Pacific Super Mag four station press

[richhodg66]

I had never seen or heard of one before, looks pretty cool. Are these rare? Anybody work with one before?
Attachment 286531Attachment 286532

[Pressman]

I think you are slipping a bit, there's only three rams. That one would be a good buy, it's sawt-up for down stroke operation, most were set for Upstroke.
Multi station presses were a novelty back in the late 60's. Mostly they were a problem looking for a solution. Supposed to save time, they are clumsy to use and never caught on. This Pacific and Herter's offered them. Today people spend major $$$ to buy them.

At the demise of Pacific, Dietmeyer got Bair Machine shop to make them for a couple of years.

If anyone wishes to follow the sale, it's on eBay, seller is ricketts.

[abunaitoo]

I have one, but it's not complete.
Some yahoo cut down one of the rams.
I have a plan to fix it.
Just haven't gotten around to doing it.
It is only three station, not four.

[richhodg66]

Yes, saw it on Ebay, seems like the listing said four station, but you're right. I'd never seen one before. We discussed the Herters double ram one a while back and it seems like it didn't get popular for the same reasons.

Kinda funny how ideas came and went over the years. There can't be many of these out there.

[Green Frog]

The thing that would keep me from buying the Herter’s two station is the fact that I’d be obliged to find two of the proprietary shell holders for each caliber! Does the Pacific in question take standard RCBS style shell holders or does it have the rams with built in shell holders? If the latter, imagine trying to find three matching rams!!!

Froggie

[richhodg66]

Good point. I just assumed this one was recent enough to use standard shell holders, but that may very well be a bad thing to assume.

I have a couple of Herters presses and a Lachmiller Model 100 I rescued which use the same shell holders. A quick trip to an old LGS netted me quite a few shell holders of the correct type along with an adapter to use regular ones and I've accumulated more since. For a single stage, I don't see the proprietary shell holders to be a problem, certainly not the problem guys make it out to be, but finding two or three...

The last couple of years I was in the ARmy, I was stationed at Fort Leavenworth and living as a geo bachelor as we call it. Kids were in school, wife had a good job here. Just a tad too far to commute, but I had a decent place to live minimally, and the job I was in had me TDY all over the world pretty often, but when we weren't, I had a lot of time on my hands. Didn't want to reloacate the Rockchucker, so bought a Pacific press (aluminum one which was unusual) that used those caliber specific rams. Good little press. I loaded a lot of ammo on it C clamped to a shelf in the basement. A gentleman who makes our gun show circuit here basically gave me a box of rams, many of which still had new retail tags from the '50s on them, I kept a pair of snap ring pliers next to the press and once I got used to it, it only took me maybe 30 seconds to change out a ram.

I wish I had kept that little press and rams now, but traded it off when I figured I didn't need it anymore. The old systems worked fine and weren't really the inconvenience they are made out to be if one is patient and looks around.

[Pressman]

It takes RCBS shellholders as the rams are unique to this press. Meaning they cannot be swapped for a "regular" Pacific ram.

[richhodg66]

Good to know. I'm watching it with no intentions to buy, just curiosity.

[richhodg66]

That thing went for like 227 bucks, plus the shipping. Someone must have wanted it bad. I'd sure like to see and handle one, maybe load some ammo on it, but have too many presses now and can't see that kind of cash for another one.

I hope whoever got it enjoys it.

[Three44s]

They look better than they work.

The issue is ergonomics. In moving the casing around you find that stuffing a case into one or the other corner is not great.

Three44s

[Bent Ramrod]

That’s a lot of money for a curio of largely imaginary practical value. Needing three of the same shellholders for every cartridge to be loaded is only the tip of the iceberg.

I suppose the idea was to maximize the output efficiency per lever stroke: size/deprime, (reprime)/expand or add powder, and seat/crimp three shells at once, advancing them along the ram line. I can only imagine the opportunities for mixing up shells in the line, spilling and dropping components taking them in and out, and “loading” empty rounds that a setup like that would facilitate. It would, however, give the proud owner arms like Popeye the Sailor.

I have a reloading special edition of Gunsport (The Practical Gun Magazine) from the late 60s. The magazine anticipated Handloader and Rifle in its concentration on the technical and mechanical rather than the hunting and shooting and new products that were the mainstays of the other magazines of the day. One of the articles was on how to use a turret press as a progressive press, instead of the normal practice of using the turret merely as a die holder.

Most people, the author claimed, would run a box of shells through the sizing die, turn the turret, run them through the expander, turn it again, add powder, return the shells to the loading block, and when all were filled, turn the turret again and add the bullet, seat and crimp (or not). He described the operation as done on a Tru-Line Jr by one of the Lyman Co’s engineers, who kept the shell in the holder while spinning the turret and adding components until the round was finished.

He cautioned the readers that doing this safely took a lot of slow-motion practice before speed could be attempted, and that the engineer looked like that Hindu god with all the arms when he was going at it.

But at least the one shell stayed in place under the operator’s eye, and the bugaboo of the 50’s, “handling primers with greasy fingers” from case lube would be minimized. One hand would take the shells in and out, the other would handle the primers and lever. Two hands (at least) would be needed to advance the shells along the ram line on the Pacific. A sure-fire way to compound loading problems rather than solving them.

[abunaitoo]

It take normal shell holders.
Been looking for a replacement ram for a long time.
One of them has been cut down for some reason.
I have found that the ram from the Lee hand press fits, but is to short.
Since one of my rams is to short, going to have to connect the two, to make one whole ram.
Don't know who well or other it works, but I paid $40 for it, so not out to much.
I saw that the one on evilbay went for $227.
No wonder they call it evilbay.