Above: Some of my reels that I frequently use and have refurbished I recently fixed one of my old Meisselbach reels and am currently using it on one of my light trout rods and have come to love fighting fish on it. I fish an old Winchester raised pillar reel pretty hard as well and actually prefer it over an old Hardy Featherweight I use to use quite often. I suppose people in general are afraid to use these older reels for a few reasons. Frequently the pawl mechanisms simply corrode and fall apart. Or the pawl spring is either bent or broken and the reel spins freely. Another common reason is the spindle shafts are bent. The reel foot on most older reels such as Pfleuger’s, Meisselbach’s, Winchester’s, etc. were stamped brass or nickel plated steel. If you happen to have an old ring mandrel you can easily tap the foot straight as an arrow with a ferruling or jewelers hammer. Pawl springs are easy to make with the proper diameter spring steel wire, a pair of jewelers pliars, ...