Paul in Nevada
Member
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2021
- Messages
- 870
- Reaction score
- 1,019
A friend passed along a box of reloading tools that he doesn't need. The box was a garage find that passed through a few hands before it ended up with my friend, who does not reload. Everything dates from the 60's through early 80's. Whoever the original owner was, he took care of his tools. Some highlights: An LE Wilson case trimmer and a few rifle case guides, an Ohaus/Lyman D5 scale that is spot on, an old RCBS Uniflow with a much smaller bottle than my vintage 2000 model, a bunch of old RCBS die sets in their original boxes, etc.
The big score is an RCBS A2 press in great shape. From what I have read it was made in the mid 60's. These seem to have quite a following among old timers. It's half again larger than my Rockchucker. It has all the priming attachments, which I understand is an uncommon find. I am not really sure what I would do with this press. Space on my work bench is already limited. I could dedicate it to decapping or some other batch process but that seems like a waste for such a work horse.
Here is an oddball: A four die set for the 263 Sabre wildcat, along with a case gauge made by "J. Shannon". An internet search shows that Mr. Shannon was a gunsmith near Spokane WA who developed several cool wildcats in the 50's and 60's, including the 263 Sabre (named after the fighter jet). The 263 Sabre is a 30-06 case necked down to 0.264" with a 35* shoulder. It's an "improved" version of the 256 Newton and it predates the 6.5-'06 A-Square (just a little fun trivia).
The original owner obviously shot a bunch of surplus and "match" 30-06 judging by the dies, cases, and load data. Then it looks like he formed some of the brass with a 280 Remington die before feeding it into a full length 263 Sabre sizing die. Then he had a body die for subsequent loadings. I bet that big A2 made case forming easy.
This would be a cool cartridge to play with. 6.5mm bullets are all the rage these days. A 6.5 in an improved 30-'06 case should kick the Creedmore right in the butt. The real tragedy here is that these dies went with a custom rifle, and that rifle is worthless without the dies. I imagine the original owner contacting Mr. Shannon for a custom rifle and die set some time in the late 50's-early 60's, then spending a few decades developing a pet load for his baby. Then when he passed, the rifle ends up in a pawn shop and is eventually stripped for the action and bolt while the dies languished in several garages for 40 years. Sad!
Anyway, just sharing a cool find. Some of these items will be integrated into my reloading bench, some others I will re-home with people who can use them. Either way, these tools won't be sitting in forgotten corners of dusty garages anymore.
The big score is an RCBS A2 press in great shape. From what I have read it was made in the mid 60's. These seem to have quite a following among old timers. It's half again larger than my Rockchucker. It has all the priming attachments, which I understand is an uncommon find. I am not really sure what I would do with this press. Space on my work bench is already limited. I could dedicate it to decapping or some other batch process but that seems like a waste for such a work horse.
Here is an oddball: A four die set for the 263 Sabre wildcat, along with a case gauge made by "J. Shannon". An internet search shows that Mr. Shannon was a gunsmith near Spokane WA who developed several cool wildcats in the 50's and 60's, including the 263 Sabre (named after the fighter jet). The 263 Sabre is a 30-06 case necked down to 0.264" with a 35* shoulder. It's an "improved" version of the 256 Newton and it predates the 6.5-'06 A-Square (just a little fun trivia).
The original owner obviously shot a bunch of surplus and "match" 30-06 judging by the dies, cases, and load data. Then it looks like he formed some of the brass with a 280 Remington die before feeding it into a full length 263 Sabre sizing die. Then he had a body die for subsequent loadings. I bet that big A2 made case forming easy.
This would be a cool cartridge to play with. 6.5mm bullets are all the rage these days. A 6.5 in an improved 30-'06 case should kick the Creedmore right in the butt. The real tragedy here is that these dies went with a custom rifle, and that rifle is worthless without the dies. I imagine the original owner contacting Mr. Shannon for a custom rifle and die set some time in the late 50's-early 60's, then spending a few decades developing a pet load for his baby. Then when he passed, the rifle ends up in a pawn shop and is eventually stripped for the action and bolt while the dies languished in several garages for 40 years. Sad!
Anyway, just sharing a cool find. Some of these items will be integrated into my reloading bench, some others I will re-home with people who can use them. Either way, these tools won't be sitting in forgotten corners of dusty garages anymore.
