A couple of years back I saw someone using the Speed-D-Loader on their lever rimfire rifle and was "somewhat" impressed. But it lacked the ability to top up without filling the tube and causing a lot of problems with leaving the right amount in the magazine and still fit the spring rod.
I got the idea of using brass tube available from hobby shops. But it only came in 12 inch lengths and was fairly soft so tended to be easily kinked or bowed. They have aluminium tubing as well but it's even softer and VERY easily bent. Then I started looking at some old aluminium arrow shafts and found that certain sizes are just right.
So about two years ago I gathered up some arrow shafts of the proper size and made a few sets. Myself and a few local shooters are now using what you'll see below with great results.
So why the arrow shafts? Well, for starters it allows me to slide the loader down into the magazine tube until I see the tube appear in the port as shown in this first picture. I then tip up the rifle and tube to drop the ammo down into the magazine. Then I come back to level and I can draw out the loader and any excess ammo leaving the last round either visible in the port or just peeking up from the rear edge of the port depending on what the rifle can accept. This means there's no jiggling and juggling to get just the right amount of ammo into place. I can then easily replace the follower tube and lock it in place.
Along side in this picture you can also see the spring tension tube and another arrow shaft speedloader with the piece of folded vinyl tube acting as a stopper. These stoppers could be anything of course.
In the next picture I show the angle used to both make it easier to load the tubes from a handful of rounds as well as to position the speedloader for drawing back the last loaded round from the loading port window. There's nothing at all magical about the angle. I simply cut the arrow shaft in half with a diagonal cut of any eyeballed 45°. Close enough is fine. A longer angle may work better but the 45'ish has worked so well I didn't see any reason to mess with it. If you try to make some of these and try a longer angle and like it let us know.
Now to the shaft size. From my measuring and trials I found that we want arrow shafts with an outside diameter of between 0.32 to .354. This size range with the thin wall options will ensure the rounds fit inside and slide easily and that the tube fits easily into the rifle's magazine tube. Also you're after arrows that were used on conventional and compound bows and not cross bows.
In the old Easton aluminium arrow numbering scheme this works out to the long bow shafts using the four digit numbering of 20xx to 22xx. The first two digits being the outside diameter in digits x 1/64" I got one Easton 2316 and it was just a hair too large to fit any of the three tube mag rifles I was using for testing. So consider any Easton 22xx sizes as maximum and don't go smaller than a 20xx or the rounds may not fit inside and slide easily.
A lot of the cheaper but still good to use shafts will not be numbered at all. All you can do for these is carry along a set of calipers or try to use a keen eye with a ruler.
Or what you can do is find a slip of stiff plastic like an old credit card or a peice of sheet metal that you can keep in your wallet. Drill through cleanly (clamp it between two pieces of wood tightly then drill) with a 19/64" drill and a 23/64" drill. You then go looking for sizes that will fit into the larger hole but NOT fit through the smaller hole. But in between these two sizes there are three diameters that will fit. And note that with the 23/64 hole that the shaft should not be a squeaky tight fit. It should fit easily. If it's squeaky tight it is likely a 23xx size and will be too large for your magazine tube. A 22xx, which you want, will rattle just very slightly in the 23/64 hole. In fact drill an 11/32 (22/64) in your gauge card to use as a double check.
When you get the arrows home slice off the fletching and cut in half on the diagonal. Then using half a foam earplug squeeze the foam down and drop and push it through to the end and let it expand. That'll be a cushion for you when you slide the rounds into the tube.
What about carbon arrow shafts? Those have a much thicker wall. And there does not seem to be any consistently reliable numbers to go by between the manufacturers. So all I can suggest is a something with the 11/32 and 23/64" holes drilled hole as a max outside diameter gauge and bring along a rimfire casing to check the inside diameter. You know it's the right size if the spent case falls easily through and out the other end from a bit of a tip to the angle but also fits with a snug fit in the 11/32 hole or an easy slip fit into the 13/64" hole..
Be "ammo smart" when you load your Speed Toobs. Do NOT hold the tubes vertical and let the rounds slam into each other. They aren't center fire so there's little risk of setting one off from the impact but the first few will drop far enough that you'll punch the bullets loose in their crimp and make the accuracy potential go down. Instead hold the tube on an angle so the rounds slide down easily but without a lot of speed. Same when you load the rifle magazine. A more or less 30° tilt for all of these operations is more than enough to move the ammo easily.
Find something suitable to act as a cork for your loader tubes and you're all done. Enjoy!
I got the idea of using brass tube available from hobby shops. But it only came in 12 inch lengths and was fairly soft so tended to be easily kinked or bowed. They have aluminium tubing as well but it's even softer and VERY easily bent. Then I started looking at some old aluminium arrow shafts and found that certain sizes are just right.
So about two years ago I gathered up some arrow shafts of the proper size and made a few sets. Myself and a few local shooters are now using what you'll see below with great results.
So why the arrow shafts? Well, for starters it allows me to slide the loader down into the magazine tube until I see the tube appear in the port as shown in this first picture. I then tip up the rifle and tube to drop the ammo down into the magazine. Then I come back to level and I can draw out the loader and any excess ammo leaving the last round either visible in the port or just peeking up from the rear edge of the port depending on what the rifle can accept. This means there's no jiggling and juggling to get just the right amount of ammo into place. I can then easily replace the follower tube and lock it in place.
Along side in this picture you can also see the spring tension tube and another arrow shaft speedloader with the piece of folded vinyl tube acting as a stopper. These stoppers could be anything of course.
In the next picture I show the angle used to both make it easier to load the tubes from a handful of rounds as well as to position the speedloader for drawing back the last loaded round from the loading port window. There's nothing at all magical about the angle. I simply cut the arrow shaft in half with a diagonal cut of any eyeballed 45°. Close enough is fine. A longer angle may work better but the 45'ish has worked so well I didn't see any reason to mess with it. If you try to make some of these and try a longer angle and like it let us know.
Now to the shaft size. From my measuring and trials I found that we want arrow shafts with an outside diameter of between 0.32 to .354. This size range with the thin wall options will ensure the rounds fit inside and slide easily and that the tube fits easily into the rifle's magazine tube. Also you're after arrows that were used on conventional and compound bows and not cross bows.
In the old Easton aluminium arrow numbering scheme this works out to the long bow shafts using the four digit numbering of 20xx to 22xx. The first two digits being the outside diameter in digits x 1/64" I got one Easton 2316 and it was just a hair too large to fit any of the three tube mag rifles I was using for testing. So consider any Easton 22xx sizes as maximum and don't go smaller than a 20xx or the rounds may not fit inside and slide easily.
A lot of the cheaper but still good to use shafts will not be numbered at all. All you can do for these is carry along a set of calipers or try to use a keen eye with a ruler.
Or what you can do is find a slip of stiff plastic like an old credit card or a peice of sheet metal that you can keep in your wallet. Drill through cleanly (clamp it between two pieces of wood tightly then drill) with a 19/64" drill and a 23/64" drill. You then go looking for sizes that will fit into the larger hole but NOT fit through the smaller hole. But in between these two sizes there are three diameters that will fit. And note that with the 23/64 hole that the shaft should not be a squeaky tight fit. It should fit easily. If it's squeaky tight it is likely a 23xx size and will be too large for your magazine tube. A 22xx, which you want, will rattle just very slightly in the 23/64 hole. In fact drill an 11/32 (22/64) in your gauge card to use as a double check.
When you get the arrows home slice off the fletching and cut in half on the diagonal. Then using half a foam earplug squeeze the foam down and drop and push it through to the end and let it expand. That'll be a cushion for you when you slide the rounds into the tube.
What about carbon arrow shafts? Those have a much thicker wall. And there does not seem to be any consistently reliable numbers to go by between the manufacturers. So all I can suggest is a something with the 11/32 and 23/64" holes drilled hole as a max outside diameter gauge and bring along a rimfire casing to check the inside diameter. You know it's the right size if the spent case falls easily through and out the other end from a bit of a tip to the angle but also fits with a snug fit in the 11/32 hole or an easy slip fit into the 13/64" hole..
NOTE- BE SURE TO LOAD YOUR ROUNDS WITH THE BULLET FIRST INTO THE LOADER. YOU WANT THEM TO LOAD INTO THE MAGAZINE TUBE HEAD FIRST! ! !
Be "ammo smart" when you load your Speed Toobs. Do NOT hold the tubes vertical and let the rounds slam into each other. They aren't center fire so there's little risk of setting one off from the impact but the first few will drop far enough that you'll punch the bullets loose in their crimp and make the accuracy potential go down. Instead hold the tube on an angle so the rounds slide down easily but without a lot of speed. Same when you load the rifle magazine. A more or less 30° tilt for all of these operations is more than enough to move the ammo easily.
Find something suitable to act as a cork for your loader tubes and you're all done. Enjoy!
