I thought the Dragons in Florida have four legs and long tails and go by the Gator name !    

.......................................................................

So OldFeller , your bring the Barcalounger with all that fuel avaible ?

OldFeller ,

That Barcalounge holds a lot of fuel anyway don't it ?

...........................................................

If the rear tire on the guzzi looks like it might have 3000 more miles on it by March then I'll bring it .   Its got 3,200 ish now and is half gone already (Sport Demon) , I won't ever buy one of them !   I'm thinking Avon Road Ridder , I've run them on the front before and they dry rot before they wear out.   On the rear I don't think that will be a problem !  

The Sportster would be a good ridding comrade for your Barcalounge .   I've put the stock suspension back on it , and Florida is flat enough that dragging in the twisty should not be an issue .     Its got a 4.5 gal tank w/50-55mpg.

I gots me a problem.

For the last longest I have been watching Ebone for an inexpensive junker cast iron reloading press.   Yeah, I know, they wind up getting bid up to  $70-$80 raw and around $100 shipped, no matter how badly rusted, etc.  

I've got me a HUGE  .50 caliber capable LEE cast iron press but it is too large and awkward for any smallish depriming job.   I have an old Lee turret that I have been using for light jobs, but I dislike putting "bulk brass" preparation work loads on it as I am gonna wear the aluminum main body and the toggle system out if I keep on using it for that.

Back to the endless hunt for a "decent enough" press, ya gotta watch out if they actually work on the downstroke instead of upstroke and what sort of shell holders they use and if they have the priming arms (if obsolete these are quite expensive when you find one) etc.

So, this puppy cycled down Ebone like 2-3 times, occasionally perhaps being bought and returned for something or another.  It had no lever and it had no priming arm and I suspected since the guy would never post a pic of the ram in the up position that it was rusted from storage.

He finally dropped the "Buy it now" price to$ 69 and bought a primer arm for it and it cycled through again with no takers.

So, I made him a low ball offer, and he took it.   $40 and he pays the shipping.   This actually worked out to $22 for the press and $18 which is about standard for shipping for a cast iron press.

So, here she is physically at my house and I've got me an issue now on the brighter side of things ......   she's jest too purty to be used as a junker press for depriming and resizing tons & tons of that ugly nasty old mil-surp brass.  

Had some caked dried lube and dust on her, but no rust underneath the dust and lube residue.   The heat treat black isn't even worn through on the ram, so I kinda doubt the press got used for very much by the original owner.  And I did verify that that set screw retains a standard X class shell holder (the modern shell holder standard).

THERE IS A TRAP WHEN DEALING WITH OLD ANTIQUE PRESS TOOLS, they tend to stop being tools and become "collectables".   Some old reloaders fall for this and start collecting variants of their favorite old style presses.

Take a good look at this "really too purty" one -- from now on it is going to get all dirty and abused.

I always use the hand autoprime myself, but since the boy took the trouble to go buy a primer arm and then sold me the press for less than twice as much as the new primer arm cost him I figured I'd do him right and include it in the picture.

I bought a package of 4 balls and I am going to make up several lengths of handles, one will be 14" long for heavy work, the next will be 10" long for moderate work and if the 10" isn't handy enough I'll make up a shorter one.

Handles will be T6 aircraft hardened 1/2" aluminum rod which is a lot stronger than I am, the balls will be round black plastic at an inch and a half in diameter.

My handles will never ever get rusty and look ugly.   I may sand them to a consistent pretty fine finish like I did those risers on the Barcalounger but I may feel that is gilding the lilly as the heat treat finish on the aluminum is consistent and pleasant to look at.

Nice press Oldfeller, I've been using a Lyman Spartan which I bought years ago for $20.00. Use it and give it life.
 I also just scored a Hertzer model 3 for resizing my rifle brass, it's a beast. Nothing wrong with the old stuff, cast iron rules!!

Reload? I have about a ton of cast tips at home. Yes.

I've only compiled 20 something molds , from .224 to .502 sizes .