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

[44and45]

If you've ever swaged bullets on your reloading press, you know you have to tap the bullets back out of the swage die body with a mallet. This is a tedious extra step that can be eliminated by using my ABE device.

The strong spring tension in the ABE box cage will expel the bullet every time back on to the ram nose punch, or its hanging from the swage die ready to pluck it off.

I'm offering construction drawings for making these at bigcaddy@centurytel.net for a modest price...this includes email color photos and any help you may require in making one.

Can make some of the parts for you as well.

Jim

[moooose102]

well, i guess we all have made powder dippers from old shells. but mine have a different "style" if you will. i drill out the primer hole, tap it (for me, i use a 6mmx1.0 thread, but you could use any one that suits your fancy) and use a screw to make the volume adjustable. i round off the end of the screw, so the powder flows around it more consistently. simply screw the screw in to reduce the charge, and out to increase it. i use a little teflon tape so the screw stays where i put it. on very large cases, you may want to use a larger thread diameter (almost the same size as the case i.d.) so the powder does not get stuck between the screw and the case wall.

[moooose102]

i also read a post about "stp" uses for reloading. i use it (staight from the bottle) on the ram of my press and the threads of my vise bolt. it makes them work silky smooth! and it should all but completely eliminate any wear.

[TexasSkyhawk]

The strong spring tension in the ABE box cage will expel the bullet every time back on to the ram nose punch, or its hanging from the swage die ready to pluck it off.

Jim,

That is SLICK.

If I were you, I'd be slapping a "Patent Pending" on that thing muy pronto, then I'd start marketing it. For sure I'd show it off over at the castboolits.com discussion forum.

I cast boolits, but have never had any real interest in swaging because of a few of the more tedious tasks. But your device has pretty much eliminated one of the big tasks. . . Might just get me to change my mind.

Jeff

[TexasSkyhawk]

Here are a couple of easy, cheap things--

When I'm working up loads, especially for rifles, I like to do between three and five at a time. I also like to carefully inspect the brass afterwards, and keep it separated while I'm working up to a "keeper" load.

So I've just started buying the ziploc bags, blank 3 x 5 notecards and keeping my loads separated that way. I write down all pertinent information on the notecard and toss it in the ziploc with the rounds.

At the range, I can then make instant notes after I've fired the rounds, plus keep the brass separated from the other test loads much easier.



Likewise, when I get through testing loads, I also like to inspect and clean my gun. Handguns are easy, but rifles are a bit more of a pain. After looking at some of the plastic rifle holders and cleaning setups, I decided since I didn't need all the drawers and bottle holders as well as wanting something a bit sturdier, I spent $50 on some 3/4" birch cabinet-grade wood and some wood clamps and made my own cleaning stand.



Jeff

[Steel Talon]

Jeff,
great idea on your vice. Ive been wanting to make my own .
Like your break on the mini you put an accu-strut on it yet?

Peace
Steel Talon

[Cypress]

Haven't had time to read all these yet so this one might be a duplicate. I always keep my tumbling media fresh because it works so much faster. I found that most equipment rental places keep corn cob and walnut shell for sandblasting houses. $25 for a 50lb sack of walnut and $17 for corn cob. That'll last you a while!!!

[gaowlpoop]

[lordgroom]

gaowlpoop- That is a great idea. Do you have any plans for that? Do you use rubber or felt to protect from marring?

[gaowlpoop]

Here is a post I made a while back.

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=161838

It has pictures of my vice and of ones that others made.

I used felt on the parts. I just glued it on with Elmer's glue. I just sort of cut thing out and put them together by eye - no plans just a picture from the web.

[rockcutter]

I found this somewhere else but can't remember where. I use a short piece of dowel to see if I have overcharged a case. I simply stick it into the first charged case and mark where the edge comes to on the dowel with a sharpie. If I double charge it shows up like night and day.

[Clark]

I built a platform of wood and plywood on top of my can and bolted down a Varmint Master shooting rest.

Also I have used the platform to haul 650 pounds of sheet rock, stacks of plywood, and what ever lumber I find floating in Lake Washington after a storm.

[redneck2]

I have a "Gun Stuff" file in MS Word. Any time I see good ideas here or other forums (load ideas, etc), I do a "copy & paste". Keeps everything in one place that's instantly accessible.

[Gnarly]

1) Several here have named great uses for Peanut Jars, but the Peanut Butter works well to get the "sticky" off that labels leave behind.Wipe on, leave it a few hours, wipe it off with a rag.Works better than WD40 and leaves no greasy residue.

2) New safety glasses & new shooting glasses! When you notice they're getting scratched, pitch 'em.Ask your Eye Doctor: when we wear scratched lens, our eyes try to 'divide' their focus between the scratch and what you want to see- this causes eye strain + gradually reduces peripheral vision.

3)KG-12 copper remover/solvent.Before this, I only thought I was getting all the copper fouling out!

4) Free small dessicants- ask your pharmacist to save 'em for you- they are shipped in all large bottles of pills/capsules.I put 3 or 4 into my dies boxes- pitch 'em after 6 mos.( more often if you live in high humidity area).

Now I'll go back to watchin' & learnin'.

----Gnarly

[JeepGeek]

instead of pitching those glasses, take some toothpaste and a felt bonnet on your dremel-- gets the scratches out!

works on watch crystals, DVD/CDs, and so on as well...

[Gnarly]

I just got a new cordless Dremel as an early Father's Day gift-still trying to figger out the different uses.
----Gnarly

[waverace]

just figured this one out the other day , dont have a set of dies for my .303 yet but wanted to get started with case prep so used my 45/70 decapping die to get the old primers out . why buy a separate decapping tool when a large caliber like the 45/70 will do it , this way I dont need to clean then resize ,deprime , clean again just decap , clean then neck size should work with any caliber smaller than .458

[JeepGeek]

or just buy the Lee universal depriming tool. Works for EVERY round...

[Friendly, Don't Fire!]

When I seat a primer on my handgun loads that feels just a bit easier to seat, but the primer pocket is not yet worn out, I mark the entire bottom of the case so I will get one more firing out of it. After I fire that round, I destroy that case. I must note here, that if I feel it is questionable, I will destroy it by soaking the primed case in water, then crushing and disposing. I do not take any chances.

With my RCBS tumbler, rather than let the dust build up, I run my tumbler with the top removed. I hang a small shop vacuum hose down just over the threaded rod sticking up vertically several inches onto which the wingnut goes. I secure the hose to an overhead pipe in my basement so it can't change positions.

I adjust the vacuum hose just low enough so it picks up the fine dust but high enough so none of the media gets vacuumed up. I have both my tumbler and the vacuum on a heavy duty timer (with a three-tap receptacle so I can plug both into the HD timer) and set the tumbler/vacuum arrangement for about 6 hours.

After 6 hours, my brass looks as shiny as new gold jewelry and there is not one speck of dust (or media, for that matter) surrounding the tumbler on my workbench surface.

Granted, I do have a bit of a time getting some of the media out of the primer pockets, but that doesn't bother me, as it's all in the fun of handloading. I use a real small awl to poke the media out of the hole and I look inside to ensure I got every bit of media out of each case.

[Friendly, Don't Fire!]

For handgun cartridges, I prefer trimming before expanding. My Forster trimmer had a pilot for my 500 Magnum that was a bit oversized. No matter what stage of reloading I tried trimming the brass, I found that the pilot would bind in the case neck and would then spin (itself) in the trimmer.

I found a small metal tube that held the pilot shaft with just a tiny bit of play. I then used my bench grinder to slowly grind down the diameter of the pilot by holding it so the end holding the pilot is pointing up and just at the proper angle - so the pilot would spin on the end of the tube I was using to hold it as the pilot was being ground down.

In having it spin while being ground, and by controlling the angle I was holding the tube, the pilot was being ground perfectly evenly. I kept stopping and trying a clean and resized case onto the pilot until I was satisfied that I had removed just enough metal to make it fit.

After doing this, I applied several coats of blueing until the pilot was re-blued just like original. Since I did that, I have trimmed hundreds of cases and the pilot has been perfect (just enough friction to hold the case on-center while not binding).

I have used this method of holding various small items that need to have the diameter ground down, as I don't have a lathe nor do I have the knowledge to operate a lathe.

[mmorris]

I haven't seen any homemade bullet pullers yet, so here's one I made with a scrap 2x4 and some LEE parts (lock stud and shell holder from the case trimming stuff). Works great... whack it really hard on concrete.

[Roccobro]

That is cool Mmorris!

Justin

[VonFatman]

Mmorris,
You handy folks just want to run the reloading suppliers out of business!

Cool idea!

Bob

[Friendly, Don't Fire!]

Mmorris, Great idea!

I can see it now. Me hammering the 2x4 onto concrete to pull 500 bullets with my right tennis elbow OUCH!

No, really, great idea!

You deserve a $50 gift certificate to your favorite online reloading supply store!

Inspector

[Friendly, Don't Fire!]

Mmorris, you get 100 points for being CLEVER!

Inspector