C.A.P.

A collection of Mitchell and pre-mitchell round bodied reels

left side of reel

    I believe the following to be a fairly complete picture of the evolution of the Mitchell round bodied reel. It is based solely on my own collection, however, and I know of at least one round body collection far superior to mine and to which I hope to be able to direct your attention in the near future. The numbering herein is my own and reflects the various visible changes to the reel over the years and is not intended to be consistent with any other numbering system or version numbers. By clicking on one of the links you may proceed to a web page describing and picturing that particular model in greater detail. Any corrections, comments, or just plain additional information you might offer would be greatly appreciated so please feel free to contact me at Information Exchange (This form is a temporary way to avoid spam - if you don't wish to enter your name or email address please just type anything in those boxes).

THE CHANGES

  1. 1937: The original "oblique foot" C.A.P reel. Rounded dome on left side. Widely spaced silver pillars in silver spool. Wooden winder knob. C.A.P. on right side. Lighter bail wire and different bail mechanism than later models. Round spool knob.   Reel 1
  2. 1938: Aluminum winder knob. Closely spaced black pillars in black spool. Three fingers added to spool knob.   Reel 2
  3. 1938: Heavier bail wire. Simplified bail mechanism.   Reel 3
  4. 1946: Flattened dome on left side.  Reel 4
  5. 1946-1947: First anti-reverse, sliding button style.  Reel 5
  6. 1950: Dome gone from left side. Straight stem on right side. Anti-reverse becomes 304 style lever. External counterweight gone. First lubrication port at rear. "Made in France" added to right side.  Reel 6
  7. 1954: The "Cap 54." The first full bail. Round aluminum winder knob replaced by flattened plastic knob. The first with planamatic gears (which leads to a short rant - as near as I can tell all the round bodies from this time on, including the first 304's, had planamatic gearing. It was only the later model 304's and 340 that abandoned it, so it is incorrect to say that the 314 is a 304 with changed gearing as everyone does. The later model 304's have the changed gearing, the 314's remained true to the end.)   Reel 7
  8. 1954: "Mitchell" and "Cap" added to left side. Pillars gone from spool. Aluminum "C.A.P. Serrage" plate gone from spool. Spool knob now has integral flat disk behind fingers with "C.A.P." and "Made in France" lettering.  Reel 8
  9. 1955: "Mitchell Cap 304" on left side.  Reel 9
  10. 1956: "Mitchell 304" on left side. Non-planamatic gears for first time since "Cap 54."  Reel 10
  11. 1957: "Garcia Mitchell 304" on left side. "C.A.P." gone from spool knob.  Reel 11
  12. The "Super Cap". "Mitchell 314" on left side. Wide anti-reverse lever. Push button spool.  Reel 12
  13. "Garcia Mitchell 304" on left side but "C.A.P." gone from right side.  Reel 13
  14. "Garcia Mitchell 314" on left side but "C.A.P." gone from right side.  Reel 14
  15. 1968: "Garcia Mitchell 340" sticker in indent on left side. Flat anti-reverse lever protruding from opening at back of reel. Different spool and spool knob. Red screw in lubrication port.  Reel 15
  16. 1969: "Garcia Mitchell 304S" on left side. Anti-reverse lever changed to "314" style.  Reel 16

LINKS   This will take you to a page of links containing round body information. More will be added as I find them.



        The following information was copied verbatim, with permission, from the glossary section
of Luc de Medts'  Mitchell Collectors International web site. It was originally excerpted from "The Mitchell Collector’s Reference Guide" by Dennis Roberts and his permission for its use has also been graciously granted.