My grandpa wouldn’t let anyone near his reloading shop till he was nearing the end and I was going down to care for him for a couple of weeks when I was 21/22, that’s when he finally allowed someone else in his quiet space, me. No one used his reloaders even they were all top shelf (PW, Star, Mec, etc.). At the time I had little interest in shooting/reloading as I had left that behind in my early teens thanks to constant jobs and club activities (and some girls
).
After he passed he left no instructions or indications of who was to get what. My uncle wanted it all pitched cause he had sore memories, dad already had his own kit.
And no one had any interest in any of his casting equipment or alloys. (Saeco, H&G, Ideal, etc).
A year or so after he passed we still sat on his house and my wife got into wanting to shoot so we started our collection. In need of ammo we started reloading at my dad’s and Dad offered grandpas stuff to get me started on my own. So we drove from Michigan to Texas (twice) to load up his stuff and bring it all to our house. Two trips were needed thanks to the weight overloading my escape on the first trip, too much lead alloy.
All that to say, you never know what will change once he becomes a full fledged adult. Had someone asked me at 21 if I wanted his stuff I’d have said no way, it was all old stuff and I would prefer newer version. Now, I regret all the stanley hand planes and wooden clamps my dad sold in the yard sale for pennies on the dollar that could have been mine had I asked.
My advice, if you have quality stuff that has intrinsic value and you don’t need the money, leave it to him and let him make the call when he’s old enough. It acts as a inheritance which only appreciates in value.
If you have stuff that, in your eyes, is lower end and/or not worth passing on, sell it now and leave him to fill the gap when/if he finds the need. No point in a lee press gathering dust next to a rock chucker or Dillon as an example (unless the lee is your preferred press).
Ultimately, there’s a lot of fun value in saying “this was my grandpas and he used it over half a century ago and it’s still going strong”.