Shaker Bullet Collator Possible? Why yes....

[GW Staar]

I decided I'd try to make a couple.....one for .223 and one for .308.

Actually I figured I'd have a better chance at success if I made it collate in two steps.....the shaker to do most of the work, and a collating intermeditate step to maybe catch what the shaker didn't.......more work, but it works a lot better.

First a picture of the .223 setup:



itty bitty ,223 shaker above, and the second stage collator below.

Video shows the .223shaker, and the the bigger more refined .308 shaker, below: Wish I could say that you can pour a box of 100 .223 in and collate with a few shakes, but the limit is more like 20 at a time or the shaker becomes really slow. This is where a motor turning the mass would be way superior. The .308's heavier bullets worked faster.

Update: I did away with the smaller shaker. The bigger shaker I made for the .308 with some different internal plumbing is faster and better.....finally! See the third post.



Video of how the lower second collator works is below (this one for .223 is the experimental first attempt....tomorrow I'll post .308 version, which is a little more refined.....but both work pretty darn efficient:



Another video below, demonstrates how the lower collator works, using two vertical pins to allow bullets dropped point-first to go past the drop hole and drop backwards base first. When bullets go down the in tube base-first they stop at the pins and drop base first too.



Next, I'm going to try opening up the shaker holes to drop a box of bullets quickly....who cares whether they drop base first....the collator below will take care of that.......I think! we will soon see....

 

[GW Staar]

.308 bullet collator:

First one more video then the pictures.




^^^From my sprinker system parts box, 1-1/4" slip/glue and 1" thread reducer

^^^9/16 drill....angle was just vertical drill into part laying angled on the bench. The drill can grab big hunks of the soft PVC and ruin things. So I pre-drilled using a 1/8" bit through then used a step bit from both ends, then the 9/16" bit to smooth it all.



Instead of pins as I used in the .223 version....

I made the bullet point slot using epoxy putty around a Vasoline covered clothespin form.




The point of all this for me is to feed my RCBS Tube Rifle Bullet feeders/"M" die expanders. Wonderful tools, but slow to load. Well, not any more....

 

[GW Staar]

After a week of fine tuning and trying everything I could think of, I finally found the reason 1 or two per 100 would not collate base down! It was the vertical pins. Tips would go in the space between the tube edge and the pins instead of between them. Took days to figure out what caused it. About drove me crazy.

Now my lower tier collator has some added epoxy that not only closes off the side holes but also transitions at an angle to the hole I want the tips to find. The pins are now mostly hidden....the red magic marker is to make it easier for you to see, not to make it pretty...or bloody...




Above: The back side epoxied.



In place in the carrier, but inlet tube needs to be rotated vertical.

Below: The success! Notice the small shaker and the spring tube is gone. Spring tube was too unstable.



Below: The first four bullets that dropped in the feeder tube and now out of reach, is fed to a case (previously step-expanded) using the RCBS rifle feeder die that comes with RCBS's latest Tube Rifle Bullet Feeder:



I never had the same trouble with the .308 version....but that collator already used an epoxy slot rather than parallel pins. Very happy now .... the little pesky.223 bullet now collate 100% base down.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

No project is complete without blood. And I bleed on everything!

 

[GW Staar]

One more post then I'm done.

The picture below shows the shaker in place hanging from the ceiling. It's common to both calibers. The transition elbow is made from tubing softened over the stove and bent to not quite a 90 degree angle. (you want some slope)

To prevent heat collapse, I pushed inside the tube, a round electrical cord of a diameter close to but bigger than the caliber of the bullet to be dropped. I rotated the tube over the gas flame until pliable, then I shaped it to a line drawing of the angle I needed, which I laid on the countertop. The unsightly ripples are not preventable with this plastic, but so what, I'm not selling a product, I'm making my life easier. The electrical cord inside holds the plastic open to the right degree until it cools.

You do want to keep tubing inside as close to bullet diameter as possible or things go awry. Unlike feeding cases, a bullet coming down the track point first, can and will overlap a bullet coming down butt first....too much overlap in a too large tube means a frozen stack.



Below: the .308 part I'm showing here is from the top. You will notice that the edge is beveled. I guarantee bullets will hang unless every single tube you use is beveled on the top. So what did I use to bevel? My trusty case deburring/chamfering tool of course....works great!


Above: Notice the little hole in the tube by my thumb. I drilled them where ever the next smaller tube slides inside. A drop or two of super glue to those holes, then a spray of super glue accelerator instantly glues parts together where I need them.

Below: Here, laid out, is every part necessary for collating bullets with speed, to my two RCBS Rifle Bullet Feeders, using only telescoping Lee Thinwall tubing 5/8, 9/16, 1/2, 3/8 O.D. sizes, cut with a hacksaw while held over a slightly open bench vice...ends smoothed with the side of my grinder. Trial and error made lots of do it over or add another piece, but it works fantastically.

Besides the tube I used three PVC plumbing fittings, a little electical tape in places, and white epoxy paste......and of course the RCBS Tube Bullet Feeder tubes. The polished aluminum sticking out of the 308 bottom collator is the funnel from said feeder.....I wish I had had the presence of mind to use the .223 one too....it would have been easier and would have saved me from cutting RCBS's graphite tube shorter.....but....hey....it's trial and error, right? Plenty of error experience.

If anyone is crazy enough to attempt this project.....I'd be glad to give tube size details at each step. What I have works.....the 10 other ways I tried it....didn't.


Oh! Almost forgot....the hopper is an empty 'Now' brand 1 lb bottle of Lysine powder. Yes I take that much. My vitamin C powder comes in 3 lb bottles....I take a 1/2 teaspoon of each 4 times a day in a 1/2 cup of water, with a squirt of Stevia. Must be clearing arteries since I can now walk up a 45% grade 4 story hill without breathing hard. Couldn't walk up my stairs in November.....now, if we can just get past covid....

I got lots of candles and kerosene for if the lights go out......and shaker case feeders....and now bullet feeders!....and don't forget a beam scale!

 

[cfullgraf]

No project is complete without blood. And I bleed on everything!

That's what they call "putting yourself into your work".

 

[AR-Bossman]

This is amazing. One of those ideas that might be something worth keeping close to the chest.

 

[GW Staar]

You mean secret? Now what would a guy my age accomplish with secrets unless he owned a factory! I doubt this will go much beyond THR and only for a week or so, I guess that's pretty secret alright..... Anybody want to buy rights? How does $5 sound?

Jesse, I was luckier than usual....no blood on this one...well I got my knuckle too close to the grinder once, but not bad enough to bleed. I need to buy a green magic marker.....all this red is contaminating my green color scheme....maybe after the covid....if I'm still around.

 

[Demi-human]

I like Red. Hornady red! Muhahahaha!

I love your ideas.
If brevity is the soul of wit, simplicity is the heart of creation.

Death to the virus! Long live the Staars!

 

[ben293]

That is really cool. I don't reload rifle, but been wanting to learn 3D modeling better- we'll have to see between homeschooling and everything else if this might be a project to learn on = )

Edit- Intention being something to make on the 3D printer...

 

[GW Staar]

Ben you aren't alone.......if I was a little younger, I'd be all over those 3d printers! Wouldn't it be kool if they could make some with bigger dimenioned platforms, at a price we can all afford!