What clever little things have you "invented or discovered" that you can share?

James THR · August 28, 2006, 08:05 AM

What clever little things have you "invented or discovered" that you can share that makes things just that much easier on your reloading bench ?

For me I have used coloured plastic zip ties around my dies to differentiate them in the turret press and also the spare sets that I have for different projectiles.

I also use 9mm MTM case guards to hold .38 HBWC rounds ( wonderful snug fit).

I took my Lyman T-Mag ram linkages apart and fitted fibre washes in the gaps to take out all the play. Made a huge difference in feel with the slop taken out.

I have covered my reloading bench with a sheet of white polymer board (what chopping boards are made out of) http://www.kingstarboard.com/Products/starboard.aspx makes for a terrific easy clean and textured top.

I cut 1" of the top of the thread that holds the lid on my Lyman 1200 pro tumbler. It saves time and hassle not having to wind the pesky lid screw that extra unnecessary 1" all the time.

What can you share ?

griz · August 28, 2006, 08:26 AM

38 wadcutters will fit in 9mm boxes? That tip alone makes waking up this moring worth it!

Here are my modest ideas:

On the RCBS 2000 (and possibly others) there are gaps in the base and on the plate on which the case bins hang. When you fill the bullet tray up the overflow tends to head right for these gaps, so I filled them up with inserts made from wood and styrofoam.

The plastic containers that parmesean cheese come in are good for storing loaded rounds. They hold about 100 9mm rounds and you can shake out how ever many rounds you need with the top still secure.

Vitamin G · August 28, 2006, 08:32 AM

The $19 Ikea bookshelves make great storage racks!
Theres no such thing as overlubing.
Brass can never be too clean.
1000 primers is not enough

HankB · August 28, 2006, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Theres no such thing as overlubing.

Unless you get lube on the shoulder of a case you're trying to set back 0.001" . . .

DaveInFloweryBranchGA · August 28, 2006, 09:13 AM

1. drill and tap set screw holes in Hornady LnL bushings to eliminate lock ring issues with short Lee dies.

2. Zip tie the spent primer tube to the brass tube to elminate it coming off.

3. Built my own "strong mount" for my Hornady LnL progressive out of oak.

4. Customized strong mount by building an ergonomic stand for brass, bullets and primers. Attached this to the strong mount with deck screws. Makes reloading much faster, as I don't have to reach as far for anything.

5. Opened up the bracket a bit and mounted a Hornady powder measure on a Lee Classic Cast press, allowing for powder drop and bullet seat in closer proximity to one another and one operation, thereby gaining some speed in the single stage process. (1. Resize/trim/prime cases. 2. drop powder 3. Immediately place in shellholder and place bullet 4. Seat bullet. 5. crimp if appropriate)

6. Buy multiple Akro or other brand louvered bins. Place bullets, brass and primers and finally loaded round in them to facilitate work in progress on a progress press. Works well with single stages and turrets, but the most benefit comes with progressives.

Hope these help someone.

Dave

jeepmor · August 28, 2006, 09:45 AM

Reloading supplies get heavy fast, use small containers. I have my stuff in those folding top containers and they have become very heavy with 9mm, 45acp and 10mm supplies like bullets for everything, brass, powder, press, dies and so on.

No real "inventions" yet but I haven't started working with my progressive setup just yet. Home projects, lousy excuse, but you know the drill.

I will be putting my primer pocket cleaner in my cordless drill soon though, saves time. I would really like a foot actuator for the press, but that long stroke would be annoying to my leg just as it is my arm after a few hundred rounds.

Setup cartridges NEVER have a primer in them. Beating a bullet out of a barrel is a serious bummer of a thing to do while kicking yourself in the rear. I mark them with a black sharpie also for easier visual identification.

jeepmor

TN Shooter · August 28, 2006, 03:49 PM

I use different colored Sharpie pens to mark the primer on some loads to differentiate them from others. And recently, they have come out with a bunch of additional colors. It is a great to use during load development because it eliminates the possibility of getting loads mixed up with each other in the same box. Also, when you deprime, the marking is gone

WayneConrad · August 28, 2006, 04:32 PM

We've got one of those bagless vacuum cleaners that I absolutely despise. Give me bags any day--emptying those canisters is messy! But... Since no debris goes through the motor or fan, and it has a HEPA filter, it's safe to Jerry-rig the hose up to my press when depriming.

It's kinda fun to hear the primers rattling down the hose when I'm depriming, and sure keeps a lot of that nasty burnt primer "dust" (more like toxic sand than dust, ain't it?) off of the press and floor.

redneck2 · August 28, 2006, 05:15 PM

When cleaning different caliber of brass, I use those little colored mesh bags from Lyman. You don't have to hand sort the brass after cleaning

I got some of the big rolls of labels from Midway for my boxes. Maybe everybody else already does this, but it's just real handy to have all those labels close that have places for all the info

When working up loads, I used to segregate them in the plastic boxes. Problem is, they'd tend to get mixed up, dumped, etc. Now I put them in zip lock bags with the above labels with all the info. If I don't shoot them right away, I still have all the info on the bag with the loads in it

You can make a power trimmer out of a standard trimmer by replacing the crank handle with a capscrew with a hex nut. Use a drill to power it. I had to trim .200 off some cases. Only took a few seconds per case when it was under power.

Use PLENTY of brass polish in your media. Makes cases clean and shiny and easier to reload since they're slicker.

Spray your dies when they're being stored to prevent rust.

James THR · August 28, 2006, 06:35 PM

There has been some absolutely terrific tips and ideas posted

Lots of them have been ingenious and some great time savers !

Keep 'em coming.

Clark · August 28, 2006, 07:19 PM

I invented "double compression", a method of getting more powder into a load than a case full.

Then I found out that the blackpowder people had already invented it and gave it the same name.

I also worked for 5 years to figure out why beer goes in yellow and comes out clear, and yet water goes in clear and comes out yellow. I could have figured it out faster, but things were comming out clear at the time.

waumo · August 28, 2006, 08:13 PM

Mark across the head of your pistol ammo with a colored Sharpie so
you can sort it from your buddies' at the range. I'm sure I didn't
invent this but it is amazing how much time people spend trying to
decide who the pick up brass belongs to because none is marked.

Of course the other option is to have a buddy who shoots 9mm so
his brass is obvious from your 45 ACP- but that would be drastic.

Ron Brooks · August 28, 2006, 09:04 PM

I didn't make this up, I read it somewhere a long time ago. Use form-a-gasket for the primer pockets of dummy rounds, they also work as a snap cap.

MCgunner · August 28, 2006, 09:26 PM

Well, lessee, I cut stainless wire and form a loop, stick it in a 148 grain WC .38 mold with the sprue cutter open and poor, instant fishing weight. I vary caliber to weight size. For a heavy surf fishing weight or trot lines/drop lines, 340 grain .45-70 pills.

MCgunner · August 28, 2006, 09:28 PM

Quote:

I didn't make this up, I read it somewhere a long time ago. Use form-a-gasket for the primer pockets of dummy rounds, they also work as a snap cap.

RTV works better.

BigJakeJ1s · August 28, 2006, 10:01 PM

Quote:

The $19 Ikea bookshelves make great storage racks!

Which ones are those?

I've noticed the Fira storage series here

Or their snack boxes

Or the Mackis storage series

Andy

Will Cordes · August 28, 2006, 10:39 PM

I learned this the hard way, when I tumbled two different calibers (I can't even remember which ones, way back when) together and wound up with smaller cases trapped inside larger ones (which kept both from being effectively cleaned).

Nowadays, I segregate by case mouth diameter (not necessarily caliber), since I load for so many calibers that share the same bore size--regardless of case size (.35 Remington, .358 Winchester, .350 Remington Magnum, .35 Whelen, .35 Winchester, etc.). That way, I can combine smaller batches of cases to conserve electricity.

Hawken50 · August 28, 2006, 11:21 PM

Quote:

That way, I can combine smaller batches of cases to conserve electricity.

or, take you tumbler to work and use their electricity!

Darrell Davis · August 28, 2006, 11:26 PM

Even'n folks.

Hope this Ol'timer doesn't up set to many folk over the up coming days. Once you've been around awhile you do tend to get a bit set in your ways, but just found this site today and figure I'll throw in my 2 cents worth on a topic or two.

As per a "clever" idea for reloading, the following isn't my idea, but I suggested it to my oldest son who is now using the idea and have recently installed my own system in our new home.

The idea is a "receiver" system of sorts which allows for attaching multiple tooks to the loading bench and all without drilling any holes through the finished surface of the bench.

On my new system, I have 4 tubes - all in one welded unit - bolted to the underside of the work bench the wife and I share.

When building the bench into the room, I counter sunk 8 - 3/8" bolts under the formica counter top. I set the bolts in Fiberglass epoxy so there is no play or chance for them to work loose.

On my loading press, I use a mounting piece which uses two of the under bench tubes. This plus the winged locking bolts in each tube creat an extremely solid mounting system and all without the normal holes through the top.

Need to attach other tools, or more then one at a time? That is the reason for the four tubes under the bench and the mounting attachments are limited only by your imagination.

Works for me!

Matt-man · August 28, 2006, 11:54 PM

Rather than run the spent primer tube into a trash can, I cut slits into a water bottle cap so it fits on the tube. Then I screw the bottle into the cap so it hangs on the tube. I kept kicking over the trash can when I was using it to catch spent primers...

Sunray · August 29, 2006, 02:23 AM

"...Theres no such thing as overlubing..." Nonsense. Like HankB says, you can over lube a bottle necked case.
My tip? If you go cheap on the bench and buy one with a particle board/OSB top, a square foot of 1/4" steel plate bolted to the bench and the press bolted to the plate fixes it.

ReloaderFred · August 29, 2006, 03:06 AM

I make my own labels on my computer, using the "mailing labels" in Works.

I've made my own primer pocket cleaning brushes for about 25 years from the plastic covered 1/8" cable they sell in hardware stores. A foot of it will last a lifetime. Just be sure to dress the end on a grinder so you don't make the primer pocket deeper.

I've made a powered tool that mounts to my bench for cleaning primer pockets and chamfers case mouths. I can clean about 2,000 cases per hour with it, or chamfer about the same amount.

I've made several small tools for cleaning corncob from flash holes by using epoxy to glue piano wire of the proper size in file handles. I've also made several tools for cleaning around the ram of the press with the flat steel street sweepers leave in the gutter, by epoxying them into file handles. Use a pop rivet to take up half the space in the hole in the wooden file handle and epoxy both the rivet and the "tool" into place.

I made one of the above tools with a 90 degree angle in the piano wire, for pushing out those pesky primers that go part way back into the primer pocket and won't come out of the shell holder.

A small brush that's usually used for applying flux to soldered joints also works to clean inside a press, where it's hard to reach.

I made a tool for smoothing case mouths after trimming by using a 3/4" copper tubing cap and drilling a 1/4" hole in the center and putting a 1/4" bolt through it. Then fill the cap with stainless steel wool and run it in a drill and touch the case mouth to it.

I've cut decapping pins from 3' long pieces of piano wire of the proper diameter that I purchased for .45 cents at the hardware store.

I recycle all spent rifle and pistol primers. The current price is $1.30 a pound in my area, and it adds up pretty quickly, along with brass that can either not be reloaded or can no longer be reloaded.

I use Plasti-dip to make the handle of the RCBS hex lock ring tool larger, so I can get a better grip on it. I dipped it several times to build it up.

I put a counter on my Rockchucker press so I can get a count on the amount of brass I'm depriming, etc.

Some tools are mounted on 10" by 10", 7/8" plywood, and clamped to the work bench, so I don't have to drill more holes. All my lubrisizers and shotgun loading tools are mounted this way.

There are others, but those are the ones that come to mind.

Hope this helps.

Fred

Dr. Dickie · August 29, 2006, 07:20 AM

The only trick I learned is how to get the primers flipped (I use winchester primers and load on a Dillion). Save one of the plastic trays the primers come in. Open the new box of primers, and place the old empty plastic tray on top of the new on full of primers (with the holes of the old one facing the primers). Flip, then remove the plastic tray the pimers came in (they are now up-side down in the old plastic tray). Take the paper cover that was on the new primers and place it over the top of the up-side down primers. Flip this over and place it down on a clean smooth spot on the bench (paper against the bench, plastic tray on top). Now slide the paper out from under the tray and lift the tray. There you have it, 100 primers laying face up ready to be loaded into the primer tube for feeding.

Uncle Don · August 29, 2006, 08:58 AM

That those cheesy little collet rings that come with inertia bullet pullers are worthless and can be tossed. You can use a press shellholder for the caliber you are pulling and it works much better.

Darrell Davis · August 29, 2006, 09:58 AM

"Super lube"

Now there may be some lubes as good or better then this, but STP did solve a problem once upon a time.

I was reforming a goodly amount of .308 brass to .243 and was stove piping the necks on 50% or so of the attempts.

I was using an RCBS lube which had worked fine for all other sizing work I had done, up to that time.

I decided to try a bit of STP, and what do you know, NO MORE stove piped necks!!

STP is so sticky it is just a matter of getting a bit on the "dirty hand" and smearing a bit on the neck and shoulder before the sizing operation. As I said, no more problem.

However, the down side is the cleaning as STP resists normal attempts at wiping.

I just used a good solvent of some type (gas works, but be careful!), followed by a good strong hot water/soap solution.

I would be interested in something which was as good as the STP but not as hard to clean up.

Any thoughts?

August 28, 2006, 08:05 AM	#1
James THR Member Join Date: August 24, 2006 Posts: 20	What clever little things have you "invented or discovered" that you can share? What clever little things have you "invented or discovered" that you can share that makes things just that much easier on your reloading bench ? For me I have used coloured plastic zip ties around my dies to differentiate them in the turret press and also the spare sets that I have for different projectiles. I also use 9mm MTM case guards to hold .38 HBWC rounds ( wonderful snug fit). I took my Lyman T-Mag ram linkages apart and fitted fibre washes in the gaps to take out all the play. Made a huge difference in feel with the slop taken out. I have covered my reloading bench with a sheet of white polymer board (what chopping boards are made out of) http://www.kingstarboard.com/Products/starboard.aspx makes for a terrific easy clean and textured top. I cut 1" of the top of the thread that holds the lid on my Lyman 1200 pro tumbler. It saves time and hassle not having to wind the pesky lid screw that extra unnecessary 1" all the time. What can you share ?

August 28, 2006, 08:32 AM	#3
Vitamin G Member Join Date: August 9, 2003 Location: Monroeville, PA (Home of the Zombies) Posts: 929	The $19 Ikea bookshelves make great storage racks! Theres no such thing as overlubing. Brass can never be too clean. 1000 primers is not enough __________________ ...the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall notbe infringed subject to reasonable limitations, including background check, processing fee, submission of fingerprints, registration of said arm, proof of training, distance to schools, compliance re: spent casings and drop-tests, absence of features including but not limited to; capacity of magazine, pistol grip, bayonet, adjustable stock, or muzzle break. Limitations on caliber, capacity, and concealment may apply. Offer not valid in California, Kansas, Illinois, or Wisconsin.

August 28, 2006, 09:13 AM	#5
DaveInFloweryBranchGA Member Join Date: December 7, 2005 Location: NE Georgia Posts: 1,501	1. drill and tap set screw holes in Hornady LnL bushings to eliminate lock ring issues with short Lee dies. 2. Zip tie the spent primer tube to the brass tube to elminate it coming off. 3. Built my own "strong mount" for my Hornady LnL progressive out of oak. 4. Customized strong mount by building an ergonomic stand for brass, bullets and primers. Attached this to the strong mount with deck screws. Makes reloading much faster, as I don't have to reach as far for anything. 5. Opened up the bracket a bit and mounted a Hornady powder measure on a Lee Classic Cast press, allowing for powder drop and bullet seat in closer proximity to one another and one operation, thereby gaining some speed in the single stage process. (1. Resize/trim/prime cases. 2. drop powder 3. Immediately place in shellholder and place bullet 4. Seat bullet. 5. crimp if appropriate) 6. Buy multiple Akro or other brand louvered bins. Place bullets, brass and primers and finally loaded round in them to facilitate work in progress on a progress press. Works well with single stages and turrets, but the most benefit comes with progressives. Hope these help someone. Dave __________________ Dave In Jefferson, GA

August 28, 2006, 09:45 AM	#6
jeepmor Member Join Date: November 6, 2005 Location: Stumptown Posts: 2,770	Storage of stuff Reloading supplies get heavy fast, use small containers. I have my stuff in those folding top containers and they have become very heavy with 9mm, 45acp and 10mm supplies like bullets for everything, brass, powder, press, dies and so on. No real "inventions" yet but I haven't started working with my progressive setup just yet. Home projects, lousy excuse, but you know the drill. I will be putting my primer pocket cleaner in my cordless drill soon though, saves time. I would really like a foot actuator for the press, but that long stroke would be annoying to my leg just as it is my arm after a few hundred rounds. Setup cartridges NEVER have a primer in them. Beating a bullet out of a barrel is a serious bummer of a thing to do while kicking yourself in the rear. I mark them with a black sharpie also for easier visual identification. jeepmor

August 28, 2006, 04:32 PM	#8
WayneConrad Member Join Date: February 21, 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 2,128	Hooked a vacuum up to my press We've got one of those bagless vacuum cleaners that I absolutely despise. Give me bags any day--emptying those canisters is messy! But... Since no debris goes through the motor or fan, and it has a HEPA filter, it's safe to Jerry-rig the hose up to my press when depriming. It's kinda fun to hear the primers rattling down the hose when I'm depriming, and sure keeps a lot of that nasty burnt primer "dust" (more like toxic sand than dust, ain't it?) off of the press and floor.

August 28, 2006, 08:26 AM	#2
griz Member Join Date: December 25, 2002 Location: Eastern Virginia Posts: 2,371	38 wadcutters will fit in 9mm boxes? That tip alone makes waking up this moring worth it! Here are my modest ideas: On the RCBS 2000 (and possibly others) there are gaps in the base and on the plate on which the case bins hang. When you fill the bullet tray up the overflow tends to head right for these gaps, so I filled them up with inserts made from wood and styrofoam. The plastic containers that parmesean cheese come in are good for storing loaded rounds. They hold about 100 9mm rounds and you can shake out how ever many rounds you need with the top still secure.

August 28, 2006, 03:49 PM	#7
TN Shooter Member Join Date: May 12, 2006 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 64	I use different colored Sharpie pens to mark the primer on some loads to differentiate them from others. And recently, they have come out with a bunch of additional colors. It is a great to use during load development because it eliminates the possibility of getting loads mixed up with each other in the same box. Also, when you deprime, the marking is gone

August 28, 2006, 05:15 PM	#9
redneck2 Member Join Date: December 25, 2002 Location: Northern Indiana Posts: 6,325	When cleaning different caliber of brass, I use those little colored mesh bags from Lyman. You don't have to hand sort the brass after cleaning I got some of the big rolls of labels from Midway for my boxes. Maybe everybody else already does this, but it's just real handy to have all those labels close that have places for all the info When working up loads, I used to segregate them in the plastic boxes. Problem is, they'd tend to get mixed up, dumped, etc. Now I put them in zip lock bags with the above labels with all the info. If I don't shoot them right away, I still have all the info on the bag with the loads in it You can make a power trimmer out of a standard trimmer by replacing the crank handle with a capscrew with a hex nut. Use a drill to power it. I had to trim .200 off some cases. Only took a few seconds per case when it was under power. Use PLENTY of brass polish in your media. Makes cases clean and shiny and easier to reload since they're slicker. Spray your dies when they're being stored to prevent rust.

August 28, 2006, 06:35 PM	#10
James THR Member Join Date: August 24, 2006 Posts: 20	There has been some absolutely terrific tips and ideas posted Lots of them have been ingenious and some great time savers ! Keep 'em coming.

August 28, 2006, 07:19 PM	#11
Clark Member Join Date: January 3, 2003 Location: Where I5 meets the rain forest Posts: 3,765	I invented "double compression", a method of getting more powder into a load than a case full. Then I found out that the blackpowder people had already invented it and gave it the same name. I also worked for 5 years to figure out why beer goes in yellow and comes out clear, and yet water goes in clear and comes out yellow. I could have figured it out faster, but things were comming out clear at the time. __________________ The word 'forum" does not mean "not criticizing books." "Ad hominem fallacy" is not the same as point by point criticism of books. Are we a nation of competing ideas, or a nation of forced conformity of thought?

August 28, 2006, 08:13 PM	#12
waumo Member Join Date: February 12, 2006 Posts: 58	Mark across the head of your pistol ammo with a colored Sharpie so you can sort it from your buddies' at the range. I'm sure I didn't invent this but it is amazing how much time people spend trying to decide who the pick up brass belongs to because none is marked. Of course the other option is to have a buddy who shoots 9mm so his brass is obvious from your 45 ACP- but that would be drastic.

August 28, 2006, 09:04 PM	#13
Ron Brooks Member Join Date: June 25, 2006 Location: Panhandle of Texas Posts: 94	I didn't make this up, I read it somewhere a long time ago. Use form-a-gasket for the primer pockets of dummy rounds, they also work as a snap cap.

August 28, 2006, 09:26 PM	#14
MCgunner Member Join Date: December 3, 2005 Location: The end of the road between Sodom and Gomorrah Texas Posts: 21,565	Well, lessee, I cut stainless wire and form a loop, stick it in a 148 grain WC .38 mold with the sprue cutter open and poor, instant fishing weight. I vary caliber to weight size. For a heavy surf fishing weight or trot lines/drop lines, 340 grain .45-70 pills.

August 28, 2006, 10:39 PM	#17
Will Cordes Member Join Date: August 28, 2006 Location: Missoula, MT Posts: 3	Segregating cases by caliber prior to tumbling. I learned this the hard way, when I tumbled two different calibers (I can't even remember which ones, way back when) together and wound up with smaller cases trapped inside larger ones (which kept both from being effectively cleaned). Nowadays, I segregate by case mouth diameter (not necessarily caliber), since I load for so many calibers that share the same bore size--regardless of case size (.35 Remington, .358 Winchester, .350 Remington Magnum, .35 Whelen, .35 Winchester, etc.). That way, I can combine smaller batches of cases to conserve electricity.

August 28, 2006, 11:26 PM	#19
Darrell Davis Member Join Date: August 28, 2006 Location: Deary, Ideeeeho Posts: 4	Even'n folks. Hope this Ol'timer doesn't up set to many folk over the up coming days. Once you've been around awhile you do tend to get a bit set in your ways, but just found this site today and figure I'll throw in my 2 cents worth on a topic or two. As per a "clever" idea for reloading, the following isn't my idea, but I suggested it to my oldest son who is now using the idea and have recently installed my own system in our new home. The idea is a "receiver" system of sorts which allows for attaching multiple tooks to the loading bench and all without drilling any holes through the finished surface of the bench. On my new system, I have 4 tubes - all in one welded unit - bolted to the underside of the work bench the wife and I share. When building the bench into the room, I counter sunk 8 - 3/8" bolts under the formica counter top. I set the bolts in Fiberglass epoxy so there is no play or chance for them to work loose. On my loading press, I use a mounting piece which uses two of the under bench tubes. This plus the winged locking bolts in each tube creat an extremely solid mounting system and all without the normal holes through the top. Need to attach other tools, or more then one at a time? That is the reason for the four tubes under the bench and the mounting attachments are limited only by your imagination. Works for me!

August 28, 2006, 11:54 PM	#20
Matt-man Member Join Date: May 6, 2004 Location: Phoenix Posts: 419	Rather than run the spent primer tube into a trash can, I cut slits into a water bottle cap so it fits on the tube. Then I screw the bottle into the cap so it hangs on the tube. I kept kicking over the trash can when I was using it to catch spent primers...

August 29, 2006, 02:23 AM	#21
Sunray Member Join Date: May 17, 2003 Location: London, Ont. Posts: 7,567	"...Theres no such thing as overlubing..." Nonsense. Like HankB says, you can over lube a bottle necked case. My tip? If you go cheap on the bench and buy one with a particle board/OSB top, a square foot of 1/4" steel plate bolted to the bench and the press bolted to the plate fixes it.

August 29, 2006, 03:06 AM	#22
ReloaderFred Member Join Date: April 28, 2005 Location: Oregon Coast Posts: 4,523	I make my own labels on my computer, using the "mailing labels" in Works. I've made my own primer pocket cleaning brushes for about 25 years from the plastic covered 1/8" cable they sell in hardware stores. A foot of it will last a lifetime. Just be sure to dress the end on a grinder so you don't make the primer pocket deeper. I've made a powered tool that mounts to my bench for cleaning primer pockets and chamfers case mouths. I can clean about 2,000 cases per hour with it, or chamfer about the same amount. I've made several small tools for cleaning corncob from flash holes by using epoxy to glue piano wire of the proper size in file handles. I've also made several tools for cleaning around the ram of the press with the flat steel street sweepers leave in the gutter, by epoxying them into file handles. Use a pop rivet to take up half the space in the hole in the wooden file handle and epoxy both the rivet and the "tool" into place. I made one of the above tools with a 90 degree angle in the piano wire, for pushing out those pesky primers that go part way back into the primer pocket and won't come out of the shell holder. A small brush that's usually used for applying flux to soldered joints also works to clean inside a press, where it's hard to reach. I made a tool for smoothing case mouths after trimming by using a 3/4" copper tubing cap and drilling a 1/4" hole in the center and putting a 1/4" bolt through it. Then fill the cap with stainless steel wool and run it in a drill and touch the case mouth to it. I've cut decapping pins from 3' long pieces of piano wire of the proper diameter that I purchased for .45 cents at the hardware store. I recycle all spent rifle and pistol primers. The current price is $1.30 a pound in my area, and it adds up pretty quickly, along with brass that can either not be reloaded or can no longer be reloaded. I use Plasti-dip to make the handle of the RCBS hex lock ring tool larger, so I can get a better grip on it. I dipped it several times to build it up. I put a counter on my Rockchucker press so I can get a count on the amount of brass I'm depriming, etc. Some tools are mounted on 10" by 10", 7/8" plywood, and clamped to the work bench, so I don't have to drill more holes. All my lubrisizers and shotgun loading tools are mounted this way. There are others, but those are the ones that come to mind. Hope this helps. Fred __________________ After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. - William S. Burroughs

August 29, 2006, 07:20 AM	#23
Dr. Dickie Member Join Date: April 19, 2006 Location: Jacksonville Beach, FL Posts: 1,185	The only trick I learned is how to get the primers flipped (I use winchester primers and load on a Dillion). Save one of the plastic trays the primers come in. Open the new box of primers, and place the old empty plastic tray on top of the new on full of primers (with the holes of the old one facing the primers). Flip, then remove the plastic tray the pimers came in (they are now up-side down in the old plastic tray). Take the paper cover that was on the new primers and place it over the top of the up-side down primers. Flip this over and place it down on a clean smooth spot on the bench (paper against the bench, plastic tray on top). Now slide the paper out from under the tray and lift the tray. There you have it, 100 primers laying face up ready to be loaded into the primer tube for feeding. __________________ ---- Rick Repeal the 17th Amendment, let’s put America back to the Republic the founding fathers intended! A right should restrict the government, not obligate it!

August 29, 2006, 08:58 AM	#24
Uncle Don Member Join Date: April 22, 2004 Location: Midwest Posts: 315	That those cheesy little collet rings that come with inertia bullet pullers are worthless and can be tossed. You can use a press shellholder for the caliber you are pulling and it works much better.

August 29, 2006, 09:58 AM	#25
Darrell Davis Member Join Date: August 28, 2006 Location: Deary, Ideeeeho Posts: 4	"Super lube" Now there may be some lubes as good or better then this, but STP did solve a problem once upon a time. I was reforming a goodly amount of .308 brass to .243 and was stove piping the necks on 50% or so of the attempts. I was using an RCBS lube which had worked fine for all other sizing work I had done, up to that time. I decided to try a bit of STP, and what do you know, NO MORE stove piped necks!! STP is so sticky it is just a matter of getting a bit on the "dirty hand" and smearing a bit on the neck and shoulder before the sizing operation. As I said, no more problem. However, the down side is the cleaning as STP resists normal attempts at wiping. I just used a good solvent of some type (gas works, but be careful!), followed by a good strong hot water/soap solution. I would be interested in something which was as good as the STP but not as hard to clean up. Any thoughts?