Cheap bullet feeder for LNL or any AP style presses (

[mjs408]

The Hornady bullet feeder is around 250 dollars plus bullet feeder die is is another 30.00ish bones. I would love to own one but I am kinda cheap and like making random **** in my dungeon reloading room.

In my case I started with a 45cal (.451-.452) Bullet feeder die. Currently the top section of the feeder die measures about .885 on the OD and .613 on the ID. This appears to be different from earlier designs of the feeder die.

The two internal collets are make for jacketed bullets and need to be opened up for cast bullets. You can see how to doing it by searching motorcycle sniper on Youtube, this is where I copied the idea from although it sounds as if the dies may have changed since that video was posted (internal collects are the same.

What I did was take 1/2 schedule 40 PVC pipe (.844od and .613ID)and cut it down to length. 34" in may case should hold about 50 .45 cal rounds.

After cut down to length. Chamfer/Deburr the OD/ID of the finished end. In my case I used a lathe because I had access to one. The second operation was to cut a sight window in the tube towards the finished end. I used a mill, but you could do it with a couple of drilled holes and a dremel tool. The final task for the tube is to drill a couple of hole through the tube so you can run a Hairpin cotter pin to capture the bullets in the tube.

Thats the basic tube, not very advanced I know. But it seems to work.

To get the bottom of the feeder tube to mate with the top of the feeder die is where things seems to vary. It looks as though Hornady has changed their design. Early dies had an ID of roughly the OD on a piece of Schedule 40 1/2 PVC which is .844.

At some point this has changed. The new new feeder die is .885OD and .625ID. the PVC has a .844OD which is only .040 thousands from the die OD. All I did was take a 1/2 PVC coupler and hog out .040 with my dremel. Only take about 30 seconds per coupler. the coupler then slips over the OD of the feeder die and hold the tube well. Although I plan on putting a broom handle clip on a rafter for some extra support.

Total cost in is around 40 dollars including the feeder dies. I currently have 6 feeder tubes. Which gives me the ability to 300 bullets ready to run. I plan on making a few more in the future.

[scrapcan]

can you post a picture of it on the press?

[dradave]

Great. I built a bullet feeder setup from what you described. Here is a link of something similar that I copied. It works great and cut my reloading time substantially.

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/34...ogressive.html

[mjs408]

can you post a picture of it on the press?

You bet I can, Ill post one in a bit. I am working on a collator style one now. Ill post a full build up of that when I am done with it.

[arjacobson]

Nice work!

[mjs408]

Sorry for the less than amazing pictures, it just my cell phone. Any other questions just ask.

[scrapcan]

mj thank you.

[mjs408]

No problem. Do you have any other questions about it?

[mjs408]

Just wanted to update this. The PVC is a miserable failure with the feeding dies I have. It appears Jornady changed some things on the generation of feed dies that I bought.


Heres what I did, and it works great. For 40 and 9mm go to Linen and things and pick up some plastic aquarium tube.
1/2 OD for 40cal and 7/16 for 9mm

search plastic tube at [URL="http://www.lnt.com[/URL]

For .45 bullets, I went to McMasterCarr and found some clear .5 ID tubing.

[jmorris]

I found a bullet feeder without a collator to not really speed up the process much. I tried a few different methods before going with the cheap and relatively easy KISS design, made from 6" PVC ans 1/2" plastic.

[mjs408]

Im trying to build a collator style feeder but am having a hard time sourcing the motor. Of the several build threads Ive found, all tend to use the same motor. Currently that motor isnt available from the only place to get it. I know jmorris has said he sourced a motor from grainger but I cant find a compatable one listed on the sight.

[Lloyd Smale]

Im with jmoris. I cant see much advantage to a bullet feeder without a colator. It doesnt take much more to drop a bullet on the shell plate then to drop one in a tube. Plus then you dont have to deal with the tweaking and problems another feeder can bring to the table. Now id love to have my lnl i use for 223 set up with a bullet feeder and colator though but when i do i wont scrimp on it to save a few bucks. Id want the most reliable setup sold.

[traderpats]

Hmmmm, thanks for the info OP. Just may have to give this concept a try. I can load tubes of both boolits and perhaps brass while sitting in front of the tv. It would be nice to have a set of tubes preloaded for runs of around 500 or less that I usually do. For that matter perhaps match them all up with the 100 primers per tube or multiples there of. Could be interesting thing to run with. Nice to do it all quietly too.....

[jmorris]

Im trying to build a collator style feeder but am having a hard time sourcing the motor. Currently that motor isnt available from the only place to get it. I know jmorris has said he sourced a motor from grainger but I cant find a compatable one listed on the sight.

I used granger part #2L008 but only run it at around 3 volts so would suggest 2L007. Currently in stock at my local granger.

[biggdawg]

i did something similar with mine but i use some clear plastic tubes from linen n things

[mjs408]

For 9mm and 40 I used LnT tubes. But for 45 I needed .5 ID so I went with McMasterCarr

[thehouseproduct]

I machined some of my own for 9mm. I have them for sale @ $20 each for interested parties. Machined 6061, anodized gold with caps and hitch pins. I have a single 45 caliber but can make more if there is interest. PM me.

[vonzep]

Im trying to build a collator style feeder but am having a hard time sourcing the motor. Of the several build threads Ive found, all tend to use the same motor. Currently that motor isnt available from the only place to get it. I know jmorris has said he sourced a motor from grainger but I cant find a compatable one listed on the sight.

look here, good torque but a little fast down the voltage (lose some torque) to slow it
https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.a...tname=electric

[Gliden07]

Im trying to build a collator style feeder but am having a hard time sourcing the motor. Of the several build threads Ive found, all tend to use the same motor. Currently that motor isnt available from the only place to get it. I know jmorris has said he sourced a motor from grainger but I cant find a compatable one listed on the sight.

I plan on trying one of these collators once I buy a LNL. I was gonna use a 110V grill Rotiserie motor. They turn pretty slow and if you need to adjust RPM lower you can get a motor control? Plus, I already have a couple that I picked up at a tagsale for 5 bucks!

[mjs408]

So roughly 17.5 at 12V. Would the torque be half as well? Is that enough torque to spin a plate with a couple hundered bullets sitting on it?

look here, good torque but a little fast down the voltage (lose some torque) to slow it
https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.a...tname=electric