# Found some of dad's reloading stuff in mom's outbuilding



## nchobbyfarm (Apr 10, 2011)

I found some of my old man's reloading supplies in mom's out building. Not sure what all is here or good. 

This is all at least 40 years old.


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

Does it flow?


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## nchobbyfarm (Apr 10, 2011)

farmerDale said:


> Does it flow?


I haven't opened it but it moves freely in the can.


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## tarbe (Apr 7, 2007)

Guessing your Pop did a lot of shotshell loading!

Based on the age and condition of those metal cans...I'm thinking fertilizer.

Save the cans though...those are vintage cool.


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## nchobbyfarm (Apr 10, 2011)




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## nchobbyfarm (Apr 10, 2011)

tarbe said:


> Guessing your Pop did a lot of shotshell loading!
> 
> Based on the age and condition of those metal cans...I'm thinking fertilizer.
> 
> Save the cans though...those are vintage cool.


It certainly was a lot of shotgun loading. (200 shells a week) We shot 4 rounds of station skeet every Sunday after church and lunch when the weather allowed. And sometimes the weather was foul.

We did that from the time I was able to hold a shotgun until I was about 13.

Then he started offshore fishing and I never shot another round of skeet.

He's been gone 29 years this coming August.

ETA- They aren't bad memories! That's when I started inshore fishing. A 13 year old with a 15 foot Boston Whaler. Then the next 5 years were a blast.


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## nchobbyfarm (Apr 10, 2011)




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## nchobbyfarm (Apr 10, 2011)




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## nchobbyfarm (Apr 10, 2011)




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## nchobbyfarm (Apr 10, 2011)




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## RJ2019 (Aug 27, 2019)

This stuff is so cool. I would hang onto it.


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## tarbe (Apr 7, 2007)

Really cool old stuff.

I still have that same Speer manual...and the DuPont guide as well.

Have some of those really old Hercules cans, too.

That stuff is all priceless. Especially because it belonged to your Dad.

Grew up 30 miles from Mayville, where the MEC loader was made!


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

nchobbyfarm said:


> I found some of my old man's reloading supplies in mom's out building. Not sure what all is here or good.
> 
> This is all at least 40 years old.


the powder would every much depend on storage , typically if the can is rusty not many want to take a risk on it , especially shotgun powder as it is one of those that you can get currently. if they are unopened some one might want them , if they are open and 40+ some one ight want the can some people collect the old metal cans

again the catch is you can't ship the powder without hazmat , the empty cleaned out cans you can.

safe disposal of nitro powder like that is as fertilizer for the grass spread it around and water it and it is just that nitrogen fertalizer , bad powder often stinks like rotten eggs but it can go bad in other ways also

the books may be worth something to a collector but the data would only be accurate for powders of that time period.

the Mec 600 Jr , mec is still around and you can still get parts for many of them not a progressive you have to move the shell around by hand

the Pacific press the brand is no longer around , this is a progressive and you put a empty hull in at sation 1 and then keep adding empty hulls and components when it gets back to the home station it gets pulled of looks like one last station on the left side to seat the crimp then it is done

the cast bullets if the lube is clean of dust and debris 3-4 dollars a pound if some one loads that bullet and the lube isn't all hard

1.50-2 dollars a pound if they are only really good for melting down to make new bullets

the primers are worth some money if they still fire and are not damaged by humidity in the storage location.
currently selling for around 7.50 to 8 dollars as a fair price a hundred IF you can find them.
only way to know is to put a few in cases and fire them a good crisp pop then they should be fine.

the catch shipping primers requires hazmat

some people are selling primers for more , yours are definitely old so you might have some that don't fire , hard to say all depends on storage.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

The equipment is outdated, and everything else is old and unstable. You should send it all to me, so I can dispose of it for you. I wouldn't do this for just anybody, but I will make and exception in this case.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I have used 40 year old powder and primers in trap loads when just shooting for fun. You need to brush up on hangfires if you do this.. I had no problems but they were stored in a cool dry place. Your stuff was in an outbuilding. By the rust on the press it looks like the humidity could get pretty bad. I wouldn't try to use the powder or the primers. You could sprinkle the powder around as fertilizer but it's much more fun if you can safely ignite it. They sell fuse for people who collect cannons. I made a cone out of newspaper, stuck a fuse through the point, put in about a half pound of old powder, stuck a clay pigeon in the bottom, and folded the paper over the pigeon. The fireball was about 30 feet in diameter. Pretty cool after dark.

The cans are worth something to collectors. The presses can be cleaned up and sold. The Mec was an inexpensive press in it's day so not a lot of value today. Pacific is out of business but the press is still useable. The powder and shot dies are interchangeable with many other current brands. Hornaday bought Pacific so a lot of Hornaday parts fit the Pacific press You can look on Ebay to get some idea of what it's worth.









bushings for Pacific DL-155


Have been using this press for ~15 years (bought used at a garage sale, best deal I think I ever got). Looking for some different powder and shot bushings. (switching from reloading only 20 ga to now 12 ga.) Thought I had heard once that Hornady bushings interchanged. Can anyone confirm? I have...




www.shotgunworld.com


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Nice find !
I'm sure most all of that stuff will all work just fine. Clean it up and use it, or sell / give it to somebody that can use it.


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## Drizler (Jun 16, 2002)

I just finished off the last of my early 1980s primers a couple years ago. I had a few duds and that’s all. Even the powder was ok. If it’s air tight it should be fine for everyday plinking.


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