First I do not consider myself a collector of these but over the years have acquired a few. Most came from yard sales, auction sales, flea markets & such at such low prices I just couldn't resist. My absolute earliest "Reloader" is a hickory ramrod fitted with a brass head, for a muzzleloader obviously.
Beyond that, I have an early boxed set, partially of wood with a thin steel wad seater, cast primer seater "pliers" & roll crimper all in 16 gauge. I have a couple of Lee loaders, one 12 & one 28. Have a French made 16 gauge loader imported by Thalson & ran across three at once of old Lyman Vandalia loaders, all 12 gauge. Have several of the old combination shot & bulk or black powder dippers as well as several old roll crimpers. 1 in 16, 1 in 10 & the rest in 12.
Some of these I have played with & loaded maybe a box of shells with. All are actually capable of loading good shells but production is of course extremely Slow by modern standards.
Does anyone else have any of these old tools? Somehow I did not ever manage to run across a Lyman "Straightline" set, probably one of the more popular shotshell loaders in early days.
