Hollywood Gun Shop Reloading Press

[zerbert]

I am very new to the gun/reloading world and have been restoring an old Hollywood Senior Turret Reloading Press that belonged to my grandfather. It's cleaned up and all parts seem to be working well. I am having a hard time finding anyone who really knows about the Hollywood presses and finding any tutorial videos or any literature online about these old presses. The parts I have are for reloading 12 gauge and I am pretty sure I have all the parts necessary to do so. Problem is I don't know the order for the dies, powder/shot measures, etc. in order to get the press up and running. I am looking for any leads on videos, owners manuals or folks in the LA/OC area. I appreciate any insite into these presses. Take care

[Diesel12]

First off, welcome.

The press you have is pretty rare these days. They will last for generations if you use it properly. I wouldn't recommend reloading shot shell due to the fact you can buy shot shell pretty cheap these days. The price of lead shot is not worth reloading. I have a 12ga progressive press that just sits. However, the press would be better use for reloading pistol or rifle calibers. Although it is a turret press, I usually only run a sizing and seating die for each caliber. Powder measure goes on another stand next to the powder scale. Good luck and go slow. Read up on reloading do's and dont's or take a reloading class. Feel free to pm me with any other questions on the press.

[stilly]

I am very new to the gun/reloading world and have been restoring an old Hollywood Senior Turret Reloading Press that belonged to my grandfather. It's cleaned up and all parts seem to be working well. I am having a hard time finding anyone who really knows about the Hollywood presses and finding any tutorial videos or any literature online about these old presses. The parts I have are for reloading 12 gauge and I am pretty sure I have all the parts necessary to do so. Problem is I don't know the order for the dies, powder/shot measures, etc. in order to get the press up and running. I am looking for any leads on videos, owners manuals or folks in the LA/OC area. I appreciate any insite into these presses. Take care

Know this. And I MIGHT have this press mixed up, but if I recall correctly, the people that made the press sucked. They had long wait times, crappy customer service and things needed adapters or what not to make use of all the holes. Essentially, the press is an antique and not worth the hassle if you have to start hunting things down because the company that made them I THOUGHT also went out of business because of the way they did things.

I have NOT googled the latest on these presses so forgive me if I am slightly off.

WITH THAT SAID, The presses are typically heavy duty, very high quality and are more than capable of getting the job done on many levels. If you have all the right parts you might even be able to swage on them.

If you are looking for parts, check Ebay because ebay (fleabay) ALWAYS has these presses or parts and adapters for them as more people uncover them and find that they suck... They always seem to be missing important parts for some reason...

There might be a few videos on youtube, but you might also consider using google and searching for images of hollywood press or hollywood turret and then SOME of those pages will have information on them. If you know your model name then great (looks like you do) start searching for that in google images and you might be finding a nice dose of history to go with your press. Not to mention, I thought that ONCE I found someone that had started making accessories and adapters for this press for new owners to purchase, but again, I could be mistaken.

If I was given one I would jump at the chance to own it and be happy that I did, but I am not a fan of manufacturers that make a short run of things and then leave the game...

Good luck and have fun.

[jandmtv]

I sold off my dads Hollywood press years ago. Got a pretty penny for it too. Sorry I can't be of any help other than to say those things are a good reminder of the past and what can happen when you lie to your customer and have very bad customer service.

[Sir Toast]

Man, I'd love to get my hands on one!!!! You're so lucky. I'm envious. Wish I could help though.

POST PICTURES!!!!! (And welcome!)

[BigBronco]

Know this. And I MIGHT have this press mixed up, but if I recall correctly, the people that made the press sucked. They had long wait times, crappy customer service and things needed adapters or what not to make use of all the holes. Essentially, the press is an antique and not worth the hassle if you have to start hunting things down because the company that made them I THOUGHT also went out of business because of the way they did things.

I have NOT googled the latest on these presses so forgive me if I am slightly off.

WITH THAT SAID, The presses are typically heavy duty, very high quality and are more than capable of getting the job done on many levels. If you have all the right parts you might even be able to swage on them.

If you are looking for parts, check Ebay because ebay (fleabay) ALWAYS has these presses or parts and adapters for them as more people uncover them and find that they suck... They always seem to be missing important parts for some reason...

There might be a few videos on youtube, but you might also consider using google and searching for images of hollywood press or hollywood turret and then SOME of those pages will have information on them. If you know your model name then great (looks like you do) start searching for that in google images and you might be finding a nice dose of history to go with your press. Not to mention, I thought that ONCE I found someone that had started making accessories and adapters for this press for new owners to purchase, but again, I could be mistaken.

If I was given one I would jump at the chance to own it and be happy that I did, but I am not a fan of manufacturers that make a short run of things and then leave the game...

Good luck and have fun.

Stilly, Stilly, Stilly, For once you are so dead wrong.

The story I am about to tell is true and factual. I got it straight from the horses mouth so to say. Joe the owner of Hollywood Reloading told me the story face to face.

Hollywood Engineering closed due to a fire.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=823315

I was told that a portable radio fell from a high shelf breaking a fluorescent light fixture hanging over an open 55 gallon barrel of Red Dot powder. The fire from the powder took the building and all the equipment almost to the ground all that was left was the concrete walls. I stood in the burnt out hull of the building about two years ago. This was about 2 years after the fire.

There estimated financial loss was approximately $5,000,000.00 was no insurance. what was left of the place was in two sheds. they salvaged what they could in the way of parts and were piecing hat they could from bit and pieced. Literately from a Ryobi drill press and a grinder. Lathes and mills all gone.

I truly felt sorry for the man whom lost everything and was trying to cope. It was almost as if he were in s delusional haze trying to keep what he could together. I think he is currently making a few replacement parts and selling them on eBay. I have seen handles there under the Hollywood name.

I will never forget that day I went up there to pick up a part for one of my Hollywood presses.


A mapquest satellite image still shows the building with no roof.

10600 Arminta St,

Sun Valley, CA 91352-4620

[gunboat]

A second to "stilly is wrong" -- sort of
"Joe" was not the original Hollywood gun shop but a buyer from the original owners about 1980 or so --
The originals and even the later ones a still commanding big prices -

OP go to castboolits forum -- Ken "pressman" is pretty much an expert on these.

my ha-penny

[zerbert]

Man, I'd love to get my hands on one!!!! You're so lucky. I'm envious. Wish I could help though.



POST PICTURES!!!!! (And welcome!)

As soon as I get it up and running I'll definitely post some pictures.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zerbert]

A second to "stilly is wrong" -- sort of
"Joe" was not the original Hollywood gun shop but a buyer from the original owners about 1980 or so --
The originals and even the later ones a still commanding big prices -

OP go to castboolits forum -- Ken "pressman" is pretty much an expert on these.

my ha-penny

My grandfather (to be precise, my grandmother's husband Fred, on my mom's side) owned the Hollywood shop for a few years in the early 80s. The press I have now is in pretty good condition with what I think are all the dies to reload 12ga. He gave it to my dad sometime in the early 80s when I was a couple years old. I haven't had any luck on finding anyone who can help me get it up and running. I will definitely look to reach out to Ken at castboolits. Thanks for the lead


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[CSACANNONEER]

Sorry Stilly, I had the privilege of meeting the owner of Hollywood Engineering several years ago at SHOT. Even then, he was old and was using a cart to get around. Sure, there were long wait times for his products because, people were willing to wait for top quality equipment. Hollywood presses will still demand a very high price 100 years from now.

[liber]

I've seen a number of these over the years on ebay and they typically sell somewhere in the $350-$600 range, depends on condition and/or what shell holders it comes with. They certainly are built well.

In the OP's case where his Grandfather passed it down, life just don't get better than that. More like a family heirloom that still can do great work.

Keep your eyes open on ebay for the shell holders, here's one on there now that would be very useful...308, 30-06 and 45ACP.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/C-H-DIE-CO-1-SHELL-HOLDER-308-Winchester-30-06-Springfield-45-ACP-HOLLYWOOD-/142141915602

[Diesel12]

RCBS makes a shell holder adapter that will fit the Hollywood press. Once you have the adapter in place, any RCBS shell holder will work.

[stilly]

Yes yes, I had SLIGHTLY forgotten of some of the minor details and then I came across this:
http://www.meyette.us/HollywoodEngineeringSaga.htm after I googled "hollywood press turret story" And this MIGHT have been what I had recalled reading once when I was looking for parts for this press.

For me, this press has been a Pegasus Unicorn fawn with twin machine guns mounted to its back.

Sure a pegasus was rare, but a unicorn was also rare and finding both in ONE with MACHINE GUNS would certainly be NEVER seen in the real world...

Everytime in the past I had ALMOST gotten my hands on one of these presses I found that the parts I needed to make it work were not available or cost a bit much or both. So I have grown to hate it, even though it is a really cool press. Lucky are the few that have them in a functional condition.

And of course, Castboolits would certainly have someone over there that knows a lot about them. Those guys are the founders of reloading it seems...

One thing does not add up though, I DO remember that someone had bought the company out from the original owners and was doing good things with it, but the story I see above talked smack on the people that bought the company, not the original owners and I THOUGHT the original owners are the ones that had poor service... Now I need to decide, get through some more threads and go play Elite Dangerous or look for supportive data to defend my stance.

Meh, I could have been wrong, and I admitted it up front. Next thread because I gotta be on a metal rich planet hunting down POIs in about 7 minutes...

[gunboat]

One bad review and you set yourself up as an expert on hollywood products.
You obviously have no real knowledge about the product (press) or history of
the company --
And you really were not addressing the op's question - He is looking for info on the press he inherited not going to buy one --

Sometimes you just ought to give it a rest -

my ha-penny

[stilly]

You sir are absolutely correct; matter of fact, I think I will go start a paper route right NOW...