDED the numbers of does reduced too. They agreed and it cost them a bunch of money for mounted scrub bucks...within a couple years we got to seeing a bunch of better bucks and less doe. The good bucks...still came over to our place though. They would lay in plain sight around the pond. They liked the corn. Where we were if you hunted all the seasons you could shoot up to 27 deer a year. Them boys were feeding half of Lancaster County Pennsylvania I think

They aren't vegetarians, and consider guns a necessary tool for hunting and defense of livestock. Many of these "Amish" are actually Mennonites which are the more liberal of the Amish as far as modern amenities go.

Like any religion there's a lot of variation community to community. Amish vs Mennonite. Catholic vs Baptist. Hasidic vs Reform Jews. They all vary quite a bit.

And a direct descendant from Lancaster County Mennonite's River Brethren sect has infiltrated the board. Strict Amish orders are decreasing in number, and some don't even know how to make a proper shoofly pie.

Got to say..When I guided deer hunters I hadan Amish fellow out. We did have a few GOOD deer around. He went a bit nuts when I told him not to shoot the little scrub 6 and 8 pointers. He really did much better on a heavy racked 9 pointer and thrilled to shoot the extra doe just bang bang...Done by 10 o'clock. He suposedly gave it to the fellow that drove him to the hunt

Come down to SE Ohio, we got some we don’t need. They don’t mix well with families that have been here since before Ohio was a state.

My first wife was once removed from that Lancaster Co sect. But she did know how to cook...So did her momma. They drove a car(black) and used tractors. Got along better with her mother and sister than I did with her. One Sunday a month the 2 girls and I would stay on the farm milk whatever while her mother and father went to church up in Lancaster Co. So I guess they weren't too far removed

Ivan, congrats on your find. Let me mention for those who don’t know, the TL dies will screw into 310 tools but are not 100% interchangeable. The sizing die from 2 die TL sets are the biggest problem in 310s, especially when you try to pull the sizing ball (rifle die) back up through the case neck. Also, most of the TL pistol die sets I’ve seen had full length sizing dies that work a 310 tool (and the user) waay too hard!

I’ve got a TruLine Jr press I leave bolted to my bench… I don’t use it much any more, but I love having it there. I especially like it for loading 32 S&W Long… it just seems appropriately scaled. As cheaply as TL Jr presses can be found, it might be worth your while to pick one up.

Froggie

I've been looking for a Tru-Line press for 40 years. The few I saw were riced like the were made of Gold!

Like I said in the OP, the dies and shell holders are all in the wrong boxes. The 45 Colt die is FL. I'll see if backing it out a way will do an acceptable neck size. I have several Rifles sets and hadn't tried them, since I have 117 different cartridges with 7/8-14 dies (sometimes 3 or 4 sets). I just like the field portable idea.

Later this spring I plan on assembling stand-alone kits for 45-70. 45 Colt & 38 Special. They will be Lee Loaders or 310 sets with powder scoops, bullet molds and lube pan. I'll have 300 primers, 1/4 to 1/2 pound of powder, and some bullets. Most likely use a 30 Cal. ammo can as the carry case, maybe something smaller and lighter. Probably include basic cleaning and service tools.

Ivan

I remember that well - what a pita.

Ivan, drop me a PM and I’ll see what I can do to help you out.
Froggie

Ivan,

You keep referring to a “Tru-Line Press”. Are you talking about the Jr or Sr? The former was a turret press that always used dies that at least superficially resembled the 310 dies while the Sr was another beast altogether. The Sr was more like the Co-Ax type of presses but not as strong. It was similar to the “Ezy Loader” and both used some strange die and shell holder modifications.

Also, you mentioned “True-Line shell holders”. Are you talking about the regular J type shell holders or the special ones made by Lyman with extra cuts for the primer feed as used on the Ezy Loader and TruLine Sr?

The idea of a portable reloading set up in an ammo can is one that has been attractive to many of us for a long time. I used it, either with 310 tools or Lee Loaders for decades, and either one will yield fine ammo. like you, I have 7/8X14 die sets for a bunch of rifles and pistols (everything I shoot and some left over!) and at one time tried to have 310 tools and Lee Loaders for all of them as well. Now I have reduced the number somewhat but I still keep rediscovering “lost” sets. My favorite set of 310 dies has become my 32 set that I can use for all lengths, 32 S&W-327 FM and my 9 mm set, but I’ve also kept sets for 38/357, 44 Spl/Mag, and both 45 ACP & Colt. The rifle sets are a hodge pudge but two special favorites for my single shots are 32-40 & 45-70.

One additional note about dies; it is almost a sure thing that 310 dies will work on a Tru Line Jr press, but the reverse is not always the case.

Best regards,
Green Frog

I was referring to the Tru-Line Jr. the shell holders are whatever the Jr. uses. Since I never found an affordable press, I never became familiar with them.

Judging by the mess of mismatched dies and boxes, I would guess a reloader died or went into a care facility and someone that known nothing about reloading boxed it up and turned it into cash.

The 38 SWC bullet mold is in a Lyman mold box, but for a 7.7 Jap./303 Brit. box. I assume the 303 mold is on the handles somewhere else. Growing up, my kids never really reloaded, but they understand the principles and equipment. They person was totally clueless.

Ivan

I have been in Millers Gun Shop years ago, nice set up. Bought a hat there I liked but it finally gave up its ghost. We usually go around the Berlin area, is that close to where you visit? What are the names of the shops. Now we visit Middlefield more frequently. Nice catch on the items you found, Larry

Miller's is the shop I bought the gear in, the other shop was in Berlin.

Ivan

Ivan, I never had to pay more than about $25-35 for a TL Jr press back when I was actively building my collection of Lyman stuff… at one time I had 4-5 of them around here. I doubt if I’d have trouble finding one now for $50-75 with a little searching. With the good gun shows you still have in Ohio, you should be able to find one with a little serious searching. It’s up to you whether it would be worth your while to seek on out. If I were going to use one for rifle cases, I’d look for a later one with the inverted Y shaped linkage rather than the straight bar… the extra leverage would be worth it.
Froggie

Aren’t horses full or air?

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213th FBINA

Have a Tru-Line Jr. that was given to me with a bunch of dies. Also have several 310 Tools. All sit on shelves in my assortment of stuff that I call a collection.

Attached Images

Truline Press.jpg (80.6 KB, 8 views)

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I use a weelwright who happens to be Amish in Berlin, Ohio. His name is Noah Stutzmann and he does a fine job. He employs a Mennonite who is able to use the telephone. There is no electricity there, but they do an outstanding job.

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S&WHF #946
S&WCA #3824