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

If you have a dedicated gun cleaning area you can put a shallow box with kitty litter under the muzzle end of the rifle and any any solvent/oil slop will be absorbed by the kitty litter instead of messing up your floor.
 
I call this "between center" trimming modifications for my RCBS trimmer ....
IMG_20180801_173046806.jpg
IMG_20180801_173137666.jpg

IMG_20180801_173133526.jpg

These little studs a chucked up in the trimmer collet ... I use a pair of rubber tipped gloves to hold the case from spinning ...cordless drill on the other end ...I can trim a bunch cases quick ...

One is small primer size the other large ... each of the studs are .473" . .. 30/06 rim size ..
 
OK
I bit the bullet and bought a Frankford Arsenal wet tumbler kit after vibe tumbling forever.
I knew there'd be a learning curve but those iddy-biddy pins end up everywhere and I thought I'd need to buy more soon, at the rate I was "loosing" them.

I am using Frankford's round separator that fits into a 5 gal bucket that I used for dry tumbling and didn't want to buy yet another special separator for the wet process so I searched the usual gun forums for a solution/method to not loose those pesky pins.
I found nothing...so I went to youtube and found a guy using 5 gal elastic top paint strainers to separate the pins from the brass.
($4 for 2 :thumbup:)
Strainers/bags:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-5-gal-Elastic-Top-Strainers-2-Pack-11573-36WF/202061360
Video


I don't have that rotary separator he has but use the paint strainer the same way...
GAME CHANGER:what:
Once I have shaken all the pins from the brass and rinsed it, I dump the brass onto a towel.
I put the strainer bag, with the pins in it, into the separator and rinse the pins :thumbup:.
Then a spread out the pins to dry while still in that strainer bag.
Once dry I just empty the strainer bag of pins back into the tumbler...done.
:D
 
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Use a syringe to get all the water out from the pins in a wet tumbler so that you don't have to spread them out to dry... You wouldn't believe how much water you can pull out of there even when you think you've dumped it all out. You get them for free at walgreens. Also a pad of stickynotes on the tumbler to write down what time you started up the batch
 
It's always interesting how this thread progresses. It will be quiet for a while, then someone posts to it and it seems to trigger a series of posts before it goes quiet again. I'll try to do my part to keep this run going for a while longer.

This isn't exactly reloading related, but instead gun maintenance. Hoppe used to make a wooden shotgun cleaning rod but I delayed buying the last one I saw until it was too late. I decided to build one, instead.

I purchased a 36" oak dowel, 3/8" diameter, at Lowes. I carefully drilled a hole in the end of the dowel just slightly smaller than the thread OD of the adapter for using a shotgun brush with a rifle cleaning rod. I applied a little super glue and carefully threaded the adapter into the hole. Go slow to help prevent splitting. I didn't bother to try to add any grip because I find it is large enough to hold and push with comfortably. It is rigid enough to avoid rubbing the bore and soft enough to not damage it even if it did. Much nicer than using my rifle rod. It has held up very well and if I eventually have an problem, it will be very cheap to reproduce.
Brush.JPG
 
fotheringill said:
OR, an empty Cool Whip or similar sized container on the table surface.
Click to expand...
That is too small of a target for me and I don't have a table top in my reloading/shooting/mancave. Besides my reloading bench the only flat surface I have is an old bathroom single sink vanity covered with a piece of plywood. With the cat litter I don't have any worry about spontaneous combustion if I leave the patches on the litter.
 
Under the wood framing of my bench where the bolts that hold the press(s) protrude I have some flat steel bar drilled to accept the blots. This not only spreads out the forces generated with operating the presses, but it prevents any eventual press wobble from the bolts digging into the wood over time.
 
I bolt my Lee presses on 2x6 and use a couple of C clamps to hold it on my work bench, use a 4' rod from a chimney sweep to push a shotgun brush thru a 12 gauge barrel.
 
If you use an auto dispensing powder scale that has a drain, take the powder hopper lid and use a permenat marker to write the following on the bottom side of the lid: Close the Drain

It's almost too simple to post however it may save you making a mess if you fill the hopper before closing the drain.
 
I have five powder measures, most are Hornady, one RCBS. All with the case activated linkage/die setups. I bolted a small wood board to the wall, and then screwed tool hangers to the board. I used the U Shaped ones that screw into the wood. They are vinyl coated and hold the powder measures perfectly. I even had the Lee Perfect PM hanging out there, but I lent/gave it to a guy that is starting out in reloading. I'll have to replace that soon.
 
I have a Craftsman shop vacuum. It has an exit opening where the hose can be connected and 'blow'. I found that will hook onto the mouth of a one pound plastic powder gunpowder bottle. I poked holes in the base and use it for drying wet cartridge cases. Can likely extend the idea to a larger scrap container (cardboard box, maybe?) and increase the quantity.
 
I recently have seen (somewhere on the 'net, but I do not recall just where) the best static eliminating method for powder measures. It worked exceedingly well for me at least. Instead of wiping out the chamber of the powder measure with a dryer sheet one holds an unused dryer sheet around the powder with a couple of rubber bands. I had NO static issues.
 
Heavy-- Can you explain that a little better.. do you actually place the dryer sheet into the measure?? Thanks for reply.
HEAVY METAL 1 said:
I recently have seen (somewhere on the 'net, but I do not recall just where) the best static eliminating method for powder measures. It worked exceedingly well for me at least. Instead of wiping out the chamber of the powder measure with a dryer sheet one holds an unused dryer sheet around the powder with a couple of rubber bands. I had NO static issues.
Click to expand...
 
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