Frugal (cheapskate, tightwad,etc) tricks?

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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.
 
Ron L

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,
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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.
 
"and preventing people from standing nest to me at the range"

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

I buy my handguns and all my optics used.

I think I'm done.:D
 
patch pullers...

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.
 
uglymofo

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
 
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
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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.
 
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
 
Then she bought the plasma TV.......... I could have had a Barrett or two for that, with a few evil black rifles to boot
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Turn up the surround sound so it sounds as loud. :D
 
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
 
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
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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