RLS dies

[sam]

Gentelmen:

I have a question concerning dies.  I have some dies marked "PERFECTION" AND RLS stamped on them in red. The RLS in encircled in red.  My question is who made the dies and are they still available.  They appear to be very well made and they fit the star universal heads that I have.  Anyone with any information please send me a pm

sam

[steven d. ogden]

Star used "perfection" dies in the sizing stage as an alternative to "Lyfetime".  They also marketed a RCBS body with a Carbide Die (a company in the LA-San Gabriel area) insert when they couldn't get complete sizng dies from Lyfetime which i think was the brand name for Carbide Die.  It was my impression that Star always made their own seating and taper crimp dies.

[Ross Chesley]

Hi Sam,

PMs are okay, but please let's keep this information on the forum so it will help everyone...

R.L.S are the initials for Richard L. Shockey -- a quite famous pistolsmith. The dies are Perfection carbide, as you said, very well made.

In an effort to provide more information, I Google'd and found:

From www.1911forum.com:

"R.L. Shockey was a premier name in Bullseye pistolsmithing in the 70's"

"At a local gun show today I spotted a customized pre-70 series 1911 the seller said was done by a smith named Shockley who has passed on."

"In his day, Shockey was as good as it got! He was on a par with Jim Clark and the others of that era."

Bob Brown, a pistolsmith in his own right says: "Shockey was from El Reno, Oklahoma...and so was I. We all sarted out about the same time...Jim Clark opened in 1950 and so did I. Only all my early work was done as a military smith. I'm still alive and still building 'em the same way (almost) as I did then."

So you've got something nice!

[Kenneth L. Walters]

Shockey also made undoubtedly the best straightline progressive ever.  Single.  Easy to understand and use.  It was pure genious.  But I thought that his progressives was made MUCH earlier.  Maybe the late thirties or early forties.  Pretty sure that it is pictures in Sharps book.  I had one.  Really clever.