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Hello! First post.
I got hooked on reloading in 1973 when a Lyman Ezy Loader was given to me to start the ball rolling. I love the nostalgia of using the old equipment as it is very relaxing.
https://i.imgur.com/RdAEtPdm.jpg
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I’m still using my RCBS A2 press and a Belding and Mull measure. If isn’t broke, don’t fix it. The equipment will serve a few more generations well. Good for you standing by good old Lyman equipment.
PM sent. I might have some parts and pieces to help with that Tru-Line and Lyman 45.
I still use an old Ideal lubrisizer to lube bullets. All my newer dies fit it fine. But I also have a lot of other Ideal lubrisizers, powder measures, and hand tong tools I simply collect. I got into Ideal tools when I began looking for tong tools marked Marlin Firearms Co. from the period Marlin owned Ideal back in the early 1900's. That spawned an interest in all the old Ideal tools, and I just kept buying them.
I display them occasionally at our collector show, along with my 1800's single shot rifles.
DannyE, that looks like a loading bench where I’d feel right at home. I have heard some folks speak disparagingly about the EZY Loader, but within its limits it does OK, and as for the little TruLine Jr, I’m on record repeatedly saying how much I like mine. Love that #5 powder measure with the cast iron body too! Keep on doing what you’re doing. It looks to me like you’re on a roll.
Froggie
I've reloaded and resized virtually thousands of rounds of rifle and pistol brass on that old EZY Loader since the 70's and never had a glitch. I didn't know there was anything wrong with them or subject to breakage until reading negative reports on the this and the 'other' forum. I've been buying and collecting Lyman Ideal for years, way before prices sky rocketed. I'm glad I did. I've got a wall locker full of old Lyman or Ideal products and enjoy reloading using all of them, depending on what mood I'm in. Most of my shooting buddies think I'm crazy for using antiquated equipment when there is so much more revolutionized modern equipment out there. Nothing more relaxing on a gloomy day than spending time using my old Ideal 'nut crackers'.
Agreed DannyE. Newer doesn’t necessarily mean better, and quite often “improved”... isn’t!
With very little effort I could set up my Dad’s Dillon 550 for 9mm, but since I seldom shoot more than 50-100 rounds at a time, so the 310 tool gets some use. :) With the current cost of primers, I don’t see my reloading going into high speed any time soon. ;)
Froggie
I've caught the disease, too. Needed a peculiar seat/crimp die for loading .32 Long Colt,. and on a whim made it for tong tool handles. Now I've got setups for .25 Stevens, .25-20 Stevens and .38 Special, too. I bless my longstanding habit of buying up handles whenever I saw them.
Already using my Dad's Lyman 45 lubesizer, and his compound-leverage Tru-line Jr. has been permanently set up for .38/.357 for at least 15 years. (I added the 7/8x14 turret not too long after I inherited it in 1996.) Here it is mounted in a semi-portable reloading station I built while I was apartment-dwelling in the '90s. I'm still working out of it here in 2022! The tong tool lying there has been used with a universal decapping die for everything from .22 Hornet to .357 Maximum for as long as I can remember.
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I never started out liking and using old reloading equipment. I just kept using what I had. Started in 1958.
^^^ What he said ^^^Quote:
Originally Posted by Char-Gar
I bought what I could find (and afford) to start with, and small die 310 equipment often filled the bill after that it was a matter of what I had on hand and was comfortable with. Then I started accumulating.
Froggie
Like rifles and revolvers, they breed when you're not looking.
Just bought a Lyman 45 and am in the process of cleaning it up and getting it back into action. Can you use Lyman 450 and 4500 accessories with a 45? like sizer dies and the warming plate?
Paull Brown. Not easy to find. Here's one of hos GB listings
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/973305074
Yes, the 45 uses the same dies and some other parts.. Never needed a "warming plate". Lay a mechanics' drop light on the back of it for 15-20 minutes before starting if heat is needed.
Unless you’re planning on lubing outside in an unheated shed in the winter, or using a very hard lube, you really don’t need A heater here and VirginiaQuote:
Originally Posted by Vonllamawitz
Got the 45 reconditioned and functioning. Used Orange Magic on some 451s. The lube was mighty stiff. I will try the mechanics drop light ( or maybe a hair dryer) to soften it up a bit next time.
Ive been using a heat gun for years, a hair dryer with its limited heat might be a better choice.
Bought the first year of production, 1967, my RCBS Rock Chucker. Still works as good as ever. It has loaded tens of thousands of rounds.Just used it this morning to load up a batch of ammo.
Don, if you have more than a couple of sets of 310 dies a little TruLine Jr press is a handy addition. Mounte on a foot long piece of 2x4 it stores easily but quickly can be clamped to your bench or locked in a bench vise for pretty much instant set up.
Froggie
This post is older but I rebuilt a 45 and used 450 0rings in the cylinder and the dies fit from the 450 but leak. I had to buy 45 dies to fix the problem. The 45 dies have no 0ring and machined different on top. I just use a soft orange or yellow lube and no heater. My reload room stays 75 degrees year round.
45DUDE,
I’m confused. Did you use o-rings with the 450/4500 sizing dies in your 45 sizer? I’ve never had leakage even with the old #1 sizer as long as the o-rings were in place.
Froggie
The cylinder on my 45 takes the same 0rings as the 450's. The dies for my 45 have no 0rings.