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

[terry_g]

Bullet Length Tool

I finished firing the first 100 hand loads through my .223. 68 grain Hornady match
bullets with 25 grains of Varget .010" off the lands gave very good results.

Accurately measuring the bullet length and getting the correct distance off the lands in a pain.
So in order to not have to do it every time I try a different bullet I made this simple tool.

I had an old .22 barrel lying in my metal pile I made the two parts out of it. The smaller insert is 2" long and .375" in diameter.
The larger part is 5/8" OD and I drilled and bored it so a fire formed .223 case would slide through it almost exactly .375"
There is a setscrew about .375" from the end to lock the two parts together.

You set the larger tube on a loaded round on a flat surface and slide the smaller part in till the rifling touches the bullet
and tighten the setscrew. and the measurement is recorded.


Terry

4 shot group

 

[LeroyvdH]

That's brilliant..Solves a few headaches
You da man terry g
Thanks Leroy

 

[Obtunded]

I use the black plastic gizmos from a doctor's ear looker inner thing (otoscope speculae) as funnels for loading 20 cal cartridges. It allows you to volume dump with ball powders no problem.

Ballsitol for case resizing lubricant

 

[chemo]

I'm pretty sure we are only a handful of reloaders using the C&H cannelure tool out here on CGN, but I found that adding a screw square to the closed lever with a rubber band reduces the frustration alot. I also think mounting the thing 45degrees makes it easier to operate.

Those familiar with the tool know how much a third hand would be usefull to operate it. The rubber band and screw just do that

 

[leadslinger]

To revive this great thread i am adding my homemade timer I made for my tumbler.
I removed the timer control from a coffee machine that the burner quit on.
Picked up a project box from "the Source" and installed the control unit as well as
a duplex outlet in it.
It will auto shut off after two hours, from either manuel or timed on mode.
This way if i have brass to clean and have to leave for the day,
tumbler wont be running for hours.

 

[aridan]

To revive this great thread i am adding my homemade timer I made for my tumbler.
I removed the timer control from a coffee machine that the burner quit on.
Picked up a project box from "the Source" and installed the control unit as well as
a duplex outlet in it.
It will auto shut off after two hours, from either manuel or timed on mode.
This way if i have brass to clean and have to leave for the day,
tumbler wont be running for hours.

I used an industrial 24V timer to do the same thing, but yours is way too cool! I'll be looking for a dead coffee maker on a curbside from now on.

The only advantage my industrial timer has is that I'm able to alternate on/off cycles at 15min intervals, this gives the motor in my ghetto rotary tumbler a chance to cool down.

 

[leadslinger]

I can set mine to come on at anytime as well, but it does only have a 2 hour run time.
Most of the time thats plenty.
What i like was it didn't cost me much to build.
It was way cheaper (around $6.) than buying a car heater timer .
Paid a lot for that stupid coffee machine, and it crapped out way too early in my opinion.
A good source of free small fans is from the freezer compartment of fridges people throw out.
I have one above my loading area in the ceiling pointing down on me that i use in the warm season.
Another as well out in my shop.
I also have 2 in my camper, one I use in the confined area where my fridge is installed to exhaust
the warm air outside, and the other in my bunk area for a cooling fan.
They are fairly quiet and work well. (and are FREE)

 

[Charlie38]

I bought a good used press and set it up just for priming.

 

[cowboybob]

This has been a really interesting and educational chain.

For those of you loading black powder cartridges or other cases with drop tubes here's a cheap source of custom drop tubes - fishing rods. There's a good chance that you also fish or no someone who does. If you fish you break fishing rods. I've made several "custom" drop tubes of varying length by cutting the broken blanks at a point that fits nicely into the case and trim the rest to the length I want. Stick a funnel in the top and you're good to go with a nice, gently-tapered drop tube..

 

[luke s]

7. And, last but not least, my latest improvement to LnL pickup tubes: a tube mounted to Lee AutoPrime tray, with a 'vibrator' from a cell phone and a small switch. Loading the tubes has become fun! Don't let the small allen keys scare you, these are to center the tube so I don't have to mess with epoxy.

I am currently trying to make a motorized slide, to mimic the LnL case loader's shuttle. I'm also making a bullet collator so I don't have to spend $250 on Hornady's.

I like!

 

[aridan]

Thanks. The primer loader is a real time-saver for me. But I stopped trying to make the bullet & case feeders, figured they were taking too much time & effort. I since bought the Hornady bullet feeder, it's been great.

 

[fogducker]

BTT...

nothing new here

 

[Slavex]

my contribution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2dV...xt=C320835dUDOEgsToPDskL4WZtNSGOioCNAdH1ame89

[youtube]S2dVqy6j4qk[/youtube]

 

[ATOM]

Slavex - be interested in more details, please and thanks.

 

[Slavex]

it's just two zap straps. One wrapped around the case feeder base and bent and cut as you can hopefully see in the video. then another strap attached to it, pointing down at the shell plate, and cut to length.

 

[ATOM]

it's just two zap straps. One wrapped around the case feeder base and bent and cut as you can hopefully see in the video. then another strap attached to it, pointing down at the shell plate, and cut to length.

Cool. Thanks for that.

 

[Slavex]

The bends that you put in the one wrapped around the case tube are just there to hold the other strap in place. I had to fiddle about to determine location. And then used pliers to make the bend nice sharp spots on the strap.

 

[martinbns]

When I owned a 300 WSM I discovered the hard way that the case is too wide to get the neck all the way into my powder funnel so the powder went all over the floor.

I cut off a 260 rem case, stuck in the end of the funnel and used it as an extended funnel.

 

[308BAR]

I guess I'll add my 2 cents, this is a homemade annealer, made from wood lying around a .25" plate water cut for WSM, all .308 cals and .223 style brass & BBQ rotiserie motor. Just need to cut a hole for the brass to drop down and into a bath and maybe make some torch holders. Otherwise my first few test batches seem to anneal very well, has that nice bluish tinge to the finished brass.

Win Brass

Neck turned LC Brass

[youtube]XQDmqZR3Fj4[/youtube]

 

[ATOM]

Now that's cool!