Reloading Equipment Nostalgia

[big5ifty]

What piece of reloading equipment have you got, that you really like, enjoy using, and would buy again, but it's no longer in production ?

I would like another press mounted APS priming unit. A brilliant priming solution, one of the few with precise primer seating depth control.

[Treeman]

can not think of anything that was better back then than how is made now.

[oafpatroll]

Being the tight wad scrounger that I am, precious little of what I have was bought new and some was probably out of production when I got them.

[janfred]

Lee Autoprime with the round primer tray. No other priming system gives the same feel for when the primer bottoms out.

[Ds J]

This thread proves that I reload and shoot way too little   

I still use the stuff my dad bought in '79 or '80.

[Brian43x]

See that yellow sticker?



Ja, That's 1994 prices for my Lee Anniversary kit.

[Treeman]

I am saddened when I recall how I just recently for some reason cleaned out all my old box's and receipts, some going back to 1990.
Just could not keep accumulating, a baaaad habit of mine.

[Brian43x]

Not quite reloading but nostalgia none the less..

[Againstthegrains]

I have a RCBS reloading scale, model 5.10. I bought second hand. The price tag on the box says R43.50.

The modern equivalent is about R2000.

[Treeman]

Still can not think of anything that is made now that is not better than the original version.

[Againstthegrains]

Still can not think of anything that is made now that is not better than the original version.

In the old days metallurgy and mechanical engineering were the pinnacle of stuff that people needed. Now days all those propeller heads are working in IT related fields. That's why a lot of the people making this stuff are not as good as they were.

Plus, the paradigm has shifted. In china they ask "What do you want it to cost?", then they make it to budget, not to spec!

[Treeman]

In the old days metallurgy and mechanical engineering were the pinnacle of stuff that people needed. Now days all those propeller heads are working in IT related fields. That's why a lot of the people making this stuff are not as good as they were.

Plus, the paradigm has shifted. In china they ask "What do you want it to cost?", then they make it to budget, not to spec!
[/quote]
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This about nails it.
A mate of mine who was in Taiwan had just that said to him. He was discussing price and a suggestion came back to him, " we can lower the chrome content" (might have been tin content?). He recons they could even tell him the knock off effect of doing so. It seems they had a standard they prefered, but would lower it on instruction.

[oafpatroll]

Mate of mine does surface preparation machines and supplies. He always supplied German machines which were fiercely expensive but of very high quality and durability. He went on a buying trip to China mainly for abrasive and polishing media and was convinced to take some machines on consignment. When they turned out ok in their testing back home the suppliers asked him the same question, i.e. what do you want to pay and he has now ended up with a couple of lines based on the expected intesity of use. All a fraction of the price of the German equivalents.   

[Treeman]

I wonder if this is a good thing, I have played a few approaches in this regard before. Do we lament the loss of German - Swiss perfection ? Do we welcome the almost as good at nowhere near the price, knowing its a slippery slope down from there.
How will, and can proper stuff survive, Swiss, German ?
Where does this end, chocolate, salami, medication ?

[Ds J]

I wonder if this is a good thing, I have played a few approaches in this regard before. Do we lament the loss of German - Swiss perfection ? Do we welcome the almost as good at nowhere near the price, knowing its a slippery slope down from there.
How will, and can proper stuff survive, Swiss, German ?
Where does this end, chocolate, salami, medication ?

To get to the bottom of this one has to do the math on the long run. "Do I buy a Mahindra or a Toyota?" (Ryobi vs Bosch; Taurus vs Glock etc). The difference becomes evident when the object gets old, mistreated or used hard.

And one has to reckon with the human being - "I don't care" is unfortunately a very strong argument, at least in too many cases.