Mitchell Reel Forum

Hi everyone,

I was taking some group photos of my small Mitchell 300 based reel collection the other day, and one of my nicest examples (though they are all great shape I'm pleased to add), is a 1959 Mitchell 300.

In packing them away again, I gave the 59 handle a good winding, and I noticed a slight regular glitch in it's operation.
It was only very slight and most would probably have left it as is, but it bugged my OCD too much to leave it (that inability to leave stuff alone has caused me some real problems in the past). I grabbed some spares from my similarly aged spares reels and went about changing each gear in turn, and the adding and removing shims; it was then I noticed it had 'OTO' stamped on the tail of the spool spindle; ah!, I thought; I know this to be from a 330 Otomatic model, and the oscilator plate holes on these are drilled slightly off from a 300, so I swapped it out with the correct standard 300 spindle, and voila' perfect operation!

Does anyone here know if there have been any original factory models that have been fitted with parts from other models? Everything else ties in with the time, so I wondered if it was a mistake at the factory; can't think why someone would need to change the spindle? I suppose if it were dropped maybe, but this reel is virtually mint?

Rockape wrote: ↑Sun Aug 06, 2023 12:42 pm ....Does anyone here know if there have been any original factory models that have been fitted with parts from other models? Everything else ties in with the time, so I wondered if it was a mistake at the factory; can't think why someone would need to change the spindle? I suppose if it were dropped maybe, but this reel is virtually mint?

Rockape,
Good to hear from a fellow Mitchell 300 collector.
Unfortunately, many of the reels I collect have been messed around with. It takes a while to learn which component originally went with each version of the 300 and a little time to get them back to what I believe is their original state.

On the other hand, it's even worse to buy what was sold as a mint, unused reel, only to find a questionable part, once I get it home and examined. Then, I sit there scratching my head wondering if that is how it came from the factory or not. I believe this is one reason some collectors only want mint in box, untouched, samples for their collections. As you know such reels also come with a premium price. For me it's all part of the game and it only makes me want to know more about this wonderful hobby.

Just curious, the part you are asking about you call the spindle(#6) do you really mean the reel axle(#7)? (See Below)

As far as your reel goes, I suppose it's possible for this type of mistake to happen at the factory. I do believe though, that there is a much greater chance for this to have been done by someone after it left the factory, before you got the reel.
Kind Regards,
Bill

Hi Bill,

Thank you for your response to my post.

Yes, I did mean the axle; I sat there for ages trying to remember the correct term for it, but to no avail..lol!

When I first started out collecting examples of the legendary Mitchell 300, I saw a 1956 330 oto on ebay in wonderful condition, and I thought it would make an interesting addition to my collection, so I bought it. Sometime later I noticed that the bale mechanisim was very different from the norm; it had the later Match faux roller bale, but again slightly different. Then I saw a Japanese copy and it had the same bale arm, so an aftermarket one it seems. I obtained another scruffy on
330 and swapped the bale arms over.

The axles on both the 300 and 330 are so similar that I can see one accidentily finding it's way on to the wrong model at the factory, though I suppose it is just as likely it was swapped out later. Everything else checks out for that year, so I'm happy; to be honest, I was a little bit pleased with myself for finding the problem and wondered if anyone here had found something odd in a reel they were convinced was factory fresh.

Yes, loving these old Mitchell 300's (lots of fun servicing them. ....very theraputic).

All the best

Paul