No new acquistions...?

[jonnygrouville]

Rory and the robot! That's fun.

Just do it. Later.

[scomac2002]

Despite being momentarily seduced by the dark side in the funky form of one Cleveland VAS, I have not been deterred from a long held desire to acquire a set of vintage forged blades. I've never hit a blade before, so I approach this with a certain measure of trepidation, however today I was the successful bidder on a part set of Golden Ram Axial Tour Grind Frequency Matched Forged irons -- boy that was a mouthful! I have acquired the 3,4,5,7,8,9,PW in a non matched set for $30. All but the 5 iron have matching serial numbers and are shafted with TTDG FM5.5. The 5 iron has a TT Dynamic shaft in R. They are in decent playing condition, but will need to be regripped.

A shout out goes to NRJyzr who has pointed me in the right direction as to what version might fit me the best. Thanks for all the help and patience with my questions. I'll provide some pics when the clubs arrive.

I don't know whether I'll get a chance to hit them before freeze up. Probably the best I will manage is a few balls hit out in the neighboring sod field. I suppose the next step will be to acquire some wedges and begin what will likely be a long search for a 6 iron. I guess there's going to be another winter project after all!

[Fellaheen51]

Alright Sco buddy! Congrats on your Axial acquisition. Missed your posting until just now. I'll keep my eyes open for a 6i fill for you. Albeit, club thrifting has dried up until spring. Needed a fill for my set that I got from Teevons. Maybe he'll check in. If so inclined, maybe shoot him a PM. He seemingly has at least one of every golf club ever made. LOL.

Keeps us updated as you move forward. Perhaps in the Ram thread. Will be interested in your impressions once you hit a few balls with them. While I'm somewhat infatuated with Hogans, the reality is I hit the Axials every bit as good (if not better). And the oversized, high toe head doesn't bother me in the least. Seemingly frames the ball "just right" to my eyes. Ram TW wedges are a good match for those btw. Relatively easy to find for a good price.

Edit note: Despite all this VAS love of late, I will respectfully just observe. Saw a partial set of those in the wild earlier this year. They were rather.........unattractive. Guess I will just have to miss out on the "Guide to Fun" VAS experience.

[scomac2002]

Thanks Fella. I think I had it in my mind from the first time you posted pics of your Axials that they would probably be a set of blades that I could get along with. I actually find the off set and high toe to be appealing to me.

Rarely do I tend to buy gear in season. I'm too busy playing! Invariably, once the weather changes and the clubs go away the urge to do something golf related strikes. I just kind of happened upon this by accident, but now the wheels are rolling.

With respect to the missing 6 iron; if anyone has one that they're willing to part with, shoot me a line as obviously I'm interested. That said, if I don't find one right away, I'm not going to lose sleep.

As far as the wedges are concerned, I've found several TW wedges that are priced OK, but it's likely they will cost me as much as/more than the irons landed in, so I'm going to be patient. The cheap ones all seem to be whipped!

Who knows, this unexpected "winter project" might just rekindle my interest in acquiring the infamous 975J/Prolite 35, but then it wouldn`t be an all Ram bag would it?

[Fellaheen51]

Bag purity is a difficult at best proposition with our ever-changing "Bag for all Seasons" mix. The Ram bag isn't totally pure as I do not particularly like the Zebra (non-mod'ed) mallet. A 975J would be quite at home with the Axials.

Prolites, one of my all time favorite shafts. Would love to install one (R flex) in my 983K. If it wasn't for the PITA thru-bore hosel. Made something of a mess of things trying to help a bud out with a reshaft of a Cally driver a while ago. Have avoided them ever since. Suppose I could take it somewhere to have done, but that's no fun.

[NRJyzr]

How about something like this, Fella? :)

 

[Texsport]

Nice club! Tom Watson actually played that model.

I have Tom Watson's personal model of that club, stamped TW on the toe - bought from a RAM executive.

Also own another one, autographed by Mr Watson

I display them together on my walls.

Texsport

[fluffy265]

After getting so much enjoyment out of my Japanese Super Citations I couldn't resist picking these up a couple weeks back .... as soon as I saw a 2 wood I was sold!

[attachment=3081826:H&B SOLES.jpg]
[attachment=3081828:FACES.jpg]
[attachment=3081830:HEADS.jpg]

The Driver and 5 wood have TT Dynamic "B" shafts. The 2 wood has a Dynasty "B". The driver is pretty beat up, I look forward to restoring it come winter time ( it's summer down here!). The 2 wood is in good shape, though I don't get along with the Dynstasy "B" shaft unfortunately. I like soft shafts in 5 wood's for some weird reason so that will just get a freshen up.

Cheers J

[jonnygrouville]

Nice haul recently. Armour irons, Nelson woods. Who could ask for more?

[attachment=3082732:PC300027.JPG]

[attachment=3082734:PC300028.JPG]

Reissued Silver Scots from the 1960s, right? A couple of the irons have some serious rust issues. Might have to grind the stuff off to start with. Not original shafts or grips, so will be a playing set anyway.

Woods have also been reshafted, but some nice grain and carbon on the driver. All sit square. Going to be used. A lot. Personal preference, I like the slightly pointier toe the Nelson woods seem to have compared to the Armours. Look a little more elegant to my eye anyway.

[attachment=3082736:PC300029.JPG]

[attachment=3082738:PC300030.JPG]

[attachment=3082754:PC300031.JPG]

Not paying thrift store prices like you guys over there, but still far less than a new off-the-shelf Ping putter for the lot. Set the bar high for 2016!

[jonnygrouville]

And what looks like a late 1960s MacGregor custom pitching wedge.

[attachment=3082756:PC300025.JPG]

[attachment=3082762:PC300026.JPG]

Alternating funky grooves, aluminium shaft. Pimped.

[guisician]

[quote name='jonnygrouville' timestamp='1451516425' post='12781814']
And what looks like a late 1960s MacGregor custom pitching wedge.

[attachment=3082756:PC300025.JPG]

[attachment=3082762:PC300026.JPG]

Alternating funky grooves, aluminium shaft. Pimped.
[/quote]

Don White probably was the pimper of your wedge ride there. . .enjoy!

[Fellaheen51]

Things have been a little quiet of late in the acquisition (eye candy) department. Today, quality postings everywhere. Well done gentlemen!

[tlhorsh]

My auction junk pile pickup today. 10 clubs total. Partial set of irons, 2 putters, kroydon wedge, macgregor tourney 3 wood. Total $3. [attachment=3083148:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1451533525.007405.jpg][attachment=3083152:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1451533547.220649.jpg][attachment=3083154:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1451533565.628661.jpg][attachment=3083156:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1451533582.103485.jpg][attachment=3083158:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1451533622.958180.jpg]

[SteveNZ]

[quote name='jonnygrouville' timestamp='1451516142' post='12781798']
Reissued Silver Scots from the 1960s, right? A couple of the irons have some serious rust issues. Might have to grind the stuff off to start with. Not original shafts or grips, so will be a playing set anyway.
[/quote]

Aha Jonny - hence the question in my post about the 915s...

Yep - look like the re-issues. If you jump over here:

http://www.advancedballstriking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=202&t=1272

and scroll to p41 0f the embedded .PDF, you'll find some info about them - not a lot but there's something. The 915s are there too...

[jonnygrouville]

Precisely! No idea. Feel really solid though.

[HoldenCornfield]

[quote name='jonnygrouville' timestamp='1451516425' post='12781814']
And what looks like a late 1960s MacGregor custom pitching wedge.

[attachment=3082756:PC300025.JPG]

[attachment=3082762:PC300026.JPG]

Alternating funky grooves, aluminium shaft. Pimped.
[/quote]

Looks like [url="http://www.ironfinder.com/Individual-Irons/macgregor/mt_tourney_r2mt-67.htm"]1967 MT Tourney R2MT[/url]

[jonnygrouville]

Spot on. I have a set of the 1968s...

http://www.ironfinder.com/Individual-Irons/macgregor/tourney_mt_mtrx-68.htm

This set already has my favourite pitching wedge ever, so going to have some selection issues with this one...

[scomac2002]

[quote name='scomac2002' timestamp='1450225908' post='12725318']
Despite being momentarily seduced by the dark side in the funky form of one Cleveland VAS, I have not been deterred from a long held desire to acquire a set of vintage forged blades. I've never hit a blade before, so I approach this with a certain measure of trepidation, however today I was the successful bidder on a part set of Golden Ram Axial Tour Grind Frequency Matched Forged irons -- boy that was a mouthful! I have acquired the 3,4,5,7,8,9,PW in a non matched set for $30. All but the 5 iron have matching serial numbers and are shafted with TTDG FM5.5. The 5 iron has a TT Dynamic shaft in R. They are in decent playing condition, but will need to be regripped.

A shout out goes to NRJyzr who has pointed me in the right direction as to what version might fit me the best. Thanks for all the help and patience with my questions. I'll provide some pics when the clubs arrive.

I don't know whether I'll get a chance to hit them before freeze up. Probably the best I will manage is a few balls hit out in the neighboring sod field. I suppose the next step will be to acquire some wedges and begin what will likely be a long search for a 6 iron. I guess there's going to be another winter project after all!
[/quote]

Well they finally made it and I picked them up from the local post office today. I figure that's pretty good shipping this time of year.

When I got home and unpacked the shipping container I was surprised by the sheer size of the blade and the degree of offset. I knew instantly that I was going to have a lot of fun hitting these babies!

I simply couldn't resist to take a few swings, so out I went with 5 iron and PW in hand to hit a few frozen balls in my shag bucket from frozen turf in below freezing temperatures! I took a few warm-up swings. It didn't seem all that foreign considering I hadn't swung a club in 6 weeks. I hit three balls with each club.

The feel is different to what I'm used to. I would describe it as a bit clicky, but I had gloves on so feedback was pretty much non existent in the hands. The first shot with the 5 iron was dead straight, nice flight and about the sort of distance I would expect under the conditions. The second was short left off the toe. The third was right down the pipe again!

The pitching wedge is probably a bit flat for me as I was cutting a very toe heavy divot. One shot was really good, the other two were of the short and left variety.

I was impressed with the condition of the heads. The faces and soles are in really good shape. Someone must have spent some time buffing the faces to get rid of the typical wear marks. Most of the grips are in playable condition, but I will regrip to midsize wraps if I decide to extend. I won't know until I get some time in with them, but probably start with a lie board session and adjusting the lie angles more upright. Not bad for a $30 investment (plus shipping).

First impressions don't mean much, but I have to say that I'm left wondering just what all the too do is about playing a blade? I don't get that much difference in the ball flight from one iron to the next. Good swing; good result. Crap swing; crap result! Regardless of the vintage of these things, they are all still tools designed to hit a ball. If you catch it near the middle of the face, it's going to go...where you want. If you catch the ball near the perimeter of the clubhead...it's not. Pretty simple really. Pretty nice clubs that I imagine are going to play even better with more familiarity. There's a reason why Tom Kite, Tom Watson and Nick Price did so well with these irons -- they're pretty good arrows!

A few quick picks with my phone camera:

[attachment=3083840:IMAG0141.jpg]

You can see that I'm missing the 6 iron. If anyone has one lying around, shoot me a PM as I'm interested.

[attachment=3083842:IMAG0145.jpg]

3, 4, 5, 7 iron

[attachment=3083846:IMAG0144.jpg]

8, 9, PW

[hunterho]

Thank you to Fellaheen51 for pointing out this thread. I will have to check out all the previous posts and wonderful images. I had another thread going with my attic irons.

 

Here are the Wilson Staff Tour Blade FG-17 (2-SW). Set was purchased for ~$20.

[hunterho]

Tommy Armour PGA Silver Scott Collector Reg 709 (2-PW with True Temper Dynamic S shaft). The set was picked up for ~$9.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hunterho]

Here are Walter Hagen Haig Ultra WH 385 (2-PW) purchased for $5.99. 1964-65 vintage with aluminum True Temper shafts. The clubs cleaned up really nice!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fellaheen51]

Nice irons HH. Those Haig Ultras have a classy design to them. Wonder how they play with those aluminum shafts.

 

Apparently, I have some "scrounging" competition here in MI. Had wondered where all the good stuff was disappearing to.

[hunterho]

Titleist FW woods (3,4,5). Looks like I found a place to share my future findings...

[hunterho]

Ben Hogan FW (3-4-5), Ben Hogan Bounce Sole irons w / Apex 3 shaft (2-E), Sure-Out SW.

[tlhorsh]

Good looking pickups hunter. Don't know why I feel drawn to Haigs

[Texsport]

Nice catch!

 

Texsport

[hunterho]

Just picked up a set of Dunlop Tour Special (3-PW). Here are a few preliminary photos. More photos to come.

 

By the way, does anyone have information on these blades?

 

 

[hunterho]

What a beautiful set!!! I didn't even have to clean them up.

 

Mobile1453775755.946048.jpg]

[donaldp83]

Got the MacGregor 1025Ms (only 3-9) for $12.98, and my second set of Hogan Redlines (2-E) for $24.

[JMSDKS]

Wow. Some nice pick ups.