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

I mentioned before about carrying .38 HBWC loads in a MTM 9mm case guards. If you only have the .38/.357 case guards and it annoys you how the cartridges rattle around. If you cut some styrofoam to the exact inside dimension of the caseguard lid and hot melt glue that in - presto ! No more annoying rattles and your .38 HBWC are held as tightly as if they were in 9mm boxes.


I also bought a cheap secondhand locker (like you see in dressing rooms) and I always make sure that all my primers and all my powder and all loaded rounds are always under lock and key when not in use. That way I am always sure that kids and other unathorized folks can never cause themselves or myself any grief.
 
I would be interested in something which was as good as the STP but not as hard to clean up.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Yeah...Rooster CFL (Case Forming Lube). Got this idea from Ross Seyfried in Handloader. He does all kinds of goofy case forming and said it was hands down the best he had used for radical case forming.

I made some .357 Herrett from .30-30's and it worked great to set back the shoulder.
 
Was always a dreaded chore to get a small patch started down the bore of a 22 cal. center fire rifle from the breech end. Took a 22 cal brass jag, drilled a small hole dead center in the jag face and epoxied a small pin nail in the hole. Spear the patch and no more starting problems.

The 50 round plastic cartridge holders that come in a box of new 45 ACP ammo make good loading blocks for most common center fire calibers.
 
The large cat litter plastic containers with the handles make excellent storage bins for fired brass.

I also use empty 1 gal spackle containers for storage of brass in various stages of the reloading process. I mark one container #1, #2, #3 and so on.

Cuban cigar boxes (wood) excellent storage containers for spare parts and accessories for your equipment.

I recovered my work bench with 1" X10" pine which I laid directly over the old 2X4 top, I sealed the joints with caulk and painted the entire top 4 coats of gloss white paint. Makes clean up a breeze.
 
Uncle Don:
That those cheesy little collet rings that come with inertia bullet pullers are worthless and can be tossed. You can use a press shellholder for the caliber you are pulling and it works much better.
Click to expand...


I just tried that and it works like champ!

Now I'm mad I didn't think of that.
 
Could it Bee, that Redding does not keep thier own bees, but is selling their wax OEM?

uncommonscents_1908_5623309
 
Shotgun shell reloading with a MEC.

-Metal powder caps off older Win 1# powder [Super Lite, 296, etc] and MEC plastic bottles fit each other.

-Allen Wrench electrical taped to MEC handle is handy and always there if need to adjust cam.

-Dental Pick is handy for getting pellets out of collet sizers [you can electrical tape this opposite allen wrench, or keep one taped to all of your shot bottles]

--Mounting the MEC reloaders , Depends on bench, set up and how much room you have:

1. Mount All MEC reloaders on the same size and thickness of plywood, I stained all mine and light varnish, easier to clean up.

Get two pcs of plywood that fits table / bench top. Again I stained and varnished mine. One pc lays onto top, The other one, I measured to allow 3 MEC Reloaders to fit side by side - adjust to your needs. I put "trim" all the way around to contain spilled shot. [one is going to spill shot]

I then drilled matching holes to fit into all MEC mounting wood bases and that one pc of plywood. I run the bolts up thru plywood and set atop plywood on table top [ I did this to protect table top]. I C-clamped the two plywoods in table top.

Yes I had bolts sticking up for 3 reloaders, I grabbed the reloaders I wanted to use from the Eleven I had to choose from, set onto bolts, lockwasher and wing-nut down.

2. Repeat mounting MEC as above onto wood bases, stain, varnish ...etc.
I had a buddy in a sheet metal shop make me a nice "pan" this base fit into, with about 1.5" - 2" border around to catch spilled shot and powder. This set up just C- Clamped a smaller table. Base held into pan and very secure with just the C- Clamps.


---FWIW - if you borrow the wife's nice mesh delicate bag to wash hulls in the washer...you will end up buying new ones. Also a good idea to read her schedule change, seems a wife will change day's off with a co-worker.
So...if she leaves early to run an errand and comes back and then you find out she is off that day...
Well , yeah I did do laundry and all, just that morning I thought I'd clean them 28 ga hulls first...

"Hi honey, I am off today...oh you started laundry ....,<raise lid to look> and ...."honey!"

Whups...
 
RCBS's $7.00 powder baffle can be made from a soda can or a business card.
Fixed, non-adjustable Belding and Mull powder measure tubes can be made from cut-down .45-70 cases.
 
You can make a power trimmer out of a standard trimmer by replacing the crank handle with a capscrew with a hex nut. Use a drill to power it. I had to trim .200 off some cases. Only took a few seconds per case when it was under power.
Click to expand...


You can work even faster if you use a foot-pedal to operate the case-release lever on the left side. I cut a notch on either side of the lever's handle to allow me to fasten a length of rope to the handle firmly (so it wouldn't slide around). I C-clamp an RCBS case-trimmer near the edge of a table at an oblique angle, and align it so that the rope will hang off the handle at a plumb vertical drop and not touch the table's edge. I drilled two holes at the same end of a piece wood (~1" x 5" x 15") and nailed that piece of wood cross-wise to a scrap piece of 4x4. It resembles a miniature see-saw with two holes where one person would sit, except it's not perfectly balanced; the "hole" end is shorter, and the "unequal" long end rests on the floor because of sheer weight imbalance. Run the free end of the dangling rope through the holes, measure it so that when the pedal is pushed, the lever has enough tension on it to cam open the shellholder, and tie off the rope at that spot.

Put a box of shells behind and left of the shellholder; an empty box behind the "lathe", and get to it--LF on the pedal opens the shellholder, LH feeds a new case, RH operates the drill, LF opens the shellholder, RH removes the sized case, LH feeds a new case, RH operates the drill, etc. 400 shells an hour in my sleep. My best time is 700 shells/hour, but that was work; and a timed test just for curiosity's performance.

Also, a 1/4" universal socket joint between the drill and the crank handle shaft will allow "slop" so the drill's alignment isn't so critical. Even better is to build a platform for the drill so it doesn't move much (a simple cardboard box for a platform will do, just so you can align the height of the drill even with the shaft).

Hmm. somebody asked for a description of this a long time ago.. it might get buried here. Pardon me if I start a new thread describing this.

+3 on the Imperial Die Wax.

Thank you, Uncle Don and Matt-man!!
 
Decapping pins?

How many times have you broke one? I`ve done it so many time it will make your head spin,Most of the time it`s a small rock in the case from the range, or a 22lr brass in the case? in any event they never break at a good time or you don`t have a replacement,So for the passed 20 years i`ve been using finishing nails?After installing it i simply snip off the point and get back to work,I have one in my 357 sizing decapping die thats been there for 10 years now,Thats big jon tip for the day,
 
For changing powder bar on my 550, I use a nut driver rather than just a wrench. You can see where the writing is on the handle and get pretty close on the first try if you keep track of how much change one turn is worth.

Suppose one turn equals 1 1/2 grains of a given powder. If you want to change the charge by .7, you'd go in or out 1/2 a turn. The micrometer dial things would be nice, but I've got 6 complete set-ups and I don't change charges once I find something that works.

Can't see putting that much into all those dial things (for me). Now ,if you changed calibers and use a single powder measure, they'd be the program.
 
The internet...

oops...no that was Kerry. But on a serious note My setup and storage of dies.
The light in the room was changed to an outdoor flood light that has the equivalent output of a 500 watt lamp. (consumes about 150w)

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Ross hit the one I was thinkin' bout.


Next time your at the range, go through the various brass on the ground and pick up a few diffrent sizes of the larger variety.


I use 45 ACP brass due to it having the extractor cut and have them set up similar to the Lee powder dippers...use some coat hanger remnants and voila! trim to length either using a case trimmer or tubing cutter until you get a good handle on how much it throws. Find that "perfect charge" with it, and then just leave it in the die box. :) Of course, Lee has thought about this...but this is more tailored to a particular firearm.

Go get a Lee Challenger press for cheap, set it up with a collet style bullet puller and mount it next to your other press...JUST IN CASE. :)

Set up a HALOGEN light over your work area...Fluorescent light can fiddle with my Lyman DPS1200 somtimes when I am doing lots of rifle loads...and halogen light is sharper...flashlights are a must...can be used to check powder levels in cases to ensure uniformity.

Storage...can't be stressed enough that you don't have ENOUGH...you will never have ENOUGH. But the small stuff can be taken care of easily enough...somtimes...go to Lowes or Homless Depot and get some of those plastic storage drawer bins...I have two...also nice to have an unused tackle box...makes for excellent spare screws, scope mounts, springs, etc etc.


Mount a small 3-4" bench vise on one of the support legs of your bench...you WILL need it for somthing...eventually. :)

Can't think of anything else right now....

MTCW
D
 
In addition to cheap Goose decoys, old bleach bottles are good for storing 25#'s of shot. Just rinse it out real good, pull or cut off the label and then write the size and hardness on the outside. Use a funnel to fill it from the bag. Then when you go to top off your bottles, the nice handle makes it easy to pour.

SM, punch out all the primers from the hulls before washing. They'll sink and you won't have to ruin one of SWMBO's "delicates" bag. Also use the gentle cycle, there'll be less of the "WHATTHEHELLDIDYOUDOTHEWASHER" for you to clean out. Throw an old towel or two in also to help protect the finish on agitator and drum.

After washing my hulls I normally run a load of the towels that you I for gun cleaning and cleaning mats through the washer with a regular laundry soap and a glob of orange hand cleaner stuff. Then the washer doesn't smell like Hoppes and look like you gouged the finish when you drained used motor oil into it.

And never put them in the dryer when SWMBO is home, even if it's only for a "couple of minutes" just to make sure they're completely dry.

Don't ask me how I know. :eek: :uhoh: :rolleyes:
 
Mobil One As A Lubricant

Darrel Davis just gave a good tip on using STP for a sizing lube and I would like to offer my suggestion also. I have been using Mobil One, a synthetic motor oil as a firearms lubricant for several months now and find it to be one of the finest lubes I've seen for use on semi auto slides and anywhere there is friction. Also great as a lube on my Dillon 550's. Another big advantage is cost' I paid 4 or 5 bucks at Wally Word for a quart anr that should last me a lifetime. I was using a lot of Breakfree CLP, but what does that cost for a small bottle? YMMV:) .
 
moon clip tool

When I got my 625-2 in the late 80's I used a piece of 1/2" copper tube, cut the end down 1/4' most of the way around. I've given many of these away over the years though I should have marketed them. Brownells and others now sell them for $10 to $15, all you need is 6" of tube and a hack saw to make the same thing for free
 
I have never been able to use dummy rounds to set overall length on the bullet seating die. I was never able to "feel" the dummy close enough to get a good reading on the die. So I began to measure the length of the die when the bullet was seated to the proper length. When I recorded this length, to reset the die back to that length, I just got out my caliper set the die to the recorded length, and started seating bullets.
 
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