Hollywood confusion??? Senior Turret press estate sale score.

[Crank]

Well, there I was, minding my own business when suddenly I was drawn irresistibly to an estate sale. I wandered into the garage and the first thing that caught my eye was a fairly large press sitting on a table. I knew it was one of the old ones that used strange dies and wasn't going to mess with it. Instead, I was drawn to a box filled with the glow of Lyman orange! Moments later I was clutching the filled box like a small child with a beloved toy and talking to the woman running the sale. We chatted about the equipment and she said the big one was a Hollywood press and it was missing parts. I was too focused on my Lyman goodies which consisted of, a Tru-Line jr. 310 turret, Ideal measure, Redding scale and several boxes of dies with some other stuff thrown in. I left and continued on with my bride and enjoyed a bite to eat and headed home without giving it a second thought. About an hour later, I finally got to look at what I had and started to inventory. I found the Hollywood fliers and price list and wondered if I should have given that press a closer inspection. A quick peek around the interwebs, made me decide to take a second look. I ran back to the sale as they were closing up and saw it had 5 inserts installed to accept standard 7/8"-14 dies in the larger holes and three holes already threaded for the standard dies. It also had a powder measure attached. It turns out the missing parts were the 3 handles for the turret. As it was time to wrap up, I asked her for a best price and she said $75! The deal done, I lugged it to the truck and headed home. It was covered with grease and in perfect condition, the attached photo looks like rust on the post, but it's fossilized grease and the paint around the mounting bolts doesn't appear like it was mounted.
184769

Here is my confusion: this thing is steel, it has 5 holes bored for the original large die thread size, only 3 for todays common pattern. I saw reference to an 8x4 which sounds like 8 holes and half of them the smaller diameter? I read an article dredged up from the search function here, which said this model was aluminum, mine is definitely not. Lastly, how late did they produce this model, the paperwork (seen behind the press) looks like early 1970's? I have tried to search here thoroughly, before exposing my ignorance, but I now realize I didn't know squat about these and their history is somewhat muddied. All I know is I have a press that will be going into service on my newly constructed loading bench and I definitely bought it way below market value. If anyone can nail down if this was a normal configuration, or a last shot at marketability before they ceased production, I would definitely appreciate it. While going through the other box from the first purchase, I found a brand new RCBS adapter for the shellholder, so other than recreating some handles, this thing is ready to go into service.
Thanks in advance for any info.

Mark

[OS OK]

Ain't this just dandy? I love stories like this...great find
I know what you mean by being drawn irresistibly to a garage sale...every time I get that supernatural feeling like something is calling me...well, I just beet feet over there and find something I either wanted or needed.

[sukivel]

Whoa nice find!!! Can't believe you passed that by the first time. You were lucky it was still there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pressman]

A senior turret. It's normal. The die holes could be had all large, all small or any combination. New handles are available. All the senior turrets were cast iron. Prior to 1959 the regualr senior could be aluminum or cast steel. After 1959 only the super turret was aluminum. And it is a very, very different press than yours.
Normaly at today's prices a clean senior turret sells for $350-$400.00.

Ken

[Crank]

Never was a follower of their products because I thought they were limited to proprietary does. So now I learned otherwise. The house was in a total residential area, so not somewhere gun-bunnies would normally haunt.

Mark

[Crank]

Ken,
Thanks, you posted while I was replying. I figured it was a solid $300 piece and you have confirmed that. So the hole sizes were made to order? That makes sense. I appreciate the input.

Mark

[Devon]

CH4D has the bushings to reduce the larger holes to 7/8-14.

[Crank]

Devon,
It already has the inserts, so I'm good to go. Thanks for listing them as a source.

Mark

[Kevin Rohrer]

You almost passed up a Hollywood Senior for a Lyman JR?!

You paid $75 for $700 worth of press and goodies. It even comes with the tie rod, which is almost always missing. Unbelievable. Clean it up, replace the missing handles (can be found on Ebay) and use. The Jr makes a good doorstop.

The handles for the Senior are smaller than those found on other Hollywoods and are blued.

184896

[Crank]

I know I almost blew it, but in my defense the only "classic" presses I ever had exposure to were PW and Star. I knew of Hollywood presses, but without ever learning about them. I have always been a single stage guy and other than owning an old Lyman turret over 25 years ago, never got into the older multiple stage presses. I'll machines some new handles for it, or make some fancy ones with wood. This press will be ideal for the new bench I just set up, I hadn't bolted anything yet and this will work better than a couple of single stage ones. As to my question in the first post, what was the last year these were offered? The literature looks later and has a retail price of $195.00 at that time.
Thanks again for the info!

Mark

[Kevin Rohrer]

They were offered until a couple years ago when the person making them suffered a shop fire. Mine was probably made in the 1990s or later.

[Crank]

Kevin,
Thanks, I would guess this one in the early to mid 1970's based on the literature. Not the most scientific, but that's what my guess is. Either way, I promise that it will be respected for what it is and will see regular service.

I have one additional question, I want to disassemble it for cleaning (that grease is everywhere!) and would like to know if the top unscrews to take the turret off the main shaft. I popped out the allen screw in the top and found only a nut and a ball bearing under it. I wouldn't want to mar the finish and if the "cap" unscrews, I will need to use a strap wrench since it has no flats to use a wrench on. I poked around Google and couldn't find an image of one torn down to component level. Not a life or death issue, I just would like to get the detail cleaning done before I bolt it down.

Mark

[Kevin Rohrer]

As I recall, it unscrews after the allen screw is removed. "Yes" to using a strap wrench, as you don't want to mar the paint. I was able to get mine off using finger-pressure alone, but may have used some PB Blaster to speed it along.

[Tracvision]

Congrats on your find Mark. You do not have to remove the center set screw to remove the cap. Just loosen it. Unscrew the large cast cap above the turret counter-clockwise. The threads are large . It is not likely you could damage it.

The markings cast in the side of your Senior Turrets main body will tell when and where/who made it.

The turret you have is an 8x8 if it has (8) 1-1/2-12 holes. That is quite common. The next most common is a 4x4 with 7/8" holes and 1 1/2" holes.

Again, congrats and welcome to the club. There is lost of good advise to be found here.

[Kevin Rohrer]

The markings cast in the side of your Senior Turrets main body will tell when and where/who made it.


Tracvision,

I completely disassembled mine when I first got it and noticed no markings on it. The wrinkle paint is pretty thick. Where are the markings, what what do they look like?

[Tracvision]

Tracvision,

I completely disassembled mine when I first got it and noticed no markings on it. The wrinkle paint is pretty thick. Where are the markings, what what do they look like?


Good Evening Kevin,

If your press had no large letter, sand cast, markings on the left, right, or both sides of the base, I would say it was M&M Engineering/ (later years) Hollywood Engineering, owned by Joe Mueller. Joe passed away last year.

Hollywood Gun Shop made the first Senior Turrets. Later, owner Lyle Corcoran split his company in two. It then became Hollywood Reloading Tools and the Hollywood Gun Shop remained for rifles , ammo and the likes.

Hollywood Loading (Center-X) became the second generation of presses, continuing the same press that Lyle designed. Joe Mueller worked for Center-X ( the 2nd generation company). When the owner of Center-x died, Joe Mueller took it upon himself to produce presses on his own. Patents were still active and he hid from lawyers for a number of years. After the patents expired, he perpetuated the idea that he was Mr. Hollywood. Many people still believe that story.

Hope this helps.

[flint45]

Great find that is one of the things I am always looking for you lucky dog.:drinks:

[Crank]

Tracvision,
Thanks for the info, in that case mine would be a 5X3 (5 large, 3 small). I didn't notice anything else cast into it, but if I remember, I'll check again. I cheated and bolted it down before doing a detail cleaning, the good part is that it might make taking the top off a bit easier.

flint45,
Typical luck, when you aren't looking, the deals find you, but when your hunting, they disappear into vapor. I do feel lucky to have it and hope to get good service out of it.

Mark

[Tracvision]

Mark, Having the Senior Turret bolted down is the best way to clean and service it. Pull it apart completely, clean all parts, and lube liberally. It is a very easy press to disassemble. Put a piece of tape over the Circlips before removing. That will keep them from flying across the room. If you need any parts, drop me a PM.


Tracvision,snip...I cheated and bolted it down before doing a detail cleaning, ...Mark