[Okiecruffler]

A thread in the reloading section on cleaning brass which included suggestions like Ice cream machines and Kool-aid, got me to thinking. What's the most miserly thing you've done to save money. I use ear funnels that borrow from the hospital so I won't have to shell out 2 bucks for a powder funnel. I collect all the plastic rimfire ammo boxes at the range to use for storage of loose primers, bullets and the such. And I'm seriously concidering looking for an electric ice cream maker at the thift store.

[Amish_Bill]

At the range I pick up all the good brass and 9mm/.45 ammo boxes/trays I can.

[telewinz]

More than once I've gone through a "sloppy" trash can to get empty brass left by a previous shooter. My son disapproves but a good handwashing restores things to normal. I've even taken a file to the rims of my 45 ACP brass because the rims tend to flatten out after a couple dozen reloadings and won't fit into the shellholder.:uhoh: Of course the stampings of caliber, maker and nickel plating wore off long ago.

[Okiecruffler]

More than a few time's I've been known to dumpster dive at the range, especially for .303 brit brass. That stuff don't come cheap.

[Omnicron]

I was wondering the other day whether or not to throw an old dryer I had away. I was trying to figure out a practical way to turn it into a case cleaner.

[Amish_Bill]

Mayteg case cleaner.... I think you win. :-)

[Okiecruffler]

Can you imagine how much brass you could clean at one time tho'

[HogRider]

Mixing yer' own bore cleaner saves some money. (Ed Red's)

Keep adding a little Mineral spirits to walnut media will make it go longer. When it's all dirty and black wash it in bucket with generic household cleaner. It will come out like new.

You can put media and brass in a coffee can, seal it and let the kids play with it for a week - no tumbler needed. :D

[P95Carry]

I too confess to being in the ''brass conservation'' camp!! Ask Mike Irwin when we shot last!!

''All that glisters is not gold'' ........ nope ...... it just might be brass ...... and you know you are an addict ...... if when everyone has gone home, you park truck in front of firing point with headlights on ...... and do a further search for empties.:p

I do tho also press everyday items into use ..... my dross skimmer for lead pot is just a std spoon ..... ''borrowed'' from kitchen! :evil: (sorry honey!)

[Mike Irwin]

Dropped all my friends so I don't have to buy them Christmas presents.



P95, you are an absolute piker compared to the former Chief of Policeo of Burnham, Pennsylvania.

Tommy, Tommy... damn, now has last name escapes me.

Carried a Colt New Service that his father had carried as a peace officer.

Was known to stand behind shooters to grab their brass out of the air if they weren't reloaders. Spent most of his time at the range on his hands and knees scrounging in the grass on the side berms.

[twoblink]

So what "cheap" media do you guys prefer in the tumbler??

Rice, or corn, or barley or oatmeal??

[Okiecruffler]

I also burnt up the wife's hairdryer melting cosmoline out of a MN91/30. Turns out that didn't save me any money at all.

[Wildalaska]

I take off my glasses when shooting so as not to wear them out...

I clean my guns in the dark to save on electric.....

I use my old Tshirts for patches, but cut them neatly and sew back together when done to wear again....

I go to the berm at the end of shooting with a metal detector to salvage lead for reloading...

I sight in with one round.....

I double tap by firing one shot then yelling bang for the second....

WildscroogeAlaska

[Okiecruffler]

:D :D :D

[4570Rick]

Dropped all my friends so I don't have to buy them Christmas presents.

ROTFLMAO :D

[pax]

Twoblink,

Rice is the absolute best, IMO.

pax

[*8*]

oatmeal...... recycle it for a quick breakfast.. :D

[sm]

pax -our rice farmers would hug you for that recomendation :)

I've been known to bring home all kinds of brass and colors of shot shell hulls.

I used to scrounge the trash bbls for shot-shell boxes, I quit, I needed the storage room for the *ahem* hulls. I kept 8 boxes for each of 4 gauges for tourneys only. Yep I'm the guy with four 5 gal buckets that shows up to shoot...or a burlap bag.

I got divorced, I don't date often, family went their way except mom, what is a friend, and you mean people really do clean guns?

I take payment for somethings in ammo and supplies for services rendered. What taxes, what deductions?

One tip fellas: "IF" you use the wife's laundry bag dealie for shot-shells and run through the washer and dryer, you will have to replace it for the delicate stuff that gets washed. So I bought 4 ( they work real well btw) Even in a bag, 300 hulls make a lot of racket. REAL Good idea to do this when the wifey and kid are gone...and make sure wifey went to work all day,not just to attend a 2 hr required meeting. Got it? :D Kenmore's work quite well btw...oops...not me, the dog did it.

[cracked butt]

I used to photocopy homemade targets at work- by the hundreds.:D

[sm]

I forgot about that...Barney taught a bunch of kids how to shoot, I really think the parents enjoyed these targets...I mean really enjoyed it. They seemed " more free" when shooting Barney...didn't want to stop! You could sense the focus and concentration...:D
I really liked teaching kids they thought I was cool...heck I did Barney for the parents sanity. I'm not gonna tell the kids that, though I suspect some older sibs were grateful as well. :p
Not me, I'm a good guy, remember...

[c_yeager]

Oh dang i just remembered how much toner and paper i must have cost my employer in targets :uhoh:

[Ryder]

I've copied a few targets but not because I was cheap. My cheapskate thing is using empty 45acp casings for earplugs... No, I don't look like Frankenstein, my hair covers them just fine.

[Ron L]

I go to the berm at the end of shooting with a metal detector to salvage lead for reloading...

WildAlaska, if you tie 26 yards of string around the back of the bullet and the other end to the edge of the bench, the bullet won't hit the backstop and deform, which makes it easier to reload without having to whittle it back to round again with your pocketknife. You'll also save on the soles of your shoes not having to walk those extra 25 yards to pick them up, just pull the string back. Also, if you tie 24.5 yards of string to the bullet, it'll stop before hitting the target, thus ruining a piece of paper. When it hits the end of the line, it'll "twang" and hang there for a second, which lets you see how close to bullseye you would have been. :D

[Carlos Cabeza]

While at the range one day, a shooter was burning up lots of .223 in his AR clone using 30 rd. mags. The brass would fly over my shoulder and land not far from my shooting position. They ( guy and friend ) weren't paying attention to where the brass was going so I moved my range bag a few feet and it would catch nearly everything they put into the air. :D . The rest I could pick up easily.

[Kharn]

Anyone have the instructions for making a patch-puller (for .22 pistols and the like) out of some plastic line (I think it was weed-eater line, but I'm not sure)?

Kharn

[Okiecruffler]

For .22's I used to use some old nylon line salvaged from jug lines with a split shot on one end and a couple of peices of t-shirt on the other. I still have a pull thru for my 12g made from a shoe string and a couple of peices of gym sock. Wish I would have patented the idea before the boresnake guy did. Then I wouldn't have to be so frugal.

[telewinz]

if you tie 26 yards of string around the back of the bullet and the other end to the edge of the bench, the bullet won't hit the backstop and deform,
I cast my bullets with the string enbedded in the lead, much easier but your idea works as a quick backup plan.:) I'm working on a boomerang bullet, my only hitch is how to catch the bullet and preventing people from standing nest to me at the range. Input welcome.

Years ago I had one clown pick-up all my brass and return to his sit by the time I returned from replacing my 100 yard target.:fire: I made him give them back.

[Okiecruffler]

Trust me, if you have a boomerang bullet, keeping people from standing next to you will not be a worry.

[Correia]

My tumbler is actually made out of an old washing machine engine. The box that holds the brass and rice (of course) is just made of wood and has a clamp to hold the door shut. It works just fine.

[Skunkabilly]

I reach into the trash at the range and use the used targets :uhoh:

When I take a girl out to dinner, I take them to places where I have coupons so I can spend what I save on AMMO. Actually I never take girls out to dinner, so I spend what I save on GUNS. :o

[uglymofo]

I fill up whenever I see cheap gas, as long as I'm down at least 1/2 tank.

I wash ziplock bags and save 'em for use on the workbench--storing loaded rounds mostly.

If I only dry my hands on a paper towel, it gets recycled as a 'clean' towel on the cleaning bench.

I rejuvenate my corncob media with Mechanix Orange; works great.

I rinse my brushes immediately in alcohol to stop the Hoppes from degrading the bronze bristles so quickly. I reuse the alcohol.

I'm a dumpster diver extraodinaire.

Buy my "chore" clothes at Salvation Army--you know, when I gotta paint around the house, get under the car, etc., them's the clothes I tear up. Sometimes I buy my storage containers there, too. and for casting lead, Sal Army is a great source for pots, spoons, and hotplates.

I recycle my Hoppe's #9. I tip the firearm barrel into a glass jar when I'm cleaning the bore so all the drippings are captured. After the scum settles to the bottom, I strain it into another jar using an automotive paint strainer--they'll strain those lint particles you see floating in a sun ray. I can save about 75% for reuse. Hell, at $18 a quart Hoppe's is damn near as expensive as Crown Royal. Takes a lot of this practice to come up with a bottle of 18yr Macallens.:o :D

I buy my handguns and all my optics used.

I think I'm done.:D

[sm]

Kharn
Okie

Well I grew up using a length of rawhide with a slit on one end, used old T shirt ( whatever) and of all things the patch was held in place as per the Otis instructs one to do so today. My Uncle, a former Gunny and other elders at the time all did this. Boy was I surprised when I read the Otis ( Kit & Kaboodle) instructions. Like "hey why didn't I think of this" slap forehead type dealie. My "kit" was in a Shinola shoe tin. 20/20 hindsight.

I still use the Rawhide dealie to this day.

Braided fishing line and split shot worked real well too. Okie you were not the only one. In my day we didin't wear socks in gym. Cross country many mile in my Pumas...sans socks :)

Of course I get bigger and find out this method was called a "thong"...maybe that is where the elder folks got the idea.

[telewinz]

a man after my own heart. Hell, "I get my Sunday going to meeting clothes" at the "Army" too. Bellbottoms are coming back, you wait and see.:D

[uglymofo]

Did I forget to say that I wear them clothes out first before they go "chorin' "?:D

I forgot one--instead of dumping $200 for a carrying case for my Leica spotting scope :what: g'ddayumm!! Televid Soft Carry Cases Available For $199.95 at Bear Basin I bought $7 worth of 1/2" neoprene, wrapped it around the Leica and covered it all with a black cotton sock with a hole in the toe end. Doubles as an anti-theft device:). It looks so unimpressive, nobody's ever interested in it, even when I walk away for a few minutes. It was hysterical once, to see another shooter I know well express amazement at my "Tasco". He'd forgotten his Kowa 820 something, and borrowed my scope wrapped in its' sock. He was howlin' when I confessed it wasn't a Tasco, and told him how I accessorized that $1200 Leica with a sock, $7 worth of neoprene, and beefy end caps made from black PVC pipe ends.

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

My wife buys tickets to a show, and all I can think about is what type of gun I could have had.

My wife buys new furniture, and I think about that DSA I could have had.

Then she bought the plasma TV..........:eek: :mad: I could have had a Barrett or two for that, with a few evil black rifles to boot

[uglymofo]

Then she bought the plasma TV.......... I could have had a Barrett or two for that, with a few evil black rifles to boot

Turn up the surround sound so it sounds as loud. :D

[Prodigalshooter]

Ron wins for sure, I was ROTFLMAO, best chuckle I've had in awhile!:D :D

[HABU]

I made a media seperator out of 1/4" wire mesh (hog wire?), cut the sides and forced it down into a 5 gallon bucket. It worked good, but LOOK OUT for it when not in use and especially when in use. The wire coming out the top of the bucket will poke the shrimp out of you. :what:

The wife musta got stabbed, she got me a Dillon seperator for Christmas. :D

[Abenaki]

I am soooooo cheap........
I really don't own any guns or ammo.
I just use the photo's that I find here to put on other gun boards!!!!

Abenaki

[JPM70535]

I really don't consider myself cheap or miserly, although my wife comments on my habit of staring at my abundance of coffee cans filled with cleaned and polished brass, many of which I own no weapon fo0r, (but I might someday.) She says I look like king Midas counting his gold.

P.S. doesn't everybody dumpster dive for Brass?

[c_yeager]

Kharn, the way a lot of the smallbore guys do it is this. Take a length of weed-eater line and melt the end of it with a lighter, you should be able to for it into a little round nub just a little under .22 caliber. Then you poke a hole in the patch and run the line through the patch. The nub should hold the patch in place and make a nice fit to the bore for cleaning.

[Ed]

On another Forum a guy was wanting to convert a drill press to a reloader to save money.

I have reused cleaning patches if they aren't to dirty.

Sometimes I'll cut up t-shirts and use them to clean, then soak the patches in soapy water. This lets me reuse them.

[Guyon]

On the weedeater patch pullers, if you cut one end on a sharp angle (not the end you melt, the other end), it makes it a lot easier to shove the weed whacker line through a cotton patch.