I learned to load under a shade tree with my great uncle loading .45Colt rounds with an Ideal 310 tool and black powder. That was around 1959 or so. A little later I got a Lyman Spartan press and Lyman AA dies for my only cartridge revolver, a .38Spl. Unlike my uncle, I was using smokeless. Years passed. More updated gear came and went. Was a class 1 dealer, class 6 ammo maker, and gunsmith. Had a full shop and loaded for many police agencies in my area. It eventually became too much. 5 gal buckets filled with empties would arrive every couple months. I finally stopped. Closed my shop and dropped all licenses and left the business selling all the tools of the trade. I kept the old Spartan and the SparT press. And my dies and basic tools. And somehow I began to accumulate Ideal & Lyman 310 tools. And I now load much of my rounds with a 310. Even .223Rem for an AR15. 38's, 357's, 44Spl & mag, 45 Colt & ACP, and many rifle rounds over the years. I still use the SparT mostly for resizing the 38s but most everything else is run through the 310.
People say that my ammo cannot be accurate being loaded by what was nicknamed "nutcracker loader" but folks, I load 223s that print 1" groups with an open sight AR15 carbine when my eyes work right and I sit still. About a dozen die sets, three tong handles, small tools, an old Herters scale, and a 1905 Ideal No.5 powder measure all reside in a standard size toolbox. I can literally go in the woods and load anything I shoot. All I'll need extra is the powder, primers, and bullets. So why the 310 over a bench mounted press? Dunno... Maybe it's therapy for my hands. Or the laid back use eases my tired old mind. Whatever the reason I flat out enjoy the old ways. Even use 310 dies to resize cast bullets for many I load.
I guess after loading tons of ammo for everyone else I just now just find the old ways relaxing.
Dies are still out there. Mostly from estate sales now as old school reloaders die off. But Lyman still makes the 310 and about half a dozen common caliber dies. Sometimes ya gotta think outside the box. Like they didn't make 223Rem dies, but 222Rem dies are readily adaptable and load 223s with ease. But most people know little or nothing about the 310. They believe 2 dies are all you need. Wrong. They leave the case adapter [like a shellholder of sorts] in the handles and thus a very important part for a caliber goes missing. Without the adapter, the dies are useless. Stuff like that....
But yeah, I guess I'm going backwards now, reverting to an easier time when we didn't demand instant gratification from things like cameras in phones rather than the once magic of Polaroid. Or cellphones instead of payphones or a dial phone at home. Or big expensive super progressive loaders that crank out a gazillion souless rounds as opposed to feeling the primers seat and the crimp going into the case as you close the tongs...
Yeah, backwards ain't all that bad after all. Not being tied to a bench is a freedom I relish over speedy contraptions. Maybe, just maybe, my great uncle watches me from time to time as I load those 45 Colt rounds with an old 454190 cast bullet from an old Ideal mould.
People say that my ammo cannot be accurate being loaded by what was nicknamed "nutcracker loader" but folks, I load 223s that print 1" groups with an open sight AR15 carbine when my eyes work right and I sit still. About a dozen die sets, three tong handles, small tools, an old Herters scale, and a 1905 Ideal No.5 powder measure all reside in a standard size toolbox. I can literally go in the woods and load anything I shoot. All I'll need extra is the powder, primers, and bullets. So why the 310 over a bench mounted press? Dunno... Maybe it's therapy for my hands. Or the laid back use eases my tired old mind. Whatever the reason I flat out enjoy the old ways. Even use 310 dies to resize cast bullets for many I load.
I guess after loading tons of ammo for everyone else I just now just find the old ways relaxing.
Dies are still out there. Mostly from estate sales now as old school reloaders die off. But Lyman still makes the 310 and about half a dozen common caliber dies. Sometimes ya gotta think outside the box. Like they didn't make 223Rem dies, but 222Rem dies are readily adaptable and load 223s with ease. But most people know little or nothing about the 310. They believe 2 dies are all you need. Wrong. They leave the case adapter [like a shellholder of sorts] in the handles and thus a very important part for a caliber goes missing. Without the adapter, the dies are useless. Stuff like that....
But yeah, I guess I'm going backwards now, reverting to an easier time when we didn't demand instant gratification from things like cameras in phones rather than the once magic of Polaroid. Or cellphones instead of payphones or a dial phone at home. Or big expensive super progressive loaders that crank out a gazillion souless rounds as opposed to feeling the primers seat and the crimp going into the case as you close the tongs...
Yeah, backwards ain't all that bad after all. Not being tied to a bench is a freedom I relish over speedy contraptions. Maybe, just maybe, my great uncle watches me from time to time as I load those 45 Colt rounds with an old 454190 cast bullet from an old Ideal mould.
