Bonanza press cool find

[dkonrai]

Surfing on Craigslist I got a heck of a deal.
Bonanza press, rcbs powder drop and trickler, rcbs 505 scale.
Cleaned up the old bonanza and resized a few cb.
Wow so much smoother than my lee. Pretty happy. Now I don't need to find a rock crushed. Lol.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170826/2cbe887fc195ac65101ccc147451a2ff.jpg

sent from a tin can and a long string.

[kmw1954]

Nice find! That Bonanza "68" press was the 1st press I purchased back in 1979 and loaded a lot of ammo with it. That hole in the front is for a pin that is used with the primer cups that would drop down inside the center of the shell holder. Worked very nicely other than you had to hand feed primers one at a time. If I could find another on the cheap I'd buy it.

[abunaitoo]

Nice press.
Looks strong.

[dkonrai]

Nice find! That Bonanza "68" press was the 1st press I purchased back in 1979 and loaded a lot of ammo with it. That hole in the front is for a pin that is used with the primer cups that would drop down inside the center of the shell holder. Worked very nicely other than you had to hand feed primers one at a time. If I could find another on the cheap I'd buy it.All of it was 50.00 so ya I kind of stole it. Now where do I find this pin for the primer?
Press works really well. I grew up on a old heavy Hollywood. Resized a bunch of pills last night. Lol so much easier than the lee.

sent from a tin can and a long string.

[Walt]

Very nice. I like the big window, should be easy to use.

[richhodg66]

I have one of those Bonanza presses, but it has a little surface rust and doesn't move at the moment. I sprayed some penetrating oil on it and basically set it aside and forgot about it. Seems like a good design, just not sure where I would mount another press.

[mdi]

Nice looking press. Looks kinda like Hornady copied it in their "Iron Press"...

[kmw1954]

Now where do I find this pin for the primer?.

That is the million dollar question. Press has been out of production for ages. Was once told the cups from the old model Co-Axe were the same but having just looked the new ones are not the same. Sure it would be fantastic to have it complete but it's still a nice press to work on.

[dkonrai]

That is the million dollar question. Press has been out of production for ages. Was once told the cups from the old model Co-Axe were the same but having just looked the new ones are not the same. Sure it would be fantastic to have it complete but it's still a nice press to work on.Agreed wonderful press. Guy I bought it from was his fathers. Told me the pins were long gone [emoji22] .
Omg what a good deal tho. That 505 scale is pretty cool too.

sent from a tin can and a long string.

[kmw1954]

Pretty much exactly what I had all those years ago. The press, 505 scale, Lee powder dippers, powder trickler, RCBS dies and loading blocks. OH yeah and a Speer/CCI manual. What amazes me is the condition of that rubber handle, it's still like new! We had great fun shooting what was loaded on that press back then.

[dkonrai]

Pretty much exactly what I had all those years ago. The press, 505 scale, Lee powder dippers, powder trickler, RCBS dies and loading blocks. OH yeah and a Speer/CCI manual. What amazes me is the condition of that rubber handle, it's still like new! We had great fun shooting what was loaded on that press back then.Yes the rubber handle is almost new. No sticky feeling or cracks. So stoked.

sent from a tin can and a long string.

[Dan Cash]

Surfing on Craigslist I got a heck of a deal.
Bonanza press, rcbs powder drop and trickler, rcbs 505 scale.
Cleaned up the old bonanza and resized a few cb.
Wow so much smoother than my lee. Pretty happy. Now I don't need to find a rock crushed. Lol.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170826/2cbe887fc195ac65101ccc147451a2ff.jpg

sent from a tin can and a long string.

This press just begs to be adapted to the Redding primer feed system.

[beemer]

I bought one new and have always liked it, my primary press that sits beside a Spar T. The primer catcher is a tray that sets on the mounting screw heads, it doesn't work to well but I live with it. I saw a set of punches on Ebay once, the guy didn't know what they fit.

The Bonanza shell holders have different size holes for there large and small punches. I have wondered if a set of RCBS primer punches could be set in a small stud and used in this press. If it worked you could use standard RCBS shell holders. The small Bonanza primer punch cup is the same as the cups on the RCBS. The Bonanza large cup is a good but larger and other brand shell holders have to be bored out.

I looked for another one for years but never found one. At this point I"ll never wear out the one I have.

Dave

[Kraschenbirn]

Sure would like to find another one of those. Bought mine new in the early '70s and it was my 'go-to' for CF rifle rounds for nearly 40 years until the ram developed a crack through the shellholder recess. Called the good folks at Forster Products (who currently own the Bonanza product line) and, while they never manufactured the Model 68, their staff way went well beyond 'due diligence' in their attempts to assist me...even got their long-time shop foreman involved to check their "junk room" of damaged, obsolete, and warranty-return items on the off-chance that there might be something hanging around from when they acquired Bonanza in the early 1990s. Press is still sitting on a shelf in my workshop, though, waiting for me to find a mate, rusted and abused, at a gunshow, flea market, or swap meet. "Hope springs eternal....etc. etc"

Bill

[abunaitoo]

One just sold on ebay for $75 + shipping.
Nice looking press.
Big opening is a big plus.
First time I've seen one like this.