New/Old 310 - Help?

[jdgabbard]

Ok, just bought a new 310 tool, well new to me, definately not new. But I have a few questions.

1 - What exactly am I missing? What you see is what I have, I'm sure there should be some more dies....

2 - Do the part numbers for the current .38spl/.357mag dies still work in older sets of 310 handles like this (these have the two holes for sizing boolits and seating the primer, I'm assuming that is what they are for)

Anything else I should know? I'm figuring I'm going to have to order new dies for this, but anything else?

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=4711

[scrapcan]

The older tooling were not the 310 tool . the 310 came about from the melding of the model 3 (rimmed cartridges) and the model 10 (for rimless cartridges) into one tool.

t looks to me like you have a number 3 tool but you might have an earlier tool that has had the mould removed. Can you look closely to see if you can tell if their are grind marks on the end or a difference/absence of plating? can you show us a picture of the hinge end of the tool?

I think you might have the following tool with some owner modification.

http://wawyckoff.com/IdealTools/NumberSix03.html

You could use new dies. You will need the cmr ( combined muzzle resizer and decapper) or a decap die and a mr die and the expander die. You have the seater die.

the old tools used a decap slug that had an expander on the other end. to decap you put the plug in the case and put slug/case into seater die and pushed out primer. see the above page. to put primer in you used the hole closer to the die station. to size bullets you used the hole closer to the handles as you stated. You could add a primer seater die that fits in the die station.

I likely have enough spare dies to get you going. send me a pm if interested.

[Shooter]

You should be able to reload the caliber on the handle with what you have.
Just use a Lee de-capper to knock out the old primer.
Drop the case through the hole to seat the primer.
The top of the seating stem flares the case mouth.
Charge the case, and seat the boolit.

[jdgabbard]

Manleyjt, I think you could be right. It does look very close to what is in the link. Here are some more pictures. But honestly, if it was a user modified tool, then they did a good job! I can't really tell if the machine marks are factory or not! There are some marks that look like it was hammered on, or used as a hammer, though.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=4716
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=223&pictureid=4715

[charles1]

Hello There from rain drenched Scotland, re your tong tool, it is definitely one of the early tools as the later Lyman 310 tools were made of alloy and were not calibre (this is how we spell "caliber" over here) specific. There were a large array of dies sets available. I have several different ones. I bought mine back in the early 60's and reloaded .38/357, 9mm, .32acp and others.They had a handy die for primer seating and generally came in 3 die sets. I still have the tool though I do not use it now as I use a Dillon 550 to keep up with my needs, I shoot lead bullet reloads in everything from 6.5 up to 11mm.
Another interesting and very rare thing I acquired was a Lyman Tru- Line Junior Turret press which is like a mini Spar- T Turret press. It also takes all the dies for the 310 tools and is beautifully made, like all the old Lyman gear.
If you like I will look out the tools and check them for anything of reference I can see that may be of help.
I also used to use the early LEE Loader Sets for my early .44 mag loads ,again back in the early 70's. I had the first .44 Magnum Ruger Blackhawk in this country.
I also ended up importing the LEE sets and moulds for other shooters.
Anyway, enough of the rambling on, all this rain is leaving my brain waterlogged.
Regards,
Chuck Ward

[Pressman]

Chuck, all that rain is one of the reasons my kin folk left Scotland and settled in Iowa. :)

The very early 310 tools were made of steel and marked for caliber. There were a LOT of changes in the first 7 or so years of production. They seemed to have settled for aluminum about 1953.

The little Tru-Line Jr press is where I got my start reloading for a Ruger Super Blackhawk in 1968. Nice revolver that I sadly traded for something I thought I needed worse. The little press has served my well for many years and still has a place on the shelf, along with 5 others. Over here they are very common but they still bring a good price on the auction sites.

If you will pm me with your email address I can send you some more info on the 310 tools.

Ken

[raingauge]

Looking at the photos I think you and I are using the same ebay search engine.

[jdgabbard]

Looking at the photos I think you and I are using the same ebay search engine.

??? You lost me... I did buy off ebay, you saying that you were looking at this same pair?

[raingauge]

'I'm sure that was a pair I was watching, the "rust" pattern and tape it looks just like them anyway. We'll have to watch each other, LOL, wouldn't want to get in a bidding war with a bro

[jdgabbard]

Haha, yeah I bought them there. Saw them and thought it seemed like a decent deal. Now with a board member being kind enough to donate the parts it didn't come with I will have a complete set at a VERY reasonable price.

I don't really buy much loading gear off ebay, but every once in a while I find something fairly cheap that is perfectly suited to my needs. So I usually snatch them up.

If I get into a fierce bidding war with someone, I'll be sure and check to see if its you, lol.

[Green Frog]

Jdgabbard, I assume by now you have figured out or been told that you can just ignore the other rods and holes on them and use your handles with a modern .38/.357 die set for a 310 as though they (the handles) were a modern set. The good thing about the later sets of dies is that they do the separate steps rather than trying to make the handles do everything. You could just get a decapper of some sort and do all of the loading (for 38 spl) with what you have... but it is a lot less efficiently accomplished. It really depends on what you want to do. Remember, when that tool was made, folks did a whole lot more for themselves, and didn't have the options we have today, but they did get things done in their own good time. Just my random thoughts... I've been there and done that, and still load on the next generation up from the set you have (steel handles, new dies.)

Froggie