Reloading in the good old days???

[zardoz]

I believe there is a scene in a movie from 1956 called "The Last Hunt", where the two main characters are reloading their buffalo cartridges around a campfire. I'll have to dig that out of my collection, and review to get back forgotten details.

Stewart Granger and Robert Taylor play the buffalo hunters. 1883 South Dakota is the setting.

Tiny spoiler: The very last scene in that movie is a bit like the last scene in "The Shining". :O

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

In front of the fireplace, long before brass cartridges, your woman pours the alloy while you are barefoot.

[perotter]

Any idea when the first home press came out???
I have seen those "nut cracker" all in one reloaders.
Would the Lee "tap, tap" be something that would have been used way back then???

One of my great-grandpa's reloading setup for metalic shotgun shells was like the Lee. More or less.

One of my great uncles had it and showed it to me once when I was about 8 or 9 years old.

[abunaitoo]

In all my years reloading, I've never used a Lee Loader.
Just never got around to doing it.

[Bent Ramrod]

The first presses were probably those made in-house and used at Springfield Armory and other military installations. Later the Ideal Mfg. Co. came out with similar presses. They are big, heavy, complicated and rare; almost exclusively set up for the military cartridges of the day. Generally used by National Guard and Army units. 1890s time frame.

The earliest home-use press tool I have is a Pacific “Perfection” reloader, originally made by the Hueter Bros. I think it came out before WWI, and was offered through the Roaring 20s. Pacific marketed it until they came up with their C press design and 7/8” x 14 tpi dies in the early 30s, which obsoleted most of the oddball loading tools.

Belding & Mull had a couple designs for a horizontal “press” starting in the 20s that lasted a remarkably long time on the market. The Yankee Specialty Corp. also had a couple small press designs in the same period that didn’t last so long.

The ARTCA Site is the best place to go for answers on antique reloading tool questions. Some of the old stuff is discussed on the Vintage forum of this site as well.

[M-Tecs]

https://www.blackpowdercartridge.com...loading-toolss

https://www.magzter.com/stories/Spor...eloading-Tools

https://loaddata.com/Article/LoadDev...ad-Anymore/448

http://castpics.net/wp/wp-content/up...-1884-1915.pdf

http://castpics.net/wp/lyman-ideal-310-die-code-chart/

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/l...20circa%201934.

https://antiquereloadingtools.com/

[atr]

I'm not sure how you define "good old days", but mine were when I was in my teens living close to the American River in Northern California. I hunted and fished and my reloading was 30-06, 12 gauge and .303 British. For the most part the reloading tools came from Herters, RCBS, OHAUS and Lyman. I still have all that original equipment, and I am still reloading.
IF there was ever a time in my life where I could say I walked free and easy on this earth, that was the time.

[perotter]

In all my years reloading, I've never used a Lee Loader.
Just never got around to doing it.

When I was 11 my pa bought me a new .410 shotgun and it came with a Lee Loader, a pound of 2400, a couple of boxes of wads, 100 primers and 25 lbs of shot I kwikly became a reloader with it.
My pa wasn't going to buy all the shotgun shells a farm boy could go thru.

That same Lee Loader is what I use for .410 55 years latter.

[john.k]

Most reloading was done with the pliers type tools from Ideal and Winchester.

[GregLaROCHE]

I would say reloading started with muskets or pistols. The first cartridges were paper and loaded into the first breech loaders, and then ignited with a needle shoved in from behind. They were needle guns. The most famous were the French Chassepots.

[Gewehr-Guy]

I have and still use one of the old Heuter tools as mentioned by Bent Ramrod. It is designed like a small arbor press. I had to make an assortment of small neck sizing dies to screw into the ram, also some neck expanding plugs. Also made some straight line bullet seaters,but need to lengthen the pipe on the tool to get enough height to use the seaters. Had to improvise on it's tooling , because I could never find any picture of what came with the press.

I am going to give it to one son, so he can help with loading all the ammo he shoots at our CBA matches. It will be a good old tool for him to learn the basics of hand loading on, as he lives in a small apartment, and cant mount a real press, or bang away with the Lee Loaders.

[geezer56]

I used the Lee whack a mole to load a 6.5x55 Swede that I bought for $39 out of a barrel in the local five and dime when I was a kid. I picked out the best looking bore and then searched through the barrel of guns to find the correct bolt. Store clerk just put the bolt in the next gun, they had no idea that they were fitted or what headspace was. That rifle would shoot tiny groups with my home assembled ammo. I traded it away when I left for college. Like an idiot.

[elmacgyver0]

Actually, we are living in the "Good old days".
Think about it, would you like to give up what we have now for what they had 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago.

[john.k]

Back in the 1950s and 60,there wasnt the spare cash for most people ...the idea of having a whole machine shop in your basement was reserved for the rich eccentric inventor and the ocassional doctor who made model steam engines.

[curdog007]

Look up a some of the cased Alexander Henry single shot and double-barrelled Black Powder Express rifles if you want to see some nice loading tools.

[WRideout]

I'm not sure how you define "good old days", but mine were when I was in my teens living close to the American River in Northern California. I hunted and fished and my reloading was 30-06, 12 gauge and .303 British. For the most part the reloading tools came from Herters, RCBS, OHAUS and Lyman. I still have all that original equipment, and I am still reloading.
IF there was ever a time in my life where I could say I walked free and easy on this earth, that was the time.

I spent four years in college at Chico State, not real close to the American River, but in the same region. I spent days at a time in the Sierra foothills and on the Sacramento River, fishing and hunting (when I should have been studying.) After I graduated, I had to leave for employment, but still miss that place. For a young man, it was heaven on earth.

Wayne

[Alferd Packer]

Lyman sold reloading tools as well as bullet casting moulds.Old catalogs from 1800s available from Cornell books.

[Jungle Dave]

Look up a some of the cased Alexander Henry single shot and double-barrelled Black Powder Express rifles if you want to see some nice loading tools.

You beat me to it. I was going to say the same thing. The various tools and gadgets in the cases from all the English makers were works of art themselves.

[Jungle Dave]

Actually, we are living in the "Good old days".
Think about it, would you like to give up what we have now for what they had 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago.

In a heartbeat. While I do enjoy the fast shipping of Amazon without having to read "6 to 8 weeks" on a paper order form, and being able to speak to others as we are doing now, I remember days that were much simpler. Even the Sun seemed a different color then. I could go to the store and get a box of .30-30's and make every single shot count. The entire atmosphere was better and time seemed to go slower.

[abunaitoo]

I would say reloading started with muskets or pistols. The first cartridges were paper and loaded into the first breech loaders, and then ignited with a needle shoved in from behind. They were needle guns. The most famous were the French Chassepots.

I shoot my Cheesepot.
So much fun.
Not all that hard to make the rounds.