Camdex 2300?

[Joe504]

I have a chance to buy a Camdex 2300. it does not have a case collator, or a bullet feeder. My buddy does not know what a fair price would be, or how hard parts are to get. It's in 45 ACP, and goes run. Any info?

Thanks for the help

153076

[beeser]

I would contact Camdex for parts availability and prices. The picture looks like a much older version of their current Model 2300.
http://www.camdexloader.com/2300LargeRifle.aspx
This is obviously not a consumer grade loader so don't expect it to produce ammunition without some serious effort and most likely lots of additional money beyond the initial investment. As a curio (my interest), I would put a value of no more than $1000 on it.

[salpal48]

I had @ one time a Camdex . in 38 spl. a Very good machine. . I found It to be a well running machine. . The big problem was dirt. mainly from primer pockets. . the break down to me was tough and The Make Ready . was Critical
When we ran clean unprimed Brass it was Very well.
When it ran It ran well. when it stopped You had Problems.. this is not a machine Push the Button and go have Coffee
Sal

[jmorris]

Can't tell from your single photo what all is missing.

the MA Systems collators new will be more than $1000 each, you'll need one for cases and another for the bullets. Does it have the one for the primers?

[Joe504]

The bullets have tubes that go in a manually rotating wheel. I guess each tube holds 100 projectiles of 45. The primers are held in tubes also, but swapping them does not look easy. Cases, I have no idea. It looks neat. he has a second. if it was priced well enough that I could sell one for enough to get the case collator and something to feed primers to it, I might get them. But that would mean selling the second one, which is setup for 44 special, for over $3,000, from what I am hearing. I got excited when I saw the new ones sell for around $30,000 each :)

[W.R.Buchanan]

That machine in the pics has not been used for some time. As a result it is filthy. It needs to come completely apart and be cleaned up and then reassembled before it is ran or the dirt will destroy it.

What you are looking at is something you know nothing about, and as a result you could be in for some big surprises, and none of them are good!

Just the needed parts alone will set you back big time,,, and if you aren't extremely mechanically inclined (like extensive Automated Machine Experience) or know someone who is, you will never get it running.

This machine is a project for someone like Morris, and even he would be challenged.

I do have that experience, and I wouldn't give more than a couple hundred $ for the machine. Just because a new machine is $30K doesn't mean this one is worth big money too. As it sits it is essentially a "parts" machine. Price accordingly. You also have to look at recouping your money on the back side, and resale for these things isn't all that.

My recommendation is, if you aren't going to manufacture ammo, you really don't need this one. You could do as much with a Dillon 650 or 1050 for a lot less money and a lot less headache.

My .02 on this subject. Not trying to offend, just trying to reveal the reality of the situation.

Randy

[beeser]

Well said W.R.Buchanan but there is value in these old machines beyond their practical use. I think it's just plain fun to tinker with them and a challenge to get them running properly.

[beeser]

This may help for valuation purposes. It's not a Camdex but similar.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tri-Standard-Inline-Reloading-Press-/191708248685?hash=item2ca2b3ba6d%3Ag%3Ad5EAAOSw37t WEay0&nma=true&si=4N3DcHhmhqxSU%252FsBSLlSHyyUD1I%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[Joe504]

Thanks for all the help guys

[jmorris]

I think it's just plain fun to tinker with them and a challenge to get them running properly.


There is a lot to say for that but the help isn't available for them like consumer presses. I have a friend that keeps a room full of them running, newer versions an some even the latest camdex machines, all of them have had issues and customer service, even with the new ones, seems less than ideal to me from a second hand perspective. I have also had to make or repair some parts for them that are obsolete and they are not cheap.

I have seen running and collated camdex machines go for $7500, that's less than a caliber conversion costs for them.

[Smoke4320]

The men here are giving you some good advice.
This will cost way more than you can think

[jmorris]

Costs even more to keep them running, as far as having them something to do, when they are running well they will load more in an hour than most folks shoot in a year.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Like I said, these machines are fine if you are commercially loading ammo, and more properly can maintain them. If you don't have some background in automated machines it is going to be expensive to get one to do anything.

I have things I tinker with, they are all cheap toys like Enfield or Springfield Rifles which were in the $200 to 400 range. I fix them up refinish them and can actually make a few bucks when I sell them. Finding someone to buy one of these machines would be the first obstacle and the second would be making any money.

The only way you could extract any significant value from a machine like this would be from "Value in Use." If you don't have any thing to do with the machine then you can't do that.

I bought an old Brown & Sharp 00 Screw Machine once for $500. For those who don't know already, Screw Machines are simply "automated lathes." Early ones like mine were all mechanical and the machines functions were controlled by cams and stops and trips.

I was completely fascinated by this thing which when running was so loud in the garage I could only run it with the door closed and when my wife wasn't home. You literally couldn't hear yourself think around it. (Kind of like the Cummins Engine in my Jeep.)

It took me 3 weeks to set it up to cut a piece of 3/16" aluminum tubing 1.000 long and chamfer both ends, and I made 2,000 of them and got $1.00 a piece for them. IE: the machine paid for itself on the first job.

I never found another job for it and ended up selling it years later for $500. But I kept all the tooling, the bar feeder, and most importantly the book on the machine which was 850 pages long and taught me how to do so many things with my other machines it was ridiculous ! Among those things, I learned how to make perfect knurls which by itself was worth the trip.

My whole point here is that I have a fairly well rounded mechanical background as well as lots of experience with machines. But the most important factor when buying any machine, is having something to do with it "Before" you buy it!

I can't tell you how many machine shops in my area and there are about 900 total within 50 miles of me, have bought expensive machines and then went looking for work to put on them. many went out of business waiting for that work to show up.

We are located near Haas Automation and they sold machines to anyone who would stand still long enough to sign the papers. They also made sure the machine was hooked up to a phone line so they could shut it down if you missed a payment! Each month they down loaded a "Locking Code" to the machine and if you didn't pay the bill you didn't get the code and you couldn't run the machine. If you unhooked the machine it wouldn't run either.

They were very serious about getting paid. I mean they had NASCAR to sponsor and all.

Finally all of those machines I've talked about can make lots of different things.

That Camdex Machine can only make one thing.

.03 and .04 on this subject.

Randy

[jmorris]

The line we most used in the shop when I built race cars was, there is only one way to make a small fortune in race cars, that is to start with a large one...

[Joe504]

ok, well, if someone else wants these, let me know. They are around New Orleans.

[beeser]

ok, well, if someone else wants these, let me know. They are around New Orleans.
What's the asking price if you don't mind disclosing it here?

[Joe504]

We were not certain on a price. He started thinking 1,000 each, but I figure he would go also low a $700 each, if you bought the pair.

[jmorris]

Sent you a PM

[jmorris]

Never did receive the contact information but did look into it a bit more.

The machine in the photo above is not a Camdex 2300, this is a Camdex 2300.
http://www.camdexloader.com/Zoom.htm?AppImages/ProductImages/2300SeriesLarge.jpg

That machine looks a lot like a 1950's-1960's tri standard.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AckwtvcYHxw&ebc=ANyPxKpnMtjExznkumJj7VVxh2 Qtnqg4QSUDUtXi3K4O0ykBoSkqfkZtrHkm1z89dMzxh-7sHN8q23ban7KZ0KNASF6ApGc-AQ

[ReloaderFred]

No, it's not a LoadaMatic by Tri-Standard Manufacturing. They all had a cast iron base that is fully enclosed on all four sides. The early ones dropped the loaded round out the bottom, but the later ones had a chute that sent the round either to the front of the solid base, or out the side.

Here's the label on mine:

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m606/ReloaderFred/Load%20a%20Matic%20Press%20004.jpg (http://s1134.photobucket.com/user/ReloaderFred/media/Load%20a%20Matic%20Press%20004.jpg.html)

And here's the machine:

http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m606/ReloaderFred/Load%20a%20Matic%20Press%20001.jpg (http://s1134.photobucket.com/user/ReloaderFred/media/Load%20a%20Matic%20Press%20001.jpg.html)

There were several different companies making progressive loaders during the 1960's, such as Camdex, AmmoLoad, Tri-Standard, and most of them were based on the in-line progression. C-H made a manual loader on the same basic design. It was only Star, to the best of my recollection, that made one in a circular pattern.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[jmorris]

The machine in the Op's photo also looks to have 7 stations, more than the Tri-Standard but 5 less than the 2300.

[beeser]

The early Tri-Standards (ReloaderFred's) I believe had 6 stations. The later ones had 8

[ReloaderFred]

My Loadamatic (aka: Tri-Standard) has five stations:

1. Size/Deprime
2. Prime/Bell Case Mouth
3. Powder Drop
4. Bullet Feed
5. Seat Bullet/Crimp

I believe later on Randy Gillespie's Dad expanded them and added motor drive sometime after he bought the rights from the Tri-Standard Manufacturing Co.

All I know is, the OP's machine isn't a Loadamatic, and it may, or may not, be a Camdex. Without seeing an actual label on the machine, I can't tell who made it, but it does look like there are several parts missing from it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[beeser]

My Loadamatic (aka: Tri-Standard) has five stations:

1. Size/Deprime
2. Prime/Bell Case Mouth
3. Powder Drop
4. Bullet Feed
5. Seat Bullet/Crimp

I believe later on Randy Gillespie's Dad expanded them and added motor drive sometime after he bought the rights from the Tri-Standard Manufacturing Co.

All I know is, the OP's machine isn't a Loadamatic, and it may, or may not, be a Camdex. Without seeing an actual label on the machine, I can't tell who made it, but it does look like there are several parts missing from it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

Forget case feed?

[ReloaderFred]

Picky, picky..... There is a shell slot in the carrier, so I guess it is a "station". I was only counting actual die stations. The drop tube just feeds the cases via gravity to the first station, and the carrier picks it up and moves it across to the first die station, the sizing/decapping die.

The last position, after the seating/crimping die, is the hole through the base the loaded round drops through, but since there isn't another cutout in the carrier, I just count that as getting rid of the loaded round.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Joe504]

Morris, your mail is bouncing

[jmorris]

Made some room.

[beeser]

Made some room.
Geez, and I thought they were coming my way.