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Thread: Craigslist Score?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master



    NavyVet1959's Avatar
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    Craigslist Score?

    Stumbled across an ad on Craigslist today for a box of old reloading equipment for $25. It looked a bit rusty, but I figured it was worth a gamble and I told the guy I would take as long as the press still moved / wasn't rusted/frozen up.

    He was probably an hour away from where I was, so add maybe another $20 for gas.

    Best I can tell, it looks like the following:
    • RCBS Rock Chucker Press
    • 2 RCBS Powder tricklers
    • RCBS Powder Measure
    • RCBS 2-die set (probably for 6.5 Carcano) (CORRECTION: Turned out to be for .38 Special)
    • Printout of reloading notes for 6.5 Carcano
    • Various handheld primer pocket tools
    • Something that looks like a press mounted primer pocket swagging tool (CORRECTION: Turned out to be a CH4D bullet swage die with a bullet ejector)
    • Shotgun cleaning rod
    • Full set of Lee powder dippers


    Here's some photos of most of the stuff with the dust wiped off of it and after a quick wipe down with mineral spirits on a paper towel to remove some of the rust.



















    All in all, I think I came out pretty good on this one.

    The funny thing, I wasn't even *looking* for reloading equipment.

    I'm wondering about those powder tricklers though... Are they supposed to have some sort of top that goes on them? Seems like an open top like that would be a bit too subject to getting knocked over and spilling.

    Now, just need to get a bit of mineral spirits and some fine steel wool to clean it up a lot better.

    Turns out that it was a guy's father's equipment who had recently died at 90 years old and he was just wanting to clean out all the old stuff since he had a better press himself. Maybe he didn't figure it would be easy to clean up or worth the time to do it so that he could get more money for it. Whatever the reason, I definitely did not haggle on the price...
    Last edited by NavyVet1959; 11-23-2017 at 04:49 AM.

  2. #2
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    Great score. I don't think any of us could pass up on that deal.

    "I'm wondering about those powder tricklers though... Are they supposed to have some sort of top that goes on them? Seems like an open top like that would be a bit too subject to getting knocked over and spilling."

    I never leave powder in a trickler, use it and put it back.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master copdills's Avatar
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    great find man

  4. #4
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    Great purchase!

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    “Something that looks like a press mounted primer pocket swagging tool”

    That’d be the thing mounted to the niversal decapping die? Let’s see more pics of that.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


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    Navyvet
    Did you learn to scrounge like that while you were in the service? Great deal.
    Micah 6:8
    He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

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  7. #7
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    RogerDat's Avatar
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    Wow, you did good. Those being the older black Lee powder scoops you will need to dig up the conversion to CC list from off the internet. I seem to recall recent thread with table showing the black scoops were often in between the current yellow ones. Made a nice complementary set to cover more loads.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

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  8. #8
    Boolit Master bosterr's Avatar
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    I've had a RCBS trickler just like those since the late 60's and never knocked it over and spilled powder. Mine didn't come with a lid either.

  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Nice Score! I have that same trickler and it did not come with a cap.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    Never saw lids on the powder tricklers....the black/red lee dippers work just fine....and, I thought thievery was against the law in Texas....

  11. #11
    Boolit Master



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    Quote Originally Posted by JimB.. View Post
    “Something that looks like a press mounted primer pocket swagging tool”

    That’d be the thing mounted to the niversal decapping die? Let’s see more pics of that.
    I've never had a primer pocket swagger to examine, so I'm just kind of guessing that is what it may be. Here's a cropped portion of the original photo with maybe more detail...




  12. #12
    Boolit Master
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    Looks like a CH4D doodad. Don’t think it’s a primer pocket swager, but i’m Wrong a lot.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master



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    Quote Originally Posted by JimB.. View Post
    Looks like a CH4D doodad. Don’t think it’s a primer pocket swager, but i’m Wrong a lot.
    Yeah, it does look like their logo, so I sent them an email to see if they can tell me anything about it. I looked on their webpage and was not able to find anything that looked like it. All the primer pocket swaggers that they have these days seem to be more bench mounted and not press mounted.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master



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    Well, I just finished disassembling what I thought was a primer pocket swagger and brushed it with a brass brush and mineral spirits. The die body says "38 357 SWAGE" on it.

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance
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    Looks like an old CH4D full length sizing die with decapper pin to me
    Regards
    John

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
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    It is a CH bullet swaging die for making swaged lead bullets. The tip everyone thinks is a primer punch is actually a
    hollow point punch for making hollow point bullets.

    In that group you have bought there may be what looks like a shell holder that has a ram on it. That piece is used to push the lead core and bullet jacket into the die.
    It fits very tightly into the die body. Nice thing about this die is that you can re-swage soft points into hollow points.

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy


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    Very nice score. Powder tricklers do not have lids.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master



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    Quote Originally Posted by jaguarxk120 View Post
    It is a CH bullet swaging die for making swaged lead bullets. The tip everyone thinks is a primer punch is actually a
    hollow point punch for making hollow point bullets.

    In that group you have bought there may be what looks like a shell holder that has a ram on it. That piece is used to push the lead core and bullet jacket into the die.
    It fits very tightly into the die body. Nice thing about this die is that you can re-swage soft points into hollow points.
    After I saw the "SWAGE" when I was cleaning it today, I wondered if the top lever was just for pushing the bullet out after reshaping a lead core, so I took one of the Lee 358-105-SWC bullets that I had sitting nearby and used it to see what would happen. It slightly changed the bullet profile and made a hollowpoint in the process. Here's what the result turned out looking like:



    I didn't put a lot of force on it, so it probably was just enough to make the hollowpoint and not fully swage the bullet into whatever shape the die was designed for. So, it kind of stayed with the SWC, but the nose expanded out a bit when the hollowpoint pin was pressed into it.

    One thing that I noticed though is that the bullet was rather difficult to remove from the nose pin that made the hollowpoint. I lubed the bullet beforehand, but that didn't seem to help. To push the bullet into the die, I used the Lee bullet resizing die's base piece.

    After I got the RCBS dies cleaned up, I could see the lettering that was stamped on them. Turns out they are not 6.5 Curacano, but rather .38 Special.



    Those two small pieces look like a broken decapping pin and maybe some sort of end piece that is threaded to hold the decapping pin in some other die.

    So, I ended up with a book with reloading data for a cartridge that I don't have a gun for and dies for a cartridge that I already have dies for.

    I don't see the portion that you say looks like a shellholder with a ram on it.
    Last edited by NavyVet1959; 11-23-2017 at 03:10 AM.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master



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    Dave at CH4D responded to an email that I sent about the product and said that it was a "bullet swage die with a bullet ejector". He said that the bullet ejector was last made in the 1980s.

  20. #20
    Boolit Bub EddieZoom's Avatar
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    Just when I think craigslist is a complete waste of time filled with overpriced junk....something like this happens

    Nice find.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check