Found a Hollywood legend !!

[Digger]

Have and use a lee classic cast turret for a long time now , been very satisfactory for my use .
Been thinking about a decent single stroke for more precision type final stage loading my 308.
went to a yard sale this morning and WOW !!! .....
the couple were still bringing things out to the tables , the gentleman says the reloading stuff is over there ... it was full ! all fairly new pieces , lyman case prep station, RCBS case prep station ..RCBS progressive . calipers , brass, etc......
Was asking the man and he said "talk to my wife , she is the shooter in the family !" ..
Turns out they are ex military and the blond was a precision shooter and knew more about the details than I will ever know .
They were moving and decided to dump it all ..
in the middle of all the contemporary loading equipment sat this item ... a "Hollywood " single stroke !
It stuck out like a sore thumb among all the pretty colored stuff ..
chatted a bit and payed fifty bucks ... she was on the ball with prices on the other fairly new equipment .
Please let me know how I did here gentlemen ...I love the older equipment and this thing is smooth and straight , no play at all , plus it's built like a tank !, by the way , what model is it ?
118254

[beroen]

How much where the case prep stations hook a brother up!

[Digger]

175.00 more or less ... by the way .. she said a thousand will take the whole table when I first walked up.

[frank505]

I've loaded thousands of rifle rounds on mine. You can have after I'm dead

[Pressman]

That is a cast iron, pre 1960, Senior. Great press at a great price.
Ken

[Digger]

That is a cast iron, pre 1960, Senior. Great press at a great price.
Ken
Thanks Pressman , there is not a speck of rust on it , missing one link pin so will have to fabricate one .
What is the clue for "pre 1960" ?

[seagiant]

Hi,
You stole it! I paid $10 for mine! Call me what you like!:mrgreen:

[Digger]

Hi,
You stole it! I paid $10 for mine! Call me what you like!:mrgreen:
ooookay !! , here we go , neener neener neener .:roll: ...:kidding:
your machine looks great Seagiant , excellent score.
But I have to admit .. looking for the odd ball items at sales is fun.
I could not believe this was sitting there with all the other "current" reloading tools on the table
Sure , I could have wheeled and dealed on the other stuff but ... my soft spot for the old "Quality" tools goes deep.
Think it will look good in the mancave next to the lyman 45's , Meepos sizer...
Will use it loading my 308's ... will do most of the work on my Turret but will seat the boolits on this toy for better alignment .

[Kevin Rohrer]

Thanks Pressman , there is not a speck of rust on it , missing one link pin so will have to fabricate one .
What is the clue for "pre 1960" ?

If you mean a missing "C" clip, hardware stores like Loew's sells them for a few pennies.

[starmac]

You done got hoodwinked, but to ease your pain, I would give you your money back, and being the nice guy I am would even pay shipping.

[fatelk]

I found one also at a garage sale a few years ago, also around $50. It ended up being something I didn't really use. If I remember right I put it on ebay after a while, and it went for a LOT more than I paid for it. :)

[Digger]

You done got hoodwinked, but to ease your pain, I would give you your money back, and being the nice guy I am would even pay shipping.

Thanks for the thought there starmac ...I will put you at the top of the "reciever" list ...;)

[LUBEDUDE]

Congrats on your acquisition.

In your pic it looks like you got a custom primer catcher as well? Can you post some better pics of that please? I haven't seen one like it before.

[Digger]

10-4 ... looks like someone used a little bit of heliarc welding to put together a small box out of aluminum plate
118332118333

[LUBEDUDE]

Thanks Digger!

While there is no primer post installed, it looks like it would work with one. That's what makes it unique.

Most homemade catchers are just for the decapping operation only. Yours looks like you can decap and prime in the same operation. This is good because the Hollywood priming system is really smooth and you can actually "feel" it.

[runfiverun]

compare it to rcbs's summit press at 200.00 and you'll see the value of what you got.

[Digger]

compare it to rcbs's summit press at 200.00 and you'll see the value of what you got.

Think you have been reading my mind there Runfiverun !!

[seagiant]

compare it to rcbs's summit press at 200.00 and you'll see the value of what you got.

Hi,
I love most everything RCBS makes, but yes, this press is way BETTER than the Summit!

[Digger]

Hi,
I love most everything RCBS makes, but yes, this press is way BETTER than the Summit!
Like the color there Seagiant .. did you do a repaint ?

[seagiant]

Like the color there Seagiant .. did you do a repaint ?

Hi,
Oh yea,that press was bought for $10 but it needed a LOT of TLC! Here is a pic of my "tall" Senior made in aluminum I paid $200 but they are rare and these presses keep getting more expensive every year. I bought the tall Senior from a friend of mine that had two of them and it still took me a year to talk him into saleing it. I doubt I would sale it for less than $300 I really enjoy using it! It was also redone!

[Digger]

Now with this setup , we are going back in time ....if you click on the pic
Can you read the box ? ....118523

[Kevin Rohrer]

An early pic of mine.

118604

[Digger]

An early pic of mine.

118604
Looks very nice and clean ...nice one !
do you still use it ?

[Digger]

Thanks Digger!

While there is no primer post installed, it looks like it would work with one. That's what makes it unique.

Most homemade catchers are just for the decapping operation only. Yours looks like you can decap and prime in the same operation. This is good because the Hollywood priming system is really smooth and you can actually "feel" it.
If I may ... are there any pictures of the primer/decapping system somewhere ? ..
since I am getting familiar with the system for the first time.

[3006guns]

The priming arm is about 2 1/2"-3" long with a knurled base and screws into that hole where your little box is. Obviously you remove the box first! I've seen reproductions on Ebay and it seems to me that the guy claims they will pass through an RCBS shell holder hole, whereas I don't believe the originals did.

[starmac]

I don't think all hollywood presses used the same length primer post. The reason I say that is when I got my twelve station press it came with 2 different sets of primer posts, but they are both obviously hollywood.

[Digger]

was looking at what the folks at CH4D have and was wondering if these items would work ..
118884 ... primer pocket swager and primer by setting them in the shell holder with the shell on top of the die ?

[starmac]

Probably, mine primes on the down stroke, when I use it, I size on the upstroke and prime on the down stroke.

[Kevin Rohrer]

Looks very nice and clean ...nice one !
do you still use it ?

I do. Right now it has an RCBS collet bullet puller attached. It gets used for small jobs.

[Kevin Rohrer]

I don't think all hollywood presses used the same length primer post. The reason I say that is when I got my twelve station press it came with 2 different sets of primer posts, but they are both obviously hollywood.

Each press seems to have its own length of primer arms. Most are interchangeable with the next bigger/small-sized presses.

Oh, and one thing I just realized is that the large primer posts will NOT work with some shell holders such as RCBS and Redding, due to the latter making the hole too small. I have to check Lyman, but feel they will be too small, also.

CH makes the holes big enough. I need to place an order with them.

[Tracvision]

Hi,
Oh yea,that press was bought for $10 but it needed a LOT of TLC! Here is a pic of my "tall" Senior made in aluminum I paid $200 but they are rare and these presses keep getting more expensive every year. I bought the tall Senior from a friend of mine that had two of them and it still took me a year to talk him into saleing it. I doubt I would sale it for less than $300 I really enjoy using it! It was also redone!

Any "SENIOR" single stage you can find is worth grabbing. They are great for loading the 50 or bullet swaging up to .375. There are actually three sizes of "Seniors". The shorty, the Middle sized single stage (most common), and the tall made for 20mm. I have the prototype 20mm but do not think it ever went into production. The Middle sized SENIOR is 14" bottom of base to top of threads. The 20mm version is 18". :) Hold on to that Senior Digger.

[Digger]

Any "SENIOR" single stage you can find is worth grabbing. They are great for loading the 50 or bullet swaging up to .375. There are actually three sizes of "Seniors". The shorty, the Middle sized single stage (most common), and the tall made for 20mm. I have the prototype 20mm but do not think it ever went into production. The Middle sized SENIOR is 14" bottom of base to top of threads. The 20mm version is 18". :) Hold on to that Senior Digger.

Plan to , definitely plan to ...
Just can't believe the machine work in these toys compared to today's world...

[Tracvision]

Plan to , definitely plan to ...
Just can't believe the machine work in these toys compared to today's world...

It all comes down to cost Digger. High end presses have a small following. Seems to be more than a few of us here though.

[Tracvision]

Thanks Pressman , there is not a speck of rust on it , missing one link pin so will have to fabricate one .
What is the clue for "pre 1960" ?
Digger, Not sure what part you are missing. However, if you can post a picture of the area where the part is missing, I probably have one. I have "C" clips. I always thought they should be horseshoe clips for easy dis-assembly.

[Digger]

Thanks Tracvision ...
What was missing was the pivot pin in the "elbow" of the linkage , if you look at the first pic of the two showing the little box .. you can just make it out that nothing is there compared to the opposite side .
My father was a tool and die maker from years back ... what I have left is his original "Gerstner" wooden tool box with all the little drawers .
Inside are all kinds of odds and ends and I found a punch that was different , it had been turned on a lathe.
I miked the one good pivot pin and miked the punch as it was darn close .. , just a couple thou larger .
Used the dremel and cut a section off (took a while) smoothed the edges of the cut and tried it out.
started to be a little firm and with tap of my little mallet , popped in !!!
Nice snug fit , a little tighter than the other original but just right as it is a slight "press fit".
No clips rings installed as I do not need them at the moment using it for my .308 process ,even if I push a little with my finger .. no movement.
No bind at all , just works ! ... got very lucky !
The single shaft on the upper half of the linkage was very slightly larger in the hole so there is no friction involved , just firm in the slotted bottom linkage shaft holes.

[Tracvision]

Hi,
Oh yea,that press was bought for $10 but it needed a LOT of TLC! Here is a pic of my "tall" Senior made in aluminum I paid $200 but they are rare and these presses keep getting more expensive every year. I bought the tall Senior from a friend of mine that had two of them and it still took me a year to talk him into saleing it. I doubt I would sale it for less than $300 I really enjoy using it! It was also redone!

Nice press SeaGiant. Are you sure that is not a medium size? lol. There is a tall Senior that is 18" from base ( floor ) to top of threads with head removed. It was made for 20mm. The med was 14" to top of threads.