I am offering this section as a service for collectors. This website is like a free book, but it does cost money to keep up. The bigger it gets, the more it will cost. Initially I am offering to list items here for 30 days, for $10.00. The cost of the item will not be a factor. There are no selling and buying fees. You will control all selling yourself. You will interact with a buyer or seller through e-mail or telephone. Whichever you prefer. You decide how you want to be paid!
     I will only do the listing! I will expect everyone to observe Local, State and Federal Laws! 
     Send me an e-mail with up to six good, full size photos, a description, contact information you want to use, and price. I can crop and enhance pictures up to a certain point. Good photos are important. I have taken all the pictures on this site with an Iphone 6s. An expensive camera is nice, but not absolutely necessary.
     Take a look at the listings below. I will list your item and email you when the 30 day period is running out.
     If you sell the item, just let me know.
     Click on the buttons below to view different types of items for sale.
     I can take credit cards or payment through paypal.
     Click on the email address above to contact me, send photos or information.

THE RIFLEMAN, THE RIFLE AND RELOADING

 

    

    Our ancestors fired Matchlock, Flintlock or Percussion Muzzleloading Firearms. The Musket and Rifle both  required an intimate knowledge of your firearm. How much powder do you use? How does the ball or bullet fit? What patching on the bullet? What lubricant for the patch or bullet? Coarse powder or fine? Who made the firearm and what were his intentions for its use?

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    If you think about it, our ancestors were skilled at reloading their firearms from the very beginning. Reloading one shot at a time, in a single shot muzzleloader. This made reloading well and accurately extremely important. If you did not do a good job reloading that One Shot, the firearm might not work at all. Performance was critical.

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    Over the centuries, reloading became an Art and a Science. To bring home game, out-shoot your buddie, or win a battle, little improvements in technique and design made a big difference. Often the difference between life and death!

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    Westward Expansion, The Industrial Revolution, and The Civil War changed firearms. The muzzleloader became the metallic cartridge pistol and rifle. There were so many patents, designs and improvements, they are hard to count. Those first cartridges were rimfire. The early rimfires were not very reliable and could not be reloaded in the field.

 

    It did not take more than a few years for the new centerfire cartridges to be introduced. This new centerfire idea was happily adopted by American riflemen. No longer did the cartridge case get thrown on the ground. More important, shooters could use their considerable skills. They could reload to improve the performance of their centerfire rifles. Even far from the cities and civilization.

 

    Vary the components used to reload, make new specialized tools and you could get more out of your firearm. The familiar old bullet mold, powder and caps blossomed into thousands of different designs of cartriges, tools and accessories. All this continues today.

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    I was lucky enough to grow up in the nineteen sixties when there was a great interest in muzzleloading rifles. There were large matches. These shooters were riflemen in the traditional sense. They made their own rifles, often using the old techniques. If you wanted to win a muzzleloading match in the seventies, you had to be really good at reloading that rifle! Accuracy in Reloading was the name of the game!

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    Nearly all of us had a strong interest in all firearms and their history. Occasionally, when collecting and going to gun shows, we would come across old catalogs and reloading tools. Some of us, just a few, started to collect those too. 

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    Sadly, most of those old riflemen from history had died. Their knowledge was lost with them. Some did live long enough to record some of their knowledge. In many cases, they had forgotten a lot, when they recorded their experiences. When they died, the "Tools of Their Trade" were often thrown away. Their families did not know what those little trinkets were. They did keep the rifles because they had a known value. Collectors were left with just a few scraps of tools and equipment. To this day, we have no idea who made some of the tools. Examples of some items in those old catalogs may no longer exist. 

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    Collectors did not help much either. They collected GUNS, high condition or rare. Many thought those old tools and records had no value. They were just in the way! Even in recent auctions, Dealers and Auction Houses have no idea of the value of the tools and their importance. Some of my old collector buddies get really pissed when extra barrels, tools and molds are sold separately from rifles. For Gods Sake, if a rifle has it's original tools, don't you know that makes the rifle more valuable?

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    I have seen Big Time Dealers throw away records and give away tools when they had full reloading sets, targets, prizes and records of original owners! Can you imagine that!

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    I saw a really great rifle for sale, at a big gun show, for $70,000.00. I had been familiar with that particular rifle for years. I knew a lot about that rifle. I asked him what caliber it was, just for fun. He told me it was chambered for a cartridge that had not been introduced until ten years after the rifle was made! He had enough money to buy a fine rifle, but he was not familiar with the History. Perhaps the information was not easily available.

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     Collect a fine firearm. It has a bullet mold? Great! A box of cartridges? Even better! ( wrong caliber, but who cares, it has the manufacturers name on it!) But who would want that old thing that looks like a Riveter, a Punch or a Meat Grinder! Who would want to carry that stuff around to a gun show!

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    The answer is simple! I WOULD! I suspect there are many more folks out there who feel the same.

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    We have had some books floating around since I was a kid. I read and memorized them all! The authors are gone. The books were OK for the old days before computers.

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    Thankfully, after many years, Tom Rowe and Ed Curtis came out with a two volume set of books about vintage reloading tools. "Reloading Tools of the Black Powder Era." Volumes 1 and 2. Thanks to both of them! They are two of those "Few" collectors that saved a great deal of our shooting history!

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    As I went through these two large and excellent books, I realized that they could only touch the surface of what we might want to know about the interesting subject of Shooting, Riflemen and Reloading. The topic is too large and a book can not hold it all.

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    When "reloadingtool.com" became available, I realized we need a new format to record our Reloading History.

I immediately bought the name and set out to build a site. 

 

    My initial goal here is to produce some short articles about particular reloading tools, including more pictures and details about how the tools work. I am hoping this will grow and other collectors will offer photos and new information. All over the country, collectors have great items that will never be seen or known, unless the information can be brought together in one place. God forbid, they die and the tools get thrown away! Those scary old things might Blow Up!

 

    Only a website has enough space to make this possible.

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    I see this website as an online book or magazine. You don't have to have a pile of old paper magazines, or a big heavy volume to hold on to. Editing is quick and easy, especially when something new shows up. 

I also hope this website will bring along new and younger collectors, to replace some of the crotchety old farts we are losing at a alarming rate! More collectors means more information. Information saved for future collectors and History.

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     I have also added a "Classified Section" where collectors can offer items for sale. I will charge a modest fee, which I will use to support and expand this website. Please note that sellers will be responsible for their own sales! Sellers will be responsible  for complying with all Local, State and Federal Laws! You will control the sale entirely yourself. No middleman controls!

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     If this works, it could be a reference site that could last far into the future.

     Your help and participation would be very appreciated. 

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