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

[olm911]

Gerber military issue multitool

I found that the Gerber military issue multitool pivot pin on the pliers is an exact fit in the case mouth of the 9 mm Luger. In a pinch a deprimed case can be placed on the pin, a primer laid with the proper orientation on the work table, and by pressing down on the case the primer can be installed.

 

[Lost Sheep]

I found that the Gerber military issue multitool pivot pin on the pliers is an exact fit in the case mouth of the 9 mm Luger. In a pinch a deprimed case can be placed on the pin, a primer laid with the proper orientation on the work table, and by pressing down on the case the primer can be installed.

That sounds very much like the Lee Loader that uses a mallet to power the loading process.

It'll do in a pinch.

Lost Sheep

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Nice information!

I'm marking this for info when I build my own reloading bench.

 

[Clark]

My Thumber's Tumbler thumb nuts hurt my thumbs.
Those 1/4-20 stamped wing nuts have sharp edges.
I rounded the edges.
I bought solid 1/4-20 wing nuts.
I rounded the edges.
I Gorilla Glued the washers to the lid.
I put the machine on foam rubber to reduce noise.
I put a Neodymium magnet on the lid to hold wing nuts.
They were still hard to get started and slow to tighten.
I ordered some 1/4-20 knobs from Enco
http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=328-2259
When I put them on, they interfered with the drum turning.
I made a tool today for moving the rubber on the shafts to move the drum location away from the interference.
The tool is a piece of Aluminium with a 0.3125" slot.
I put the tool in the vise, the shaft in the tool, and hit the end of the shaft with a mallet.

 

[ClayinAR]

Magnets

I use magnets out of wrecked hard drives for a multitude of things on my loading bench. I believe they are Neodymium magnets. They hold small wrenches, allen wrenches, etc. to my Dillon 550 and my Lee turret presses. Don't have to hunt for them.

 

[another pake]

Cheap & Convenient Drop Tube Stopper

You've never had an accidental spill from your RCBS or other brand powder measure I'm sure , but in case you know of someone who has, or even if you just want to be able to walk away from your powder measure for awhile and know that unseen gremlins won't throw the handle and drop a charge all over your bench or the floor, an ear foamie makes a perfect temporary drop tube stopper. Just roll it up and stick it in the end of the tube.

 

[spottedpony]

Eliminate Static Permanently

I have an electronics background; so when 'static' became a problem with my plastic powder hopper, I installed a simple static eliminator.

Parts List: 1. A 1Meg 1/4-watt resistor (less than 50 cents)
2. Enough light stranded wire (18-20 gage/thin speaker wire is ok) to reach
from your press to a grounded outlet. (scrounge or $2)
3. A round terminal end big enough to fit your press mounting bolt
4. A short length of shrink tubing or some electrical tape to insulate a
solder joint. (Scrounge or $2)

Instructions: Solder the 1 Meg resistor to one end of the wire and insulate from the
solder joint to the resistor.

Put the terminal end on the other end of the wire.

Remove one of your press mounting bolts and reinstall it with the terminal
end under the bolt head like a washer.

Route the wire to the grounded outlet using staples or tape.

TURN OFF THE POWER (cicuit breaker) to the outlet.
Remove the outlet cover
Attach the free end of the resistor to ground. (Either under the green
screw inside the outlet box or inside the wire nut over the "Ground" wire
which goes to the "round" ground hole in the outlet).

This list makes it sound like a job, but we're talking less than 30 mins.

I have never had ANY static build up since installing this simple circuit. Powder does not stick the plastic hopper-ever.

As a Master Electrician I can assure you this is an NEC (National Electric Code) violation. Essentially you are connecting two different systems into the home circuitry which is a no-no. Also if the ground connection INSIDE the outlet or switch box is lost it can can potentially become energized, thus engergizing the grounded accessory.
NEC does not allow for any attachements inside a box or panel that are not associated with the common power system. an example of this would be cable TV or phone service CAN attach to the service ground rod usually located near the meter, but CANNOT attach to a ground such as in an outlet or switch box.
(As a side note this is also why NEC requires two forms of ground on an electrical service, those being a ground rod and/or building steel, and/or conductive cold water pipe, and/or a buried ground loop, to name a few.)

If you want to provide a ground for such an application either connect it to building steel, in the case of a steel building, drill a concrete floor and drive a code acceptable ground rod, or connect to the OUTSIDE of a grounded electrical device. In the case of an outlet tap the ground wire under the plate screw outside the box like the 2 to 3 wire adapters are meant to be attached.

 

[Icky The Great]

^^As a Telecom Employee I agree with the above. Also I use dryer sheets stuffed in the plastic funnels

I do not know if its been mentioned as I only got to the 3rd page but you can use various colored sharpie markers and paint the bullets. Once fired your groups become color coded.
Also craft stores carry long handled fine paint brushes and if you have access to a chemical supply company you may get swabs of varying sizes there. Use them as chamber cleaners, lubing brushes, dies cleaners, etc

 

[sniper1259]

to all; for those of you that have static problems, try this.. a can of Static Guard (orange and blue) from wallmarts! its simple! just spray the area and let dry. application time is 10-15 sec, dry time.. give it a day for best results.
you might want to spray a line up the wall and over the AC outlet from the sprayed area. this will help disipate the static charge faster, and will help keep it at bay in the future AND it wont conduct electrical power. worked great for years here.

 

[1SOW]

As a Master Electrician I can assure you this is an NEC (National Electric Code) violation.

I have access to the ground rod near the meter. "NEC Violation makes me think of those pics in INDIA of the telephone answering businesses. Sure don't want to rival that. Have Wire-Will Route to earth ground. System is worth the minor effort.
Thanks.

 

[abq87120]

I have one of those desiccant boxes for my gun safe that has to have its heater plugged in every couple of weeks. It's more of a pain to remember to check its color than it is to run the heater.

I found a five pound bag of desiccant with the little blue flecks at Hobby Lobby for $12. I split it in half into two clear peanut butter jars. One is opened while the other is closed in reserve. When the specks turn pink, a couple hours of 250F in a cake pan in the oven turn them all blue again. These take about a long month to go pink in my safe, a 28 cf model. I switch between the two bottles and can refresh the pink one at my leisure. I let it cool in a sealed glass jar to maintain the color.

 

[leadcounsel]

Small holder for screws, nuts, bolts, washers, etc

On my hobby table, gun table, etc. I have found that those little screws and pins and such that you use when disassembling or reassembling items can get lost or mis-sorted or misplaced.

The large Monster energy drinks have a metal cap that is about the size of a silver dollar in dimension and about 1/4" deep with a great lip around the inner edge. I've started saving these and using them at my hobby desk.

Free, plentiful and very useful!

Probably great for primers too...

 

[ClayinAR]

"The large Monster energy drinks have a metal cap that is about the size of a silver dollar in dimension and about 1/4" deep with a great lip around the inner edge. I've started saving these and using them at my hobby desk."

I do something similar; I use the magnets out of wrecked hard drives.

 

[leadchucker]

Finding a decent ground for a load bench doesn't have to be a complex or dangerous task. The round hole in any electrical outlet is (or should be) connected to ground. You can confirm this with an inexpensive electrical outlet tester.

The metal housing on the better heavy duty outlet strips is (or should be) connected to this ground. You can connect your grounding wire to any screw in this housing.

You can make a ground adapter out of a common three-prong ac plug available at any hardware store. Make your needed ground connection to the ROUND pin of the plug, labeled for the GREEN wire. Make sure that no contact can possibly occur with the other two pins! Just plug it into the nearest outlet.

 

[Lost Sheep]

Finding a decent ground for a load bench doesn't have to be a complex or dangerous task. The round hole in any electrical outlet is (or should be) connected to ground. You can confirm this with an inexpensive electrical outlet tester.

The metal housing on the better heavy duty outlet strips is (or should be) connected to this ground. You can connect your grounding wire to any screw in this housing.

You can make a ground adapter out of a common three-prong ac plug available at any hardware store. Make your needed ground connection to the ROUND pin of the plug, labeled for the GREEN wire. Make sure that no contact can possibly occur with the other two pins! Just plug it into the nearest outlet.

The easiest and surest way to guarantee no contact can be made with the other two pins is to cut them off flush. Now your 3-prong plug is a 1-prong grounder.

Still, if your wall outlet is not properly grounded, you are experiencing a false sense of security and if the ground in the outlet should ever become energized, you have a potentially disastrous situation (mild shock or electrocution or possibly sparking and fire).

While the theory is perfectly sound, I would not want to be tasked with educating a fire inspector or insurance investigator about why there is a wire running from an electrical outlet to my gunpowder handling equipment. Better to have a dedicated grounding wall outlet to plug into.

Just imagining the worst case scenario.

Lost Sheep

 

[ess45]

Increased the hole diameter of the handgun cylinder of my Hornady powder measure.
It can now measure up to 30-35 grains of rifle powder (up from 15-20 grains).



Used a 13/32 drill bit and 27/64 reamer.

 

[beatledog7]

It can now measure up to 30-35 grains of rifle powder (up from 15-20 grains).

But doesn't that sacrifice some level of precision at much lower weights?

 

[ess45]

I'm using this cylinder to load 223/5.56 and 6.5 Grendel.

 

[beatledog7]

Fine then. Most people use pistol rotors for pistol charges, sometimes lower than 2.0 grains.

 

[VonFatman]

Ess45,
Good camera work.

Bob

 

[ess45]

Ess45,
Good camera work.

Bob

Thank you

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

the newest Rockchucker press has a threaded hole up front for the priming arm. i don't prime on the press, but the threads are the same as a bore brush. i put a nylon bore brush with imperial wax on it in there when i'm sizing brass to lube the inside of the case mouth. keeps me from picking up and laying down the brush over and over.

 

[SuperNaut]

the newest Rockchucker press has a threaded hole up front for the priming arm. i don't prime on the press, but the threads are the same as a bore brush. i put a nylon bore brush with imperial wax on it in there when i'm sizing brass to lube the inside of the case mouth. keeps me from picking up and laying down the brush over and over.

Great minds think alike, see post #672

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

nice! it's pretty much the perfect location for the brush. definitely sped up my bottleneck sizing.

 

[Conservidave]

primer pocket brush fits too