Hello all! I am new to the forum, long time shooter and reloader.
About 5 years ago, I acquired an old 12G shotshell reloading press and a can of old Nobel powder for the astonishing sum of $20. I knocked the dust off of the press and got it working. I was surprised at the quality of the build. It reminds me of a kitchen Mixmaster- over engineered by todays standards and clearly built in a different consumer economy. I will likely hand this to one of my great-grandkids in about 40 years- and I am sure it will still be working perfectly when I do. The base looks as thick as tank armour and the tools and dies are all blued tool steel. I am sure the gold paint contains lead.....
I have found only 3 references to the type online-2 were references were online sales that had sold & 1 is an ebay sale. I could not find the new owners contacts and the sellers knew nothing about them- found them in their father's and grandfather's shed.
Photo attached- this one is not mine....
Mine has a non original charging bar that was made in the 70's- I found an ad for it on page 3 of the Oct 1977 issue of the Australian Claytarget shooting news- have a read- its worth a look just to see how shooting has changed but shooters have not- especially the haircuts .
https://www.claytarget.com.au/joomlatools-files/docman-files/CTSN/1977/1977_V30_09_Oct.pdf
All this tells me the press is old- but how old escapes me. I would love to find an owners manual or just know more about the press! If you know anything about these or the history- would love to hear about it !
R's
JP
Beretta 680 12G | Savage MkII 22LR | (Soon to be) Beretta 92FS Brigadier