While my collection is not near as large as Keith's mine were also picked up individually. I am not really a dedicated collector of these, would run into them from time to time at places similar to Keith. If they sold for really Cheap I would take them home. Though not antique I did pick up my 3 Lyman Vandalia loaders at the same time/place. I actually bought them off eBay back when shipping was a lot more reasonable & the shipping was still higher than the tools.
Picked up the old Herter 72 press at a gun shop. I went to buy a set of 20 gauge dies for a Pacific press I was using at the time. He was going to have to order the die set but had this Herter press with both 12 & 20 dies for less than I could buy the Pacific dies alone so I just took it instead.
The Pacific was a single stage so the Herter served just as well & it is virtually Dyno-Mite proof.
On the flared tubes that Gil mentioned the ones I have are made in the necked portion just under the size of the shells interior diameter so the wads are squeezed a bit to assist them entering the shell without tearing the mouths. This was a big problem with paper hulls. Not sure when the wad guides with the brass fingers first came on the market, but they were a great help.
