New to me CH "Super C" reloading press, needs some type of shell adapter

[gsbuickman]

Morning Guys ...

I just had, surgery #5 on my leg Mon morning , spent the last three days in the hospital and got home to find this new reloading press waiting for me @ my door .




I was looking for a high quality Solid cast iron press with compound linkage for FL resizing w/ a ram that rises as you push down on the handle instead of lifting up on the handle like my single stage Pacific press. Well, I found this up for auction from an estate sale and after researching the high quality Equipment that CH is known for I bid on it & found out I won the bid for $30 after I woke up in the recovery room Monday afternoon ..

The only thing that I was wondering about is if it accepted standard Lee / RCBS shell holders like my Pacific press, or if it was going to need a shell holder adapter or another Ram that accepts standard shell holders . Well , it turns out that it doesn't accept standard Shell Holders so it's going to need something . Any thoughts on what the best option for this press would be ?? ...

 

[Whiterook808]

Call CH-4D, I think they may have what you need.

 

[Bandit67]

You overpaid. It was only $12 brand new.

 

[gsbuickman]

You overpaid. It was only $12 brand new.

I know , it came with a pair of original manuals from like the 1950s complete with prices and part numbers ...

 

[Whiterook808]

I think this is what you want, but you should call them and to sure. I am not that familiar with CH presses.

https://www.ch4d.com/products/equipment/presses/407190

 

[gsbuickman]

Well , it looks like I kinda shot myself in the foot with this press & it'll cost me a little more to get it setup for standard Shell Holders than I was planning on spending. Granted I may have won the bid on it even though I didn't bid very much to begin with and I could have bought a $40 Lee press but I'm not really fond of Lee reloading equipment at this point in time . This is a nice high-quality cast iron press design but I was really hoping that it accepted standard Shell Holders or had already been converted for them. Unfortunately it still had the proprietary Ram in it that only accepted a certain range of shells and you could get different Rams for different sizes of shells . I called C&H and talked to the cool old guy that answered the phone (sounded like he was about 85) and he pointed me at the universal Ram they sell for the C&H / Hollywood presses whiterook linked to for $28+ shipping.

I decided to jump online and see if there were any other Alternatives from any other well-known manufacturers from back in the day that eventually led me to this original vintage Lyman Spartan ram that was also designed to work with Pacific, RCBS and the C&H "Super C" presses that was designed to use the universal RCBS / Lee shell holders. As you can see from a couple of the pics back in the day this Ram was only $3.50, I picked it up for $33 shipped so I still saved myself a few dollars over the ram from C&H ...

 

[Whiterook808]

Still looks to me like you got a fine press there for $60. The closet thing would have been the new Lyman Brassmith Ideal and I think your CH is probably beefier.

 

[gsbuickman]

Still looks to me like you got a fine press there for $60. The closet thing would have been the new Lyman Brassmith Ideal and I think your CH is probably beefier.

Thanks . With the original $20 shipping charge for the Press itself I'm actually into this one for $80. Wasn't planning on spending that much but that's the way it goes sometimes when something doesn't go the way you hoped it would .

On another note, I researched a lot of different presses and one of the most common problems I was Finding was that people were having issues with the presses I was researching flexing and I'm chalking that up to most of them being made from cheap Chinese aluminum which is something I definitely didn't want. Some of the best press reviews I found were for the old C&H presses. Their hayday may have been back in the 60s and they may not have standardized and modernized like everyone else but they're not interested in doing so because C&H's owner, Dave Davison doesn't believe in making anything out of aluminum, especially the cheap Chinese junk. Their stuff is made right here in the US & built like a tank from Cast Iron and Steel as it should be. I bought this with the intention of having a nice press for FL resizing w/ a handle you push down on to raise the Ram rather than lifting up on like my Pacific press, so once I get the new RAM installed this should suit my needs beautifully even if it did cost me more than I intended on ...