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

what a cool thread, I use white rice and a little ajax for low cost tumbling the cases come out clean then I rinse w/hot h2o and dry in pie pan on the wood stove
CC
 
One thing I did was attach a board to my bench where I load powder. I drilled a series of holes that fit the head of the cases so when I pour powder into the case, it is sticking in the hole, upright and solid. I then move to the case to the box I want to store it in. I measure and pour through funnel for every load, so it really helps, like an extra hand. I have a lot less spilled powder or knocked over cases, and it really helps me keep things straight! I is also very easy, the way it is positioned, to glance down in each case to enusre it has not been pre poured. Yet another safety check.
 
I went to Radio Shack and picked up a 9v light,from the parts bin, and a 9v battery connector. Assembled and mounted under the turret of my lee turret press. The light can be bent around to position and shines right down into the case with just enough light to verify charge. This is a do it yourself alternative to Hornady's led strip.

Polybins. I love these things. Picked them up at Arbor Freight. Little stackable storage bins. They come with a strip to be able to mount them on a wall.I have two mounted by each press. Makes it easy to keep things sorted and when your done sizing you can pick up the whole bin and head to the trimmer.
 
After I bought my concentricity gauge I was disappointed to find that I needed to stand up to read the gauge. So...I went to Lowe's got a small piece of diamond plate and bent a 1" lip at 50 degrees (+/-). Then I drilled 4 holes to hold the gauge and 3 holes on the lip. All the holes were 5/16". I used 1/4" bolts and washers too fit, to hold the gauge. Yes, the holes were bigger than needed but, the extra slop let me level the gauge perfectly on the plate. On the bench I countersunk the 5/16" holes about 1/8" and hammered in some, threaded 5/16" "pronged tee-nuts". The plate bolted up solid. Seeing as how I mounted it on my 2nd reloading bench I don't have to remove it unless I want too. But, removing it only takes about 1 minute or so. Now I can read my gauge sitting down. Ohh...The camo paint was just sitting there so.....
I will try this for sure!

Thanks,

Len from New Zealand :)
 
Ok, here's my only contribution to the reloading world.

Shorten the arm length on your press to a point you are comfortable with. This lets you scoot up to the bench more and gives you a more economical movement that *could* make your reloading a tiny bit faster. Sorry if this was already posted, but I have not looked this whole thread over in a while.

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Thanks, yes this is a good tip, and can make pulling the lever far more comfortable on a 'short-stroke'. Difficult to size cases may need more leverage though, but I only reload .204 Ruger currently, and have my Lee Turret set up with a shortened lever. I also bent my lever a touch more in the vice, to have MORE of a bend in it, to keep clear of everything.
 
If your press uses a standard " shell holder" and you get tired of it "rotating" while using the press, I found a simple solution.

Remove the "C-ring" retainer, position the holder where you like it and use a titanium drill to fit the hole the C-ring snaps into, insert the bit through the hole and drill just a dimple on the steel behind the hole.

The C-ring tip will hold in the dimple and the holder won't rotate.
Very elegant, Thank you Sir!
 
When I reload I keep going until I have enough to fill half an ammo can. I made a divider out of scrap wood. Loaded ammo goes in one side, spent brass in the other.
 
Lee breechblock safety prime reach around

Ok. I've been reloading for all of a few weeks, so I don't have any great pearls of wisdom, but one thing I discovered last night on my lee challanger breechblock with safety prime, is because I am right handed, I prefer to use the press right handed. If I stand slightly to the left of the press, and load brass with my left hand, when the ram goes up into the flaring die, I reach around the press with my left hand to drop the primer using the safety prime. Then my right hand never leaves tha ram handle, and the whole priming process seems a little more seamless and faster.
 
"Empty crown royal bags are the best tasting way to get pistol brass storage!"

I use those to cover my powder measures. I don't have enough to put brass in, my brass is in 5 gallon buckets.
 
Cleanup Brush

For an all-purpose cleanup brush around the press, cut the end off a 1" chip brush. The shorter bristles are easier for cleaning. This is also useful to clean powder from the walls of a powder measure, but a separate brush is recommended.

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Modifffy if needed (and adapt) 3 items

so I single stage. all my Lee dippers fits and stores
nicely in a little green CCI/Speer 223 1000ct green plastic
bullets box (its small but just that big) that i got many a year ago.

when i needed a trio of funnels for the purposes, a small green
RCBS funnell got trimmed ( the bottom 5/8") to allow for short
pistol case loading in the short load block, length is nice; and i use
the red mtm funnel for small diam Cal., kept one Standard length RCBS
funnell for Regular.

AT ONE PT, i had a rcbs deburrer tool, just the little short pin inside sorta
separated(and popped loose). went to my hardware supply and found a
16Penny hard steel and serrated Concrete nail. trimmed to length to be a 1.25
inches too long and stuck it in That there hole, Now it also works in my little
cordless drill as a crimp de burrer very efficiently, (never got a decrimper)
but i use a rubber disposable glove that has some duct/masking tape on the hand thats holding the shells, can get thru 200 in 15-20 mins !!:uhoh:
additionally, in a recent 3 yrs, a friend went with me on a Job, Oroville CAL, i said 'i guess im Here, Lets stop in Quick like' to RCBS said HI they obliged
i got some Decap pins, both parties very happy.:neener:
 
I hit the bullet seating die adjusting screw with a center punch at the edge so I can see how much I'm adjusting the seating depth.

Also I have 357 dies that wouldn't expand my 38 cases. I cut a small spacer out of plexiglass on a laser cutter. Works perfect now!

I drilled and threaded a machine screw into one of the cavities on the disk. It works way better than the adjustable charge bar for pistol charges.

The small chip brush for cleaning things works well too!
 
"Empty crown royal bags are the best tasting way to get pistol brass storage!"

I use those to cover my powder measures. I don't have enough to put brass in, my brass is in 5 gallon buckets.
I use Crown Royal bags for bringing brass home from the range. Friend who is a bartender gave me a handful of the larger ones this morning at breakfast and I'll use those for press covers. Thanks!

Jim
 
A couple ideas for hunting season....

I hope this hasn't already been posted, but I like to use our vacuum food sealer to seal my permits, tinder, matches..... . anything that needs to stay dry.

Capri Sun or juice boxes make a lightweight tasty drink for hunting. The empty box or pouch is easier to pack out than empty bottles.
 
Dremel coupling

Many years ago I bought four couplings because mine broke. Years later when it broke again, I pulled my backups out and every one of them disentigrated in my hand.

I needed to get something done so I cut a small piece of I think 3/8 fuel line. Worked the ends a little with my fingers then slipped in on and it worked like a charm.

Might be a safetly issue if you jam the cutting/grinding tool because I don't think it is going to let go.
 
stock protector

Not sure where this should fall so I put it here. Cover is to protect the stock from cleaning fluids. Basically a piece of scrap vinyl from an old chair. I lay it over the stock and use a plastic spring clamp to hold in place.
 

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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.
Just don't sprinkle them on your spaghetti!
 
I don't understand this. If the ram cannot fully descend how does the turret turn since it has to get to the bottom to hit the twisted section.





Since I only load handgun, I made a lockring that fits around the ram of my Lee turret press, set it about in the middle of the ram, and now I have a nice short stroke.
 
I needed a taper crimp die for loading plated bullets in .38/.357. I use the Lee Factory Crimp Die for both .38 and 9mm so I looked to see if the crimp insert from the 9mm would fit in the .38. It would (I think the bodies are identical), but was too long. I ordered a replacement 9mm insert from Lee (cheap!) and cut it off the same length as the .38 insert and ground it square. It works great and is a lot cheaper than a special crimp die. I just put the roll crimp insert back in when loading bullets with a cannelure or crimp groove.

I also bought extra seating die inserts for both calibers and used epoxy in the sockets to make seating dies for different bullet nose shapes.
 
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