bought a lot of older reloading tools today

**lethal93ta** · March 11th, 2011, 06:50 PM

I went over to my one friends today and here he told me that he know a guy that had a lot of reloading stuff to get rid of, so we ran over there to take a look at it. he had some really old potter reloading press's an herters press, and loads of other stuff, dies, trimmers, scales, everything, I bought it all in a bulk package, heres some pics, on my website check it out and see what you all wold have paid for it. my neighbor wants to buy the herters press already since a lot of the shell holders are there in a box. I just dont know what I want to do with the potter press's there really cool for how old they are.

http://www.streetlethal.net/potter/

**Rundownfid** · March 12th, 2011, 09:53 AM

Cool that is quite haul, some real museum pieces.

**lethal93ta** · March 12th, 2011, 10:26 AM

I found out last night that RCBS makes a conversion shellholder to put in the herters press that standard shell holders slide into so you can use the old herters press for anything. I wish I had more room in my loading room to put it and id keep it. the press is like a tank and weighs about as much as one. I cant find much on the old potter press's but after looking in box's out there I found some more parts to them. the old potters are really cool but again I dont have room to put them so ill probably end up getting rid of them. I just dont know where to try to sell something like that, id really like to put it in someones hands that has one already and is going to put it back in service.

**dk99358** · March 12th, 2011, 01:40 PM

I've been loading for 35 years but have never seen the Potters before.

Have you tried asking about the Potters on other forums? This one's good but it's not that big and the traffic in the reloading section isn't that high.

24 hr campfire has a good reloading forum (actually 5 sections, big game rifles is the catch-all and gets the most traffic) and there are other reloading related websites.

http://24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads...ig_Game_Rifles

Dale

**Yentl Marmelstein** · March 12th, 2011, 01:50 PM

eBay.

Put a high reserve on it and see what it brings from a worldwide audience.

**mauser** · March 12th, 2011, 02:51 PM

Good find, Congrats!
Don't be in a hurry to sell anything, you might have a few gems there. A stack of boxes in the corner doesn't eat much and they're easy to clean up after.
Do some research, I'm sure you'll find people who collect old and/or unique reloading equipment, and you have some there.
I agree with you about putting it in the hands of someone who can/will put it back in service but on the other hand there are some things that should be preserved, perhaps but back into full function condition, ready to use, then kept that way for posterity.
Take your time, look at everything you have, figure out what goes with what, do some research, then make your decision on what to sell and for how much. You said that you found some stuff in another box that goes with the Potter presses, there may be more in other boxes that go with them, or with the Herters, or who knows what else. If you get it all sorted and properly grouped you could make someone very happy. If you sell too quickly you might end up separating things that should stay together. Patience will benefit you and any buyers or collectors.
Good luck.

You have some oddball caliber dies there too, as well as some desirable bullets, and I see that some have been sorted for weight. Apparently the previous owner was either a perfectionist or obsessive compulsive. I'd bet on perfectionist.

The classified section here works well to reach a wide audience, I've sold stuff nationwide, our members aren't limited to Pa.
Another free outlet that's close to home for you is Jonestown Fish & Game. At our February meeting we approved a proposition to allow buying, selling and trading of sporting related items at our meetings. (Sporting related being hunting, shooting, fishing, trapping, archery, etc.)
You can find more details in the 'Meeting Recap' section of our site:
http://www.jonestownfishandgame.com/
Our next meeting is tomorrow evening at 7:30, we'll be open early (I'll be there around 3:00, come as early as you want). You know where we are, bring a few things to get you started. Bring a few things to get opinions on too, it's always good to let someone else see items firsthand and learn from their knowledge.

**justashooter** · March 16th, 2011, 01:22 PM

potter presses were made in NY during the 1930's. they were well thought of, but use a very specific die tooling and are not adaptable to modern dies. auto priming feature and stroke operated powder measure were advanced for the day. they can be used with original potter dies or custom machined reproductions. phil sharpe's Handloading (1937) includes a 3 page write up, though it is not very specific.

the question is, how many die sets do you have with the press, and do you know what they are for? even the shell holders were different in design.

**mauser** · March 16th, 2011, 01:31 PM

Very useful information, thanks for doing the research and sharing what you found.

**lethal93ta** · March 16th, 2011, 04:22 PM

the one press is set up for .222 the other has 38 spl in there. I have dies for 270 and a shell plate for 220 swift, I have the primer arm for large primers but no large primer tube. thanks for the info, I didnt even get a chance to look into it yet there just sitting out in my garage I looked in all the box's and thats all I really came up with for them. theres a small plastic box with some small odds and ends looks like there for the priming system thats on there to change it over to large primers.

**Skeet028** · May 2nd, 2011, 03:38 AM

Those old Potters are neat presses. I've had a couple of duplexes and they were neat operators. One was set up in 38 special and was owned by a Pa Sheriffs dept for reloading ammo for the cops. The other was in 32 S&W long. I purchased a Simplex( bit different than yours) yesterday with 6 sets of pistol dies and 5 sets of rifle dies. BTW you got some neat stuff there. The last press you got pictured is a Hollywood Senior and worth a bit..Is it all steel or some aluminum too. All stell sells for more. The Herters M-81 is a neat press and really heavy. Worth up to a hundred or so.. The Potters aren't worth a lot but they are really different ol presses. The one i got yesterday with all the dies and a powder measure was kind of a gift. I paid 3 dollars for it at an auction...I went to get the 2 Star progressives and 2 Star luber/sizers...and the 17 Hensley and Gibbs bullet moulds I ended up with..They were selling stuff mostly cheap..except powder bullets and primers...and some of the stuff I really wanted of course