Stepping back in time ... rifle reloading

Turkey Creek

5 year old buck +
My mom was cleaning out the attic of our farm house and found some of my Great Grandpa's reloading equipment. From the looks of it I would guess it was one of those things he got into and didnt do a whole lot of as most things look like new (at least new by 1960 standards!:) Kind of neat to look through everything as I was only 3 yrs old when he passed away and have no memories of him. I love the old advertising, catalogs and such. It was a much different time back then. I love the postmark on the package and was amazed that the box shipped for 50 cents! Notice how there was no need for formal addresses at the time in the more rural areas. I did a little search and apparently the "Railroad Express" was the precursor to the UPS. Packages were delivered by rail instead of truck for the most part after WWII until about 1970. Anyhow thought I would share the pics. I am trying to thin down my collections of "stuff" so if anybody is particularly interested in anything shown either for a collection or to use send me a PM.

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There was a copy of the "American Rifleman" from 1956 as well. Liked these ads. I own my Great Grandpas shotgun, same as the one pictured in the ad. Can almost picture him setting in a chair dreaming of buying that gun. Anybody for an anti-tank gun for under $100! :D Ammo was pretty expensive even back then for that gun.

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Funny. I have that colt woodsman in front of me right now! Weird!


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That stuff is really cool! Must be neat thinking about your Great Grandpa using that stuff so long ago. Hope it ends up with someone who appreciates it. Those shotguns were made 30 miles up the road from me, nice shotguns.
 
That stuff is really cool! Must be neat thinking about your Great Grandpa using that stuff so long ago. Hope it ends up with someone who appreciates it. Those shotguns were made 30 miles up the road from me, nice shotguns.
I have shot the shotgun a lot. I used to shoot trap with it, my mom said my Great Grandpa shot a lot of trap and pheasant hunted with it. Broke my first perfect 25 rock round with that gun! The gun has never had a front site since I owned it, always assumed that it was just a bead. Now I know I need to find a Raybar.

I will keep a couple of the things just for the memories, but I have a complete RCBS system that I use now.
 
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I forgot to mention, my Grandpa had one also and I shot a ton of small game with it. Great memories!
 
Funny how some of the copper bullets had oxidized and others within the same box look like new.
 
That is some cool old stuff right there. It would be nice if you had some way to display it.

Most folks who reload have heard of the old legend P.O. Ackley. My dad sent him a letter years ago and P.O. was nice enough to respond. Dad still has that letter.
 
That is some cool old stuff right there. It would be nice if you had some way to display it.

Most folks who reload have heard of the old legend P.O. Ackley. My dad sent him a letter years ago and P.O. was nice enough to respond. Dad still has that letter.
I will keep the cardboard shipping box and a typed invoice for everything that was sent with the box for display in my next house.
 
Very cool,some of those catalog pages would look good framed,i also inherited a colt woodsman from my grandpa
 
That's great Turkey Creek. I love seeing stuff like this. Thanks for sharing.

I also own my grandfather's Ithaca Featherlight. Remember him showing it to me for the first time when I was 12 or something....his "Ithaca Deerslayer" stirred my imagination and I knew someday I would be a deer hunter too. He was a left handed shooter so the bottom ejection worked for him. I use it every once in a while on really snowy days when I am tracking deer and don't want to risk my scope failing. Take it rabbit and grouse hunting every once in a while.

$94 for the shotgun and $47 for the extra deer barrel. Not too bad.



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