Since they don’t have the bosses on the die holder for the primer magazine, they are mid- to late 1930s; pre WWII. They used a clamp-on aluminum holder for the primer tubes that is difficult to find now.
The very earliest ones have “Patent Pending” on the offside of the frame; later ones have the patent number.
The ram shell holders were standard back then, but the change to a different one was not difficult. Rams can still be found, and I believe RCBS sells a ram that will fit modern snap-in shell holders.
That press was revolutionary when it came out. Previously, any setup capable of full-length resizing was either very slow or very large and expensive. When Pacific debuted that “C” Press, 90% of the older loading tool designs were on their way to the rubbish heap of history.
Nice snag ! That was the first "standard" press I think. I think the only true survivor was the Ideal 310 line up. Rams can be had from RCBS, Lyman, or CH4D (I think) about $30. Lots of companys used that shell holders system. The primer attachment is hard to find. Most got trashed apparently. Also, RCBS at least made a wedge to mount under to make it a true vertical ram. They resize on the upstroke so mount n a good solid heavy table. My gramps had his cabled to the floor. It was on an old sewing machine stand. Enjoy!
Thanks for the input. I'm afraid I just don't have the room to keep them, I picked up the boxes of stuff for the components included. These presses and some other similar vintage (and earlier) treasures will be finding a new home. I hope someone will be able to put them to good use.
Included in the horde was a lot of similar era boxes of boolits, some .38sp, .30-30, .348, .280 Ross, and quite a bit of .30-06 brass. It was all piled in old wooden Velveta cheese boxes and old wooden cigar boxes.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |