Your hints and tips.

[P95Carry]

I guess this is best place for this one ........ despite age, I am ever on a mission for information .. lust for knowledge etc. I have come across numerous gun, reloading and shooting hints and tips over the years .. some I remember, most i don't!! Many are of course simple too .....

Deep within the bowels of THR is I'm sure a mine of info ... but is it all together i wonder .. if i am repeating a thread subject, then apolagies.

To kick this off ..... my tip for checking on twist (mentioned it elsewhere - rifles mainly) ... is, to put a patch on a jag and introduce this down the bore, to near chamber ..... marking the cleaning rod with a dot on top next to crown. Then withdraw, and if you can make a full revolution you'll see the dot come back to top .. make new mark by crown.

Measure between two and that is your inches for one revolution.! easy!

Still works for handgun but you need to use a protractor to measure angle, as one revolution won't make it .. of course. same principle tho.

OK, let's have your hints'n'tips.

 

[Edward429451]

What a great thread idea. I really like the tip on how to check twist rate too.

One off the top o my head is that Hockypucks make fantastic bench blocks. My kids were both into hocky awhile back so there's quite a few scattered around the house. It just struck me one day, wow what a great benchblock to pound on. I've thought about hitting it with a couple different size drill bits and using a dremel to put a groove in it too, like the store boughts but so far haven't had the need too.

Another one is for smokers who reload 223's...20 rounds of 223 reloads fit perfectly in an empty box of cigarettes. Fifteen down, five staggered back n' forth across top. Works. Tape & label of course.

Paint your sling or holsters black with a magic marker.

Poor man stuff.

 

[P95Carry]

Hey dude ... you got the idea!!!

Great - this is what it's about ........ like the benchblock notion .. that's good. I am lucky in that an ole leatherwork buddy gave me some worn out cutting block (uses it in his hydraulic press to buffer the cutters) .. but same principle.

The smokers one too ... I'd never have even though of that!!! ''Here... want one of these? .... suck on this ...... wanna light''!!

Thx ...... let's have more.

 

[sm]

beeswax and babypowder

Old engravers trick. Take the beeswax and rub onto metal, dust with the baby powder, blow off residue, use a sharpened wood peg and draw the line before you cut. Works on wood also.

Have used also when fit on a handgun needs tweaking, can't find the rough spot on a grip, grip feels funny somewhere the metal needs dehorning?...apply and have shooter grip the gun, pressure points will be evident, smooth, shape to shooter's hand.

Parts won't fit , a bit rough?...makes evident the problem area, lightly file, sand ( whatever) only what is touching--now that it is defined.

Last two tweaked-- a Glock and a 22/45. There was spot the web of thumb didn't like, we found it.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Tight screw that simply won't come out?

Put your gun in a ziplock bag (handgun) and put it in a deep freeze (colder the better) for at least 24 hours.

 

[jsalcedo]

When reloading always mark each box of completed ammo with powder type/ charge in grains/ bullet weight /brand/ time, date and year.

So if you are at the range and find some particularly crappy or magnificent
load combination for a particular gun it will not be a guessing game to what it is. In case you are shooting it up to a year or more later you can duplicate or avoid a prior loading.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Every third or fourth time I clean a center fire gun, I clean the dies I loaded the ammunition with. I use the same solvents, same patches, same brushes, and same oil.

 

[Zach S]

Fine scotch-brite pads revome old bluing and rust better than the steel wool supplied in the blueing kit, last longer too.

If you need a real small file (like to open the notch up in a rear sight, file the mag catch opening, ect), go to the auto parts store and get a points file.

If the grip bushings on your 1911 have red locktight on them, go ahead and get new bushings, and an easy out

Q-tips rock!

 

[Navy joe]

Zach, judicious application of heat is the cure for loctite red. Even better is to use the blue flavor to begin with.

I keep a spare hammer nearby my whack-a-mole bullet puller, hold hammer in one hand, whack face with bullet puller held in other. Saves denting floors, jostling reloading benches, etc by beating on them.

I just started reloading, but I keep a log, what I did, when I did it, how many, components etc. Also helping me track reloading costs. I need to do the same for my guns to track purchases sales, mods, and such. Way too unanal to track round count on my pistols though.

Have a goal. Nothing improved my shooting more than competition because I wanted to practice more, and each practice I had specific things to try to improve.

When slidelock reloading an autopistol. Lefties rest, not press, your main knuckle of your trigger finger on the slide release. Righties do the same with the tip of your thumb. Gun will cycle a round in when you firmly seat a new mag. This was just shown to me recently, can't believe i never did it, saves tons of time.

 

[BerettaNut92]

Front sight...press...

 

[esheato]

Call me dumb if you want but I *just* discovered Shooters Choice solvent after trying every other brand on the planet. No more scrubbing for me...this stuff dissolves dirt and grime like no other. Not really a tip, but it's going to save me a ton of time.

esheato...

 

[Smoke]

Computers are for more that reading THR or looking at gun porn.

I have my old computer on the work bench in the shop. Keep files of gun manuals, takedown instructions found on various sights, photos.

Have Excel (spreadsheet) files on equipment, guns, etc.

Spreadsheets for reloading.

Possibilities are endless.

I even have a MS Word document with The Lawdog files, and another on how to build a Rat Trap Claymore.

 

[Zach S]

Zach, judicious application of heat is the cure for loctite red. Even better is to use the blue flavor to begin with.

Well, its actually an LDA, and I dont care much for taking a torch to sidearms, especially ones I cant/wont detail strip. The red locktight was used by Para, I didnt use any.

 

[uglymofo]

Heat the loctited screw with a soldering iron.

For storing primers, powder, and live rounds separately, I scrounged derelict refrigerators from an appliance store. Any 'fridge with two doors can help you keep your components stored separately and safely for almost no cost. Use the newer refrigerators that use vinyl weatherstripping for a seal, not a metal lock. I've heard that Home Depot removes old refrigerators for $10 when they deliver new ones. I'm sure they can be had from HD on the cheap.

Casio makes a watch ($39) that has a built in thermometer for them that's target rifle shooters.

Comeups can be stored in the data portion of some watches; or "saved numbers" on a cell phone. or printed and stuck in the dust covers of scope turrets.

Mechanix Orange ($3 for 16oz) works real well as a supplemental cleaner with corncob media.

At $18 a quart, I reuse my Hoppe's #9. Capture all drippings in a breadpan, pour it into a bottle when I'm done. Let the liquid settle, filter the contaminants out with a paper automotive paint strainer. What can I tell ya, I save my money for guns.

Make my own "aim small, miss small" targets out of Outer's 1" black square hole pasters; I turn bullseye targets backwards and just paste 'em on. Great at any distance to 300yd with 3-10x scoped rifles. If I want smaller targets, I stick "hole reinforcers" on the black. Hole reinforcers are found at the stationary store. They're usually round, cloth-reinforced stickers with a hole in the center for reinforcing 3-hole binder paper. Gives you a uniformly round black target about 3/8" diameter.

For trapshooters, practice with a maximum of 7/8 oz. loads and Full choke. For the money, go to full loads and Modified choke.

Can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

 

[280PLUS]

and/or,,,

practice with a 20 ga (or smaller) and for the money with a 12,,,

 

[P95Carry]

Thx so far guys ...... but I know there's a load more out there.

Bring it on!!

 

[Edward429451]

If you need a real small file (like to open the notch up in a rear sight, file the mag catch opening, ect), go to the auto parts store and get a points file.

Good one and got one. Also good for cleaning up any small burrs on reloaded brass rims & such that may interfere with feeding or extraction.

 

[bigmtnman]

When assembling/ disassembling extractors, detent pins, mags or anything that works with spring force and small parts that go sproiiinnng and disappear forever. Work inside a plastic grocery or large ziplock type bag. That way, when the inevitable sproiinng! happens, you can find the parts.
Also keeps springs, extractors, pins, etc. out of your eyes.

 

[jsalcedo]

Use latex household gloves while reloading cast bullets to prevent ingestion. (the fingers of the gloves turn black with lead reside in a hurry)

Use a primer flip tray to save time and prevent loss when loading primer tubes for progressive reloaders.

 

[LawDog]

Dentists picks are an invaluable addition to your gun toolkit.

A soldering gun tip touched to a screw held on with red Loc-Tite will loosen the goo without harming the weapon.

Leave a silicone rod-n-reel cloth near your guns and knives. Whenever you get the urge to mess with them, give them a quick going over with the cloth.

LawDog

 

[JJohnston015]

Build a cheap barrel/action degreasing tank out of a 4' piece of 5" PVC pipe. Cap the ends and use a jigsaw to cut a rectangular opening 5" or 6" wide down the side. Split the cut-out piece down the center and glue the halves back onto the tank, along the edges of the opening, to stiffen them.

 

[Dave R]

That way, when the inevitable sproiinng! happens, you can find the parts.

And in case you don't heed that advice, and you wind up losing a part...

"Sweep" the area with a powerful magnet. It'll collect all small metal parts that would otherwise hide in the carpeting, corners, etc.

Don't have a powerful magnet? Go to the Thrift store and buy an old Guitar Amplifier. Or find a musician who's been around the block and ask for a blown speaker. The magnets in those speakers are pretty strong.

I use an old Altec/Lansing 15" bass speaker. That thing'll suck the watch off your arm.