OK guys I've been to busy to even think, but i just finish a big job and i thought you'd like to hear the story of the bonanza co-ax press.
For those of you who know it, or even if you don't the co-ax is probably the finest reloading press there is. It catches 100% of the spent priners. offers quick changing die setup. automatically aligns the rounds etc.
It was bac awhile. Go back into the 1950's. Clarence Purdie was the president of gopher shooters supply. One of the biggest in not the largest wholesaler of guns and the like in the country. He had a good friend, Sid Gerbig. Sid was a machinest. One of these great imaginative guys that the world never has enough of. Sid and Clarence were great hunting friends. Reloading at the time was a not well known skill beyond the real shooters world. Sid being the mechanical genius that he was wanted a reloading press that was a few steps better than anything else. He actually invented the forerunner of the co-ax. His press was a small horizontal unit. If fact my father in law still has and uses one of the few he made. As was the misfortune of the world, sid passed on much to early. Clarence on the other had was also one of great imagination. He had the means to develop sids invention beyond what even sid had imagined. Clarence changed the press into a much larger vertical unit. He maintained the workings of the original complete with the spring loaded jaws that let you change case sizes without changing shellholders. Not willing to let the ideas die, he started bonanza sports. Not names after any case thing, it was named after his favorite airplane, the beechcraft bonanza. the priming device at the time was done in a seperate operation in the press. SLow but very effective. I wqas at the time young and full of S--t, attending to uncle sams business in a far away land. By the time i had returned, the business has taken off with new products. among them was a priming tool, which I still thing is the best on the market. Another of clarences ideas. IThe company continued making a variety of reload and gunsmithing things . Most of which were invented by either clarence, don graves, or dave ferris. Their loading dies became the top of the line, which they still probably are. Gopher shooters was still the principal business and the money made there was funneled into bonanza. The three sons ran the businesses, but bonanza was clarences dream. A few years latter clarence joined sid in that great shooting land in the somewhere. Bonanza began to die. The three sons finally put it up for sale, but only would sell it to a national manufacturer who would keep the name and products alive. It took a few years un til forester bought the place. They bought it for a song, the parts inventory was worth more than they paid, but they agreed to keep the name and the product alive. So now wwhen you read the beginning of the nosler reloading manual where old jon nosler invented the partition and tried it on mosse with his friend clarence purdie perhaps you can better appreciate the inventivness of the man and the press. How do i know this, well i grew up 3 doors down from the purdie family, and my shop was for a few years next door to gopher. Yes i miss those days. bad they were some of the best

Thanks, Butchloc!

Do you know about what year the Bonanza co-ax hit the market?

The co-ax truly is one of the best designed, best built, single stage presses available.

Andy

Butch, Thanks for sharing the memories and the history of a very special part of reloading history.

Thanks Butch, Nice story indeed.

i believe the press actually came out in about 67 or 68. bonanza really got going about 1970. Just for interest sake - dave ferris used to make the reamers for the dies. (he is now my head machinest) he commented one day that dies actually cost $1 each to make and would retail for $10.

Thanks for the history lesson on what I also believe is the finest single stage press on the market. The decapping and priming in this press are simple perfection and the cartridges it produces are fantastic. I am a rookie at this reloading thing but compliments of this forum I was sold on the Co-Ax. Even though I was purchasing a reloading kit, complete with press, I also ordered the Co-Ax and am VERY glad I did. It's nice to know the history of it as I was aware it had a story behind it. Thanks again.

Ken....

thanks butch, the story adds to the value of my own Co-Ax. much appreciation.

Just to add to your story, my brother-in-law owns the Beechcraft Bonanza airplane used by him. He has pictures of the original owner traveling around the US with his reloading equipment. I think the plane is 1965 but not sure of the model date. Anyway it's mid to late 60's manufacture. Brother-in-law is early 70's and still flys the plane regularly. I've ridden in it several times when he's flown back to Ky. from the west coast.

I don't know if Oldmodel70 is distinct from Butchloc, but he has a similar story:
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=273106416#273106416

I grew up about 25 miles from there and remember Gopher shooters supply very well and met Clarance a few times.

Sadly I was off to other things during the Bonanza heydays. I had several Bonanza dies and a great Bonanza powder scale.

Damn right Butchloc.....them were the days.....I wish I had met you then!