The 310 Tool has its roots in the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. In those days Winchester made reloading tools for their rifles, and often included one with a rifle at the time of purchase. The tools were of the "nutcracker" design, and many of them incorporated a bullet mould on the end of the tool.  This way, the user had both a bullet casting and reloading tool in one compact package.

Many other companies including Remington, Smith & Wesson, Whitney also manufactured similar tools as a sideline and in addition to their mainstream products.

When Winchester stopped making the tool, the man in charge of their reloading tools, Mr. John Barlow, went to work for the Ideal Tool Co.  There, Mr. Barlow refined the tool and over many years Ideal brought it out in several different configurations.

It is believed that Ideal products were first manufactured in 1885, based on John Barlow's patents of 1884.  The principal products were a line of tong type reloading tools.  As the years went by, each tool design was created, a model number assigned.

Each tool had its own degree of success, but the company's willingness to accept special orders from its customers made it shine.  This included the manufacturing of special bullet moulds for many different calibers of cartridges.  As new moulds were made, they were often added to the next edition of the handbook.

Over the years Ideal also produced numerous editions of the Ideal Handbook, which included the current line of reloading tools and accessories.

A CHRONOLOGY OF IDEAL HANDBOOKS

It all began with The Ideal No. 1 tool.  The introduction of new designs by Ideal continued well into the 1930's.

By the late 1930's the Lyman Gun Sight Corporation had taken over Ideal.  Tools #4 and #6 were discontinued due to lagging sales. Under new management the Lyman line of bullet moulds with removable handles had been introduced and these advancements made the old mould/reloading tool obsolete.

The #3 Reloading Tool and the #10 Reloading Tool continued to be good selling items, and by 1940 were redesigned slightly to make them easier to use. They were made of steel at that time, and the only drawback was that you had to purchase a separate Reloading Tool for each calibre that you wanted to load.

By the 1950's Lyman had dealt with this design problem, redesigning the tools and incorporating a removable shell guide so one set of handles could work with many calibres. The new Tool was called the 310 Tool since you could reload both rimmed and rimless cartridges with it. Once a set of handles were purchased all you had to buy was the reloading dies for whatever calibre you wanted to reload.

Some early handles for the 310 Tools were made of steel. By the late 1950's they were made of cast aluminium. This reduced the weight considerably, and although not as strong as steel handles, it was not considered a problem since the 310 Tool did not full-length size the cases. [ed. there is one mention of the 310 Tool being made from steel in 57, followed by a complete changeover to aluminum in 1958]

The Lyman Ideal 310 Tool is still in production today, however the cost today is a far cry from 1940.

While not as popular as it once was, the Lyman 310 Tool will still produce fine ammunition. It is a great way for those starting out to learn reloading.

For more information about the individual tools, follow these links...

The Ideal Quick Reference Table Chart 1
(Idea Models)

The Ideal 310 Quick Reference Chart 2
(Adjustable Die Models)

_________________________________________________

So that I won't get accused of plagiarizing someone else's work, I would like to give credit where credit is due.  Some of the information contained in this section came from an article by Jim Taylor, which can be found at http://www.sixgunner.com/.  I have tried to change it as much as possible, and included some graphics to spice it up, but his stamp is still on it.[ed. Sixgunner disappeared in 2008]

I would also very much like to thank Tom Quigley, who along with R.H. Chamberlain wrote a book called "Cartridge Reloading Tools of the Past".

When I contacted Tom, he very graciously sent me copies of the chapters in his book relating to the 310 Tool and its predecessors.

Much of the information relating to the individual tools and accessories is here because of him.  Thanks again Tom!

v/r,
Louis Ohland