doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Vintage reloading press for a cup of Coffee

I did realise that shotgun cartridge reloading hear in the UK was not as popular as it is on your side of the pond, but until now I had not realised how unpopular it really was.
Last week end I visited a very large �car boot sale� here in Cheshire in fact there was a bewildering number of cars and hundreds of potential customers. After passing about ten cars I came to a car where the owner had placed a tarpaulin on the ground covered with all sorts of unwanted bits and pieces he hopefully wanted to sell. Now lying in the midst of them all was a vintage W.J Bowman 12 Bore re-loading press from the 1960s 70s which I recognised instantly because at that time I wanted one desperately but could never afford the purchase price, giving it a quick look over it seemed to be complete but not having a use for such a thing these days I passed it by. After a couple of hours and with a bag full of bargain purchases I passed the tarpaulin again on my way home and very surprisingly the press was still there. Then came my mind games do I or don�t I want it, well there is no harm in asking the price is there? Not wishing to appear too interested I started a general conversation about some of the items he had for sale eventually getting around to the press. That thing! He said that he had found it in his late farther in laws home and did not have any idea what it was though he was hoping to sell it, as yet surprisingly no one had taken any interest. I asked how much he wanted for it, his reply was a surprise. �You are the first person to show any interest in the thing and I have no want to load it back in the car and take it home, now I have been here for four hours and in all this time I have not had a drink so If you could fetch me a cup of Coffee you can have the thing.� An offer I could not refuse so he had his Coffee and of course I had one also so the cartridge press cost just �3 being the cost of two cups.
A couple of accessories where missing which took me all of half an hour to make but now the big question is what am I going to do with it? Because I have no intention of reloading cartridges, I just saved it from being disposed of probably at a refuse depot all because It was something I lusted after as a young man. Age is no barrier for doing foolish things, is it?

the nice thing about reloading is the ability to customize the loads.

I mostly reload non tox for my doubles and lead target loads for the short tens - occasionally 2 1/2 12s if i am running short on factory RSTs

I know it is not as common over there- always wondered why- are components more difficult to come by? Regulation?

any way- nice find - I hope you can find someone who can use it - maybe some sportsman group's charity auction

Good on you. I feel sure someone can use it. I would have killed for something like that when I was young. I was beside myself when I could finally buy a Lee Loader.

Looks to be a perfectly usable press. Good on you for saving it. The only trouble with my first press was finding the mony to feed that hungry beast.

DDA

Convert it to ... a coffee machine!

Tim

Load black powder shells.

We're Cowboy Action Shooters. I got a Lee Loadall to load 12 gauge black powder loads. Then I got to collecting 10 gauge shotguns and bought a MEC jr because it was the only loader that was available in 10 gauge. Then .... I ran across an old MEC in 12 gauge at flea market price so I bought it.

I have been given so many MECs over the years I've got them running out the ears. I've got the things sitting all over the place, and hardly load anything anymore. Now, I've bought a 3" .410 MEC. I'll probably end up using it more than all the others put together. I think I have only bought 2 in my life ............ first was an old Texan, now this 3" .410. The Texan paid for itself in no time, back in the early 80s. I expect this 3" .410 will, too.

SRH

I load everything from 10 to .410 and still love reloading. The ability to customize loads to suit my needs is great but I love the entire process. Researching the loads, seeing what components I have on hand and then reconsidering my loads or getting on line and buying more stuff to reload with. Then getting the load adjusted just right, to produce the best looking shell I can get. Even boxing up shells is like therapy to me as I go over my check list of things needed to be done to shoot one last time in my mind.

It has been a long time since I had to rely on MEC 600JR. but I still have a couple on hand in case of power failures. These days everything is progressive MECs with all but my 10 being hydraulic 9000HN machines. They are not the fastest perhaps but they are the least tiring way to load. Load 400-500 per hours as long as I want without even breaking out a sweat. That was a dream 40 plus years ago when I first started reloading.

Good for you. I notice that the shot and powder bottles are non-standard. They were good old loaders and I still have one. One advantage with them is that you can load the old style Eley cases; the type they used before the battery cup primer type. An excuse to use up your old Eley Surefire primers. They were made for the paper cases and give a good crimp on those. I too would have snapped it up as a spare. Lagopus.....

I looked for a flea market priced MEC for a year. I watched for them at gun shows and back rooms of gunshops, etc. Everyone told me they were everywhere cheap but none could come up with where one was at that time. I broke down and bought a new MEC jr in 10 gauge. It wasn't the next show but soon after, I walked around a gun show and a table had 5 of them. All had fully adjustable powder bars and all were priced ok and maybe could be bargained down. Go figure.