pacific press?

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jpb in me

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
212
Location
Maine woods
Finally took the plunge into reloading today. Bought a Pacific single stage press (red). It has a D shaped frame and is marked "pacific" on one side and "multi power" on the other side. It is very heavy made of cast iron. Has a priming arm also. Can any one tell me if this is a quality press? I paid $40 for it and its in excellent shape. Can't seem to find much on the internet about it.
 

ra

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Messages
264
Location
Tennessee
I have some Pacific dies that I bought years ago, they were made by Hornady. IIRC Hornady bought Pacific then sometime in the 90's they dropped the Pacific name and went by Hornady. I have not used a Pacific press but it should be good quality.

ra
 
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
11,653
Location
Kentucky
Supposedly a pretty good older press design. Uses standard 7/8"-14 dies I believe.

Not sure about the availability of shell holders for it, but I'm sure somebody will be able to help.

Heckuva price, at least.

:)
 

swoter

Bearcat
Joined
Jun 19, 2004
Messages
98
Location
London, Oh
I have an old pacific press and it takes the standard 7/8 dies. I use Lee dies and Lee shellholders. You'll never wear it out. The one I have was bought used by my father many years ago, and when he quit reloading he gave it to me. That was 5 or 6 years ago. It has loaded a lot of rounds throughout the years without any problems.
 

Rainman

Blackhawk
Joined
Mar 13, 2009
Messages
505
Location
Land of the Cherokee , Georgia
I had an old Pacific press 40 years ago and it was strong and very well made. If I could run across another one now at a reasonable price I would buy it for a dedicated use like depriming using a unversal die.

They use standard 7/8" dies made by RCBS, Lyman etc,

Dan
 

BrianU

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 18, 2001
Messages
25
Location
Choctaw, OK, USA
I have and use a Pacific press. I can remember being with my Dad when he purchased it used from a gentleman in Pennsylvania about 40 years ago, so how old it actually is, I have no idea. It does use standard size dies and shellholders. There is also an attachment for priming cases that works very well, but does require handling every primer, so use my RCBS hand priming tool for all my case priming.

Brian
 

Rick Courtright

Hawkeye
Joined
Mar 10, 2002
Messages
7,897
Location
Redlands CA USA
jpb in me":1h1by0fe said:
It has a D shaped frame and is marked "pacific" on one side and "multi power" on the other side.
...

Can any one tell me if this is a quality press? I paid $40 for it and its in excellent shape. Can't seem to find much on the internet about it.

Hi,

You might find something of interest following this link: http://www.handloadersbench.com/forum91/6463.html

IIRC, this press was probably made during the '70s. So it should fit standard shellholders and dies. It seems there were some earlier Pacific "C" presses ('60s or before??? Likely to be blue or black, not red) that used a ram w/ built in shellholder. If someone comes upon one of these, I believe the ram can be replaced w/ one from C-H (see www.ch4d.com) that'll update you to use "universal" shellholders.

I have a virtually unused Pacific-Hornady "Power C"--I think it's probably from the early '80s after Hornady took over the Pacific. If yours is built ANYTHING like it, your kids will have to work hard to wear it out after you're gone!

Rick C
 

jpb in me

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
212
Location
Maine woods
Thanks for all the info. I've tried unsuccessfully to find a photo of mine on the internet. It looks very much like the hornady but is red in color. At any rate its rugged, like new and I'm very happy to have it. Looking forward to getting into reloading.
 
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