Any reloading historians?

December 11, 2018, 08:51 PM

I recently told my father that I wanted to get into reloading and was acquiring equipment. I recalled that my grandfather was quite the shooter and handloader. My father, not so much. So, I mentioned that I would love to have some of my grandfather's gear, if he still had any.

Well, he sent it. A huge box of random, disorganized, neglected metal. Everything but a press, it looks like.

I don't think any of this equipment was made after 1960, most of it way older.

A ton of Herters dies, many of which I can't make heads or tails of. Bullet molds, a lubricator and sizer, and a powder measure. Most of that is Lyman branded.

I have no idea how to go about figuring out what this all is.

How do I find a press that these dies will fit, when I get them figured out? So far, I have identified 30.06, 270 Win, and 6mm. Lots of loose small parts.

Where do I start?

Edit: I already bought a RCBS Rockchucker press. Can Herters dies be used on it?

Bruce

"The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams

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December 12, 2018, 06:14 AM

45 Cal

I think all dies are pretty much standard thread pitch.
That press you bought is the one I started on in the late sixties,it is a good one.
Should some of the equipment you had gifted be rusty it is salvageable with white vinegar.
Soak over night and it cleans it up with a wire brush for the hard spots.
You might get usable information on the cast boolets forum,those guys are into casting in many ways,used to be fun when wheel weight were plentiful.

December 12, 2018, 07:51 AM

sigcrazy7

Nothing wrong with a Rockchucker.

In the interest of trivia, that press is the original product that essentially started RCBS. The name for the original press is the Rock Chucker Bullet Swage. A whole company was built around it.

In a way, saying “RCBS Rockchucker” is like saying “ATM Machine.”

December 12, 2018, 04:44 PM

RNshooter

I will have to set up the press and see if the parts I have will work in it.

Bruce