Cougar & Hunter Pics

[beeser]

I thought some might like seeing pictures of the Cougar & Hunter that I recently acquired and very happy to own. It's very similar to the Auto Champ. There is at least one other forum member that has one. Any others?

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[gl89aw]

I have one that I use for .38 spl. Took awhile to get used to it. I made an extension to the back of the operating handle and hooked a door spring on it to hold it up. Its interesting to mess with some of the old machines and sometimes quite a challenge to get them working properly.

[jsizemore]

I was expecting a bikini pic.

[jmort]

Very cool. Never have seen one. Good for you.

[Skunk1]

Never seen one either. Looks like it has a built in powder drop. What does it use for measuring powder? Do you need to make custom bushings?

[beeser]

Never seen one either. Looks like it has a built in powder drop. What does it use for measuring powder? Do you need to make custom bushings?
It uses bushings that I'm told are the same as the Hornady pistol bushings.

[truckerdave397]

Do you have any idea where the Cougar and Hunter press was made? There was a local gun store in my town at one time called Cougar and Hunter.

[beeser]

Do you have any idea where the Cougar and Hunter press was made? There was a local gun store in my town at one time called Counter and Hunter.
I've been told that Cougar & Hunter was a machine shop in Michigan that manufactured parts of the CH Auto Champion for Tony Sailer, the then owner of CH. After that work was transferred to another machine shop in Wisconsin, Cougar & Hunter made their own version of the Auto Champ.

[Edward]

I thought I would be seeing a trophy cat and a a proud hunter,maybe a gutpile!

[blackhawk44]

Still have mine, but removed the dies and locked it down. Built my own version of a Freeloder to help feed it. Worked well when kept meticulously clean. Priming system is easy to bind and has an unshielded feed tube.

[beeser]

Still have mine, but removed the dies and locked it down. Built my own version of a Freeloder to help feed it. Worked well when kept meticulously clean. Priming system is easy to bind and has an unshielded feed tube.
Needing to keep the machine meticulously clean seems to be case with all in-line style progressives and is probably one of the reasons why the design fell out of favor to the rotary style. I plan to shield the primer feed stack similar to the latest Auto Champ design but that still leaves the long chute in the press itself with about 15 primers lined up next to each other. Maybe that won't be a problem because it is already somewhat shielded and the primers are side by side. Overall the press does not have the reliability of a Dillon but it's an interesting press from the standpoint of how automatic progressives advanced through the years.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Do you have any idea where the Cougar and Hunter press was made? There was a local gun store in my town at one time called Cougar and Hunter.

Same memories here too my friend about the C&H store radio commercials from up around Saginaw/Bay City I believe.Robert

[seagiant]

Hi,
Yes, something that helps in the reloading room you hear little about is....AIR!

[fecmech]

Back in the 70's when I bought my CH Auto Champ a friend wanted one also but was unable to get one. He instead bought a Cougar& Hunter to load .38's for PPC. Shortly thereafter he blew up his K38 next to me on the line. Said he was having some problems, jiggled the handle etc and must have ended up with a triple charge, who knows. I got hit in the side of my face with some shrapnel but luckily nothing serious. He sold the press right after that incident. I never saw the press but this fellow was not to mechanically inclined.

[beeser]

One of the advantages of an inline press is having the cases in front of you in full view and much easier to spot over charges as opposed to some rotaries where the center column may obstruct the view.

[fecmech]

One of the advantages of an inline press is having the cases in front of you in full view and much easier to spot over charges as opposed to some rotaries where the center column may obstruct the view.
I have two Auto Champs and at one time I tried to double charge a case to see what it would take. I don't think you can do it unintentionally. You have to go past the advance pawl to dump powder and can't fill the powder bushing again without either advancing the shell or holding the advance pawl in to get the upper platen back up to fill the bushing.

MY screw ups are no powder when I shut off the powder hopper to change bushings and get distracted by something and forget to turn it on. Just did that last week when my wife asked me to do something for her when I was in the middle of a bushing change, loaded 36 rounds with no powder!