"new" Bell & Mulding report

['74 sharps]

Stripped, polished, painted, new charge tube (from B&M) was put into service today. A great measure, as I weighed many charges and was +/- .2 gr at 70gr of bp. My estimate is the measure is from the '60's; however, it is a neat design and looks great with the brass hopper and glossy black base. Total investment was $120, and worth every penny.

[water bug]

'74, any chance of a few pictures? I just bought a poor looking one. will need to clean and restore. Do many BP reloaders use them? WB

[drcook]

I know of a few that do, myself included. My friend uses MVA's version.

Mother's Mag Wheel polish will shine the brass right up. That is what I used to do this one. It looked pretty sad when I got hold of it. I did this and then shipped it to another friend in New Hampshire to use.

I actually use 2 of them. I duplex 3F under 1F in my 45-110. So I have one set up to drop 15 grains of 3F and the other 92 gr of 1F.

[water bug]

DRCOOK, That is beautiful. Any restoration tricks , or suggestions? WB

[drcook]

as I said, Mother's Aluminum Mag Wheel polish. I put some on a paper towel and polish it around the tube. I never go the length, just around. Keep rubbing and it will turn black. Keep rubbing and it will start to shine. Get a fresh towel and wipe the crud off and see how it looks. A cloth rag would do the same, paper towels are easy to throw away. I will even fold them over and "shoe shine" the polish on the tube.

On the one above, the lid was missing. That lid is a steel freeze plug. If you search through my posts, you will find the part number and where to get it. I sanded it with a very fine wet and dry paper and then polished it.

Hopefully you won't have to take everything apart and paint the castings. So far I have lucked out and a good cleaning have made them look pretty decent.

['74 sharps]

DRCOOK, That is beautiful. Any restoration tricks , or suggestions? WB

Very easy to take apart and reassemble. Glossy black enamel brushed on steel base and handle, and some metal cleaner for the hopper. Clean any crud from aluminum and steel where the bar slides to insure it moves easily. Issue that may pop up with the measure. It may twist when moving handle. Different way to address include some non slip tape on mounting points of dispenser, removing or trying a lighter spring ( will try myself), or tracing the base and cutting about a 3/8" thick template to fit dispenser and screw that to the mounting board sliding the dispenser into the opening for support on the sides.
Coming from dipping, pinching and weighing every charge, this is an absolute dream to use in loading. Kind of neat to take something 40+ years old and having it work so well.

[drcook]

I have loaded pretty close to a 1000 rounds now using mine. A couldn't imagine loading anymore using the (to steal the terms from '74 Sharps) dipping, pinching and weighing technique. That got old the first week of BP reloading.

I use a trickler to bring each charge up to the same weight.

I had the local hardware store cut some glass to replace a broken pane. I bought some little rubber O-rings to put under the washers. That helped with the replacement glass to hold it firmly and not break it.

[Ed in North Texas]

Belding & Mull (B&M) made some great equipment for the time. And it still works today. The follow on company (at least I think it is a follow on, as opposed to the original still under the same management structure) seems to advertise the powder measure on their website, but they don't show any actually for sale. They do list parts for the powder measure though. Beautiful job restoring that one.

Ed

[Ed in North Texas]

snip

On the one above, the lid was missing. That lid is a steel freeze plug. If you search through my posts, you will find the part number and where to get it. I sanded it with a very fine wet and dry paper and then polished it.

snip

Look here: http://beldingandmull.com/visible_powder.html for a lid. No price listed, but they apparently do have them. There's one on that auction site too.

Ed

[drcook]

I spoke to Belding & Mull a couple months ago and they had a batch of castings getting ready to machine and assemble.

I gave my friend the option of getting a lid from B&M, finding one on eBay, or even getting a brass freeze plug. He is satisfied with the steel one.

The steel one is Dorman part number 555-095, the brass is Dorman part number 565-095 available through autoparts store.

I don't take credit for suggesting the freeze plugs, if you backtrack through my posts you will be able to find the person who originally suggested it.


The steel one was a perfect fit and cost a WHOPPING 99 cents. Yep less than a buck.

A person that is missing a lid, could get a steel one and antique it with lemon juice or mild acid and some black paint that you sanded through some spot to match the base.

Or if someone did an entire restoration and painted the base, a painted lid would look cool too.

[water bug]

Would it make sense to get several charger tubes for the several different BP Charges I will use for different cartridges, and leave them set, Say for 50 gr, 55 gr 60 gr. or what ever I use? or is resetting with a scale relatively easy? WB

[Kermit1945]

My B&M came with an interesting story--for another time, maybe. I was lucky that it was complete and fully functional, with the short "micrometer" tube.

Brass was right awful looking. Brasso, old t-shirt rags, elbow grease. Like new.

No need for multiple tubes. Easy to adjust. I bought the new, from B&M, super magnum long micrometer tube that throws 40-130 grains, IIRC. Saves me doing multiple drops for large charges. It was an impossibly tight fit. A little work with some fine wet/dry paper and some polish got it working fine. I recommend the micrometer tubes for accuracy and repeatability.

The old B&M measures were all individually hand finished, so interchanging original or new parts can take some fitting. These were first manufactured about 100 years ago, so you might find a really old one. They're pretty much identical. B&M has plans to reintroduce the measure soon as a centennial model.

If your glass just has a crack (common), just use it. Won't hurt a thing.

['74 sharps]

Would it make sense to get several charger tubes for the several different BP Charges I will use for different cartridges, and leave them set, Say for 50 gr, 55 gr 60 gr. or what ever I use? or is resetting with a scale relatively easy? WB

I ordered the standard magnum from B&M, and I believe it will work fine as the graduations on the charge tube are very well marked and repeatability should be very easy. The tube is a thick walled and very well made. I've loaded 100 + rounds with it so far, and the setting on the tube has not changed at all.

[water bug]

Thanks ALL. Now I am waiting delivery of my B&M. It is in the mail. WB

[Kermit1945]

Thanks ALL. Now I am waiting delivery of my B&M. It is in the mail. WB

Be prepared to be spoiled. I know people who have multiple B&M's and don't 'use anything else.