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

[Armored farmer]

I'll play...
I use that "press n seal" type saran wrap around my hawken percussion cap while hunting in the rain. I cut a partial roll into thirds with my mitre saw. After putting the cap on the nipple, I wrap the "press n seal" around the cap, lock, stock, and barrel...two or three times. Not too authentic, but it will insure dry caps and powder.

I deprime 12 ga hulls and cut about half of the length off, then use for cabinet and drawer pulls in my shop and loading bench. just put a brass colored screw through the primer hole. I get lots of comments on them. The wife doesn't want me to use them in the house for some reason.

 

[Walkalong]

what is that motor anchored to?

Nothing....yet...

 

[Clark]

If the current through the 470 Ohm resistor is [9V - 1V]/470 Ohms = .017 Amps

A new 9V battery may have .5 Amp hours.

The battery would supply the resistor for .5 ah/.017A = 29 hours.

 

[bertus]

piggyback primer spill

my piggy back kept loosing the little bottle that catches the primers so I threaded the plastic tube put a nut on it and presto the bottle stays put

 

[oldreloader]

If you lose the cap to your powder measure try one off the Poulan precut weedeater line tubes. They fit better than the ones from the factory!

 

[Jesse Heywood]

My latest press purchase was an RCBS Turret. One of it's problems is the tolerances in the turret, which can build up and cause the turret head to move up and down under load. Spoke with my friend in machine tool sales, who suggested Arbor Spacers. So he order some steel spacers, .003 thick, 7/8 ID 1-3/8 OD. Put one under the washer on my Turret and there is far less movement in the turret head.

We ordered shims made by www.precisionbrand.comm cost was about &8.00 for a package of 10.

 

[mongoose33]

I developed this before I bought my progressive.

I hang a small bin to the left of my single-stage press, which allows me to pop either a sized case or a finished round off the shellholder right into the bin using my right hand, while the left hand grabs another case:

A couple of other things that help create more space or make things more efficient:

This is how I have my dremel tool set up. It, and a shop vac, are both plugged into a power strip, allowing me to turn on both at the same time. The vac hose is connected to a metal vac-tool extension I've screwed into the side of the bench. Any debris from the cutting wheel is sucked into the vacuum. I use this for cutting open cases or just about any cutting job I have.

I have a small kitchen scale I use for weighing bulk bullets or brass; I keep it up off the workbench by attaching it to a narrow shelf about six inches above the workbench, attached to the wall. That gets it up off the bench and out of the way, and makes it easier to use and see.

I also keep a small pick next to it, stuck into a cork I installed in a slightly smaller hole drilled into the shelf. The pick is safe (no sticking myself inadvertantly) and easy to access:

Finally, my system for brass sorting is shown here, going from .45 on the left down to 9mm on the right. Some are once-fired boxes, some are just whatever boxes, some nickel, some brass, some .223 once-fired, twice-fired, 3x fired:

 

[dmsims21]

Cheap Powder Trickler

I use an empty case as a powder trickler.
Just put a little powder in and slowly roll the case back and forth in your fingers over the scale pan.

 

[Steel Talon]

MONGOOSE

Very nice. What I do with my possum hollow tools is I have an old sears drill with a lockable trigger and adjustable RPM knob. Built a small wooden jig to support drill in upright position. Turn on, lock trigger and have a left and right pile of .223 brass to trim.

Then I start a left right rythm.. I go until my fingers give out lol
ST~

 

[tony4308]

Keeping your stuff dry.

Try Using Kitty Litter I use Tidy cat for a drying agent for your stored brass and ammo. or anyplace you want to take moisture from the air. I use old T-shirt mostly. Sew them up in little pouches and toss em in anything you want dry. Be sure to try to keep em air tight so the room air is not constantly adding water to the pouch. People also use this to dry flowers.

 

[JDGray]

Making 9x18 Makarov brass

Didn't read through the bunch to see if my trick is a dupe, but its a time saver. While trimming 9mm luger brass to 18mm with my Lee trimmer, I found it painstakinly slow. Instead of trimming the entire case with my trimmer, I started using the Lee inside/outside chamfer tool to do most of the trimming, then follow up with the actual trimmer to finish. The Lee outsde chamfer tool will not touch the shorter brass, so I touch a flat file to the burr on the mouth, while still chucked up in the cordless drill. Trimming goes alot faster with the chamfer tool!

Of course you must expand the luger brass in the Makarov die before trimming, or the Lee trimmer wont fit inside.

 

[JustinCglass]

mineral oil... the best sizing lube i found(just dont get it inside the case, it may cause the powder to fail:banghead

I wear some powder less latex gloves and have one hand for lube and the other for grabbing shells. Just a dab on the index finger and a quick coat does the trick.

 

[1357MAG]

OOPS, disregard this reply!

 

[1357MAG]

Those pesky primer crimps!!!!!!!!!

I have an alternative method in removing primer crimps from military brass. That is if you are as frugal as me, and do not want to spend the money on the swaging tool!
I use a 7/32" drill bit at rather high RPM, and just "kiss" the brass with the bit until the crimp is gone. It has worked well for me so far.

 

[1357MAG]

"Recharge" your tumbling media

If your tumbling media is dirty take a couple of drier sheets and retumble. This will clean the media rather significantly. What can I say, I'm super frugal!

 

[4TheResistance]

One of my presses is a lee pro 1000 and it will hold about 1500 or more spent primers under its base and then you have to unmount the press and clean up the primer mess, and it can be messy. So what I did was drill a 1'' hole in the middle of the three mounting holes and found a big around plastic hose that fit very snugly in the hole and put a rubber stopper in the bottom. Now all I have to do is put my scrap brass jug under the hose and pull the plug.

And that was a great idea at the begining of this thread posted by 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." I wish I had thought of that, I have 100 9mm I have to pull and have been putting it off because I couldn't bring myself to buy one of those replacement collets for like 6 bucks.

 

[sniper1259]

to 4TheResistance ; i wonder if this problem will EVER go away? please be aware of the safety issue with using a shell holder to decap rounds. YOU DO NOT DO IT!! i have SEEN what can result if you try to use a shell holder in this way. the shell holder was NEVER ment to be used this way!! the facts is that if you are pulling bullets using a kinetic (read hammer type) bullet puller, DO NOT USE anything but the original parts it came with!!! a shell holder can and HAS caused primers to detonate on impact!! it covers a large part of the rear of the cartridge and that INCLUDES the PRIMER!! the pictures i saw of the persons hand AFTER the round went off were enough to convence me that the 6 bucks for the replacement collet for my puller was a hell of a lot CHEEPER than a trip to the e-ward to have a doctor spend 4 hours removing the peices of a serious case of stupidity from your hands, face, legs, body, privates, etc. the one i saw was in 1985 in a gun store in Downers Grove just west of downtown Chicago and was the result of a .338 that detonated in the hammer type puller on the first blow to a hard surface.
this guy lost his left eye, had over 30 peices of the case and hammer removed from the legs, front of the torso, both arms, and lost "one of the boys" need i really go on? the worst was that his older son (mid late teens i think) was hurt too

the way i see it, 6 bucks beats the hell out of $27,000.00 worth of surgery.

the kenetic bullet pullers are built the way they are built to keep you from getting hurt!!
the collet that comes with them DOES NOT COVER the rear of the cartridge FOR A REASON!! it is NEVER worth the risk to you or yours to simple ignore a safety rule when reloading. yes its a lot of fun working with gun powder and primers, bringing forth your own rounds for your effort. but dont forget that all it takes is a single mistake to ruin your whole life!!!

Uncle Don; you should know better!

i have been reloading since 1978 and in all that time i have NEVER had a problem with safety! never had one primer "blow" in the press. not one problem with bullet pulling. yes i have made mistakes, but because i check and re-check my work over and over as many as 10 times to make sure what i am doing is the right thing, i can say that i have NEVER had a mistake that didnt catch and correct no matter how much time or money it takes to be safe in absolutly every thing i do in reloading!! a totaly blemish free record is humanly impossable, but that dosent keep me from trying as hard as i can to get there!! and i am man enough to admit my failures, the three incidents that i had over the years are 1) put the wrong powder load into 793 rounds of 5.56mm, (all were dissasembled with an RCBS collet type bullet puller die to prevent powder spillage and re assembled with the correct load.) 2) had a primer flip over in the seater and had to remove it from the cartridge and reseat it correctly. 3) missed filling the powder throw when i should have and had to rework 19 rounds of .357 mag ammo. thats it. i did it by making safety my personal buisness, with no exceptions. peroid.
i would like to hear from the rest of you about this, is a $6 dollar part worth an eye, a finger? or worse?

besides, i really hate stitches!

 

[rcmodel]

+1
In the very unlikely event a round went off in the hammer puller?

The stock puller collet will allow the case to blow out of the hammer head and pressure to be released.

A shell holder locks it in place & seals it, and the hammer head becomes a plastic pipe bomb.

rc

 

[altitude_19]

SWEET LIBERTY! Glad I read the response to that idea. I'll never even think about trying it... "Plastic pipe bomb" sounds like a perfect description.

 

[Steel Talon]

to 4TheResistance ; i wonder if this problem will EVER go away? please be aware of the safety issue with using a shell holder to decap rounds. YOU DO NOT DO IT!! i have SEEN what can result if you try to use a shell holder in this way. the shell holder was NEVER ment to be used this way!! the facts is that if you are pulling bullets using a kinetic (read hammer type) bullet puller, DO NOT USE anything but the original parts it came with!!! a shell holder can and HAS caused primers to detonate on impact!! it covers a large part of the rear of the cartridge and that INCLUDES the PRIMER!! the pictures i saw of the persons hand AFTER the round went off were enough to convence me that the 6 bucks for the replacement collet for my puller was a hell of a lot CHEEPER than a trip to the e-ward to have a doctor spend 4 hours removing the peices of a serious case of stupidity from your hands, face, legs, body, privates, etc. the one i saw was in 1985 in a gun store in Downers Grove just west of downtown Chicago and was the result of a .338 that detonated in the hammer type puller on the first blow to a hard surface.
this guy lost his left eye, had over 30 peices of the case and hammer removed from the legs, front of the torso, both arms, and lost "one of the boys" need i really go on? the worst was that his older son (mid late teens i think) was hurt too

the way i see it, 6 bucks beats the hell out of $27,000.00 worth of surgery.

the kenetic bullet pullers are built the way they are built to keep you from getting hurt!!
the collet that comes with them DOES NOT COVER the rear of the cartridge FOR A REASON!! it is NEVER worth the risk to you or yours to simple ignore a safety rule when reloading. yes its a lot of fun working with gun powder and primers, bringing forth your own rounds for your effort. but dont forget that all it takes is a single mistake to ruin your whole life!!!

Uncle Don; you should know better!

i have been reloading since 1978 and in all that time i have NEVER had a problem with safety! never had one primer "blow" in the press. not one problem with bullet pulling. yes i have made mistakes, but because i check and re-check my work over and over as many as 10 times to make sure what i am doing is the right thing, i can say that i have NEVER had a mistake that didnt catch and correct no matter how much time or money it takes to be safe in absolutly every thing i do in reloading!! a totaly blemish free record is humanly impossable, but that dosent keep me from trying as hard as i can to get there!! and i am man enough to admit my failures, the three incidents that i had over the years are 1) put the wrong powder load into 793 rounds of 5.56mm, (all were dissasembled with an RCBS collet type bullet puller die to prevent powder spillage and re assembled with the correct load.) 2) had a primer flip over in the seater and had to remove it from the cartridge and reseat it correctly. 3) missed filling the powder throw when i should have and had to rework 19 rounds of .357 mag ammo. thats it. i did it by making safety my personal buisness, with no exceptions. peroid.
i would like to hear from the rest of you about this, is a $6 dollar part worth an eye, a finger? or worse?

besides, i really hate stitches!

Absolutely correct! I've been telling this for years now. I have seen it first hand with a fellow loader grenaded a round while using a shell holder. The cartridge was able to slip just enough primer over into te shell holder which led to its ignition.

ST~

 

[curly67]

Drilled a hole in my bench where my press goes then screwed a plastic A&W bottle into the hole now my spent primers just fall into the bottle you can see a pic on the reloading bench page P59.

 

[Clark]

Safety?
I was cutting down a piece of brass in a collet with a lathe tool that was not the right angle for brass. The brass got a little hot and BANG!.

I had not noticed that I was cutting down a piece of brass with a live primer in it.

They are really loud.

 

[stodd]

Hello everyone..

I've been reading through all the posts and I'm trying to see if anyone out there has a neat little way to catch spent primers in a soda bottle or something on a RCBS single stage press.

I don't like how they sometimes go in the black primer catcher thing and sometimes bounce out of the black primer catcher thing onto the floor and then i step on them

Any cool things out there that i can make to catch the primers?

Thanks.
Stodd

 

[Tilos]

stodd:
I just added some cardboard to the front edge of that "black primer catcher thing" to make it taller.
Maybe some (clean) kitty litter in the catcher thing will keep the spent primers from bouncing out.
Maybe a soda straw in the ram groove to direct all spent primers to the bottom before coming out.

 

[capbuster]

I use my rockchucker press primarily for depriming shells. I too had trouble with spent primers even with the catcher in place. I took a plastic coke bottle and cut the back out of it. The neck fits over my depriming die and the remaining bottle fits snug against the primer catcher and the spent primers are deflected in the right direction.