Mitchell 440 Special - Anyone know about them?

[Mark Wintle]

Funnily enough Mark I have just come across a 410 Special in the free ads.

It looks to me like Mitchell were testing the market when they launched the 440 Special. I have seen them for sale in Germany and France, and the serial number of two of them refer to 1964, 2 years before the 410 and 440 were launched. Nobby seems to think that the UK concessionaire distributed some reels to match anglers to get their views on the pre production samples. The 440 had the non roller bail. By the time it morphed into the 440 Match it gained a roller bail. Otherwise it was identical to the 440 Special until around 1977 when the 'A' suffix reels were launched.

I haven't had chance to try it out yet, but it has been paired with a Chapmans 500 Avon type rod as they are from the same period.

The roller bale wasn't until 1975. I bought two Matches in Feb 76 and sometime in 77 that still had the wire bale.

 

[@Clive]

Were they 440 or 440A versions Mark?

I was given a mint 440A Match that a good friend bought from new around 1978. He hardly used it. Because of the sentimental value and my cack handedness I bought another one as a user and keep Keith's reel for special occassions. Both have the roller bail, but Keith's reel is missing the 'High Speed' badge on the handle.

This is Keith's reel in a place that he put me onto where he used to fish many years ago.

And the 'user' version that has had a harder life.

I love old Mitchells

 

[Mark Wintle]

Were they 440 or 440A versions Mark?

They were 440 versions. They should have had the roller by then but I guess they were old stock. I got shot of those two reels in the late 80s - by then they were totally worn out and I'd bought more new 440As by then (from about 1978 or 79) - still using some of them. I vaguely remember the 440 reels that I had being upgraded to have roller bales as part of services as the parts were interchangeable.

 

[@Clive]

They were 440 versions. They should have had the roller by then but I guess they were old stock. I got shot of those two reels in the late 80s - by then they were totally worn out and I'd bought more new 440As by then (from about 1978 or 79) - still using some of them. I vaguely remember the 440 reels that I had being upgraded to have roller bales as part of services as the parts were interchangeable.

Yes, I am toying with upgrading the 440 Special to a roller bearing so I can use braid. I can get all the NOS parts for about twenty quid.