need an oldtimer? to help identify an old press

[wrxkyle]

i have a guy that offered to sell me this press for fairly cheap, i'm interested to know what you guys think of it, and any info on it. only stamping i can tell is a "H" encircled by a "C" and made in the usa, looks sturdy but thought i'd check in, i thought it might be an old ch4d press but none of theirs quite look like it. what do you think, gem or junk? <$100 price.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/wrxkyle/3F438015-91E5-427A-AF49-AE7E17FE96C9-767-0000002E8A80E16C_zps7e6d1234.jpg

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/wrxkyle/2D49E37E-30BC-4493-91CC-7BF56B33283D-767-0000002E8427906F_zps0f31a0af.jpg

thanks in advance, this will be my first reloading press, first time reloading, first time building an ar/owning an ar, lot's of firsts with all this gun ban talk floating around.

i plan to use the press, if suitable, to load 300blk, of which i'm also getting 190 rounds of smk220's from the same guy at midwayusa prices, and looking for a noe mold and some lead to start that next inevitable step since i'll be shooting subsonic once i get a tax stamp or two :) looking forward to gleaming lots of knowledge from this board, again thanks in advance.

edit, further google-fu honing lead me to this site saying it's a ch 333 press, any of you have experience with them? i'd probably restore it too for the heck of it, but looks like it might be a decent piece of equipment?

[Bent Ramrod]

The C-H 333 went for $42 back in 1967; a fairly pricey item when you could get a single stage "C" press for as low as $15 or so. Yours has three shell holders, which means you should be able to run the thing in the semi-progressive mode with whatever shell it is set up for, but it appears to be missing the priming stakes. Shell holders of that type ought to be available from C-H 4D; if not, Vega sells an adaptor that allows the use of snap-in shell holders. You should be able to use standard 7/8 x 14 dies in your press. The back die hole could be used for a third die or for a properly adapted powder measure.

I don't do speed reloading, so I don't know what the press would be worth. Having to have three of the same shell holders to use the press as it was intended would be a minus as far as I am concerned, but that's me, with a zillion oddball calibers to load. Getting the proper priming stakes might be difficult or easy, depending on whether C-H 4D still makes them. You probably wouldn't use them anyway; most people hand prime as a separate operation any more but the lack of the parts could be an argument for cutting the asking price.

As far as restoration, a good cleaning of the painted surfaces and steel wool/WD-40 treatment on the rusted surfaces should be enough to get it back into operation.

[wrxkyle]

thanks, that's a lot of good info. i'll make a call to ch4d tomorrow and see what they can tell me.

[Lloyd Smale]

never owned one but have loaded a bunch on them and there a darned good press.

[r1kk1]

I have one. Dave bought CH in 1991. He was 4D die company since the 70s. Hence the CH4D. He has a few parts for it. I picked one up for around 20 bucks in a gun shop in Phoenix in the 90s. I've been in the process of restoring mine.

Take care

r1kk1

[salpal48]

Info only CH still supports this press. There current auto prime will work in The 333 because your priming post is on the left. , they also sill make large and small priming posts if you ask. CH current push button powder measure sits in the left station above the prime post . This machine can also be converted to a shot gun loaders if those parts are available. That was the purpose of the whole in the rear on the upper left side Looks like it just need s a goog cleaning. I would not repaint it unless you take it completely apart. The original color I Believe was a Very dark blue or Blue-black. Strong enough to load any pistol or rifle.
Good Luck
Sal

[Roundnoser]

CH = Charles Heckman....The founder of CH. As I recall, he died in a car accident. I have a CH333 press that I use for 380 auto. It is set up with the push button powder measure and automatic primer feed mechanism. Its a neat little press and does a good job. Like anything made in the good old days, it is made well. If taken care of, it will outlast its owner!

Although the market fluctuates, I have seen the 333's (without the extras) sell for around 100 dollars on E-bay.

[Hardcast416taylor]

An excellent "non" progressive press. You`ll be amazed at the rate ammo can be turned out on this press, once you have it together and learned how to use it. Robert

[victor3ranger]

I would love to have one of those, never seen one before.

[Kevin Rohrer]

They showup on Ebay all the time. I think there is at least one there now.

It is definitely work $100, even though it is mostly aluminum.

[wrxkyle]

Info only CH still supports this press. There current auto prime will work in The 333 because your priming post is on the left. , they also sill make large and small priming posts if you ask. CH current push button powder measure sits in the left station above the prime post . This machine can also be converted to a shot gun loaders if those parts are available. That was the purpose of the whole in the rear on the upper left side Looks like it just need s a goog cleaning. I would not repaint it unless you take it completely apart. The original color I Believe was a Very dark blue or Blue-black. Strong enough to load any pistol or rifle.
Good Luck
Sal

i called ch today and the lady on the phone said they didn't have any literature to go with it, but that it shares common parts with the 444, shell holders etc. i'll have to figure out what my options are for setting it up, i noticed 300blk normally comes in 2 die sets, so what do most people use the 3rd station for? looks like i have a lot of learning to do. i'll see if i can find a powder measure to use with it, but for 150 with a pacific tool powder/bullet scale and 291 smk220 (91 have been pulled) it looks like a good deal, especially with the gun economy how it is right now. with any luck the shell plates it has are for 223 as that's one of the calibers the guy reloads, then i would be set to reload .223 and 300blk

thanks for all the info guys, everything i can get right now is great.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Its a good solid press and when its cleaned up it will continue to work well for you for a long time. You'll need 3 shell holders for each caliber and three "rams" (one time buy) to hold the SH's. Once you get used to the case shuffling order you get a loaded round with each pull of the handle. To answer your original question..."Gem" and the price is fair. After you clean it up and repaint it, keep it well oiled and don't for get to turn the press upside down and oil the pins and links where they connect in the carrier block. Any surface now showing rust will, after cleaning, need to be kept oiled or painted including the handle. Resize in the middle station as that one is the strongest. Its a compact, reliable press that if mounted to a square piece of board, can be taken anywhere and set up with a couple of 4 inch clamps. What I'm not seeing is a primer catcher; it was a small plastic tube and unless you can get one from CH 4D, you'll have to make devise one..otherwise spent primers all over the place. LLS

[Andrew Mason]

i have one of these.
my uncle gave it to me about 10 years ago, and i have been using it ever since.
i think i have used my other presses once since i have got mine.

i would definatly get it

[wrxkyle]

took your guys advice and bought it! so far i'm happy, it runs smooth, and came with a fairly used redding powder measure and scale, that needs to be zero'd. the redding measure i'm unsure if it will meter accurately, time will tell, i had to grind off a lip that had formed over the years and years of the edge of the powder charge area cutting powder as it cycled down and that edge deforming, it was sticking badly but now is smooth, but it's not a sharp lip, maybe won't matter especially with finer pistol powders.

but for all of whats in the picture for $150 plus 40 rounds of pmc bronze .223, and the fact that it already has the universal h-rams, supposedly, powder measure (mount not pictured), scale, 291 sierra match king 220grain 308 bullets (200 moly coated, very old boxes so maybe these were produced back in the black talon moly coating craze days?) i took a brass and a steel brush to some of the rust, as you can see it has cleaned up quite a bit, the guide arms were rust free and shiny (removed the thick dried out grease from them)

well i'm excited, now just to find powder primers and brass, lots of reading, trial, and hopefully not as much error. i don't know much of anything about reloading but i look forward to learning it all, kinda wish i had parents that allowed guns in the house and taught me all this stuff, but oh well, at least the next generation of my family will enjoy the knowledge i'll be teaching myself :)

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/wrxkyle/28B8F4D8-B0BF-4588-95E4-4AA1A28C4EC5-1745-00000192EF349EAB_zps1ec4204d.jpg

[Red Sky]

Looks nice. Just get a loading book (or download of course) and start searching for components. Midway has large rifle primers (CCI #200, highly recommend CCI primers of all types) in stock currently and on the whole they are much easier to get than the small variety. IMR 4064 is a good .308 powder if you come across some before you get your data - I know it is great for 180 grain and would probably work well for you too. Otherwise, I'm sure you can research easily enough what load/powder you want. Most of it is in and out of stock regularly, so you shouldn't have too much trouble if you stay on it.

[wrxkyle]

Looks nice. Just get a loading book (or download of course) and start searching for components. Midway has large rifle primers (CCI #200, highly recommend CCI primers of all types) in stock currently and on the whole they are much easier to get than the small variety. IMR 4064 is a good .308 powder if you come across some before you get your data - I know it is great for 180 grain and would probably work well for you too. Otherwise, I'm sure you can research easily enough what load/powder you want. Most of it is in and out of stock regularly, so you shouldn't have too much trouble if you stay on it.

thanks for the tip, i'll actually be looking for pistol powders, as these rounds are going to be loaded up to 300blackout instead of 308, but thanks for the heads up. i'm off to find some load data and a reloading manual.

[Wayne Smith]

I have the Brown Bair very similar press. I got a piece of hollow plastic tubing that fits into the shell holder hollow bolt and attached the other end to a hole drilled through the top of an old medicine bottle. You can only do this in the back position. I decap almost everything with this press.

[salpal48]

I,v Pm you about your Brown bair III Concerning the auto prime system