star - phelps

[GeraldChainsaw]

are the 2 presses so much alike that parts interchange?,   thanks  jerry

[GeraldChainsaw]

was this the wrong question to ask?,   someone must know,    or is this like comparing fords to chevies?.

[fc60]

Greetings,

Some parts interchange.

Phelps heads generally fit on a Star. Star heads may not always fit on a Phelps.

Same scenario with the shell plates.

The Phelps shell plate retaining ring is not threaded while the Star has threads.

Phelps dies may not work properly with a Star shell plate as the counterbore is smaller on the Star shell plates.

Cheers,

Dave

[rbwillnj]

The Phelps reloaders are for the most part pretty good copies of Stars, but unlike Stars which changed very little over their production history, it's hard to find two Phelps that are exactly alike.    Most of the early Phelps that were actually produced by John Phelps are pretty good.  Not as exact or consistent as a Star, but still a decent reloader.   After Phelps suffered bankruptcy and stopped producing reloaders, the assets were bought by Dan Fausto.   Fausto continued to put together machines from parts, and may have had some additional parts made, but in my opinion, the overall quality went down hill.   I have seen some really bad Phelps reloaders.....but also some nice ones.   

So echoing Dave's comments, many parts are interchangeable, but not all, and the interchangeability might depend on the particular Phelps reloader you have.

Bruce

[GeraldChainsaw]

i have to tell ya,   the phelps i just bought is very nice,  i've had stars which i let go for what ever stupied reason,  but this phelps is like i said, very nice,  must be one of the first ones,  the only diff i can c are  the dies,   jerry

[Kenneth L. Walters]

The Phelps reloaders are for the most part pretty good copies of Stars, but unlike Stars which changed very little over their production history, it's hard to find two Phelps that are exactly alike.    Most of the early Phelps that were actually produced by John Phelps are pretty good.  Not as exact or consistent as a Star, but still a decent reloader.   After Phelps suffered bankruptcy and stopped producing reloaders, the assets were bought by Dan Fausto.   Fausto continued to put together machines from parts, and may have had some additional parts made, but in my opinion, the overall quality went down hill.   I have seen some really bad Phelps reloaders.....but also some nice ones.   

So echoing Dave's comments, many parts are interchangeable, but not all, and the interchangeability might depend on the particular Phelps reloader you have.

Bruce

So there were only two owners?  Interesting.  I knew Dan Fausto.  Never thought he was very serious about the business.  Sort of a hobby.  Any idea what time frames the two owners operated in?

[rbwillnj]

The Phelps reloaders are for the most part pretty good copies of Stars, but unlike Stars which changed very little over their production history, it's hard to find two Phelps that are exactly alike.    Most of the early Phelps that were actually produced by John Phelps are pretty good.  Not as exact or consistent as a Star, but still a decent reloader.   After Phelps suffered bankruptcy and stopped producing reloaders, the assets were bought by Dan Fausto.   Fausto continued to put together machines from parts, and may have had some additional parts made, but in my opinion, the overall quality went down hill.   I have seen some really bad Phelps reloaders.....but also some nice ones.   

So echoing Dave's comments, many parts are interchangeable, but not all, and the interchangeability might depend on the particular Phelps reloader you have.

Bruce

So there were only two owners?  Interesting.  I knew Dan Fausto.  Never thought he was very serious about the business.  Sort of a hobby.  Any idea what time frames the two owners operated in?

Dan Fausto is the guy who originally took a Star reloader to John Phelps and asked "can you make this"   Fausto was a Newark New Jersey police officer.  He was also a commercial reloader.  Fausto helped with the sales effort, promoting the machine and taking the Phelps reloader to gun shows and so on.   

John Phelps initially had a shop in Orange New Jersey, just outside of Newark.  He then moved to Sussex New Jersey.   Not sure of the date, but he went through a bankruptcy and Fausto bought the assets in the bankruptcy sale.  As I understand it, Phelps was out of the reloader business sometime in the late sixties or early seventies.  I heard that Phelps stopped producing machines before the bankruptcy due to a law suit.  I don't know if the bankruptcy and law suit were linked.  After the sale Fausto continued to put together machines from parts and did have some parts made as well.

Back in 2008 I had the opportunity to buy what was left, all of which was stored at Dan Fausto's home, about three miles from my home.   I passed on the opportunity and Ed Broadback purchased the remaining parts but not the machinery.  Earlier this year the machinery went to a scrapper.

[fng]

Hello all -
Here's a 1955 Phelps Universal .38/.357 from the Manitowoc WI P.D.
I was surprised to see it unsold after being listed for sale here in 5 recent posts, so I bought it.
It came with the base cabinet, a few slides & tubes & misc parts, & original paperwork, $200.
Folks, I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving,
-frednewguy