CH "C" press

[JonB]

I bought one at the Sauk Centre gunshow last Saturday. It was marked $50 on a table full of reloads in every common caliber there is. I didn't really want it, but when I overheard the seller telling a customer, he bought a bunch of reloading stuff from an estate and regretted it. So, I chime in, "Hey, will you take $20 for that red press?" SOLD, he says. I give him a 20. I was kind of thinking of using it as a dedicated BHN tester, instead of my cheapy Lee "Reloader" press.
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Well, it was all taped up so I didn't really look closely at it until I got home. I thought it was cast iron, NOPE, it's aluminum...I guess that doesn't matter? Also, it's the type of press where the Ram is the shell holder. It came with two rams, one is 223 and the other was 45acp. Lastly, to raise the Ram, you "lift" the handle. WHAT??? That's gonna suck to use as a BHN tester.
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I haven't done anything with it yet, just look at it. Maybe I mount it and try a few things and take a couple photos to share.

 

[Pressman]

I'm sorry, but I have to laugh, you got one of the early C-H presses. Don't stress it and it'll work. Buy a new ram for universal shellholders and use it for seating bullets. In that application it is great.
The aluminum frame makes it too light to use for a door stop.

 

[glassparman]

I have one of those that started cracking when I was doing cartridge conversions on it.

 

[JustJim]

I have one too. Serendipitously, the ram is for a .44 Russian/Special/Mag case head size: one of my personal favorites. I figure the .44 Special won't overload it or wear it out too fast, and "lift-to-size" isn't a problem with such a short case. It should be fine for a special-purpose (e.g. depriming military cases) press. From long-ago memories, it seems like the ram for .223 was the same as 9x19.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

I had one was given to me with a bunch of other stuff here so ago. I cleaned it up, fixed it up and sent it to a new reloader who subscribed to my YouTube channel and always posts. Young fella just reloading for a couple years not a lot of money, I was happy to spread the love and donate it to the "cause".

Quite similar to my father Spartan, but it's seated on the upstroke, not the downstroke.

 

[JonB]

I mounted it on the bench. Honestly, I hate it. I wish I had my $20 back.
The one ram is 30-06, not the 45acp that I thought(mentioned in first post), 45acp case fits kinda loose in that 30-05 ram, but would work to decap, I guess? Then I noticed on the other ram that fit a 223rem real nice, it is marked 222.
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Maybe I put it on the gunshow table?
I do have several sets of 222rem dies, so I could put together a 'kit' with one of those die sets and other goodies? Although, I think the two primer arms that came with this press are both for large primers? Seems I do have some extra Herter's primer arms? I wonder if they are the same?
OR...maybe it just goes into the corner, for my Daughter to throw into the dumpster when she has to clean this place out.
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No one has the Universal ram in stock, and if they did, I don't know if I'd spend $40+ on a new ram. The tiny Lee reloader press's ram looks almost identical, they are $16 on fleabay, Only would need a couple small redneck mods to make it work, Yes, I did pull the Ram out of the Lee that's mounted right next to it, to confirm.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Thats the same as one I had.
I donated it to a new reloader for sizing bullets upside down/ push theu. He loves it!!