1979 Speer Reloading manual

[daveg.inkc]

I found another vintage manual, 10th Speer. 1979. Very interesting reading. 1956, Dick Speer and Arvid Nelson started the Cascade Cartridge, Inc. Making primers. Actually Speer started primers in 1951. Better known to shooting enthusiast everywhere as CCI. And it tells how Rockchucker press got named. Vernon Speer started making bullets from empty .22 brass

 

[WIL TERRY]

Keep reading, you are getting there !!!

And so it goes...

 

[daveg.inkc]

These are rich in history. Also an article on Jack O'Connor. Vernon Speer. Both passed in 1978

 

[Jimbo357mag]

...so for the rest of us, how did the Rockchucker Press get it's name?

 

[WAYNO]

The Speer #9 and #10 are great books, with enlightening reading beyond just reloading.

RCBS...Rock Chucker Bullet Swage. Buzz Huntigton's original product was a bullet swaging press.

I was in a discussion here one time, where another person insisted it was Rock Chuck Bullet Swage. He went on to say a Chucker (actually Chukar) is a bird. Yes it is. But a Rock Chucker is someone that hunts Rock Chucks. And for easterners more familiar with a ground hog, a Rock Chuck, or Yellow Bellied Marmot, is similar to the Ground Hog. Did the Rock Chuck see its shadow this year? :D

WAYNO.

 

[gunzo]

I really like the short stories & historical notes in reloading manuals. Nosler manuals have a page or so for every caliber. Come to think of it, most manuals do. Good reading whether you intend to load that caliber or not.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

My #10 Speer reloading manual has the story. Fred Huntington created the bullet swaging dies he called the Rock Chuck Bullet Swage dies, from whence came the RCBS name. He later developed what became known as the Rockchucker press.


:)

 

[pruger45]

He made the jackets from spent 22 hulls. Not the bullet!

 

[daveg.inkc]

He made the jackets from spent 22 hulls. Not the bullet!

Wrong!!!!! Page 10. "Bullets made from 22RF cases". "The preferred gliding metal jacket material wasn't available. As a substitute,Vernon used fired 22 rim fire cases"

 

[daveg.inkc]

Even has a picture of bullets. And another with Jack O'Connor with a Sable.

 

[daveg.inkc]

Mr. Vernon Speer was a tool and die machinist for John Deere. And a ground instructor for a flying school in Lincoln, NE.

 

[lgriff1968]

I found another vintage manual, 10th Speer. 1979. Very interesting reading. 1956, Dick Speer and Arvid Nelson started the Cascade Cartridge, Inc. Making primers. Actually Speer started primers in 1951. Better known to shooting enthusiast everywhere as CCI. And it tells how Rockchucker press got named. Vernon Speer started making bullets from empty .22 brass

I have this hardcover manual that I bought new. Besides having to adhere some duct tape to the spline area, it is in otherwise great condition for its' age and usage. This was however, my second manual.

I started reloading in 1971 for a 1971 Super Blackhawk, with a "Lee Loader", mallet, and a Pacific (Div. of Hornady) Rifle/Pistol Cartridge Reloading Manual (5th Printing Revised Edition September 1971), soft cover. While this softcover has not stood up as well as the Speer #10, it is still all there and has a lot of information inside. It has lead-in sections on all cartridge components as well as the loading procedure(s ).

While I no longer reload, I will keep these two manuals for sentimental, as well as reference and reading interest reasons. Sure wish I still had that OM SB, what a great bluing they had back then.

 

[Bob Wright]

Somewhere I've got an old manual for bullet casting. Part of the story is how many toothpaste tubes to add to pure lead for the proper bullet mix.


(For the younger ones here, toothpaste tubes were made of tin at one time. So were glue tubes.)

Bob Wright

 

[gumbo333]

I believe Joyce Hornady started making bullets in his dads garage in Lincoln, NE. Vernon Speers may have been his first employee, to sell those bullets. I think they were life long friends although Speers went on to start his own company.

 

[daveg.inkc]

Yes,, Joyce and Vernon together made a machine to convert spent .22's into bullets. I read where these sold very well.

 

[daveg.inkc]

Now, I added a Speer from 1967. Anixious to get it in mail

 

[Jimbo357mag]

The Speer #9 and #10 are great books, with enlightening reading beyond just reloading.

RCBS...Rock Chucker Bullet Swage. Buzz Huntigton's original product was a bullet swaging press.

I was in a discussion here one time, where another person insisted it was Rock Chuck Bullet Swage. He went on to say a Chucker (actually Chukar) is a bird. Yes it is. But a Rock Chucker is someone that hunts Rock Chucks. And for easterners more familiar with a ground hog, a Rock Chuck, or Yellow Bellied Marmot, is similar to the Ground Hog. Did the Rock Chuck see its shadow this year? :D

WAYNO.

Thanks for that. Sometimes product and company names can be very interesting. I know about Rock Chucks from reading sixshot's posts about them. :D