Any new reloading tools that are helpful/useful?

I was just wondering if there are any reloading tools, accessories, etc., that have come out in the past year or so that are really helpful?

 

I'm sure the primer pocket gages have been out for longer than a year but I think the neck tension gage might be relatively new.

https://ballistictools.com/store/reloading-products/three-gage-pack

 

Lee's new auto drum is pretty slick. They have a high end stand alone powder drop that looks good on paper.

There's a guy on eBay selling a slider actuator gizmo for a Dillon 650 that looks interesting. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dillon-XL-6...491057?hash=item4ac4180f71:g:RRQAAOSwX~dWktqG

 

Helpful for what?

There is always another gadget that can separate your money from you.

People have been reloading for a very long time and there are specific tools that are great for many applications and not so useful in others.

 

Have you tried smokeless powder?

 

I don't know if my flint is good enough for that stuff.

 

There is nothing new about that gage; before the Internet that gage was called a 'go/not go' gage. At the same time there was something called bullet hold that was measure in pounds. And now the Internet has turned the go/not go gage into a tension gage with no way to measure the amount of tension. All of my tension gages are calibrated in pounds, the first tension gage I operated measured in thousands of pounds; and, depending on how it was hooked up there were times we had to multiply the reading by 9 or 18, there were times we got some huge numbers like 1000,000 pounds ++. and then there were interference fits. The one thing we did not have was a conversion for going from tensions to pounds.

F. Guffey

 

I have a flash hole gage, I have had it for over 35 years.

F. Guffey

 

This is my latest acquisition and takes the drudgery out of the repetition:

 

I held off for years the purchase of a 'digital auto powder charging' tool.

Finally bought the Hornady auto charge earlier this year and am very happy I did. I have always enjoyed working up loads & testing of new bullets/powder/primer configs and this device makes it a pleasure to do so.

 

There is no known standard in the reloading or ammo making industry for neck tension. That difference in diameters is known to intelligent machinists as an interference fit, also known as a press fit or friction fit. Is a fastening between two parts which is achieved by friction after the parts are pushed together, rather than by any other means of fastening. Neck tension is the force the neck applies to the bullet and unless there's some pressure sensor inside the bullet, there's no way to measure it. And it would be measured in some force per square unit.

Therefore, I'm amazed that the tool mentioned in:

https://ballistictools.com/store/rel...hree-gage-pack

is a worthwhile tool. Especially when 30 caliber bullets have a .003" spread in diameter (SAAMI specs) and the only industry method of anything close to neck tension is bullet pull:

as seen in:

http://www.saami.org/glossary/display.cfm?letter=B

Bullet pull in pounds can be measured easily. A close approximation can be seen with a hand scale hooked onto a bullet puller as it's on a bullet in a case neck with the case in a securely anchored shell holder. Or make a few test cases with a 3/10th hole drilled in the primer pocket then use a 3/16 diameter rod to push the bullet out of a case held in an upside down seater die on a bathroom scale noting the scale weight reading when the bullet goes out.

A given case mouth diameter and a given bullet diameter will have different bullet pull amounts depending on how brittle or soft the case brass is. So bullets with different diameters will have different bullet pulls on the same case type with the same mouth diameters. 5 to 10 pounds pull at most is best for accuracy; less for single round loading. More may be needed for semiautos or heavier bullets. There is no SAAMI spec for bullet pull. Most military rifle ammo has 40 to 60 pound pull specs.

I consider that tool a joke. That case mouth gage is not a quick and reliable way to test your case neck tension.

 

These are two of my most useful tools.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrFhnDQ-eUU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2U1ujg_nzo

"New" is realitive though, one is a about 5 years old the other more than a decade old.

 

Lee recently updated/revised their trimmers and this one looks pretty interesting. I don't know how long it has been out but I just noticed it as I was researching dies for my new caliber 300 Blackout.

 

That Lee trimmer has been out for a while. They also have a drill attachment that works well. I use it when I have large amounts of brass to process.

 

There are a bunch of new annealers that have come out. Prices vary but there are plenty of affordable ones. Then there is the Annie induction annealer

 

http://www.mikesreloadingbench.com/mikes reloading bench_025.htm

http://annealeez.ddns.net

 

Lots of folks have built various versions of mine.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?48611-finished-the-auto-annealer-today

 

jmorris, Ive seen yours or some just like it for sale but i couldnt find a link to include in my post above. I like your design best of any I've seen and it almost makes me want to start annealing but i probably have more brass than i could ever shoot even one time so the benefit wouldnt justify the cost.

 

Here is a link to the Annie: http://www.fluxeon.com/Annie.html

I wish I had the money for one because it's the way to go. Those that have it love it. I went w/ the Annealez due to cost. But it has limitations. Specifically short brass.

Almost forgot about the AMP. This one is the Cadillac: http://www.ampannealing.com