Thrifty Reloading Tips--- List yours

[Deputy1199]

Ziplock Plastic Bags

I put a large ziplock plastic bag into one of the side pockets of my range bag before every shooting session to collect used brass. The entire bag can be removed easily without leaving any powder residue in the pocket and you no longer have to scoop out brass by the handfull.

The ziplock bags are useful for working up loads. I usually load 10 rounds and mark the bullet weight, powder type and charge weight, primer brand and size and cartridge OAL on the bag with a sharpie pen.

 

[cchardwick]

Found this old post with a lot of great info!

Here's my suggestion: When loading on a turret press, don't stop at the 'powder measure' stage. Instead, do three steps at once for each round: drop powder, seat the bullet, and crimp. Then when you come back to your powder measure for the next round you have shaken the whole turret and the next powder load will work it's way perfectly into the measure and your loads will be near perfect in consistency from load to load. My loads varied about 0.3 grains when I just loaded all my brass with powder. But since I moved on to three steps between rounds my loads never vary at all!

 

[benzuncle]

Those of you that live in the Orlando area know of this place: Skycraft. This place has everything a man ever needed. It has stuff you'll buy even though you don't need it, but, just in case... There are women that, when they find out their man is going to Skycraft, make him leave all but $10 or $20 on the table before going out the door. There's even a story circulating that a guy went in there once and didn't spend any money! Anyway, I've bought a lot of misc. hardware and the like from this place:
1. A dental tool for scraping/cleaning small crevices in my loading equipment. They have various shapes and sizes. (I always wondered what dentists did with their old tools.) The tool cost $2.
2. I bought 2 collapsable portable radio antennas that I can screw together (One has a female end; the other a male end.) I cut an 8in piece of a paint stirring stick, drilled a hole in the center. I use this contraption to drag my brass (and anyone elses I can snag) back to me at the range. I can reach out farther with this than with a broom. A fat rubber washer keeps the paint stick from falling off the end of the antenna. It all breaks down quickly and easily to fit in my range bag. The stouter the antennas, the better this "fetcher" works. The antennas were $1.50ea; the rubber washer 4¢.

 

[cleveland]

Wow, there is a lot of good info on this thread. In fact I joined this forum because of this thread. I was searching for something reloading related and google sent me here, man, what a find!

If the rest of this forum contains similar info and insight, then I am in for a treat!

I started a new thread with some questions so I don't bog down this one.

 

[Big Don]

Bumpity bump bump bump

This is too good a thread to lie around and be ignored so I'm hoping new members will see it and contribute.

 

[reloader28]

I didn't have time to read ALL the tips yet so if these are in here already I'm sorry.
1. Instead of buying an electric trimmer take the handle off your RCBS or Forester lathe trimmer and put on a 1/2 inch drill motor.

2. For reloading for several different guns with the same dies, I made a set of washers from scrap ( one 3/32 thick , four .025 thick per set ). With any combination of washers under the sizer die I can neck size and under the seating die I can get any custom OAL without ever adjusting the die again. The number of washers is on each gun's load data sheet for quick reference. ( 3 small washers for 3.330 OAL or 2 small washers for 3.305)

3. Make a cheap OAL gauge by making 4 slices down the neck and shoulder of a FL sized brass with a Dremal. De-bur inside with a chainsaw file and squeeze the "fingers" together a little for good bullet tension. Insert a bullet that you are loading and leave it long so the rifling will push it into the case as you close the bolt. Carefully extract and measure it. Do this 2 or 3 times for consistency.

 

[mongoose33]

Various tips plus LnL AP ideas

1. Rather than have to throw 10 or 20 charges when I change my powder measure just to get them to settle down, I tap the measure with a large allen wrench to pre-settle the powder. It's amazing--once I do that, it might take 2 or 3 powder drops for it to settle down.

Of course, those 10 or 20 powder drops have the effect of settling the powder, so I'm accelerating that process.

2. I hate looking for tools on the benchtop, things like allen wrenches and the like. I decided to stick them to my press using a magnet, but the LnLAP is aluminum so that doesn't work.

I cut a piece of steel stock I had lying around, drilled a couple holes in it, and attached it to the press in the holes reserved for the case loader. Then I stuck a couple of strong magnets (blue in the pic) on the steel, and to those I can stick my tools. Up out of the way but handy:

3. The orange-handled tool in the pic is similar to a dentist's pick; I use it to stretch the spring for the primer slide over the stud it attaches to. My fingers are too big to do that otherwise.

4. I have the Shell Sorter (link: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=847836 ) that allows one to separate out the 9mm, .40, .223, and .45 brass quickly and easily. Yeah, they're $38 which is stupidly expensive for what they are--except they're worth it. I tilt them about a 45-degree angle while rotating them and nested brass will separate.

5. I have found that I can more efficiently grab bullets for my LnLAP if I attach a "bullet tray" to the front strut. It's just a small cardboard box, bottom nested in the top and reinforced by tape, and attached by a small clamp. As I pull the handle down, I grab a bullet from that tray, reach over to get a case, then after the handle comes up and I seat the next primer, I push the new case in its slot and then as my hand comes back I put the bullet on the case ready to have the bullet seated:

6. I can't take credit for this one, read it somewhere (maybe on TFL), but it's a fabulous way to deal with spent primers coming out of the LnLAP press. Cut a hole in the top of a water bottle just slightly smaller than the tube coming down from the press, then stick the tube in. Just unscrew the top to empty. And even though the tube moves up and down with the press, the bottle does too.

 

[Big Don]

Bumpity bump bump bump

Once again, doing what I can to keep an excellent thread alive and healthy.

 

[Doc K]

I use the LEE LUBE AND SIZING KIT in my Hornady LnL progrssive press. I put a block of wood under the shellplate to limit the downward excursion of the ram. That way the pawls aren't engaged and the shellplate doesn't rotate.

 

[whitedogone]

Loading in small space?

Recycled Microwave cart

Die holder

notice the plastic tub. I use a bunch of these and rotate them out for different cals.