Reel Repair by Alan Tani

I have a thing for Langley reels, specifically the 330 Lurecast and Target 340.  It was a dream of mine to combine the two so I could have a level wind plus the free spooling capabilities of the Target.  With the Target, the handle can be pulled outwards, disengaging it from the spool and level wind.  My problem, finding a cheap Target to harvest the parts I needed.  I put that in the back of my mind until I could stumble upon a Target for a price I was willing to pay.

Let's rewind back to early summer.  I'm browsing Facebook Marketplace and see a nice looking Langley 330, asking price of $80.  I looked at the photos, thought it was nice, but no way would I pay that much.  As the months went by, it kept showing up in my feed and nope, not a taker.  Fast forward to last Thursday, and I see it again, with the price lowered to $35.  I bring up the ad and read through it, this happened to be a special reel.  Mind you, I didn't read the ad previously but this time I did.  This is one of six Langley 330s built by a gentleman named John Ceroszynski for the Chicago Casting Club some time ago.  It has exactly what I was wanting to do, a Target drive gear and disengaging driveshaft, along with a cork arbor on the spool.  This reel was built to cast in the 1/8, 1/4, and 3/8 tournament matches.  I messaged the seller without hesitation and he told me that he and John work together at a Bass Pro in Indiana and that John is now 83 years old. When I got it, it didn't spin the greatest, but after I got down to it, this thing is a speedy little rocket.  I'm going to spool it with some 10lb Mason braided nylon and take it to the trout streams.  It's once wicked little knuckle buster.  If it proves to be too speedy for me, I'm going to mill the palm side plates to accept a small array of neodymium magnets to keep it manageable.  Such a sweet little reel.

Here's the before video.

And after.

Reel was cleaned in mineral spirits, all bushings polished with Simichrome, residue cleaned up, and lubed with TSI 301.  I'm very happy with how this one came out.

That is slick!I am not familiar with those,but looks like it has ball bearings

Quote from: jgp12000 on December 23, 2025, 05:47:51 PMThat is slick!I am not familiar with those,but looks like it has ball bearings

Not a single bearing, this one is all bushings.

Very nice Rob.  If you need to add magnets it may be easier to put them on the head plate side.  There is room for three tall stacks of 1/4 inch diameter wafers opposite the bridge.  On the tail plate side, the height of the stack is very limited.  You can get five or six short stacks in there without interfering with the clicker but it is still barely enough magnetism.

Quote from: oc1 on December 23, 2025, 05:57:52 PMVery nice Rob.  If you need to add magnets it may be easier to put them on the head plate side.  There is room for three tall stacks of 1/4 inch diameter wafers opposite the bridge.  On the tail plate side, the height of the stack is very limited.  You can get five or six short stacks in there without interfering with the clicker but it is still barely enough magnetism.

Thanks!  What my plan is, mill 4 1mm deep by 4mm holes and epoxy some steel M2 washers into the head plate, then I can experiment with different thicknesses and amounts of magnets.  I saw a guy do this on another forum to both a Target 340 and Lurecast 330.  He is able to cast from 2g on up with no end tension. 

Sweet!

A lot of tournament guys still use Langleys.  I have tuned up a couple. Luckily for me (and them ) their reel performance requirements are pretty minimal.

Interestingly, the reason that they like those Langleys is because they are light and simple.  The most popular casting stroke for accuracy competition is a pretty vigorous wrist snap with a straight line (vs. arcing) flight path.  They usually crank down a bit on the spool tension knob to control backlash.  The smallest plug class is 1/4 ounce, and I don't  think that they go past 80' for a target, so longer distances or very light payloads is not important for accuracy competition.

Therefore, less weight at the reel is helpful, but high level freespool performance and modern anti-backlash features: not as much for tournament casting. I would bet that this is also true for real life bass-style fishing with the same lure weights if you learn to cast tournament style. You can get some crazy-accurate casts through a tight window. 

As mostly a saltwater two handed caster with conventional gear, I struggle with the tournament technique, but I am successful at providing some comic relief for these guys when they are practicing at the local casting pond.

-J

Quote from: tincanary on December 23, 2025, 06:28:32 PMmill 4 1mm deep by 4mm holes and epoxy some steel M2 washers into the head plate,

In my hands, the epoxy is the first thing to screw up.  I use very light oil though and suspect it eventually creeps under the glue and gives way.  Holding the magnets in place while the epoxy dries is a pain too unless you do them one at a time.  They want to jump and squirm around.  Modified wooden clothes pins do the trick..

I started using the magnetic rings with a countersunk hole (K&J Magnetics) and then attaching them to the side plate with a very small nut and bolt.  The screw head needs to be tapered so it sits flush with the top of the magnet.  Some might object to having the small nuts on the outside of the side plate; not me .  On top of the 1/8" thick coutersunk magnet, stack 1/16" discs until the stack height is just right. 

Bob, your nice little score certainly ended up in the right hands.