Mitchell Reel Forum

Hi Mike, yes, your summary is correct. My "maybe no box" comment was only in reference to the "Pilot run", or the first 3000 reels. I've never seen one with a box. All others from about 3000 on came with a box. The Prince reels had a box that had PRINCE on the front of the box. T...

Hi Mike, I had reviewed that reel and all aspects except the drag knob seem to be original to the reel and are correct for the era. I'm not sure about the entire spool assembly. It could be a later replacement which would explain the drag knob. It's a nice looking reel. I have no reason to think the...

Mike, as you likely know by now, those are a tough find. I don't recall seeing one for sale. I have one spare. The hex nut was not introduced until about 70,000 reels (late 1960). They were so disliked by the repair houses, that Mitchell offered to send anyone who asked a hex nut for replacement for...

Hi Mike, great questions. The tiny pinion gear bearings in these reels do wear out and are difficult to keep them greased without complete disassembly. 1) Pinion gear torque: this is completely by feel. I torque down (by hand) the nut above the bearing race (this is the nut underneath the rotating h...

Those "C" clips are designed to just push on. I use a flathead screwdriver but if you want to ensure no scratching use a flat piece of hard plastic. Place your thumb over the top so when it slips off it doesn't fly away.

Sandman

Toby, Bill provides great info. A couple more thoughts. Utilizing a pair of wire shaping pliers as in the attached link is very helpful. Also, once you have the shape you are happy with, bake it in your oven at 350F for 15 minutes to set-temper and keep the shape. This is imperative for all spring s...

Thank you Paul.

"In 1947, the first reels were on the market under the name CAP, acronym for "La Canne à Pêche". Is this referring to the round body or egg-shape bodied reels? If round body, when were the egg-shape bodied reels first produced?

Sandman

bri, nice set and welcome to the Mitchell Reel Museum! Your 308 was produced in 1961, the third year of this model's production. While you never know with ebay, clearly your reel is at least in excellent condition which indicates it should go for between $100 - $200. If close up photos can show that...

ReelFreak, that's a pile of old Mitchells. Plenty of 300 parts to make a few work and spare parts to boot.. There were somewhere on the order of 13M 300s made spanning four decades. The most prolific spinning reel model ever produced. I think I saw what is known as a CAP '54. Those have some collect...

Reelfreak, Chris Shannon spells it out very well in the second post of this thread. I trust his expertise.

Sandman

Welcome SGTMAJ to the Mitchell Reel Museum! Most believe it stands for Carpano and Pons who designed the reel. Coincidentally, Canne a Peche roughly translates to 'fishing rod' in English. There were tackle companies in France at the time of the original CAP reel that Carpano and Pons contracted wit...

Late 1969 for that SN#...so likely considered 1970 production year (Aug - July). 1.9M produced form 1958-1986. Includes the 306/307, 406/407 variants. It was considered an intermediate reel. Was a size that could go surf or inshore, though not specifically designed for heavy salt use like the 302. S...

Pottsy,

it's a 440A. Early to the mid-eighties.

What is the script above the crank axle?

Sandman

It's widely known there was an unscrupulous entity creating fake DL reels for profit. Though I've never personally handled one. Even boxes. See photo. Admittedly, its a beautiful box, but not produced by Mitchell. Maybe that is why this 330 has gold accents.

Sandman

: DL Fake Box.jpg (19.55 KiB) Viewed 41823 times

One, I concur with Bill. It is not a rare reel. The Mitchell 300 spinning reel was the most prolific spinning reel ever made. Nearly 14M were produced spanning four decades. Which is an indicator of its quality and thus popularity. By 1959 there were over 1.5M produced. While in typical used conditi...

Rob, we can know the year of manufacture (pretty close) by the characteristics. If you post good photos we can tell you.

Baby powder and high magnifier is the best method to read serial numbers. Which only goes so far.

Sandman

Bailarm, yes, Fred Meyer always had a sporting goods section where they sold fishing gear. They still do. They advertised themselves as "The One-Stop Shopping Store". Even though I grew up with several Fred Meyer's near me, I don't think I ever purchased fishing gear from them, since there...

And we'd love to see them and know the serial numbers.

Sandman

: 308 Pro Set.JPG (95.42 KiB) Viewed 26823 times

Rob, welcome to the Mitchell Reel Museum! Yes, that is what is going on. All the types of reels in the chart above were numbered sequentially, no matter the model number. A logical assumption would be that they started with #000001 in 1959, but no serial number below about #003000 has been discovere...

6lb Channel Cat on a six foot, 5wt 1970s Fenwick fly rod.

: MRM 6lb Cat.JPG (100.32 KiB) Viewed 28315 times

Bill, attached is the 308 Pro schematic.

: 308 Pro Schematic.jpg (106.23 KiB) Viewed 28669 times

Here is a pair of 1958 versions.

Sandman

: 306.307 MRM.jpg (211.7 KiB) Viewed 16866 times

Mark, that serial number is a very low 306/307 number. If correct, it is a first year production of 1958. There is a good chance you are unable to read a preceding number indicating a later production. There were always the digit 0 preceding that low of a serial number. Does your reel have a yellow ...

First, I should mention James Partridge also created an outstanding Mitchell UL reference, in the form of a book. For clarity, Julien's is the best 408 'on-line' UL info I've seen. Bill, I'm glad to share the schematic from my 308 Pro. It came with it, as the package was MIB. As far as I know, the 3...

Ted, you found Julien Cohendy's website. He is/has been a member here. Christian Lhermitte introduced him to me. We have corresponded. His website is fabulous and the most comprehensive 408 documentation I know. The exploded views are remarkable. Anyone interested in these reels should visit his sit...

Thanks Wallace, and welcome back! The over 1000, 308 reels I've recorded, has taken even longer. Ted, that's a beautiful reel and should fish quite well. I think your research is spot on. While I can't verify yours was the last year before heading to Asia for production, it makes sense from the char...

Thought I'd share a nice 408. I've recorded over 300, 408/409 reels and this is the lowest serial number I've seen. Does anyone have a lower SN? I acquired it several years ago from a local online ad. There were only 2070 made the first production year of 1963. Given the sequential numbering of ULs,...

I see an old looking head and faceplate, a line guide screw from pre 1963, an A/R lever from pre 1963, a crank handle from the eighties and replacement body (no SN) from the seventies...this reel may span four decades.

Sandman

GLW, welcome to the Mitchell Reel Museum. Your 308 has a serial number indicating a 1966 production year. Glad to answer any other questions.

Sandman

timben, your Salt Water reel dates to production year 1955. It would of had a yellow/black Garcia sticker. The 302 model number was not engraved on these until 1956. The serial numbers were sequentially numbered, so yours was the 43,474 produced, inclusive of right hand crank (303) Salt Water reels....

Stripped threads in the bail arm post: I might try filling with JBWeld and/or an epoxy and turning in the screw as a perm fix, knowing the head is a lost cause.

Sandman

The 308 with SN 118212 is from 1961. Third year of production for that model. Considered a second version with some desirable early parts.

Sandman

Late 1954. Salt Water half-bale serial numbers range from about A1000 - A4000. So only 3K produced, or so. I've recorded about 20 and don't believe I've ever seen one is as nice of condition as yours. Commonly, they have a modified foot and significant paint loss. I surmise that not many remain, due...

Manitou, welcome to the Mitchell Reel Museum. Your Salt Water is an exceptional reel. Glad to answer any questions.

Sandman

Reynolds’s, yes, there are two tricks to get the dawg and spring back in the correct position. First, as shown in twills first photo, place the a/r lever in the engaged position (as when the dog clicks on the main gear). Next, place the dawg and spring in position without slipping the dog down onto ...

Hi Zed… #1) The bearings could be grinding….I’ve found the most common grinding noise on the 308 is the pinion gear meshing with the main gear. This gear design is not the quietest ever and if someone changed one of the gears along the way, that increases the likely hood of poor meshing. You won’t k...

Zed, :text-welcomewave: to the MRM. I’ve had that happen a number of times. The pinion is stuck in the body housing. I’ve had to tap the pinion gear with a dowel from the inside of the body. Have to use just the right size dowel and it will be at a bit of an angle, but it has always worked. Never hu...

This was a known problem out of the factory on early full bail 302 reels. The fix was to extend the shoulder on the crank handle to alleviate this. So you either have an early 3O2 handle or the handle or bail wire got bent somehow.

Sandman

becka, welcome to the MRM forum!!

I've had that happen when plastic arbors are spooled by a machine at a sporting goods store. The machine winds the line too tight on the spool crushing the plastic arbor. I've loaded all my spools manually ever since.

Sandman

Kim, a quiz....thought someone more knowledgeable then me on classic egg shape history would of answered by now....not my specialty, but I'll give it a shot from memory. Somewhere about 56' - 57' Mitchell produced the Rapid, which was the first high speed version of the 300. I don't believe they wer...

Correction to my last post, "new date code of March, 1975, further proves/indicates". This should of read March, 1974. Apologies for the typo.

Sandman

Ham, didn't mean to confuse, but I did take your thread in a related direction to the question of when the new date coding begin. Definitely pertinent to figuring out when your reels were produced and whether your reels began with a D or 0. So, the importance of me finding a reel with a new date cod...

Your welcome. Welcome to the Mitchell Reel Museum!! Got my curiosity up, so I did some some digging through my reels and found one even earlier with the new date code (D071203). This one is March 12th, 1974. So, it looks like the thought that the new date code began in the 1975 production year doesn...

The reels themselves are not rare. The fact that they stayed together their whole life is uncommon, but doesn't relate much to value. Would help value a bit if they were mint in box. Mostly, its just a fun fact that they have survived together as brothers...Value is mostly attributable to condition ...

Aloha Justin, I was on the big island last week visiting. Beautiful island. While there were UL reels that had six digits preceded by a “0”, the “0” would not of been followed by as low of a number as 140XXX (they were numbered sequentially) and also had a no dashed model number and second version b...

Very interesting. While there are a few known examples of reels with the same serial number, that is not my first inclination here. A couple reasons why. I believe the number "0" as the first numeral is actually a "D" indicating a 1974 production year. These reels characteristics...

Thanks Don. PM’ed you and Phil back.

Sandman.

That serial number is not from the ‘50s. Later ‘60s makes sense. I’ll check my records when I get home from vacation. The 0 was added at the front to prepare stamping for the eventuality of one million reels. Other characteristics would indicate production era. Photos are best.

Sandman

Notches face the bearings. And Yes, the retaining screws go into the notches. That is why the notches are there.

Sandman

Sea Hunter, Bill described the function of of the anti inertia break well. They were not factory installed until around 30,000 (A30000) reels, or so. They can be added and many were.

Sandman

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