hollywood gun shop Senior Press

[Kevin Rohrer]

Besides looking very Steampunk, what are the other advantages of a Hollywood Senior over a Rockchucker or Redding T-7?

Steampunk. Never thought about them in that manner, but it is a good, one-word description. I'll have to get a set of welder's goggles and a leather flying cap to hang off it.

As for the advantage of the Senior over the other two:

Senior vs RC: the former is a lot smaller and sets on top of the bench as opposed to hanging below the bench and getting in the way.

Senior vs T7: Apples vs oranges to a certain extent as one is a single-station vs a turret. But the T7 also hangs below the bench. The Senior is also more compact and probably stronger.

The Senior is the smallest press I own, but one of the strongest.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

I have a question about some of the older presses. Many of them seem to lean back a few degrees. Was or is there a specific reason for this?

None of my presses drink, so they never lean.

 

[Jim Watson]

I have not used any press older than my 1971 Rockchucker with the RCBS compound leverage linkage, so help me out. I see that all the presses here, although they may be hell for stout, have simple toggle linkages.
How is the effort on the handle for heavy work like big case full length sizing or bullet swaging versus an RCBS or post patent copy?

 

[ReloaderFred]

Jim,

If you look at the pictures of the two different size Seniors in posts #9 and #17, you can see there are two sets of holes in the toggle link. By moving to the mid position holes on the link, the leverage is greatly increased. I don't know what the ratio is, but the difference is very noticeable. In post #17, with my bullet swaging die installed, I'm able to swage out the solid base of a .40 S&W case to .429", from the original .424". I'm not able to do that with the holes at the end of the link that are for regular reloading, and my Rockchucker won't do it, either.

I've also mashed the shell holder slot on my Rockchucker swaging bullets, which RCBS replaced for free, even though I told them I damaged it myself. I can do more heavy work with the Hollywood, without damaging it.

Another upside with the larger Senior press is I load .45-120 Sharps, which is a 3.250" long case. None of my other presses have an opening large enough to be able to seat a bullet without slipping it up into the die and holding it in place with a finger, while I slide a case into the shell holder. With the large Senior, I can load those rounds as normal.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Offfhand]

I was watching the the eBay bidding today for a Hollywood Sr. It sold for $227.51. I hope someone on this forum who wanted one got it, even though the seller was adding $50.00 for shipping, which was a bit greedy. As mentioned in above comments, a redeeming feature of the Hollywood press is that it sits flat on top of shelf. Which makes it convenient to use as a bookend.

 

[Julian537]

Kevin,

I was referring to older presses in general. Not the ones in your picture. I see some CH, Pacific, Redding, RCBS, etc that have a slight lean to them. They lean back a bit. Is there any reason for this? It seems like the newer presses all go directly vertical. Rock chucker for instance or lee press.

 

[Richr57]

Hello now to this site. I just found 2 Hollywood Seniors and a C4H press.
Looking for an assembly manual. One of the Hollywoods needs to be cleaned up. But all 3 mechanically work great!
CH4D sells a shellholder adaptor for them and hopefully should arrive soon.
I liked my Rock Chucker but the Hollywood Senior is massive. I was also looking for the new RCBS Summit but it looks like I won't need it.
I started reloading over 40 years ago but never heard of a Hollywood. What a find. I don't want to say how much all the reloading equipment sold for but sometimes you find a real bargain and I did!
Oh not interested in selling any of the presses for now.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

Senior Manual?

I don't know of anyone who has a manual, as there is not much to them. Disassembly can be a minor problem, though. I have taken mine apart, and can help you out. What do you need?

If you goto the CH/4D site, they have an online parts drawing of the '444', which I also own. Does it need cleaning?

 

[photosaurus]

Kevin, I'm just as impressed with your library as your presses.

 

[fguffey]

Reloaderfred,

SAID:

"I've also mashed the shell holder slot on my Rockchucker swaging bullets, which RCBS replaced for free, even though I told them I damaged it myself. I can do more heavy work with the Hollywood, without damaging it"

Reloaderfred, on page 11 in your RCBS Special Order Catalog RCBS offers a Rock Chucker with a bullet swage ram, for those that have the regular ram RCBS offers the bullet swage ram for $75.00 +/- a few. I do not know about RCBS but other manufacturers offer bullet swaging shell holders.

Other manufacturers, I have bullet swaging shell holders for Herter's presses.

The shell holder for swaging does not have a primer hole, the RCBS ram does not have a primer cut in the top.

F. Guffey

 

[fguffey]

Julian537,

ASKED a question:

I was referring to older presses in general. Not the ones in your picture. I see some CH, Pacific, Redding, RCBS, etc that have a slight lean to them. They lean back a bit. Is there any reason for this? It seems like the newer presses all go directly vertical. Rock chucker for instance or lee press.

Julian, there are reasons, I have no less than 11 presses that lean back at the top, and out from the bottom, of the 11 I have one that came with a factory detent. It has a hole drilled through the frame and into the ram, a spring loaded ball/detent is secured with a screw to contain the spring that holds the ball. Purpose? The detent holds the ram in place when the handle is up.

Without the detent and the kicked back ram at the top the handles would be impossible to operate the press without 3 hands.

Then there is cam-over. All of my lean back at the top press are cam over presses, The cam over when adjusted holds the ram at the top, The RCBS A2 type presses require two hands to lover the ram when adjusted for cam over, one hand on the press, the other on the handle, exception? The RCBS A2 is a stand up straight ram press.

After that there are unique difference in design that go un-noticed.

Many Herter presses were modified by adding a detent.

F. Guffey

 

[ReloaderFred]

fguffy,

I knew about the RCBS solid ram, but the press is still made from cast iron, whereas the very first RCBS press was made from cast steel, and was really intended for bullet swaging. The Rockchucker is fairly light duty when it comes to swaging bullets.

I've since purchased a Corbin CSP-1 Swaging Press that is specifically made for bullet swaging, so the Rockchucker is back loading ammunition and notching cases for swaging. My large Hollywood Senior is still set up for bullet swaging, too, so those needs are pretty well addressed. My smaller Hollywood Senior is still set up for loading ammunition, but most of the loading is done on the Hornady LNL, since volume is the need in some calibers.

You have nearly as many shellholders as I do!

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[fguffey]

ReloaderFred, I should have know you knew, but on the outside chance there is one reloader that did/does not know, I did not want to miss them.

Almost as many? had I thought that was the way you perceived my effort. I would not have wasted my time posting. I have the Herters two ram press, two shell holders are required.

F. Guffey