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FYI: I have a Grizzly 12x36 that I bought brand new. It is a Model 1001.

My big bitch with it is that it was in some respects like the one that someone pictured. To go from the "high" range of speeds to the "low" range of speeds you had to pull the end cover off, remove a bolt, and turn a gear over about the size of a small dinner plate, and then engage a quadrant gear differently. Too much of a PIA for me. I was very disappointed.
Think: Drill a big hole, drill a little hole. Face something big, and then get it down to 3 inches. A PIA....

My correction to this was to buy a phase converter, a 3 phase motor, and put a different pulley on the input shaft. I can now run it dead slow to thread. Before this it's slowest speed was something like 70 RPM. I hated to do coarse threads on it. I now do wrinkle paint stock jobs at about 4RPMs, and fly rod guides the same way.

My first lathe, was a 12x36 Atlas. I bought it new, and figured out how to set it up myself. I had never run a lathe until I bought it. I taught myself threading, setups, etc., by reading books and figuring things out. If I'd started at 70RPM learning to cut threads rather than 28 I'd still be down there busting things up. I had read books for years, and thought a lot.

My lathe is essentially the cheapest Grizzly Gunsmith's lathe with enhancements. They put a switch on the apron, and lengthened the bed to 40 inches. If you are looking at the cheapest of the Grizzly gunsmithing lathes you might check some of these things out. I got a taper attachment with mine and would want one.

I also wish I presently had a milling attachment. I am getting to the point where old age and poverty is preventing me from doing more work. I chamber through the headstock mostly, and would mount a good floating reamer holder in that. If you had a DRO you could also use it then to move your carriage back-and- forth to add and gauge any chambering depth. You would still want to use your depth mike against your headspace gauges, but it would make things much quicker. You would still have to watch for flex, deflection, work hardening, etc. Experience with YOUR equipment would teach you that if you weren't too dumb to learn from it.

I might have missed something in my thoughts, but I am certain that someone here will square me away. Oh, I also use one of Greg Tannels' muzzle flushers when I chamber through the headstock. I use a Bald Eagle floating holder. I got mine from the guy who invented it, about the time he did so.

Just brainstorming for you. Hope it helps. Hope others pitch in that have experience. If I suffered some type of brain lock forgive me.

I started with books, a few brains, and common sense. I learned a lot along the way.

Bought the Clausing-Colchester 13x36 for $1,200. It is a working machine with the usual accessories and a complete set of collets but the collet chuck is missing. Anyone have one? It was built in 1960. It is filthy and greasy but no rust and the ways seem good.

rather than a glass scale. ..

I have bought, fixed, sold a number of old American lathes for gunsmithing.

I have paid for a number of old American mills for gunsmithing.

The current marketplace of supply and demand makes old lathes for gunsmithing as impractical as everyone using 1950s cars like Cuba.

An old lathe on today's market is a poor investment for gunsmithing.

But the marketplace for used American mills for gunsmithing is like buying 5 year old American cars for commuting.

A used American mill surplused by industry, for gunsmithing is very competitive with buying a new Chinese mill.

This is the kind of thing some people cannot understand.
"But I got a good one!"

"Did you go to Vegas and tripled your money, too? Are you telling everyone to go to Vegas?"

A good piece of equipment when it comes to collets is the collet check manufactured by Bison (Polish), it looks like a lathe check and mounts on the spindle nose of the lathe. Collets are loosened/tightened with a chuck key just like a 3 jaw chuck. Bison brand is reasonably priced and there are knock offs sold by the catalog suppliers, I have seen them on sale for $99.00. You need to purchase a back plate to match the type of spindle nose of your lathe but it is stall a cost effective accessory to give your lathe collet capability.