Anyone out there still reload with older equipment?

[Sebring Pop]

The only upgrade I ever made is I bought carbide sizing dies. Everything else is still from the 60's and 70's.

 

[yeti]

Have an 80's era Rockchucker still going strong. Rifle & test batches all get loaded on it.
A Lyman #55 is one of my old favs too.

 

[Green Frog]

My father (age 89) and I share reloading space and equipment in his basement as we have since the early '70s. The newest press on the bench is a Dillon that was upgraded to 550 configuration sometime in the mid- to late '80s. The oldest presses are a CC Johnson Red Head™ turret press that takes the same dies as the TruLine Jrs (of which there are several.) There is also an early 1960s vintage Star Progressive™ and one of the very first Lyman All American™ presses to leave Connecticut. What actually constitutes "old equipment" is definitely a matter of personal perspective.

Regards,
Froggie

 

[BAM-BAM]

Green Frog....... I don't reload but still have my Dad's "old" Star progressive "stuff" packed in grease and tucked away.

He use to reload for the Department's pistol team and ammo for qualification.He had an FBI buddy who use to bring him buckets of once fired brass back from the Academy in Va.

 

[sophie]

Yes, I still use my RCBS JR press, RCBS 5-10 scale, RCBS Uniflow powder measure (both cylinders) and I think I purchased it in '78 and it all still works good for me. I am never in a hurry when I reload so it suits me just fine.

 

[tekarra]

Yes sir, I still use my Bonanza single stage press and Co-Ax dies purchase in the 1970s. On occasion break out the Lee Loadalls.

 

[Bruce51]

How about this set up. RCBS jr, Uniflow and a Lee all on a cast iron grinder stand.

Tired of being tied to a bench I bought the stand, which is sturdy, but can be moved around anywhere.

I reload slow and carefully charge cases and check powder levels before bullets are seated.

It's a hobby not a competition in producing thousands of rounds.



BLM

 

[ggibson511960]

How Can You Wear Them Out??

I would be interested in knowing how anyone can "wear out" a C-type press. My Rockchucker Jr. looks pretty nasty, but is still tight after 40+ years. So is the Uniflow powder measure. Now and again I clean, buff, and even re-blue the Uniflow's cylinders, but nothing ever breaks except the odd plastic accessory. I guess a press' ram could get wobbly in the frame bore, but one would get repetitive motion injury making it happen.

 

[Model 52]

My oldest press is a RCBS Green Machine that I bought when they first came out in the early 80's. That press is still in use. Its cranked out a tad over 270,000, .38 hbwc's. Presently its a winter project all torn down to only the main frame and being totally rebuilt and converted to 9mm.

Many hated, others could not make a Green Machine work. It takes patience and understanding to get it set up properly. Once set up and running, it just cranks out rounds. Green Machines were never designed to do caliber changes. You set it up for the caliber, powder and bullet and ran with that. RCBS was going to ome out with conversion kits for caliber changes. But they got so much bad press on the Green Machine, it was dropped fro their line.

I would love to find a Green Machine sitting under someones loading bench collecting dust that they would sell, set her up for .40 and go off and running

Model 52

 

[Iowa Fox]

Old guys like old stuff. Including old girls.

 

[Skeet 028]

Old guys like old stuff. Including old girls.

Heck I F, I like them all young or older..never call 'em OLD!! Least not to their face!

 

[BobC357]

Yes. Old RCBS and dies and it still does the job. Does the job right. Does it consistently. Does it reliably. No reason to change.

 

[Larry from Bend]

I reload for 9-10 calibers on my RCBS JR --- which I bought in 1973. RCBS is such a great company and stands behind their equipment so well, you can keep using it forever.

Well, maybe not forever but it's the only press Ive ever owned and I've used it for many 10,000s of rounds of 223, 38 Special, 7 Rem Mag etc....

 

[kcode]

In either 1971 or 1972 I bought a Lyman Spar-T. Its still the thing I use. I've bought other presses, but mostly gave them away to others to get them started. Thats really only 42 or so years. I doubt that I'll be good for more than another 10, and the press isn't showing any signs of giving up that fast. The problem with having this hobby that long is you tend to accumulate other stuff, like powder measures and odd dies. I need to reload more and accumulate less!

I too started out with a used Lyman Spar-T, still have it today used as a back up. I replaced it with a Lyman T-mag when I started loading .40 S&W. The ram has way too much wear in the shaft and housing to use on anything precision. I have gotten my moneys worth out of it.

 

[TenTea]

Do 50 year old Lyman 45's and 55's count?

If so, then *YES* I still load with "old" equipment on a weekly basis.

 

[Maddog 521]

I bought a three-hole Lee turret in 82 and sent it back in 12 to get it rebuilt. It's still going strong with the original dies and RCBS scale I bought at the same time. I'm going to teach my grandson how to use it. I sure hope he teaches his grandson. Isn't reloading fun?

 

[H Richard]

I still use my 1950's Texan 7 hole turret loader for all my load development and all of my rifle loading. I bought it used in the early 80's and along with a few sets of dies I am still using.

 

[tpelle]

Well, I usually use my RCBS Rock Chucker, but sometimes when I feel like kicking back to an earlier era I break out my Lyman 310 tong tool. (The ol' nutcracker is still the best tool for priming.)

 

[Kframerbluvr]

Those big Folger's cans work great...Lyman polishing media jugs hold lots of brass as well..

 

[Kframerbluvr]

I still load on my original Pacific 0-7 press I bought in the early '80s to reload .38 practice ammo as a young new deputy sheriff. Currently load that plus 9mm, .40, .45 ACP, 30-06 and 30-30. Plan to add .38 Super and .223 soon. Have no plans to change anytime soon.