I went down the "vintage leverguns and accoutrements" rabbit hole probably 15 years ago but I don't think I got much past sights on the accessories side. Casting and reloading were non-starters at the time so I looked at Ideal and 310 tools but didn't pay close attention to them.Originally Posted by gato naranja
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
This thread is making me feel ashamed that I load my 30-30 rounds on a Dillon 550
-Seconds Count. Misses Don't-
No Spencer, but I owned a repop Sharps [think Quigley] that was very well manufactured. 45-70, and accurate to the 600 yard range we had. Heavy boat anchor of a rifle.
"... And miles to go before I sleep".
Here's some more about the Fightlite Herring 2024:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoJHI0Cj9vt
Geeze, that lever is fugly. Won't stop me from buying one though.
What's funny is that, IMHO, it looks better than the other two mag fed lever actions that were announced at SHOT.
The 310 tools are a useful item, I keep them in calibers I use much. I keep a portable loading kit for travel using a 310 tool and bullet mold, often throwing in the RCBS full length sizing die, as the 310 only neck sizes. Lyman made a full length die but it was a press in or drive in die. I have a couple of them also. I can often find someone to let me use their bench reloading press to size my brass if need be, then i can go elsewhere to finish the process at my leisure with the 310. I like being able to make ammo when away from home. I used to be gone a good part of the winter. A basic portable loading setup with a couple calibers of 310 tool and dies and related stuff is about cigar box size, not including powder and bullets. I put a few of the most useful Lee powder dippers in with a chart of their charge weights with various powders and Im fairly functional for basic loading.
Much of what ive shot in my lifetime other than rimfire or surplus has been reloads Ive made. Besides being cheaper than factory in most cases, most of what I like to shoot isnt that commonly available. 9mm isnt something i care to load due to its size and relative cost to buy loaded rounds, but its a small and relatively insignificant factor in my shooting.
The old Ideal tool with bullet mold on the end was a fair tool in its day, meaning the late 1800s, the 310 is an improved version with separate dies able to do more detailed work on each step, but with no bullet mold. The 310 decapping pins tend to break if they arent perfectly aligned, i gave up messing with them in the early 1980s and just use the Lee decapping rod thing like their Lee Loader tools have. I started out on Lee Loaders in Jr High, then graduated to an RCBS press, but pretty much gave up on the Lee Loaders once I got a 310 tool for a compact tool. The Lee tools are nice to have to make ammo for a compact setup, but when i have a choice Ill use the 310. The 310 priming die is a vast improvement over the Lee Loader method. I often seat primers with the 310 tool while doing something else even when loading on the RCBS Rock Chucker Jr press, its not as fast as a dedicated priming tool, but fine for smaller amounts of ammo, and I like feeling the primers seat.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
There's this and the Tombstone, what's the third one?
There was a Bond Arms AR mag fed lever action. I handled the POF Tombstone at my friendly neighborhood gun shop. It didn't feel worth the $1800 price tag.
Oh, right. Had to go look that up again. Assuming the quality between the Bond Arms and Fightlite is similar I'd rather have the Bond just for the fact You can put a magpul stock on it. But the lever and mag release look like they might not be the most robust. Maybe Fightlite or someone will offer a replacement lever to go with a Magpul stock.
On the Tombstone, even if the quality matched the price tag, I'm not sure if I want to drop almost $2000 on a gun that misses the mark like it does. Iron sights look too low to cowitness, ugly gamer fore end needs a continuous upper rail and preferably lose the picatinny on the bottom, and while the mags are probably fine I would rather use the pile of Glock mags I already have than buy more mags that won't interchange with any of my other guns. I'm sure it's a lot of fun to shoot but I'll wait for someone else to make a 9mm lever action.
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