What clever little things have you "invented or discovered" that you can share? - Page 37

jcwit · December 13, 2011, 07:22 PM

Quote:

If you are having problems with your hammer type bullet puller with the rubber band binder which holds the collets together, throw it away and replace it with a shellholder. I fits nicely.

I can't take credit for this idea as I read it in a magazine, but it does work and is a lot less agravating than trying to get that rubber band back on.
__________________

Not recommended, but do it if you wish, your pain if something goes wrong. Since when do you believe everything you read?

Steel Talon · December 14, 2011, 01:36 AM

Quote:

If you are having problems with your hammer type bullet puller with the rubber band binder which holds the collets together, throw it away and replace it with a shellholder. I fits nicely.

Just replace with another O ring from the harware store.

FWIW..
I wouldnt recogmend the shell holder trick. Years ago I saw picture of a guy who tried this and ultimately grenaded the round as he was striking. The cartridge slipped a bit logging the primer under the edge of the shell holder.Setting the primer off.

His 2 boys were with him in the garage close by watching. they werent hit. but dad took a bit of brass and plastic

NWDave · December 14, 2011, 10:36 PM

Sure is a lot of great suggestions. I have one to contribute. For reloaders who use Sonic Cleaners. I personally use a Hornady Sonic Cleaner. Works great with the One Shot Cleaner. When I'm done with the sonic portion, I dump them into a plastic "shoe box" container with clean water to be rinsed off. I use a large cat litter scoop (new one, of course

) to swirl the brass around in the shoe box, then scoop out with the litter scoop and deposit on Dehydrator trays. Yep, everyone seems to have one or can find one cheap, since they were popular several years ago. Now you can re-purpose it for brass drying. I set the temp for 90 degrees and run the timer for about 2 hours. (Probably longer than I need but, this is suppose to be a leisurely pursuit, right?) As for the range brass, first thing I do is dump it into a wash pan, add hot water, swish around to get the major crud off, move to a 1 x 8 x 24" long pine board with 2" wood screws screwed in. Set the brass, open end down of course. Let air dry. Crude but adequate. Clean enough to sort anyway.

Thanks to all the posters. There's a wealth of information in these pages.

~Dave

K96771 · December 15, 2011, 08:54 PM

This would definitely be a "little thing," but I was looking for crayons, markers, stickers and other drawing supplies for the grandson at Office Max and there on the shelf were 100-pack foot-long pipe cleaners for $2! Made my day

1SOW · December 15, 2011, 11:59 PM

POWDER SWEEP for the LEE PRO/Regular Discs.

I have often seen several 'pieces' of powder laying on the top front edge of the disc 'after' dropping the powder load. It's a "small" leak .
I fastened a very small (3/16" x 1") piece of thin leather to the powder hopper immediately above the disc hole. It hangs down to just make contact with the disc. It "sweeps/pushes" the powder into the hole every time the disc is moved forward.

I haven't seen any leakage there for the 150 rds I loaded today. Verdict is still out on the benefit, but it took 10 mins. to do.

1SOW · December 16, 2011, 12:08 AM

oops

nojoke · December 28, 2011, 12:36 AM

Repost since COX no longer will host my photos....

A bit of scrap wood is used as a jig to assure a perpendicular hole is made. The jig was prepared with a drill press.
Pilot hole first then opened further to 7/16's
Installing a Dillon powder check into a Lock n Load:

Willfully Armed · December 28, 2011, 03:21 AM

Swisher Sweet cigarillo boxes are awesome for brass storage. They fit perfectly in my storage cabinet.

Dillon 650s load a whole lot faster than a Rockchucker.

Gunsafes are never big enough.

Glock triggers can be made as nice as a 1911 trigger. Much to the dismay of 1911 fanboys. This is my big project from this year. Eliminated take up. Eliminated overtravel, resets in about 1/32". Trigger pull is about 2#. Glockworx z3 connector and competition spring kit(stock trigger spring) Polish all contact points with Dremel and flitz until mirror shine. Reshaping and polishing the sear surface and firing pin safety tang. I was going to eliminate the firing pin safety altogether, but in the name of SAFETY, have decided to leave it be. Drilled and tapped the trigger bar for a 5/26" set screw...this controls takeup. Lone wolf short reset trigger housing.

Its not a 1911 trigger, but its the best a pivot trigger can be.

grandutefan · December 29, 2011, 07:36 PM

Great thread!

We don't have a range where I live in SE Utah (Moab) so we just go out in the desert to shoot. When I go shooting I take a plastic 20ish gallon tote with the hinged removable lid, with a 15'x15' tarp folded in it. We spread it out and position semi-auto shooters so the brass lands on the tarp, otherwise it get buried in the sand almost immediately. Revolver shooters dump their cases directly into the tote and every 10 minutes or so we do a brass patrol to pick up spent rifle and semi-auto brass. When we are done we shake off the tarp, fold it and put it on top of the brass where i then take it home a sort it.

I find Foldgers coffee containers very handy for keeping brass sorted into cleaned, unprimed, primed condition for each caliber.

I always seem to find an uncapped amber prescription bottle handy on my bench while reloading.

Samari Jack · December 30, 2011, 09:39 PM

I was trying to do a copy/paste of some of these tips to a document. In typing a name for the file I hit the i instead of the u. They are side by side on my key board. Came out "gin" tips. I don't even like gin. Freudian slip I guess.

danbowkley · January 2, 2012, 10:06 PM

Rather than have a trash can or bucket on the floor to catch spent primers from my LnL-AP press, I took a cup holder designed to hook into a car door's window slot and cut off the hook part. Then I took an empty one pound Hodgdon powder can and drilled a hole in the lid big enough for the spent primer tube to fit into. I screwed the cup holder to the front of my bench, stuck the powder can into it, and then stuck the hose into the top of the can. Trim the hose so maybe an inch of it is in the can when the ram is all the way up, and you'll never have a primer embedded in your heel again. Pics next time I'm home.

dsm · January 3, 2012, 08:34 PM

Here is my simple press stand to elevate my presses. I need to drill and tap for each press yet. The materials consist of 8"x8"x.250" bottom plate, 5.5"x4.5"x.250" top plate and 2"x2" square tubing.

nojoke · January 5, 2012, 04:49 PM

Some of the digital SLR camera's have "live view" and HDMI outputs.
I purchased a cheap macro 50mm off e-bay and a cheap screen with HDMI input.
What does this give you? A very clear high resolution microscope to check things over if you feel the need.

I'm using a Canon 60D here. It's a nice camera to own but twice as nice to check to ammo with. There is also a button on the camera to zoom in by 5x and 10x....that really brings things in tight!

CozMoDan · January 5, 2012, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bds

How about contacting the original manufacturer? Climax Metal Products: (800) 542-6552

Cdstang, really like the collars - may get some stainless steel collars for my dies.

Black Oxide Plated Steel Collar - http://catalog.climaxmetal.com/item/...1001|1282|1155

Stainless Steel Collar - http://catalog.climaxmetal.com/item/...1001|1282|1155

If you are talking about die lock rings Hornady has them on their web site for 4 bucks. Not sure if this is what you are wanting but they look like the pics and are not near as thick as the ones you are showing.
http://www.hornady.com/store/Sure-Loc-Lock-Ring-1-Each

The Coz

CozMoDan · January 5, 2012, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nojoke

Repost since COX no longer will host my photos....

A bit of scrap wood is used as a jig to assure a perpendicular hole is made. The jig was prepared with a drill press.
Pilot hole first then opened further to 7/16's
Installing a Dillon powder check into a Lock n Load:

That is a nice bit of work. I went to Dillion's site and found it but did not give much of a discription. Does it check for no powder and too much powder both? Also I see the the blue "thing" does that make a sound when the powder is incorrect? I have a powder cop from Hornady that checks for too much powder but nothing else and has no sound.
TIA for the info.
The Coz

CozMoDan · January 5, 2012, 08:33 PM

I live in AZ and it gets hot here in the summer Duh. When reloading with cast bullets the lube get a little soft and gooey (My loading room it not kept very cool), if I put them in a bag and in the fridge for a little while it hardens them up and cuts down on the mess. Hope this is not a repeat as I did not read all the posts.
The Coz.

dsm · January 11, 2012, 09:36 PM

Delete

gathert · January 11, 2012, 11:39 PM

Make sure to check the bullet seating die every once in a while with cast bullets. The lube will congregate in the die sometimes and seat the bullet funky or farther down than you want it.

htuong95 · January 15, 2012, 02:31 AM

My homemade cheap chamfer/deburring drill adapter. Find a socket that will fit your chamfer/deburring tool. I am using a 9/16 socket.

If your socket extension is too big for your drill, you can buy a hex drill socket extension from Harbor Freight for $3.00 http://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece...ons-42191.html

Fatelvis · January 16, 2012, 10:21 PM

I've been using my 7BR s-type Redding die to neck size all different cartridges, just by changing the bushing and resetting the die distance from the shellholder. Trick is to use a die that has a big body and short (squatty) length. It serves well to hold the bushing, and not touch the case anywhere else. Give it a try!!

Innovative · January 16, 2012, 10:24 PM

Fatelvis ..........

Check the run-out on those neck sized cases .......

Fatelvis · January 17, 2012, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Fatelvis ..........

Check the run-out on those neck sized cases .......

Inno, honestly I don't have the equipment to do so. The best I can do is roll them on a flat surface!
They have been shooting great! I just figured that the bushing is held straight in line with the centerline of the case head, just as if the die was for the correct cartridge, and "straight is straight", right? Every part (except the bushing) of a correct NS bushing die doesnt touch the brass either, so really what would the difference be?
Of course this is just my theory. Thanks for your input though, that is always appreciated!

bds · January 17, 2012, 10:20 AM

I made another change to my primer cutout cover from post #47. Although the cut aluminum can cover worked well for small spent primers, when I was doing load development with slower burning powders, often with dirtier lower powder charges, the large spent primers with more black fouling clogged up the hole in the ram.

Problem: This is the old cover that got inserted inside the hole in the ram (red arrows). Because the cover was inserted inside the hole, it reduced the inside diameter of the hole and was prone to clogging large primers and required frequent cover removal/cleaning.

Solution: Corners of the cover were cut and I also trimmed the bottom of cover - Dimensions now 1.5" x 0.75".

Cover is now inserted outside of the hole in the ram cutout (green arrows) so even dirty black fouled large primers won't clog the hole. Also note wider opening at the bottom of cover.

When inserting the cover, slowly lower the ram to be sure the bottom of the cover clears the base of the press (blue arrows).

With the cover outside of the hole, I am catching 100% of pesky spent primers without having to clear the ram hole. They all continue to fall into the collection hole of the press base.

My pesky spent primer problem is now resolved!

mo841 · January 18, 2012, 11:24 AM

When I bought my 10 gage I realized it would be a good idea to reload the shells because they are expensive to buy. I did not have the money for a press so I looked at my dads old lee hand reloader (12 gage) and figured out how it works. I went to the garage, found a funnel that would help recrimp the shell and used a hammer and rod to recrimp the shell. The end of the rod also serves as a primer seater with the right sized whole drilled in it. A tapered rod removes the primers. Anyone with a drill and a grinder could easily make the rods. I had a lathe so I made some for my 410 shot gun shells too. Just somthing to think about when money is tight. All shells feed through my pump shot guns pretty good. Sometime I over crimp and have to put a lil bit of wax on the ends to keep shot from spilling out, no biggie.

HEAVY METAL 1 · January 22, 2012, 02:40 AM

Painting your reloading bench white makes it easier to see whatever you have on it. Until I actually saw this myself I couldn't believe what a difference it makes.

December 14, 2011, 10:36 PM	#903
NWDave Member Join Date: December 13, 2011 Location: Western Washington Posts: 13	37 Pages in one sitting. Sure is a lot of great suggestions. I have one to contribute. For reloaders who use Sonic Cleaners. I personally use a Hornady Sonic Cleaner. Works great with the One Shot Cleaner. When I'm done with the sonic portion, I dump them into a plastic "shoe box" container with clean water to be rinsed off. I use a large cat litter scoop (new one, of course) to swirl the brass around in the shoe box, then scoop out with the litter scoop and deposit on Dehydrator trays. Yep, everyone seems to have one or can find one cheap, since they were popular several years ago. Now you can re-purpose it for brass drying. I set the temp for 90 degrees and run the timer for about 2 hours. (Probably longer than I need but, this is suppose to be a leisurely pursuit, right?) As for the range brass, first thing I do is dump it into a wash pan, add hot water, swish around to get the major crud off, move to a 1 x 8 x 24" long pine board with 2" wood screws screwed in. Set the brass, open end down of course. Let air dry. Crude but adequate. Clean enough to sort anyway. Thanks to all the posters. There's a wealth of information in these pages. ~Dave

December 15, 2011, 08:54 PM	#904
K96771 Member Join Date: October 27, 2006 Location: NJ Pinelands Posts: 431	This would definitely be a "little thing," but I was looking for crayons, markers, stickers and other drawing supplies for the grandson at Office Max and there on the shelf were 100-pack foot-long pipe cleaners for $2! Made my day __________________ Tom http://www.factcheck.org/

December 28, 2011, 12:36 AM	#907
nojoke Member Join Date: March 20, 2011 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 128	Repost since COX no longer will host my photos.... A bit of scrap wood is used as a jig to assure a perpendicular hole is made. The jig was prepared with a drill press. Pilot hole first then opened further to 7/16's Installing a Dillon powder check into a Lock n Load: Last edited by nojoke; December 28, 2011 at 12:43 AM.

December 28, 2011, 03:21 AM	#908
Willfully Armed Member Join Date: January 30, 2010 Location: Olathe, KS(KC metro) Posts: 56	Swisher Sweet cigarillo boxes are awesome for brass storage. They fit perfectly in my storage cabinet. Dillon 650s load a whole lot faster than a Rockchucker. Gunsafes are never big enough. Glock triggers can be made as nice as a 1911 trigger. Much to the dismay of 1911 fanboys. This is my big project from this year. Eliminated take up. Eliminated overtravel, resets in about 1/32". Trigger pull is about 2#. Glockworx z3 connector and competition spring kit(stock trigger spring) Polish all contact points with Dremel and flitz until mirror shine. Reshaping and polishing the sear surface and firing pin safety tang. I was going to eliminate the firing pin safety altogether, but in the name of SAFETY, have decided to leave it be. Drilled and tapped the trigger bar for a 5/26" set screw...this controls takeup. Lone wolf short reset trigger housing. Its not a 1911 trigger, but its the best a pivot trigger can be. __________________ WWW.MIDWESTGUNTRADER.COM EDC- HKUSP9C IDPA ESP-SS, SSP-EX. Glock 34 and Bladetech equipment.

December 30, 2011, 09:39 PM	#910
Samari Jack Member Join Date: November 16, 2010 Posts: 278	file title I was trying to do a copy/paste of some of these tips to a document. In typing a name for the file I hit the i instead of the u. They are side by side on my key board. Came out "gin" tips. I don't even like gin. Freudian slip I guess.

December 15, 2011, 11:59 PM	#905
1SOW Member Join Date: October 28, 2007 Location: South Texas Posts: 3,417	POWDER SWEEP for the LEE PRO/Regular Discs. I have often seen several 'pieces' of powder laying on the top front edge of the disc 'after' dropping the powder load. It's a "small" leak . I fastened a very small (3/16" x 1") piece of thin leather to the powder hopper immediately above the disc hole. It hangs down to just make contact with the disc. It "sweeps/pushes" the powder into the hole every time the disc is moved forward. I haven't seen any leakage there for the 150 rds I loaded today. Verdict is still out on the benefit, but it took 10 mins. to do.

December 16, 2011, 12:08 AM	#906
1SOW Member Join Date: October 28, 2007 Location: South Texas Posts: 3,417	oops

December 29, 2011, 07:36 PM	#909
grandutefan Member Join Date: August 24, 2011 Location: Utah Posts: 18	Great thread! We don't have a range where I live in SE Utah (Moab) so we just go out in the desert to shoot. When I go shooting I take a plastic 20ish gallon tote with the hinged removable lid, with a 15'x15' tarp folded in it. We spread it out and position semi-auto shooters so the brass lands on the tarp, otherwise it get buried in the sand almost immediately. Revolver shooters dump their cases directly into the tote and every 10 minutes or so we do a brass patrol to pick up spent rifle and semi-auto brass. When we are done we shake off the tarp, fold it and put it on top of the brass where i then take it home a sort it. I find Foldgers coffee containers very handy for keeping brass sorted into cleaned, unprimed, primed condition for each caliber. I always seem to find an uncapped amber prescription bottle handy on my bench while reloading.

January 2, 2012, 10:06 PM	#911
danbowkley Member Join Date: December 4, 2011 Location: Based in Belleview, FL USA (but probably on the open road somewhere in the 48) Posts: 62	Rather than have a trash can or bucket on the floor to catch spent primers from my LnL-AP press, I took a cup holder designed to hook into a car door's window slot and cut off the hook part. Then I took an empty one pound Hodgdon powder can and drilled a hole in the lid big enough for the spent primer tube to fit into. I screwed the cup holder to the front of my bench, stuck the powder can into it, and then stuck the hose into the top of the can. Trim the hose so maybe an inch of it is in the can when the ram is all the way up, and you'll never have a primer embedded in your heel again. Pics next time I'm home. __________________ "A man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves." --Albert Einstein

January 5, 2012, 04:49 PM	#913
nojoke Member Join Date: March 20, 2011 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 128	Some of the digital SLR camera's have "live view" and HDMI outputs. I purchased a cheap macro 50mm off e-bay and a cheap screen with HDMI input. What does this give you? A very clear high resolution microscope to check things over if you feel the need. I'm using a Canon 60D here. It's a nice camera to own but twice as nice to check to ammo with. There is also a button on the camera to zoom in by 5x and 10x....that really brings things in tight!

January 5, 2012, 08:33 PM	#916
CozMoDan Member Join Date: November 28, 2011 Posts: 33	Messy bullet lube when reloading I live in AZ and it gets hot here in the summer Duh. When reloading with cast bullets the lube get a little soft and gooey (My loading room it not kept very cool), if I put them in a bag and in the fridge for a little while it hardens them up and cuts down on the mess. Hope this is not a repeat as I did not read all the posts. The Coz.

January 11, 2012, 09:36 PM	#917
dsm Member Join Date: April 8, 2009 Posts: 218	Delete Last edited by dsm; January 11, 2012 at 09:43 PM.

January 11, 2012, 11:39 PM	#918
gathert Member Join Date: February 18, 2011 Location: Clemson, SC, Good old USA Posts: 419	Make sure to check the bullet seating die every once in a while with cast bullets. The lube will congregate in the die sometimes and seat the bullet funky or farther down than you want it. __________________ Μολὼν λαβέ NRA Life Member I support the right to arm bears. Warning: Objects in scope may be closer than they appear.

January 15, 2012, 02:31 AM	#919
htuong95 Member Join Date: March 18, 2006 Posts: 4	My homemade cheap chamfer/deburring drill adapter. Find a socket that will fit your chamfer/deburring tool. I am using a 9/16 socket. If your socket extension is too big for your drill, you can buy a hex drill socket extension from Harbor Freight for $3.00 http://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece...ons-42191.html

January 16, 2012, 10:21 PM	#920
Fatelvis Member Join Date: December 25, 2002 Location: Lockport, IL Posts: 1,702	NS bushing dies are very versitile! I've been using my 7BR s-type Redding die to neck size all different cartridges, just by changing the bushing and resetting the die distance from the shellholder. Trick is to use a die that has a big body and short (squatty) length. It serves well to hold the bushing, and not touch the case anywhere else. Give it a try!! __________________ ….no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. — General George Patton, Speech 31 May 1944.

January 16, 2012, 10:24 PM	#921
Innovative Member Join Date: October 24, 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 272	Fatelvis .......... Check the run-out on those neck sized cases ....... __________________ Visit our website at WWW.LARRYWILLIS.COM it's devoted to helping shooters make the best handloads possible.

January 17, 2012, 10:20 AM	#923
bds Member Join Date: January 10, 2010 Posts: 7,396	Update to catching pesky primers (Post #850) I made another change to my primer cutout cover from post #47. Although the cut aluminum can cover worked well for small spent primers, when I was doing load development with slower burning powders, often with dirtier lower powder charges, the large spent primers with more black fouling clogged up the hole in the ram. Problem: This is the old cover that got inserted inside the hole in the ram (red arrows). Because the cover was inserted inside the hole, it reduced the inside diameter of the hole and was prone to clogging large primers and required frequent cover removal/cleaning. Solution: Corners of the cover were cut and I also trimmed the bottom of cover - Dimensions now 1.5" x 0.75". Cover is now inserted outside of the hole in the ram cutout (green arrows) so even dirty black fouled large primers won't clog the hole. Also note wider opening at the bottom of cover. When inserting the cover, slowly lower the ram to be sure the bottom of the cover clears the base of the press (blue arrows). With the cover outside of the hole, I am catching 100% of pesky spent primers without having to clear the ram hole. They all continue to fall into the collection hole of the press base. My pesky spent primer problem is now resolved!

January 22, 2012, 02:40 AM	#925
HEAVY METAL 1 Member Join Date: January 18, 2005 Posts: 134	Painting your reloading bench white makes it easier to see whatever you have on it. Until I actually saw this myself I couldn't believe what a difference it makes.