Tips and Tricks!

[carpriver]

What does anyone use to store your Lee turrets with dies in?

I use the round die box the set came in. Some die sets that came in flat boxes I used a tuna can and the ring from a glass canning jar. The ring holds the turret up so the deprime pin does not contact the surface. and the tuna can just keeps thing from sliding around.

 

[SgtLumpy]

Here's a "Salad Spinner" I found for $7 at the grocery store. Designed to spin lettuce et al to dry it before making a salad -

I think the reloading applications are obvious. I use it to wash brass in citric acid solution. Turning the crank on the top spins the colander inside the plastic housing. The clear plastic thing is microwave safe. So I heat up water, add citric acid, dump in about 200 rounds of .38 spec brass, let soak for 15 min. Then I lift out the colander portion and place it in a second spinner (I bought two). Turn the crank a few times and it spins a lot of the liquid out of the brass. Lift out the colander again and rinse in clean water. If I'm in a hurry I can leave them in the green colander and blow dry it with my compressor. If not in a hurry, I just set the colander on a towel and allow it to dry.

***

Next is not necessarily reloading related, but it is gun related. Those little plastic "flosser" things made to floss teeth. I never found them very useful for teeth but they're really handy for cleaning guns. Revolver forcing cone areas, auto loader slide grooves, any small gunk prone areas. The plastic "pick" end won't hurt any gun or blueing. The floss end gets up between the top of a forcing cone and top strap of a wheel gun. Apply tiny drops of oil or grease with the pick end. Cut and reshape the plastic if you like with dikes, razor blades, sand paper. They cost pennies per gizmo. Won't break or absorb oil/solvent like wooden toothpicks.

Sgt Lumpy

 

[Steve in Vermont]

Here's a "Salad Spinner" I found for $7 at the grocery store. Designed to spin lettuce et al to dry it before making a salad -

I think the reloading applications are obvious. I use it to wash brass in citric acid solution. Turning the crank on the top spins the colander inside the plastic housing. The clear plastic thing is microwave safe. So I heat up water, add citric acid, dump in about 200 rounds of .38 spec brass, let soak for 15 min. Then I lift out the colander portion and place it in a second spinner (I bought two). Turn the crank a few times and it spins a lot of the liquid out of the brass. Lift out the colander again and rinse in clean water. If I'm in a hurry I can leave them in the green colander and blow dry it with my compressor. If not in a hurry, I just set the colander on a towel and allow it to dry.

***

Next is not necessarily reloading related, but it is gun related. Those little plastic "flosser" things made to floss teeth. I never found them very useful for teeth but they're really handy for cleaning guns. Revolver forcing cone areas, auto loader slide grooves, any small gunk prone areas. The plastic "pick" end won't hurt any gun or blueing. The floss end gets up between the top of a forcing cone and top strap of a wheel gun. Apply tiny drops of oil or grease with the pick end. Cut and reshape the plastic if you like with dikes, razor blades, sand paper. They cost pennies per gizmo. Won't break or absorb oil/solvent like wooden toothpicks.

Sgt Lumpy

I saw one of these just recently at our grocery store and wondered if it might work in cleaning brass. I also use citric acid and have been looking for a more efficient way to clean and rinse. We're going shopping tomorrow and will pick one up. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[CMD-KY]

I used a crock pot with citric acid until I bought an ultrasonic. [I did not cook in that pot.]

 

[geddylee10002000]

I use about a 3" drinking straw fitted in my RCBS rockchucker ram slot to keep the primers from flying all over.

 

[tooblekain]

For a brass reloading tub, I found that Walmart plastic meat trays work great. The hamburger or roast tubs will hold a couple hundred pistol cases, don't tip over, and are free.

Someone please send me a PM on how to post multiple attachments. I couldn't get 2 thumbnails to post together, and the 'post picture search' function didn't help.

Yep...and In N Out trays work really well too.

 

[LoneStarTx]

I've been doing this ever since I started loading with my used, inherited equipment. It works great and you can get very accurate weights by doing so.

Another "tip"...for a media separator.
I picked up a $2 dish washing pan at the dollar store (huh?) and marked 1" square lines all across the bottom. I drilled a 1/4" hole at every intersection to "drain" the media. I put it into an 18 gal tub ($4 at hardware store) and dump the media and brass into the dish pan. After 35-40 seconds of shaking, all you have left is clean, shiny brass. Then I pour the media from the 18 gal tub back into the tumbler.
Works great! To speed thing up even more, I recently drilled 1/4" holes in the middle of each square and now it takes about 1/2 as long (20-25 seconds maybe) to separate everything.

Here are some pictures...

That's a lot of drilling. I like the idea but I'm gonna try a shotgun!

 

[AveragEd]

I use about a 3" drinking straw fitted in my RCBS rockchucker ram slot to keep the primers from flying all over.

Correctly adjusting the height of the die in the loader or the decapping pin in the die will fix that problem too.

Ed

 

[oldman10mm]

Case length trimming

Bungee cord extraction,weak enough to just pull out by itself but still no effort to push in.

Trim length adjustment

I hate adjust,trim,measure,adjust,trim,measure. Made a set(for the many cases I trim) of 'Master case length gages'. They were made to SAAMI minimum spec. Insert the 'master' into the case holder,run the cutter head(less pilot) up to the 'master' and lock down. Works perfectly. If I want a different dimension(longer than SAAMI spec) I use a automotive feeler gage between 'master' and cutter head.

 

[oldman10mm]

Adjusting Dies
I have a Lyman turret(4 position)press. I don't like adjusting dies,just like I don't like adjusting case length trimmer(above post).
For the mouth belling die and seating/crimping die,I use a spacer/washer under the shellholder. The dies are set for the longer of 38/357,40S&W/10mm,44sp/44M. When working with the shorter of the caliber,a spacer/washer of the appropriate/required thickness is put on/below the shellholder. For example with 38/357,with the dies set & locked for 357,a spacer/washer of .135" is used for the 38. The belling and crimping that 357 gets,the 38 also gets. Only adjustment required is the bullet seating stem of the seating/crimping die because of different bullet shapes.

 

[AveragEd]

Either RCBS or Redding (or both?) die sets for the .38 Special/.357 Magnum come with a spacer to place under the expansion and bullet seating/crimping dies when loading the longer cartridge.

Ed

 

[oldman10mm]

My sets go back to the 70s',back then spacers didn't exist.

 

[AveragEd]

I started reloading in 1974 and one of my die sets has one. But that's irrelevant - the point is that it is an easy fix.

Ed

 

[dmy]

Very useful thread

I also use a Black & Decker Workmate for my bench. I found a 24"x36"x1.5" piece of wood at a lumber yard for about $20 a long time ago and bolted it to the bench. It provides extra weight to the bench, but if the uplift when priming is too great, I put my right foot on the front right leg of the press to hold it down. I reload while sitting down and the bench height without the lower legs extended is just right.

I use golf ball boxes when putting the cases through the various stages of my single-stage press. I find the lower sides reduce shoulder fatigue. They hold 200+ cases of .45 or .38. When they get dirty, I just throw them away.

I use hotel writing pads to keep notes and to place the finished loading specs into my re-usable boxes of ammo. I can fit all of the pertinent info into 1/4 of each sheet.

I also use an extra piece of carpet from our house under the reloading bench. Mine is a solid buff color which is prone to staining with Hoppes #9, but finding dropped items is easy. It is also very soft on the feet.

I put a plastic straw over the center threaded post in my vibrating tumbler. It softens the contact between my brass and the metal post and also minimizes that metal to metal sound.

I recycled a pair of Harmon Kardon speakers from an old desktop computer for my reloading area. The sound is pretty good when attached to my phone playlist.

I'm still trying to find a good use for those nice plastic boxes from Berry's Bullets.

 

[dmy]

Yun

Quick correction. The Black and Decker Workmate is just the right height with the legs extended.

 

[daboone]

A baby's sock on the ball of the lever arm work as well as a roller handle.

 

[Krogen]

Primer Flippers

I'm sure a lot of us are still using the traditional primer flipper. You dump some primers into the tray and shake it around until they're all the same direction. Put the lid on, flip it over and start picking up primers with the primer tube.

Not me! Drives me nuts to get all the primers oriented. Just as you get the last one in place, another one goes upside down.

I just shake the flipper until all the primers are laying flat, then pick up those that are cup down, put the lid on, turn it over and pick up the rest.

I probably went for 20 years doing the way I was taught. Then one day I got smart.

 

[gwpercle]

Ill fitting bullet seating stems that leave a mark or deforms your bullet while seating or sizing a bullet can be custom fitted with a small ball of epoxy putty. The putty will not run into places it shouldn't go . Works for reloading die seating stem and lube - sizer seating nose punch.
Twenty years ago I had a RN seating stem and WC cast bullets, the epoxy made a perfect fit and I'm still using it. Good for cast bullets that seating stems are not made specifically for ( Lee moulds come to mind ).
Gary

 

[DRAINSMITH]

The bullet collator is louder than my wife yelling at the grandkids to quite down "Poppy is sleeping" this lid will quite it down, and you can still see the bullets dropping.

 

[DRAINSMITH]

The weak point on the ammo plant is the pivot body for the case feeder. It will cant to the left and drop the shells on the v-block. I built a brace for all of mine.

All so note the shot gun case on the drop tube.