Old Handloading Kit

[tarheel]

Thought I'd share a photo of some old handloading pieces found in an old wooden box of junk I bought at an estate sale. The measure is marked in shot increments on the left and drams of powder on the right, patented Nov 23, 1886. The primer seater is for 12 gauge, the wad tamper is whittled from black walnut, and the primers are about the size of large rifle primers with a copper cup which is domed on the struck surface. I added the military 00 Buck to indicate that it too used a rifle type primer. I don't know what he used to punch spent primers or to roll the crimp on old paper cases.
If anyone can contribute any historical info from that era of gunning and loading, please feel free so to do.

 

[Bambistew]

Thats pretty dang cool! Wonder if they loaded brass shells therefore didn't need to crimp, just a paper wad?

 

[wgiles]

My father used to load all brass shells when I was a kid. They used a paper wad on top which was sealed with Water Glass (Sodium Silicate). Once water glass dried out, it wouldn't pick up water. We used to be able to get it at the drug store.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Now that is cool and quite a find!!!

 

[lamdilligaf]

That picture sure brought back memories. The first 12 ga. that I ever loaded was when I was 10 years and was with that exact measure. Damn near killed me. My dad, who didn't reload, bought the components and we started loading. He said 3 drams of red dot was a good starting load along with 1 1/8 oz of 5s. Well, the only problem was that the powder measure is a BLACK powder measure. We loaded up three shells complete with fiber wads and a roll crimp, and off to the range we went. We set up some cans for a test target and backed off 40 yards. I stuck one in the old Stevens single barrel that I had and took aim. Remember, I'm only 10 years old and probably weigh about 100 pounds. When I touched it off, I was knocked back three steps and the gun came apart in my hands. The hammer was cocked, the ejector was bent at a 90 degree down, the flat piece of the brass with the primer was laying where the barrel had been, the rest of the brass and shell were half way down the barrel. I looked at my dad and he said, "better not shoot another one". No kidding! We put the pieces of the gun away and went to look at the cans. There were holes like 22 holes from the #5 shot. Later we bought a scale and a loading manual. It turns out that black powder is roughly 3 times the bulk for the weight compared to red dot. I had loaded 63 grains of red dot instead of 21. It was a rough start to reloading, but 44 years later I'm still at it. Hopefully, I'm a little better these days.

 

[tarheel]

That picture sure brought back memories. The first 12 ga. that I ever loaded was when I was 10 years and was with that exact measure. Damn near killed me. My dad, who didn't reload, bought the components and we started loading. He said 3 drams of red dot was a good starting load along with 1 1/8 oz of 5s. Well, the only problem was that the powder measure is a BLACK powder measure. We loaded up three shells complete with fiber wads and a roll crimp, and off to the range we went. We set up some cans for a test target and backed off 40 yards. I stuck one in the old Stevens single barrel that I had and took aim. Remember, I'm only 10 years old and probably weigh about 100 pounds. When I touched it off, I was knocked back three steps and the gun came apart in my hands. The hammer was cocked, the ejector was bent at a 90 degree down, the flat piece of the brass with the primer was laying where the barrel had been, the rest of the brass and shell were half way down the barrel. I looked at my dad and he said, "better not shoot another one". No kidding! We put the pieces of the gun away and went to look at the cans. There were holes like 22 holes from the #5 shot. Later we bought a scale and a loading manual. It turns out that black powder is roughly 3 times the bulk for the weight compared to red dot. I had loaded 63 grains of red dot instead of 21. It was a rough start to reloading, but 44 years later I'm still at it. Hopefully, I'm a little better these days.

Great story; at least you came away with all your parts. I've a 16ga primer seater too which I found in the remains of an old miner's cabin in the CO Rockies way back in the 60's. I was fortunate enough to load and fire my great-grandfather's muzzleloader shotgun before it was stolen. They say he carried it with him year round, more for protection than anything else, as he was reputed to slip around and backdoor neighboring farmers when they were away from the house. He even sired two sons by neighboring women. Dangerous game!!!!