Bill Hockett said
Happy  New Year’s eve mates!

To Maverick or anyone else who likes antique reloading tools.  Do the Ideal reloading tools in Winchester calibers demand similar money as Winchester tools?  I would think unless you are a die hard reloading tool collector that the Winchester tools would be more desirable than an Ideal tool.  The Ideal tools appear to be nickel plated but most of them I see have little finish remaining.  

Thoughts?  

Bill,

It all depends and varies just about like the guns. Higher prices depend on condition of tool, caliber, and model of the tool. The Lyman Ideal 310 Tool was made for such a long time and in various calibers that it is mostly the least expensive and diverse hand tool. The thing the Ideal tools has going for them as that they were also produced in Smokeless Calibers and (generally with minor exceptions) the Winchester tools were not. The ideal tools having been nickeled will generally be in better condition as they were less likely to rust.

I’ve got a couple of boxed 1894 Tool in near mint condition except at some point in the time the bottom of the box got wet and now the whole bottom side of the tool is fairly rusty. But you take what you can get.

I’ve always viewed both the Winchester and Ideal tools as nice hand tools to tinker around with and have fun doing reloads. But consider if one wants to really get serious into reloading a lot and with various loadings to go with a modern bench / turret loading system.

Sincerely,

Maverick